Tag Archives: civil beat

Civil Beat pseudonym Keala_Kaanui regurgitates his falsehoods about the Hauula Fire Station Relocation Project again. What’s the motive?

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It’s Elections Time again! Civil Beat allows Candidates to answer their questions.

Choon James’ answers to Civil Beat’s Questions & Answers can be found here.

What is puzzling is that pseudonym Keala_Kaanui, perhaps the most prolific daily commenter for Civil Beat, is allowed to continue to post fake news like this:

Keala_Kaanuii: The great irony of someone lauding the first responders, who spent a good five years trying to prevent the City from building a badly needed new fire station because she realized she could have negotiated a higher price for her vacant parcel of land after she had signed the contract. Choon forced the city to spend thousands of dollars to condem the property after she tried to back out…“

But, here is a quick summary collected by a supporter:

Hawaii Fire Station Relocation Controversy YOU-TUBE #1.

This youtube is a must to watch. Once you watch this, you will get how off-base Civil Beat pseudonym Keala_Kaanui continues to be.

The Hauula folks were authentic in their opposition towards this project. Choon James sided with the Hauula folks. There was no legal contract to sell to the City.

The Honolulu City Council deleted the budget for this project for five years. Yet Mayor Caldwell fought on. In the end, the Hauula folks even correctly predicted who the contractor was for this project.

The community of Hauula did not want a new fire station that the Laie Community Association was pushing and testifying for. Hauula felt that it was a public facility checklist for Laie to pursue more developments like Envision Laie. Public facilities like a fire station is not a profiteering project. Just like the Kahuku Police Station is not a profiteering project.

Hauula wanted to keep the two remaining Commercial-zoned parcels for Recycling and small business. They and the homeless people depended on the Recycling. The homeless would collect in the area and then buy themselves a hot meal with their profit.

“Public Use” can also be very arbitrary. In the case of the Hauula Fire Station Relocation in the rural town of Hauula. The people overwhelming were against it. But Mayor Kirk Caldwell bullied his way through despite the city council of Honolulu continuously deleted the funding.

Hawaii needs to know that Mayor Kirk Caldwell SECRETLY siphoned $1.4 Million (in August 2014) from Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) funds for homeless shelter renovations such as Hale Pauahi in Chinatown to “plan and design” his Neiman Marcus firehouse in rural Hauula.

The City Council had deleted and defunded the extravagant project for 5 years but Caldwell is fixated on this $13M relocation project that will not increase personnel or area of service. The relocation project will decimate the last two commercial lots that locals want to keep for Recycling as well as other business start-ups. Ironically, the homeless in Hau’ula sustain themselves by recycling daily to buy themselves a hot meal. Caldwell governs by misguided agenda, not sound public policy.

Condemnation Honolulu Style – You-Tube #2

This is another compulsory watch.

Honolulu City Council adopted Resolution to condemn two commercial lots on February 24, 2010. This process was advanced in 42 days. It’s Hau’ula today, are you next? Do you live along the Rail Transit route?

UPDATE:  The legislative Honolulu City Council has not funded the project since 2011. But Mayor Kirk Caldwell is still pursuing eminent domain by alleged necessity in court. http://www.kitv.com/news/1200-signature-petition-protests-plans-for-new-hauula-fire-station/25103002#!bmO9B4 The city ‘expert witness’ is saying they need a fire station to bring in bigger – from 8′ x 25′ to 8′ x 32′  fire engines! Hello! The garbage trucks are already having a tough time with our country roads. This is going from ‘ridiculous’ to ‘insane’.

Update: May 15, 2010 Mufi Hannemann city corporation attorneys have filed lawsuit against owners for possession of the land.. Owners have filed lawsuit against city. What a waste of taxpayers’ money in today’s budget crisis!

Update: Owners subpoenaed city officials but Mufi Hannemann’s attorneys quashed on basis that public officials are very busy; owners are a nuisance, harassing and inconveniencing these officials. Ironically, on their way home to Hauula, owners saw Bryan Mick – City Community Relations sign-waving for Mufi Hannemann in front of Nimitz City Mill at 11:34 am August 11, 201

Here’s more information:

Woman Criticizes Honolulu’s Government, Has Her Protest Signs Bulldozed

Nick Sibilla Senior Contributor Institute For Justice

Updated Sep 1, 2014, 10:36am EDT

This article is more than 10 years old.

How people respond to criticism can reveal a lot about their character.  Some might try to debate or reason with those they disagree with.  Others prefer to ignore critics.  City officials in Honolulu take a different approach: They use a bulldozer.

Choon James is a successful real estate broker with over two decades of experience in Hawaii.  But the city of Honolulu is seeking to seize property she’s owned for almost a decade to build what she calls a “super-sized” fire station in rural Hauula.

Since January 2010, she has put up signs to protest Honolulu’s use of eminent domain.  These signs declare “Eminent Domain Abuse: Who’s Next?” and “YouTube Eminent Domain Abuse—Hawaii.”  For more than three years these signs have been up without any incident.

Bulldozing Free Speech

But now the city is showing a callous disregard for Choon’s freedom of speech.  Back in May, Honolulu seized two of her eminent domain protest signs.  Without her consent, city employees went onto the property and seized and impounded her signs before damaging them. Even worse, the city slapped her with a notice for trespassing, for property she is trying to defend in court.

After these signs were torn down, Choon placed three more signs there.  These lasted just a few months before the city once again seized the signs.  This time, Honolulu was much more dramatic.  On October 18, city workers, backed by police officers, squad cars and a bulldozer, came by and literally bulldozed those protest signs.

The city’s actions show a shameful lack of respect for the First and Fourth Amendments.  Citizens have a right to protest government actions.  The First Amendment was enacted precisely to protect citizens who criticize the government from retaliation.  Lawsuits challenging Honolulu’s unreasonable seizures and chilling attacks on free speech are now pending in federal court.

Unfortunately, Honolulu is not alone in trying to silence critics who question eminent domain.  The Institute for Justice has represented citizens in St. Louis, Mo., Norfolk, Va., Tennessee, and Texas who protested abusive property seizures and faced censorship.  Out of these four cases, IJ successfully defended free speech in three cases, while the fourth is currently in litigation.

After 24 of his buildings were taken by St. Louis, Jim Roos painted a giant mural on a building he owned advocating “End Eminent Domain Abuse.”  But St. Louis labeled the mural an “illegal sign” and wanted to force Jim to remove

the sign (and stifle his right to protest) or face code violations.  He teamed up with the Institute for Justice and sued the city.  In a major win for the First Amendment, in July 2011, the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Jim and allowed the mural to stay up.

In a similar vein, IJ has defended grassroots activists from a frivolous defamation lawsuit and protected an investigative journalist’s right to free speech from a vindictive private developer.

More recently, the Institute for Justice is suing the city of Norfolk for trying to squash a small business owner’s eminent domain protest sign.  The Central Radio Company,

a repair shop, has been in Norfolk for almost eight decades.  But Norfolk had plans to seize the property with eminent domain for a private redevelopment project.

To protest, owner Bob Wilson displayed a huge banner on-site.  The city responded by telling Bob he had to take down the sign or face fines of up to $1,000 per day.  Fortunately, the Virginia Supreme Court unanimously struck down the city’s attempt to seize Bob’s land; his free speech case is still in federal court.

As the cases make clear, courts routinely respect Americans’ First Amendment rights.  Honolulu should do the same.

Nick Sibilla

I’m a policy wonk and legal correspondent with a decade of experience analyzing and reporting on legislation and court cases. 

Outside of Forbes, my work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Slate, Wired, Reason, and numerous other outlets nationwide.

Free Press and Free Speech aren’t so free

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Many news media now have paywall to support themselves. But this prevents the public from reading the news. Even then, those with no paywall are imposing their own leanings with censorship in the Public Square.

I’m selecting CIVIL BEAT (CB) because I’m familiar with it. I like Civil Beat focusing on public affairs. CB used to have a reporter stationed at City Council hearings along with Star Advertiser. Today, City Hall has no such coverage. Veteran Star Advertiser reporter Gordon Pang has left too.

Civil Beat has accomplished much to the Public Square dialogue. It has provided the public with much useful governmental information that should have been in the open public domain in the first place. CB has produced many outstanding and in-depth articles and outreach.

Civil Beat has stated that it has liberal progressive leanings. Somehow, CB has particularly also targeted a couple of politicians more than usual – Tulsi Gabbard and recently Kai Kahele. Other politicians appear to have gotten off with much less scrutiny. More on this later.

Another area that I’m becoming very concerned about is the censorship on comments. This contradicts the free speech and open dialogue that Civil Beat is trying to promote.

More and more residents have complained on social media and other circles that their comments were censored. Many do not participate any more.

I myself have countered many posts censorship even when I don’t threaten or bully or use swear words. I even use my real name and not a pseudonym. I feel compelled to participate because I want to support Free Speech.

I also like to question and/or provide different perceptions or analysis to the public dialogue.

Let’s use this CB article as an example:

On October 21, 2022, I submitted my comments and questions hours prior to my write-up here. But so far my comments have not been accepted even though I posted after “Kana_Hawaii“. Other comments AFTER Kana-Hawaii have been posted. not mine. This is not the first time my comments have been censored.

Below are screenshots of newer comments that have been posted to this same article. Doesn’t it look like my comments have been censored again?

Reference:

About Civil Beat ( Excerpts): Honolulu Civil Beat is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt news organization dedicated to cultivating an informed body of citizens, all striving to make Hawaii a better place to live. We achieve this through investigative and watchdog journalism, in-depth enterprise reporting, analysis and commentary that gives readers a broad view on issues of importance to our community.

Entrepreneur and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar launched Civil Beat in 2010 as a local digital platform that looks beyond traditional print and television media approaches. To expand our reach so that more people in Hawaii have access to the information they need, Civil Beat removed its paywall in June 2016 and transitioned to 501(c)3 nonprofit status. We are members of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a coalition of more than 300 nonprofit newsrooms across the U.S.

Our goal is to challenge our leaders to do better. We are the watchdogs of the public’s trust and we take seriously the mission to educate our citizens on important public issues.

Our long-term goal is to produce journalism with a purpose, to stimulate positive change. We do not align with political or special interest groups and adhere to the strictest journalistic standards and ethics. Generally, we follow the guidelines set out by the Society of Professional Journalists in its ethics code as well as more general news practices outlined by the Associated Press. You can find our policy on anonymous sources here and our policy on corrections here.

We believe news is a public asset and that Civil Beat can and should be a good community partner, not just an arms-length observer recounting news of the day. We have a stake in this community as much as it has a stake in us.

Corporate Media Censorship in the Public Square

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Where do Free Press and Free Speech fit for all corporate Press media?

This is an article about a possible ethics investigation on Congressman Kai Kahele from Civil Beat This proposed congressional action seems too politically time for elections 2022, considering there are so much compelling questions about other members in Congress. 2022 Gallup Poll has Congress at a 18% job approval from the public.

EXCERPT from Civil Beat:

According to the press release, more information will be released in November when the committee, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, announces its “course of action.”

I thought the above article raises more questions. I submitted my comments. But my comments were censored. It did not have the opportunity to contribute a different perspective to the subject matter.

So far it’s still not approved yet. This is not the only incident. What’s happening to Free Speech and Free Press?

UPDATE: Sunday Morning, October 16, 2022

I experimented again and submit a short version of my comments See Below. This time it was not censored and allowed to be posted.

The question remains. What are the criteria for censorship? Other negative comments were allowed to be posted against Congressman Kai Kahele. However, my comments about “ but this nail that sticks out is obviously an irritation that has to be pounded back into status quo” was censored.

Elections 2022: Are Corporate Media nasty copycats?

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It appears Civil Beat’s Nick Grube first broke the story of Congressman Kai Kahele’s “proxy” votes on April 11, 2022. Unfortunately, this “proxy” report spun out of control without much verification and undermined Kahele’s campaign.

Grube wrote that: “Kahele’s absence has not gone unnoticed, according to two Washington-based lobbyists who spoke to Civil Beat on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to do so by their firms.“

” . . . on the condition of anonymity” caught my attention. My first instinct was to google-search Congressman Kahele’s voting record. Voting by “proxy” is still a vote. Remember we’re undergoing a COVID19 pandemic.

Public information shows Congressman Kahele has a good record. Why was this critical public information not part of Grube’s reporting?

From Jan 2021 to Aug 2022, Kahele missed 6 of 869 roll call votes, which is 0.7%. This is better than the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving.

Unfortunately, the Civil Beat’s negative reporting of Kahele’s “proxy” lit like a wildfire. Other corporate media jumped on the bandwagon and added their own headlines. Social media comments and trolls continued the negative connotations against Kahele.

One has to ask if this was an intended negative politicking, the first salvo to undermine Kahele.

Does Civil Beat not like Congressman Kahele as it obviously does not like former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard?

Or did this article about Kahele’s “proxy” vote (with the assumption of no intended malice) simply spun out of control?

Should the public should be alarmed with this type of reporting?

Should readers be less dependent on corporate media for facts and information?

Are corporate media copycats of each other without verifying first?

Unfortunately, this was one negative salvo that Congressman Kahele could not contain.

Social media perpetuated the “proxy” vote as if Kahele had gone AWOL. Congressman Kahele is our District Representative. We were impressed and pleased with his “boots in the ground” style for Hawaii residents. He’s been present at Honolulu city council and other community meetings. This may be unconventional but he certainly could not be described as having a “chronic allergy to Capitol Hill“. Proxy votes are allowed.

Additionally, the reporting of Congressman Kahele’s job with Hawaiian Airlines was negatively skewed as well. in 2021, Kahele has had a total of 14.2 flying hours and made less than $2,861.90.

This reduction of Kahele’s salary is not as alarming as the increased income of Hawaii’s Lt. Governor Dr. Josh Green, another gubernatorial candidate.

The Office of the Lt. Governor is a full-time position paying $165,552.00 a year. Dr. Green has continued to practice his medical career for the past 18 years. His recently formed Green Health International LLC reportedly saw an increase of about $1M. This gubernatorial candidate has thus far stone-walled calls for answers to these sources of income to his LLC.

Elections 2022: Since when did questioning or expecting accountability of a public official “nasty”?

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Hawaii’s Gubernatorial has three top-contenders for the position. The incumbent Lt. Governor Dr. Josh Green has the tendencies to embellish events and information during this campaign. The Sierra Club and Hawaii GMO Justice Coalition recently publicly protested against Dr. Green’s inaccurate advertisements and in claiming credit to promote himself. Other residents have reported Dr. Green for Free Speech violations by deleting or blocking their comments and so on

Second District Congressman Kai Kahele is a Hawaiian native, with a strong and outspoken personality who is not afraid to question the establishment and to ask for clarity and disclosures. Kahele is also a combat veteran, pilot, and a commissioned officer in the Hawai’i Air National Guard.

Vicky Cayetano has not pursued this Hawaiian-based issue against Josh Green like the native son of Hawaii has.

The Controversy – Hawaii’s Department of Hawaiian Homestead Lands (DHHL) is notoriously known for its long waitlist to service housing for Hawaiians. Many Hawaiians have passed away without being served.

Dr. Josh Green, a white man who is married to Jaime Green, a part Hawaiian, has on multiple occasion embellished his mother-in-law’s history – “Jaime’s mum passed away in her 40s from cancer while on the list”.

However, DHHL says their records could not substantiate that his mother-in-law has or had been an applicant on its wait list. But that does not mean that she might have been qualified to receive an award.

Other Hawaiians are resisting the gubernatorial candidate on this issue, including the former Gov. John Waihee, the first governor of Hawaii ancestry to Civil Beat:

“If she didn’t die on the list, then they should immediately correct that because there are a lot of people whose relatives did die waiting on that list,” Waihee said. “I don’t know what to tell you except you shouldn’t say those kinds of things if they aren’t real.”

Kai Kahele was more plain in his remarks to Hawaii News Now:

“Kahele claims Lt. Gov. Josh Green lied when speaking about his mother-in-law and Hawaiian Home Lands in order to score political points.

“Saying it once could be a mistake, but continuing to say it again is something that needs to be addressed,” Kahele said. “If you want to be the governor of this state, words matter.”

Response from the political pundit raises questions:

“HNN political analyst Colin Moore says he can’t remember a time when local politics has been this “nasty.” “Jamie Green’s mom died when she was 42. There’s a person at the center of this and that is the failure of the state of Hawaii to provide people homes,” said Moore.”

The political pundit’s response raises these questions:

  1. When was questioning and setting the facts straight from a political candidate for a public office considered “nasty“?

2. What about accountability from a candidate? What if the son-in-law Green did NOT embellish his mother-in-law’s history to gain affinity votes from Hawaiians?

The public and other candidates have the right to question and DUTY to set the record straight in a democratic election. Political pundits should remember to be objective and circumspect of the issues in favor of the public good.

Choon James: Adding my two cents in Red

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Here’s Why These Rookie Candidates Decided To Get Into Politics

This year’s newcomers come from all over the political spectrum, and a variety of issues inspired them to run.

By /

Why would anyone want to enter politics in today’s hyper-polarized environment? Seeking public offices to offer solutions and honest service is severely needed in our democracy! Not every one is into that political pool of polarization and name-calling.  Being hyper-polarized is not conducive to our democracy. I’m happy that there are candidates who focus on issues/solutions in a civil and thoughtful manner.

Civil Beat set out to answer that question by interviewing eight candidates who hadn’t run for elected office before this year. They said they were lured by issues like Hawaii’s high cost of living, climate change, a desire for lower taxes and the need for more efficient and transparent government. Yes!

And while those are subjects longtime politicians frequently cite as well, new blood might be the key to actually addressing them, some newcomers say. I submit that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Are you happy with the direction Oahu is heading? Longtime politicians and bureaucrats had their chances, what have they done?

Zachary Stoddard CIty Council candidate 2018 elections stands and waves at Punchbowl and Beretania Street.

Zack Stoddard, a 31-year-old City Council candidate, works as a city planner.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

Anti-abortion candidate Andrew Kayes, a nonpartisan candidate for the state House seat that covers the greater Kahului area, decided to pull papers after the Legislature passed a bill to legalize medical aid in dying, which he opposes.

Others say politicians have stopped listening to the constituents who elected them.

“I’ve just been frustrated with politicians and how they don’t seem to really care at all about working-class people,” said Zack Stoddard, a candidate for Honolulu City Council District 6 that stretches from Makiki to Kalihi. “That’s essentially the number one thing I hear from people.”

Stoddard isn’t a total stranger to local politics. Last year he was appointed to the neighborhood board for the Nuuanu and Punchbowl areas. He volunteered to fill a vacancy for the seat that represents his community during the first board meeting he attended.

He decided to run for the City Council after the District 6 incumbent, Carol Fukunaga, killed a bill to ban styrofoam food containers.

Stoddard said he was concerned about the influence of money in politics. He was one of a few new candidates interviewed by Civil Beat who said they are declining donations and paying their own way.

But Tina Wildberger, a progressive socialist Democrat who’s running to represent the state House seat district that covers Kihei to Wailea-Makena, has a different philosophy about campaign finance.

“I feel like if the people that know about me, care about me, and the people in my community don’t want to support my campaign, I don’t have any business being in that office,” she said.

Wildberger, who advocated for environmental issues and managed Kelly King’s successful campaign for a Maui County Council post, said her run was partly inspired by the #MeToo movement, the Parkland, Florida, school shootings and women’s marches.

In a way, Wildberger got in the race by accident. She had approached Rep. Kaniela Ing, a congressional candidate who will soon vacate the district Wildberger is running to represent, to pick his brain. Wildberger was still weighing a run when she got a call from a reporter who said Ing had endorsed her.

“If we were not experiencing the systematic dismantling of our democratic and environmental protections and protections against women … I don’t know that I would’ve been motivated this much to run,” she said.

Fresh Faces

Some other first-time candidates got into their races without any political experience.

Kelly Kitashima, a candidate running to represent Honolulu City Council District 8 that spans Aiea, Pearl City and Waipahu, became politically engaged when she was promoted to higher management at the hotel where she worked. She opposed efforts to increase taxes on the state’s tourism industry and began submitting testimony to officials.

Kitashima said she found a council run appealing because the office handles topics such as rail, infrastructure and property taxes — issues that affect people’s everyday lives.

Kitashima, whose kids play sports, was frustrated with the state of local fields.

“I am a mom, and I know it sounds so repetitive, but I’m just deathly afraid that my kids won’t be able to live here,” Kitashima said. “It kind of felt like I had to roll up my sleeves and step up.”

Kitashima, a self-described “local girl,” said she started tuning into politics when Donald Trump became president.

“I definitely would say I became a little bit more vigilant that year,” she said, adding there was “more media coverage around politics that you couldn’t ignore.”

Kayes, the candidate for Kahului’s House seat, is also new to politics. He said Hawaii’s political atmosphere is an echo chamber for Democrats. The pro-life physician was vehemently opposed to the medical aid in dying law passed by the Legislature last session.

“I felt like our state was better than this, and I was shocked and I pulled papers within a week of that happening,” he said.

Donald Trump’s ‘Silver Lining’

Many new candidates disagree with President Trump’s politics, but said it’s a good thing that more people who aren’t career politicians have started running for office.

“The silver lining of this administration is that he made (running for office) so accessible to the everyday person that we realized we don’t have to have a Harvard law degree to run for office, we need community members,” said Natalia Hussey-Burdick, a Democratic candidate for a House seat in the Kaneohe area.

Hussey-Burdick has quite a bit of political experience for a first-timer — the 28-year-old has served as a community advocate and legislative clerk and held positions in the Democratic Party.

Natalia Hussey-Burdick says she sees another side to politics as a legislative clerk.

A self-described “political nerd,” said she had always felt she was too opinionated and unpolished to run for office.

She changed her mind after attending the Kuleana Academy bootcamp hosted by the nonprofit Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action. It’s free for prospective candidates or their staff members, but attendees who end up running are expected to fundraise and donate $1,000 to HAPA.

State Sens. Laura Thielen, Russell Ruderman and Donna Mercado Kim and Reps. Gene Ward, Andria Tupola, Nicole Lowen and Matt LoPresti spoke at the program Hussey-Burdick attended.

Democratic Party executive director Laura Nevitt told the participants that “women will give themselves 100 reasons why they shouldn’t” run for office. That resonated with Hussey-Burdick.

Choon James, a longtime testifier at the Honolulu City Council and now a candidate to represent District 2 on the North Shore, decided to run because she wasn’t happy with the way the field of candidates was shaping up to replace term-limited Councilman Ernie Martin.  Being involved in civil and public affairs for over 3 decades and testifying at the City Council for the past ten years have taught me me a few things about Honolulu Hale! In fact, the only two city council candidates this election year who have been steadfastly participating at Honolulu Hale are Natalie Iwasa CPA, CFE and I.

It also helped that her kids moved out of the house.  I’m an empty nester. My children are grown and are leading success and happy lives of their own. This allows me the opportunity to be more involved unlike my other friends with children or who have to take care of their parents and so forth.

James has been involved in environmental issues and the North Shore’s push to “Keep the Country Country.” I’ve also been a successful and experienced small businesswoman for 30 years. I’ve been involved in protecting private property right, social, economic and environment justice issues. She supports term limits for elected offices and caps on homeowners’ property taxes if they’ve lived on the property for 15 years.  Our residents have severe concerns of being priced out of house and home. They want to live in their homes in their golden years and they want to pass on the home to their children. California enacted Proposition 13 in 1978. What are we waiting for? I will also work with the other 8 city council members to provide incentives for those who rent long term to local residents. We should also focus on increasing the rental inventory, instead of luxury condos to mitigate our housing problems.

She’s not looking to run again if she loses. I’m offering my candidacy as a Citizen Candidate. I do not accept donations from lobbyists or Corporations. I’m paying my way. I’m not running to protect my job. No one is making me run to become a status quo at the City Council. I’m running because I offer an independent voice for ordinary people. The residents’ happiness, welfare, and prosperity come first. I will put residents FIRST!

“I can say as a citizen candidate I honestly have no fear and I have no favor,” she said. “I’m getting old and I’m getting impatient.” Yes, after decades of being an activist and an advocate in land use, economic, social and environment issues, I have seen first hand the workings of Honolulu Hale. I see  how status quo and the oligarchy continue to make life more miserable for our residents, not better. I’ve seen our residents having to work 2-3 jobs to sustain themselves. I’ve seen how the public treasury has been plundered and causing the costs of living to increase. If you are happy with the direction Honolulu is heading and happy with the escalating costs of living, then I’m NOT your candidate.

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Choon James: Honolulu Civil Beat Question – City Revenues

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5. Does the city need to boost its revenue? If so, how should that be done?

Why do I think of Nobel Prize Economist Milton Friedman who stated that if you put the government in charge of the Sahara Desert, it would run short of sand in five years?

 I’ve been participating in the city budget process for ten years. There are misguided fiscal priorities like the $1.2 Million consultant from NY and $20 Million to upgrade the Ala Moana Park that irritates local residents to no end.

 There are also systematic failures in the budgeting system that limit the Council’s ability to control budget priorities and spending.

 Huge amounts of funds were expended into consultants, planning and design renderings for the Blaisdell Center Master Plan but recently, Mayor Caldwell said he would hold off. So,  are we going to repeat another expensive master plan again down the road?

 One of the best lines I heard was Budget Chair Ann Kobayashi telling HART CEO Dan Grabrauskas that she took risks with her own money, not the taxpayers’.

Our residents work very hard for their money. Our job is not to plunder the city treasury but to protect it.

Choon James: Answers to Civil Beat Questions

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                                                      CIVIL BEAT QUESTIONS

1. How do you think the city should pay for the operation and maintenance of rail once it’s built?

Shouldn’t this O & M costs be addressed at the initial stages?

This flawed Rail project began with Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) executive Wayne Yoshioka being appointed by Mayor Mufi Hannemann as City Transportation Director.

City then contracted with PB to design the rail route. City then hired InfraConsult LLC to coordinate with PB. (Three PB principals formed InfraConsult prior to the City’s contract).

HART, the semi-autonomous transit authority, was formed with nine appointed directors with no transit background. (Mr. Robert Bunda, fellow candidate, joined the HART Board in 2013.)

The 2012 federal Porter Report stated that Oahu had the ability to pay for its rail project, but must forgo other expenses!

 HART recently shifted this unknown O &M duty to the City Transportation but retained the lucrative Transit Orient Development (TOD).

Earlier, Mayor Caldwell and HART disputed city council’s jurisdiction over HART fiscal decisions. Today, Caldwell and HART want the council to sell $44M bonds to appease the FTA!

 Experts have questioned the ridership estimate of 119,600 trips per day. It’s nearly twice the ridership per kilometer of Miami’s heavy rail – a metropolitan area five times the size of Honolulu.

This ridership estimate is also little higher than Atlanta’s with a population six times the size of Honolulu, according to Erick Guerra, assistant professor of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Tren Urbano in San Juan, Puerto Rico achieved only 23% of its ridership projection. Rail bonds contributed to its accumulated $74 Billion bankruptcy.

When will the oligarchy stop this fiscal insanity and reassess this runaway project?

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s Media Shenanigans

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The Honolulu City and County Mayoral Race is in full swing.

The embattled and incumbent Mayor Kirk Caldwell has raised millions of dollars to fund his campaign through social media. The island is now besieged with blood-sport  advertisements all over the air-waves. It’s up to the public to discern the facts from fiction.

caldwell-rail

Embattled Mayor Caldwell’s campaign is primarily based on social media propaganda.

This, in turn, has resulted in some memes that should air on the Jon Stewart Show. They’re too witty and too funny.

An example: Mayor Kirk Caldwell used a photo version of this August 2016 Greet the President event as his official photo for President Obama’s “endorsement”.  Keep in mind the office of the Honolulu Mayor is non-partisan.

It will be interesting to find out which staff member churned out that generic endorsement.

We question President Obama’s personal knowledge about it because Mayor Caldwell’s past four years as Mayor of Honolulu is a chronic record of violating civil rights and persecuting the most vulnerable in society. (Various federal judges have ordered the city of Honolulu to pay for damages, attorney fees and settlement.) We cannot believe that President Obama would condone such actions that undermine social justice and equality.

This photo below, taken by Civil Beat, in a the quick protocol greeting by government officials in August 2016 at Hickam Air Force Base.

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The Caldwell Campaign’s efforts to crop and paste their photos to augment the Obama endorsement prompted the public to create these other memes.  (“Pilau” is the Hawaiian word for “rotten”. “Hewa” is similar.)

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