Honolulu's top liquor official calls the survey results "distressing"STORY SUMMARY » The Honolulu Liquor Commission sent underage people into an Oahu bar or restaurant last year some 225 times, and on 106 occasions the undercover drinkers were served alcohol.
The 47 percent rate was called "distressing" by Liquor Administrator Dewey Kim Jr.
The information is contained in a preliminary survey report, done by the commission and the University of Hawaii, released yesterday.
"We've taken the position really that this type of thing has to stop. ... Forty-seven percent is pretty high," Kim said.
FULL STORY »
By Rob Shikina rshikina@starbulletin.com Nearly 50 percent of underage drinkers, working undercover for the city, bought an alcoholic drink at a bar or restaurant on Oahu last year, according to the Honolulu Liquor Commission.
Illegal salesThe percentage of alcohol sales to an underage person posing as a drinker in the Liquor Commission's undercover project: 2007: 47 percent
2006: 35 percent
2005: 35 percent
2004: Not available
2003: 41 percent
» 327 violations were issued last year for selling to minors.
Report violationsTo report liquor law violations, call the Honolulu Liquor Commission's hot line 24 hours a day at 768-7363.
The "distressing" percentage was found in an annual survey, called Team Plus, of drinking establishments, and could be linked to growing violence, said Liquor Administrator Dewey Kim Jr.
A preliminary survey report, done by the commission and the University of Hawaii, was released yesterday.
Liquor Commission investigators went to bars, restaurants and lounges with undercover decoys who were under 21 and tried to buy alcoholic drinks. Establishments were either cited for violations or given warnings.
In 225 attempts, underage decoys bought alcohol 106 times.
"In almost 50 percent of the cases, people are not asking for ID, and they're selling liquor," Kim said. "We've taken the position really that this type of thing has to stop. ... Forty-seven percent is pretty high."
Teens as young as 16 have been found drinking in establishments, Kim said. Parents have called the Liquor Commission to complain about their children coming back drunk from a bar or club.
An establishment can be fined up to $5,000 for a serving a minor alcohol. The commission may suspend or revoke a liquor license if a business has repeat violations. There are 1,400 licensees in Honolulu.
Underage drinking also has sobering consequences, Kim said. More teens are ending up in emergency rooms with alcohol poisoning, and some have had their hearts stop beating but were revived, he said.
As establishments sell alcohol to underage drinkers or oversell alcohol, there is a corresponding rise in fights inside bars and in parking lots, he said.
Club Komomai is scheduled to appear before the commission today for selling liquor to Steve Wilcox, a 19-year-old man fatally stabbed in the bar's parking lot in June. Club Komomai's owners were not available for comment yesterday; its phone was disconnected.
Kim said the Kaneohe bar served Wilcox alcohol before his death. "If the bar didn't serve him alcohol, he wouldn't have been there," he said.
Despite projects like Team Plus to combat underage drinking, some businesses continue selling to minors because it is profitable. The business grows as word of its underage sales spread, Kim said.
"We can tell, based upon how many altercations at the bar, how big the line is outside, if a bar is selling to kids and over-serving," he said.
After enforcement the lines shrink, he added.
To crack down on violators, the commission has a 24-hour hot line and investigators working every night.
Honolulu population shrank a bit in '07Census finds Isle had 1,114 fewer people while rest of the state grew.
Advertiser Maui Bureau O'ahu experienced its first population loss in seven years, according to new Census Bureau estimates for 2007.
The year-to-year decline in the estimated number of O'ahu residents was a slight one, 0.12 percent, and represents a loss of only 1,114 people. The last drop occurred in 2000, when the island lost 2,750 residents from the previous year.
The population slowdown already appears to be affecting the housing market, with the number of O'ahu residential building permits down 45 percent in the first five months of the year, according to Eugene Tian, research and statistics officer for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Statewide, residential building permits are down 12 percent, Tian said.
"The slowdown in demand is connected to the high number of people moving away," he said.
Hawai'i's high inflation rate — 4.8 percent vs. 3.1 percent nationally — and high housing and living costs are driving residents to the Mainland and elsewhere, he said. Tian estimated that 10,000 more people are leaving the state annually than moving here.
On O'ahu, the entire 2007 population loss came from the Honolulu CDP (census-designated place), which stretches from Red Hill to Makapu'u. That area had an estimated population of 375,571, down 0.3 percent from 2006, according to census data released yesterday. That's a loss of 1,194 people.
The Honolulu CDP accounted for 41.5 percent of the island's population in 2007, compared with 42.4 percent in 2000.
The Census Bureau ranked Honolulu CDP as the 49th most populated city in the nation, down three notches from 2006.
The population for the remainder of O'ahu, estimated at 530,030, grew by 0.01 percent, only 80 people, from July 1, 2006, to July 1, 2007, according to census estimates. In the six years before 2007, the number of residents had increased an average of 4,241 annually.
Since 2000, the Honolulu CDP population has risen 1.1 percent, by 3,914 people. During the same period, the population for the remainder of O'ahu increased 5.1 percent, by 25,531 people.
Tian said the Honolulu CDP population grew more slowly than the rest of O'ahu because of more residential construction in those other areas.
The population for O'ahu as a whole has grown 3.4 percent since 2000 to 905,601, the lowest percentage increase among the state's four major counties, according to the 2007 estimates.Neighbor Islands grow
The Neighbor Islands continue to experience strong population gains, with the Big Island leading the way.
According to the latest census data, Hawai'i County had 173,057 residents in 2007, up 2.1 percent from 2006, followed by Maui County with 141,783 residents, a one-year increase of 0.99 percent, and Kaua'i County with 62,828 residents, up 1.4 percent.
Since 2000, Hawai'i County has seen its population grow 16.4 percent, while the number of Maui County residents increased 10.7 percent, and Kaua'i County 7.5 percent.
Oft-forgotten Kalawao County, comprised of the residents of Kalaupapa on Moloka'i, saw its population dwindle from 147 to 119 during the same period, a 19 percent drop.
The Big Island counted 24,380 new residents since 2000, more than Maui and Kaua'i counties combined and only 5,000 fewer than seen on O'ahu.
The effects of such growth are most felt on roads in Kona and Puna, said Hawai'i County planning director Chris Yuen. Everything from healthcare facilities to classroom space also are impacted.
"What drives the need for infrastructure is population shift, and we're having population shift here, big time," Yuen said.
The availability of relatively low-cost housing, especially in East Hawai'i, is one reason for the county's popularity. Yuen said Puna accounts for up to 40 percent of the Big Island's population growth.
A single-family home in Puna can be purchased in the low $200,000s, he said. That's with gravel roads and water-catchment systems, but at that price, many people are willing to live with fewer conveniences, Yuen said.
The planning director noted the Big Island has experienced population growth even during times of economic stagnation. This indicates people are moving there not necessarily for jobs or other economic reasons, but because they prefer the lifestyle and scenery.
Yuen did note the housing market has "slowed down quite a bit" from the peak year of 2005, when the county processed 3,500 residential building permits. There were 2,100 such permits last year, and at the current pace, Yuen expects 2008 will finish with 1,300.
HONOLULU ADVERTISER
Updated at 1:42 p.m., Thursday, July 10, 2008 Downtown Honolulu tops daily parking cost
Advertiser Staff
Downtown Honolulu has the most-expensive median daily parking rate among 53 U.S. cities studied in a new survey.
The report by Colliers International, a commercial real estate company, found it cost $44 a day to park downtown, topping such areas as New York's Midtown Manhattan and Chicago.
Honolulu's rate was up from last year's $32 rate that Colliers found and almost three times the national average of $15.42.
Local parking rates fared better when compared on a monthly basis, though, with Honolulu ranking ninth-highest among the U.S. cities reviewed.
Colliers said the monthly median parking rate was $216 for Downtown Honolulu.
That compared with the nation's highest rate of $585 found in Midtown Manhattan.
Colliers said parking owners and operators continue to feel bullish about their business, reflecting a limited supply in many markets.
Advertiser Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — A proposed extension of the Washington, D.C., Metro to Dulles International Airport in the outer Virginia suburbs has some similarities to Honolulu's planned commuter rail.
The 23-mile Dulles line would have 12 stations, serve 87,500 riders a day by 2030 and cost an estimated $5.1 billion to build.
Honolulu's 20-mile rail line is to have 22 stations, serving 90,000 riders by 2030 at a cost of $3.7 billion.
The builders of both lines hope to get the federal government to grant them $900 million each.
Getting the grant has proven to be a challenge for the Washington Metro. The Dulles extension nearly died on the drawing board in January, when the federal agencies decided it didn't meet the standards to qualify for the $900 million grant.
The extension was counting on federal funds to get started. Forty-eight percent of the phase one cost was to be paid for with federal funds, according to the Washington Airports Authority, which is managing construction before it hands off operating duties to Metro.
But the Federal Transit Administration questioned the cost, whether the people in charge could handle such a large construction project and Metro's capacity to operate the extension, given that the current system — which opened in 1976 and has 106 miles of track — needs more money for operation and repairs.
The governors of Virginia and Maryland, Washington's mayor and the region's congressional delegation all pressed to save the federal funding. They offered more money for Metro overall, cut the project's cost by $210 million and reworked their grant proposal.
They also promised the project would meet a rigorous schedule that calls for the first phase to be completed by 2012. That phase, expected to cost $2.9 billion, involves building 11.6 miles of track and five stations through the traffic-clogged Tysons Corner, Va., area.
On April 30, federal authorities agreed the project could move into the final design phase, a big step toward receiving the $900 million in assistance.
Barbara Reese, deputy secretary for the Virginia Transportation Department, said state and other officials are working to ensure that federal requirements are satisfied so the project can receive federal funding.
"We're confident that we will meet the schedule and the requirements ... so construction can begin before the end of this year," Reese said.
Honolulu will also be asking the Federal Transit Administration for a $900 million grant. That and about $3 billion from a half-percentage point excise tax surcharge on O'ahu are the sources of funding for the Honolulu rail system.
Honolulu officials plan to apply for federal money later this summer. They aren't expected to find out how much federal funding they will get until 2011. Mayor Mufi Hannemann wants to break ground on the project in December of next year, with limited service starting in December 2012.potential setback
Moving forward on the federal grant hasn't ended the financial challenges for the Dulles rail project.
Last month, the Virginia Supreme Court decided to consider a lawsuit that seeks to stop Dulles Toll Road revenue — an estimated $940 million — from being used for the rail extension.
Reese said she is optimistic the lawsuit won't affect the project's schedule.
The Dulles extension is the state's "top transportation priority," Reese said. Unless something is done, traffic congestion in the Tysons Corner area — ranked as the nation's 12th-largest business district — will become so bad that five of the eight main roads will be gridlocked by 2010, according to project studies. The area already is home to two major shopping malls and 115,000 jobs, a number expected to increase by up to 60 percent over the next two decades.
"It's critically important that the commuters in Northern Virginia, particularly in Tysons Corner and going out to Dulles Airport, have a mechanism for getting there other than being in their car," Reese said.
Marcia McAllister, spokeswoman for the project at the airports authority, said a mass-transit connection between Dulles airport and Washington's downtown has been considered since the late 1950s, but serious planning didn't start until 1995. Since then, more than 450 meetings have been held with community groups and businesses.
"It's a difficult process. There is nothing about this that has been easy," McAllister said. "Anything that is this big can have a controversy pop up at any time."
Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.Mayor promises he'll veto study
Djou proposal suggests examining feasibility of 'congestion pricing
HONOLULU ADVERTISER Posted on: Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Mayor Mufi Hannemann has said he will veto any measure to pay for a study assessing the feasibility of charging drivers to travel into the city center during peak traffic hours.
On June 26, the City Council transportation committee discussed a resolution suggesting the city conduct the study as a way to reduce traffic and to encourage car pooling and other means of transit. The discussion came amid concerns about soaring gasoline prices and traffic congestion.
The resolution, introduced in August 2007 by Councilman Charles K. Djou, urges "the city Department of Transportation Services to study both the use of congestion pricing in London, England, as well as the proposed plan for congestion pricing in New York City, and determine the feasibility of implementing congestion pricing in Honolulu."
Hannemann's press secretary, Bill Brennan, said yesterday that "Council member Djou is off base in suggesting at this time that the city look into congestion pricing. It's not prudent to be charging people for something that is now free without there being an alternative in place to paying for driving into town."
The proposed study would also analyze and identify potential congestion pricing zones in Honolulu.
The study could cost up to $500,000 and take more than 12 months to complete, according to the city Department of Transportation Services.
Djou said he thinks the $500,000 price tag for studying the idea is extravagant and believes that the issue can be examined for far less. He believes the fee could be one way to help pay for future city infrastructure needs without raising taxes across the board.
Any implementation is "five, 10, maybe 20" years away, but the idea should be considered, he said yesterday.
"I understand the criticism of congestion pricing. The mayor is driven, unfortunately, by politics, not policy. Now is not the time to implement congestion pricing, but does that mean we should be ignorant and that the government do nothing about it?" Djou said.
"What is the harm in knowing the pitfalls, and why we should or shouldn't do it? The mayor is putting everything on rail, and that's fine, that's his own kuleana, but the mayor's own studies say it won't solve traffic, so let's look at some things that might solve traffic," Djou said.
Brennan replied, "Contrary to what he says, we are certainly not putting everything on rail. We have extremely high ridership on TheBoat, on TheBus. We're updating our bicycle master plan for the first time this decade. The studies show there will be less congestion with mass transit than without it, and less congestion with transit than with any of the other alternatives studied."
A state Department of Transportation report last month said any discussion of congestion pricing is premature because the state does not have authority to collect tolls.
Last year, the state briefly discussed with private developers the idea of building a $700 million toll road that could run from Kapolei to Honolulu via the H-1 Freeway.
During a discussion before the City Council's Transportation and Public Works Committee in June, council members talked about the possible installation of pay meters on Bishop, King, Alakea and Beretania streets.
Congestion pricing works by shifting discretionary rush-hour highway travel to other transportation modes or to off-peak periods, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The strategy to reduce traffic in heavily congested areas is being used in London, Rome and Singapore.
State lawmakers in New York recently blocked a plan in New York City that would have charged motorists $8 to drive into lower Manhattan on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Mayor and governor trade barbs over rail!
STAR BULLETIN - Vol. 13, Issue 186 - Friday, July 4, 2008
Mayor Mufi Hannemann implied yesterday that he believes he is viewed unfairly whenever he assails critics, such as rail transit opponents, because of his racial background as a Samoan leader and his height of 6 feet 7 inches. "When a big Polynesian guy gets up, (people think), 'Oh, my, too strong,'" Hannemann said. "That's what's happening in people's mind. I'm passionate. I wouldn't be here today if I didn't believe a Polynesian male could be the leader of this city. ... I believe in my heart and soul that this is the right thing to do."
Mayor Mufi Hannemann also called the governor "wishy-washy" yesterday, noting that Gov. Linda Lingle's backing of an anti-rail movement reverses her previous stance on the issue.
"It seems to me that our good governor is a little bit confused," Hannemann said at a news conference yesterday in response to statements Lingle made Wednesday, saying she will likely sign a petition to let voters decide whether to stop the city's $4 billion rail transit system. "I think she has to hang in there. But that's the role of a political leader. You don't waffle when times get tough. You stick to your convictions."
In an informal meeting with reporters at the same time yesterday, Lingle also criticized Hannemann for personally attacking rail opponents. If Hannemann has a good argument for the 20-mile elevated system from Kapolei to Ala Moana, he should calmly lay it out and not personally attack people, Lingle advised.
"I don't think attacking people in a personal way, talking about the previous governor's wife, helps the situation. And it diminishes his credibility when he does it, because people start to ask the question that if you are right on the issue, why would you have to personally attack another person -- constantly personally attacking people -- instead of laying out sound arguments?" Lingle said.
On Monday, Hannemann criticized former Gov. Ben Cayetano's wife, Vicky, saying, "He has a household that doesn't like rail."
Hannemann emphasized Lingle's State of the State address in 2005, when she expressed enthusiasm for mass transit and working with him.
Although an early supporter of some form of mass transit, Lingle says she has not reached a decision about the plans supported by Hannemann. Funding for the system caused Oahu taxpayers to see their excise taxes rise 12.5 percent from a rate of 4 percent to 4.5 percent.
Lingle says since she first looked at the transit plans, much has changed, but Hannemann is including her as a supporter of rail.
"He is implying things that simply are not true. It is important to the public to be rational and calm and objective about it," Lingle said.
"In many ways she was the key to this happening," Hannemann said. "We've had many opportunities to chat either in a formal or informal setting. She never brought up the wishy-washiness that she brought up now."
Yesterday afternoon two recently formed pro-rail groups -- Support Rail Transit, backed by union groups, and Go Rail Go, backed by a group of residents -- held a rally of about 200 supporters at Honolulu Hale, where Hannemann gave a campaignlike speech.
On Monday, Hannemann also attacked Cayetano because he supported his opponent, former Councilman Duke Bainum, in the 2004 race for mayor.
In an e-mail to the Star-Bulletin, Cayetano called Hannemann's arguments "an angry, incoherent personal attack against me."
Lingle ‘likely’ will sign anti-rail petition
STAR BULLITEN - Vol. 13, Issue 185 - Thursday, July 3, 2008
Gov. Linda Lingle threw her support behind an anti-rail effort attempting to let voters decide whether to move ahead on Mayor Mufi Hannemann's proposed $4 billion rail transit system. Lingle, who has remained mostly quiet on the intensifying debate surrounding the transit project, indicated yesterday that she favors the petition created by Stop Rail Now, a local nonprofit group that wants to stop the system through a voter referendum.
"I'll likely sign the referendum myself," Lingle said yesterday in a Star-Bulletin interview. "This is the most expensive project in the history of the state. The downside is a big one. If it doesn't work out, then (the people) are paying for it one way or another, so why shouldn't people be able to vote on it?"
Hannemann, who has clashed with Lingle on several issues in the past, shot back, pointing out Lingle's previous statements supporting rail.
"She's entitled to her own opinion. But she broached the subject of supporting rail and calling me to come together," Hannemann said, referring to Lingle's State of the State address in 2005, where she expressed support for mass transit and working with Hannemann. "Without those comments and her previous history of supporting rail, we would not be here today. I stand by the fact she made those statements, which basically revived this issue again."
Lingle declined to say whether she supported the city's current project, but her record shows she previously backed rail transit. In 2003 she unveiled a light rail proposal in West Oahu, and has told reporters she believed a route going to the Honolulu Airport would be vital to a transit system in Honolulu.
The debate surrounding the city's 20-mile elevated system from Kapolei to Ala Moana has escalated in the past several weeks as the Aug. 1 deadline approaches to collect nearly 45,000 signatures of registered voters for the issue to be placed on the November ballot. Organizers estimate they have about 35,000 signatures.
Citizens announced the formation yesterday of a new pro-rail group called Go Rail Go. Also yesterday, Stop Rail Now threatened to sue the city for fraud if it does not pull its ads paid for by taxpayer dollars promoting the rail system with what they call "false statements." Hannemann declined to comment yesterday since the lawsuit has not been filed.
Pro- and anti-rail groups have stepped up TV, radio and newspaper advertising, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, including by Hannemann through campaign funds in a newspaper ad that intended to "expose" rail opponents.
"I think you need to tone down the personal attacks on both sides," Lingle said. "I think we need some objective information for the publicly that would allow them to make a good decision as opposed to either being browbeaten. You need to be rational about it."
Lingle said Hannemann's ad was "misleading" by claiming that the governor supports the project.
"I've never taken a public position on rail," Lingle said, referring to this project. "I certainly voted to allow them to have some financial ability, but to imply in an ad like that we're all moving forward together is misleading to the public."
Hannemann said he stands by his ad, noting that the state Legislature approved a general excise tax in 2005 to collect funds to pay for the rail transit system and that the governor let it become law without her signature.
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano, a longtime critic of rail, has also recently public voiced his support of Stop Rail Now and signed the petition several weeks ago. Hannemann responded in a press conference Monday to criticisms by Cayetano.
"Let's be honest of where (Cayetano) is coming from," Hannemann said. "He has a household that doesn't like rail. Let's not make him a holier-than-thou guy trying to be the elder statesman to give advice."
Cayetano shot back, saying that as a taxpayer, he has grave concerns about the information the city's consultants are releasing on the project.
"How sad," Cayetano wrote in an e-mail. "Rather than answer or repudiate my criticism, the mayor launches into an incoherent personal attack against me. I have nothing to gain personally. I am retired from politics. Period."HONOLULU ADVERTISER
Lingle tries to calm Honolulu rail spat
HONOLULU ADVERTISER - Posted on: Thursday, July 3, 2008
Advertiser Staff Writers Proponents and opponents of the city's $3.7 billion elevated commuter rail project accused each other of misleading the public yesterday, and Gov. Linda Lingle called on both parties to pull back on the rhetoric.
The city hopes to break ground on the 20-mile project connecting East Kapolei and Ala Moana next year and open the first segment in 2012. A group opposed to the project is collecting signatures to put it on the November ballot. The city and Mayor Mufi Hannemann are countering with a public relations blitz.
Lingle said the two sides in the rail debate need to provide the public with objective information about the project.
Lingle also expressed concern about ads Hannemann ran which stated, "Our entire congressional delegation, governor, state legislature, city council and my administration, have moved forward with this project."
Lingle, speaking on the Rick Hamada radio show on KHVH 830-AM, said her administration has never taken a stand for or against the train.
"I've never taken a public position on the project," she said. "No one in my administration has ever taken a public position on it, so to say in an ad that we're all moving forward on it including the governor and so on, I thought was misleading."
Meanwhile, a newly formed pro-rail group called Go Rail Go accused the main anti-rail group, Stop Rail Now, of disseminating misleading and deceptive information to garner signatures. Go Rail Go launched a Web site (www.gorailgo.org) for people who signed the anti-rail petition and now wish to remove their names.
"Contrary to what people see and hear, there is a strong, widespread, grassroots support movement for Honolulu's rail transit project," Maeda Timson, the president and spokesperson for the group, said in a news release.
The city spent $1.4 million in taxpayer money on public relations and outreach efforts related to the rail project from August 2005 through February 2008. That effort was augmented last week when Hannemann spent his campaign money on several ads attacking the Stop Rail Now movement.
The ads claimed local anti-rail groups are receiving support from Mainland right-wing special interests — a charge Stop Rail Now denies.
Stop Rail Now threatened to sue the city yesterday, alleging that the pro-rail ad campaign is misleading and inaccurate.
Stop Rail Now claims the city misrepresented the impact of the proposed rail system in a series of radio ads, radio show appearances and printed material.
"The legal case is for constructive fraud, which is a polite way of saying, 'You're misleading everybody,' " said Stop Rail Now backer Cliff Slater.
"Maybe it's by accident. We don't know, but whatever. Take it off the air and spend an equal amount of time correcting all the errors."
lawsuit warningStop Rail Now warned that it will sue the city for fraud and seek a restraining order preventing further pro-rail advertisements if the city doesn't make amends by Tuesday. Such a lawsuit would not prevent the rail project from going forward. However, it could impact the city's ability to continue its public relations campaign.
The city defended the ads.
"The radio advertisements produced and broadcast by the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project and paid for with tax dollars, are factual, accurate and were researched and reviewed extensively to ensure that accuracy," the city said in a written statement.
Representing Stop Rail Now is attorney and former state legislator John Carroll, who believes the group could get a temporary restraining order against the city within two to three weeks.
At least one local attorney doubted the group would succeed in court. Local litigation attorney Bruce Voss said Stop Rail Now's claims of fraud sound "frivolous at best."
"They would have an extremely difficult time proving such a claim," he said.
Even if the city's ads were misleading, "it does not necessarily give rise to a legal claim," Voss added.
Stop Rail Now (www.stoprailnow.com) wants to gather about 45,000 signatures of registered voters by Aug. 4 to place an anti-rail petition on the November ballot. The group says it has collected about 37,000 signatures so far.
Advertiser Staff Writer A University of Hawai'i-Manoa engineering professor who's been a leading critic of the city's $3.7 billion mass transit project declared his intent to run against Mayor Mufi Hannemann this fall."Honolulu needs a change in politics," said Panos D. Prevedouros, a 47-year-old tenured professor and president of the Hawai'i Highway Users Alliance.
Hannemann "is focused on a single, massive, unaffordable project, and that has taken a lot of energy and focus away from important infrastructure issues," said Prevedouros, surrounded by more than a dozen supporters in front of Honolulu Hale yesterday. Prevedouros said waste management, sewage treatment, tourism and road repair are the issues he will run on.
"Anyone is free to run," Hannemann said. "If you're going to jump into the arena with the big boys, you better know about public safety, the economy, tourism. We have stuck to our promises and we have delivered on our promises."
Hannemann has raised more than $2.5 million in campaign funds so far while his opponents have raised little or nothing.
Prevedouros said the contest was not a "money campaign" but a people's campaign.ANTI-RAIL BACKERS
Prevedouros is backed by retired businessman Cliff Slater, Charley's Taxi President Dale Evans, state Sen. Sam Slom, R-8th (Kahala, Hawai'i Kai) and other organizers of the anti-rail effort. Slater said he will help fund Prevedouros' campaign and will encourage his friends and other anti-rail followers to contribute.
Surrounded by people wearing white "Panos for Mayor, Let's Fix Oahu" T-shirts featuring a yellow caution sign and a hard hat, Prevedouros said the city cannot afford rail transit. He touted his civil and traffic engineering experience as proof that he can attend to O'ahu's aging infrastructure and congested roadways.
"O'ahu needs fixing, a lot of fixing," Prevedouros said. "We have huge infrastructure issues. There is a lot of fixing to do, and that is what I can do as a civil engineer."
Eight candidates have signaled their intent to run for mayor, including Hannemann. Three — James R. Brewer, Daniel H. Cunningham and Donovan D. Kambel — have formally filed.
Candidates have until July 22 to file to run for office. The state primary election is scheduled for Sept. 20 and the general election will be Nov. 4.
Prevedouros said that recent advertisements by Hannemann in both of Honolulu's daily newspapers targeted him and other members of the group Stop Rail Now and motivated him to run.
"The ads really upset me," he said.
Prevedouros said he is in the process of applying for an un-paid leave of absence from his 18-year UH career.
In addition to his position at UH, Prevedouros specializes in transportation engineering and has consulted for firms including The IBI Group Inc. and The R.M. Towill Corp., according to his resume.
He was born in Patras, Greece, in 1961, and is expecting a baby boy with his fiancee. They rent a house near Triangle Park in Kahala.'talk straight'
Speaking after a news conference announcing the creation of the Honolulu Forever Young awards honoring working professionals over 65, Hannemann said this is a democracy where anyone can run and urged Prevedouros to "talk straight" about his anti-rail stance.
"This is all about stopping rail. I'm looking forward to this race, and I plan to use my double-A game," Hannemann said. "That ad was very factual. They (the anti-rail supporters) have always been planning to run somebody."
He said the majority of O'ahu residents, state legislators and the state's congressional delegation support the rail plan. He also maintained that "ultra-conservative, libertarian-leaning organizations on the Mainland" are coaching the anti-rail supporters.
Hannemann said Prevedouros' claims that he has been inattentive to infrastructure are "preposterous."
Hannemann supporters said since the mayor took office, the city has spent more than $1 billion on sewer infrastructure and pledged another $1.5 billion over the next six years. His administration has spent more than $125 million on road repairs, filling more than 176,000 potholes and resurfacing 111 lane miles in the process, they said.
Rail opponents are trying to collect enough signatures to put the issue on the November ballot. The city says they need at least 44,525 signatures. As of Sunday, the Stop Rail Now group said, it had collected about 30,000 signatures.
HONOLULU ADVERTISER Posted on: Tuesday, July 1, 2008
By Ben Cayetano
What particularly troubles me about the rail project are the various conflicts of interest among all the parties involved.
However well meaning the mayor might be in pushing for rail transit, his ambition to be elected governor in 2010 has impeded his judgment and made him a little less objective about its value than he might be otherwise.
I weigh in at this time because I am very concerned about the mayor's personal attacks on those who oppose the rail transit project. At the mayor's direction, the city — as well as his campaign organization — has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars demeaning the opposition. This is unfortunate as there is a significant and legitimate case to be made against rail transit that the public should hear on its merits.
When I first became chairman of the House Transportation Committee (1974-78), I was much in favor of rail transit. However, in that position it was incumbent on me to perform a thorough investigation of its merits in cities across the country.
To that end, I conferred with the leading rail proponents and their critics in universities around the nation and, by 1976, I concluded that rail transit was not appropriate for Honolulu. It would have been too much money for too little result — nothing I have learned since then has led me to change my mind.
It is the height of hypocrisy for the mayor to cast aspersions on the reputations of opponents of the rail system. Whatever the conflicts of interests of rail opponents, they pale when compared to the inherent and financially juicy conflicts of the city's rail consultants who are doing the rail project's planning, design, alternative analysis and environmental impact studies.
Only a blind man would not recognize that the city's consultants, Parsons Brinckerhoff, which has already been paid $10 million in consultant fees, can be relied upon to do the mayor's bidding. In its August 2000, draft EIS report, Parsons Brinckerhoff concluded: "The light rail transit alternative was dropped because subsequent analyses revealed that bus/rapid transit using electric-powered vehicles could accomplish virtually all of the objectives of light-rail transit at substantially less cost."
Jeremy Harris was mayor then and Parsons Brinckerhoff's opinion was what he needed to dismiss light rail and justify his proposed BRT bus system. But now that we have a new mayor who wants rail, Parsons Brinckerhoff has dumped its past judgment and now proclaims that rail transit is the answer.
I am also somewhat troubled that InfraConsult, the company that has been hired as the project manager for the rail proposal, consists almost entirely of former Parsons Brinckerhoff employees — and it is especially troubling that the city's director of transportation services was recently hired from Parsons Brinckerhoff. It might be useful for the news media to do a little spadework for the public and ask some simple questions. For example, why did he leave Parsons Brinckerhoff? Are the financial rewards greater with the city than it was with Parsons Brinckerhoff?
Now there is nothing illegal about all of this but when all the assistance the city is getting in this project is coming from individuals and consultant companies who stand to make millions in fees, we should be concerned about their objectivity. Whether the project would finish up at $4 billion, $5 billion, $6 billion, or $7 billion — the consulting fees alone would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars — is there anyone who believes that the various consultants would not want to see that the rail project be built?
We have already seen the first $107 million being awarded to Parsons Brinckerhoff and InfraConsult, and it is disturbing that so much of the funds are going for high-powered public relations efforts. If the project is going to be explained to us objectively, rather than just simply sold to us, then such expenditures should not be necessary.
Ben Cayetano was governor of Hawai'i from 1994-2002. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.
OUR OPINION
STAR BULLETIN - Vol. 13, Issue 187 - Saturday, July 5, 2008
Don’t be silent about evidence of domestic violence
The double murder and suicide in a Mililani Mauka family brings Hawaii's domestic-violence fatalities this year to 10. THE double murder and suicide in a Mililani Mauka home this week is made more tragic by the reality that such an incident is becoming commonplace -- it was Hawaii's third murder-suicide in little more than two months. It brings the state's domestic-violence deaths to 10 for the year, compared to six all of last year. Organizations dedicated to combatting domestic violence need to increase their efforts to help potential victims before it is too late. Suzanne Green, a domestic violence educator for the State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, has said it is a "secret and silencing crime. The longer we keep it silent, the more women get hurt and the more we continue to blame them."
Neighbors were stunned to learn that Michael A. James, 43, had strangled his 39-year-old wife, Grineline, drowned his 7-year-old son, Michael A. James Jr., and hanged himself at the family's home. They described James as friendly and the family as cheerful. James owed at least $10,870 to his credit union, which filed a lawsuit against him about two weeks before the incident to collect the debt.
The deaths occurred about a month after 60-year-old Eliseo Dumlao Jr. shot dead his 45-year-old wife, Marissa, before killing himself in Halawa Heights. A month earlier, Domingo Dikito, 39, died from a self-inflicted gunshot after shooting dead his 38-year-old wife, Della, at their Ewa Beach home.
In January, 23-month-old Cyrus Belt was thrown to his death from an H-1 overpass by a neighbor who had been left in charge of the toddler's supervision, 29-year-old Janel Tupuola's ex-boyfriend is alleged to have beaten her to death with the butt of a shotgun in a Kailua street, and 39-year-old Jenny Hartsock's husband is accused of having fatally stabbed her outside their Kalihi apartment.
Determining a common element in domestic-violence homicides is impossible, often belying stereotypes of alcoholism, drug addiction or financial problems. The cause generally has more to do with power and control than anger or stress, although the latter appears to have played a role in the James deaths.
About 30 percent of Hawaii's homicides in a recent 10-year period resulted from domestic violence, twice the national rate, according to a state attorney general's report several years ago. Hololulu police have estimated that they spend from one-third to half their work time responding to "domestic" calls. Too often, those calls are not made.
Man finishes journey from Hawaii to Japan in wave-powered boatTrip took more than 3 months!
Posted on: Saturday, July 5, 2008 10:13 AM HST
Associated Press
TOKYO (AP)Japanese adventurer Kenichi Horie took more than three months to sail from Hawaii to Japan in a boat powered by the energy of ocean waves, but says he was blessed with good weather and tasty fish. "The sea was so calm, and the weather was so great throughout my journey. That's why it took me so long," he said today.
The 4,800-mile (7,800-kilometer) voyage, which began in Honolulu in March, ended Friday when his 3-ton yacht docked in Wakayama in western Japan.
he trip ・which Horie claims was the world's longest solo voyage in a wave-powered boat ・is just the latest journey using green technology for the 69-year-old sailor.
In 1992, Horie pedaled a boat from Hawaii to Okinawa in southern Japan. In 1996, he sailed nearly 10,000 miles (16,090 kilometers) from Ecuador to Tokyo aboard a solar-powered boat made from recycled aluminum beer cans.
Horie's most recent trip would have taken just 10 days in a regular diesel-powered boat. But he said he is raising awareness about ecology, although his endeavors may take a bit longer.
His boat, which relies on wave energy to move two fins at its bow and propel it forward, sailed at an average speed of 1.5 knots ・slower than humans walk.
"I've been thinking about riding a wave-powered boat for 30 years, and finally my dream came true. The journey was so fun, and it was easy," he said in a telephone interview from his yacht in Osaka Bay in western Japan.
Horie ate mostly rice and curry that he brought along on the boat, but sometimes ate squid and flying fish that he caught.
"They tasted great," he said.
The 31-foot (9.5-meter) boat, the Suntory Mermaid II, was designed to right itself if it capsized and was equipped with an engine and a sail for emergencies. But they were never needed because Horie didn't encounter a single storm.
Equipment on the boat, made of recycled aluminum, was all solar-powered, including navigation radios, microwave and even Horie's razor.
