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  • Kaimuki Neighborhood Board - Minutes Of May 16, 2007 Posted


KAIMUKI NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD

KAIMUKI REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2007

LILIOKALANI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CALL TO ORDER - The meeting was called to order by Chair Abe with a quorum present at 7:05 p.m.

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Mike Abe, Daniel Carvalho, Randolph Hack, Eduardo Hernandez, Abigail Leong, Daniel Nahoopii, Sharon Schneider.

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Jim Cone.

GUESTS: Firefighter 3 M. Bunner (HFD, Kaimuki Station), Sgt. L. Dabaluz, Officer A. Kahapea, Lt. E. Nishiyama (HPD, District 7), Chester Lau (Board of Water Supply), Janel Cohen and Calvin Azaya (House Speaker Calvin Say‚s office); Susan Jackson (Governor‚s Representative, Deputy Director, Department of Health), Senator Les Ihara, Representative Barbara Marumoto, Stan Fitchman (Councilmember Charles Dijou‚s office), Jay Ishibashi, (Mayor‚s Representative), Darin Mar (Department of Transportation Services), Lydia Chock (Leahi Hospital), Senator Glenn Yamasaki, S. Suzuki, S. Sonoda, Sarah Chinen, Mr. Elwood, Charin Tomomitsu, Mark Vasconcellos, Dori Smith, C. Schuster, Bonnie Trustin (Neighborhood Commission Office Staff).

Chair Abe gave his congratulations to all the Board members who were re-elected and welcomed a new member joining the Board next month, Dori Ryback Smith.

BOARD VACANCIES: There were no volunteers who came forward to fill any of the four vacancies in Sub District 1 which is bounded by Waialae, 12th Avenue, Alohea and Puunui. The seats can be filled by coming forward and being elected at the June meeting. There is also a vacancy in Sub District 3 bounded by 12th Avenue, 6th Avenue, Waialae and Alohea. If you are interested in serving on the board, please attend the next meeting.

PUBLIC SAFETY REPORTS:

Honolulu Police Department (HPD) - Officer Kahapea reported they have newly designed packets they provided to everyone which included maps of each beat plotted with the location and the number of different kinds of offenses that occurred for the month including vice and narcotics. Also included were copies of their very informative „Safety Tip‰ brochures for adults. The statistics showed this month‚s totals are down overall but thefts are unpredictable because when someone puts something down another person can be there presenting a crime of opportunity so please keep track of your valuables.Questions, answers and concerns:

1) The summer months don‚t necessarily have increased thefts; just be aware of the environment around you and watch for possible unsafe situations.

2) Chair Abe appreciated these new information packets. He reported that a group of residents from the Sierra Drive area met here last month and discussed an identified drug house in their neighborhood. They formed a neighborhood patrol and are making every effort to shut the activity down. There were other drug houses in the Kaimuki area that were shut down in the past. He asked people to contact the police if they hear of this situation because they, the Prosecutor‚s Office and the State Attorney General‚s office have been very helpful in getting these places shut down.

3) Officer Kahapea reported that their main goal is to get the community involved in their   neighborhood to make them safe.

4) He doesn‚t know why the crime rate for Beat 766 has doubled from March to April; they can‚t conjecture why crimes occur because they get the information after the fact.

Honolulu Fire Department - Firefighter Bunner reported the following statistics for April: There were six structure, one rubbish and one vehicle fire. There were 86 medical emergencies and 14 miscellaneous calls for a total of 108 alarms. There were no major or unusual incidents.

Safety Tip of the Month:  Prepare a fire escape plan. Map out your escape routes with at least two ways out of each room. Designate a location outside the house where everyone can meet and know where the closest phone is located to call 911.

Questions, answers and concerns:

Hernandez recently had a fire in his outside fuse box which burned up his main fuse. He called HECO and it took them a few hours to respond. He was concerned this situation could be a fire hazard. Firefighter 3 Bunner suggested he call the Fire Department so they can check for shorts in their house; a short in the walls could cause a fire so never hesitate to call them; they are on duty 24 hours a day.

BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY  - Chester Lau reported the Board of Water Supply is involved in a campaign to replace the 70-90 year old pipelines in the Kaimuki district makai of Waialae and Maunaloa Avenues where they will be starting sometime soon.

Although presently we have very high water levels, they could go down. For the last five months we have only had 75% of normal rainfall so we should consider conserving water which would save you money on your water bill.Questions, answers, and concerns:

1) The recent water main break on Kapiolani Boulevard is in an old main 60-80 years old; it has already been repaired.

  2) The Board of Water Supply‚s main replacement program will eventually bring us to the point where there will be minimal leaks. Kaimuki still has areas that need replacement including the portion along Sierra Drive but should be in good shape within the next five years. There is no area that needs to be replaced that is longer than 1,000 feet.  3) If a water main is replaced your water pressure will not necessarily increase. One factor is how corroded the water pipes are in your house and also how close a home is to the

reservoir that serves it. If you live below 180 feet elevation, served by a 180 foot reservoir that feeds everything down to sea level, with new copper water pipes a resident can provide all the water pressure available at that elevation. If you live further than 40 feet from the reservoir you get minimum pressure.

  4) Hernandez reported seeing a slight bit of water seeping out through a crack in the road just above 4646 Sierra Drive seeping out through a crack in the road. Lau responded it could be from a water main.

The monthly report is as follows:

The 2007 Annual Detect-A-Leak Week will be observed from June 3 ˆ 9 to focus the public‚s attention on the importance of finding and fixing simple leaks around the house. During this time

toilet leak detection dye tablets are free for pickup at various City Mill stores, satellite city halls and in the Board of Water Supply lobby on Beretania Street. Also, free home leak check-ups will be provided to 50 customers through a drawing that will be announced later. Special thanks to our co-sponsor, City Mill, and associate sponsors the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and the Sierra Club of Oahu for their help with this year‚s Detect-a-Leak Week!

The average household with a leak or two that adds up to a 1/8 stream can lose 150,000 gallons over the course of a year so do your part to „drop the drips!‰

Water Savings Tips:  1) If your shower can fill a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, then replace it with a water-efficient showerhead. 2) When you shop for a new appliance, consider one offering cycle and load size adjustments. They are more water and energy-efficient than older appliances. 3) More plants die from over-watering than from under-water so be sure to water plants only when necessary.

Public Input and Concerns:

 1) Resident Sarah Chinen reported the problem she has with her neighbor‚s pet chicken waking her up every morning between 4:00 ˆ 4:30 a.m in her neighborhood between 21st and 22nd on Maunaloa. The owner is hardly ever home. Nahoopii has had problems with chickens in his neighborhood so he suggested she call the police first to identify where the chickens are and then the Game Breeders Society, you can get their number from the Humane Society, and they will come out and teach the chicken owner how to control their chicken‚s crowing.

 2) Resident Koran reported the residents on her street just read in the newspaper that two doors down from where she lives a local developer is thinking of opening up a care home at 723 16th Avenue between Kilauea and Moanaloa. The structure has been a transient boarder rental unit for many years and currently well over eight unrelated people have been counted living there who utilize many of the street parking spaces, some of whom leave their often non-working cars there for up to two weeks. Another house across the street from that one is at 714 16th Avenue which is a time share/vacation rental with a constant stream of tourist rental cars going in and out. Across from that on the corner of 16th Avenue and Kilauea is what the neighbors call „the frat house‰ with 15 to 20 boys living there. But the greatest impact on their area is the community college ˆ you can‚t find parking on her street anymore. Every day she leaves for work there is a car waiting to take her parking space so the life long residents of the area want to know what their rights are- do they have any say if a care home wants to come into their area because their neighborhood is just stretched to the limit? They don‚t want a care home on their block or in their area. Tonight driving to this meeting, cars came barreling down the street and she had to drive on the sidewalk to avoid being hit, which happens daily. They want to know what their rights are and who they can call to say they don‚t want this because too many people are living in too few homes in a concentrated area; if this weren‚t their situation they would have no objection to the residential home moving in.

Chair Abe called on the Mayor‚s Representative, Jay Ishibashi, who could put her in touch with someone from the Planning and Permitting Department. There is a Conditional Use Permit Process that can be explained. Councilmember Dijou‚s representative, Stan Fitchman, is here. Councilmember Dijou was the past Chair of the Zoning Committee so his office has expertise in zoning and land use. Another idea is that the Board needs a representative from your area to serve on the Board and we could take up the issue of land use in neighborhoods; we understand the increasing pressure concerning this subject. KCC is in the process of trying to build more parking to alleviate the problem of parking and the amount of traffic on their neighboring streets. The Board might want to do a deliberate study on this issue and she could help them. We could call in representatives from the City to advise what we can do or what we can change to protect our neighborhoods.

Hack reported that if it is a licensed adult residential care home, the State Department of Health has some input in granting licenses.

Hernandez suggested reporting the vacation rental because there is an issue about vacation rentals needing to be licensed and paying GET tax.Ishibashi reported permitting of vacation rentals is a challenging issue the City has been trying to address. The „fraternity‰ house can be in violation with too many unrelated people living in a home so he suggested calling the Department of Planning and Permitting to investigate if they are not abiding by the ordinances. The Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) can deny permits; they have to comply with their ordinances. To establish a nursing home there must be acquire their permits and comply with the laws of the DPP and DOH.

MAYOR‚S REPRESENTATIVE ˆ Jay Ishibashi reported the following:

 1) The City Administration is trying to convince the EPA that an upgrade to secondary treatment plants is unnecessary. At a hearing before the EPA on May 15th in Kapolei, over 60 people testified to have the EPA extend the city‚s current waiver. Many individuals from the science community and area residents came forward to testify there has been no evidence of any negative impct or outfall from the Honouliuli treatment facility. Instead of the projected $1.2 billion to take the Honouliuli and Sand Island plants to secondary treatment, the administration believes the funds would be better spent continuing the city‚s efforts to upgrade/fix the 30-40 year old sewer lines. The estimated costs could potentially mean an increase of approximately $300 per month to county taxpayers. Ishibashi encouraged the public to tell the EPA there is no need for secondary treatment at the aforementioned facilities.

  2) The City is holding recycling meetings around the island and the greatest response is from children; last Saturday the meeting was well attended at Iolani School. Recycling effects our children‚s future and he thinks the students really understood the need for recycling, in order to sustain what we have we must make some choices. Speaking for himself, he is in the habit of throwing things away as does a large percentage of our population. The recycling proposals the City has presented could be costly so they will try to promote ideas that balance out the cost.

 3) Republic Parking, the newly selected contractor for the Kaimuki parking lot project, has started the physical preparation of the lot and wants to minimize any inconvenience to those using it so they are doing their work in stages.  4) Ishibashi presented the results of the bus stop realignment study in Kaimuki as follows: On Waialae Avenue 37 stops were evaluated and 12 removed; on Kilauea Avenue 27 stops were evaluated and 7 removed; on Pahoa Avenue 17 stops were evaluated and 8 removed; on 18th Avenue 12 stops were evaluated and 2 removed and on Maunaloa Avenue 4 were evaluated and 1 was removed.

  5) The Kapaolono pool report from the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) reported the buildings‚ improvement project entails relining the existing plaster swimming pool with ceramic tiles, redoing the pool deck, walkways, some renovation of the existing structures, toilets and new storage space. The tile work was delayed when cracks in the pool‚s concrete shell were found after the plaster pool lining was removed. This unforeseen condition and resulting question over the pool‚s structural integrity needed to be addressed before the tile work could be continued. Having resolved this concern in January, another issue surfaced when it was discovered that the pool bottom and sides were not flat but rather skewed requiring an adjustment in the installation procedure. At this time we are finalizing the adjusted work procedure and expect the tiling work to resume shortly (they should be working on it now). These issues have delayed the work for about three months and the revised project completion date is now sometime at the end of this year rather than the previous projected date of September which will increase the project‚s cost by a yet to be determined amount.

  6) Hernandez asked for an update on the Mauanalani Park renovation project. Ishibashi will provide an update at the next meeting.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1) Leong had collected over 100 signatures in support of reinstating the 11th and Kilauea bus stop and a four way bus stop at 12th Avenue and Kilauea to benefit many elderly people who use them daily, the children attending Kaimuki Middle School and children walking to Kapalama Field. When she asked the Department of Transportation Services (DTS) to reinstate them, they did not agree to do it. Ishibashi shared that some communities have reinstated certain bus stops so he suggested she submit her information. DTS checks the number of people using the stop at different times of day to determine usage with the objective of minimizing the cost to the taxpayer.

 2) Chair Abe asked people to come forward to reinstate bus stops by getting petitions to show support for their opinion. Ishibashi shared some bus stops are not used as frequently as they were in the past. Some of the bus stops are vandalized repeatedly, and require constant maintenance and repair.                                         3) A resident asked if the benches for bus riders in front of the Goodwill store on Waialae and Koko Head Avenues could be moved; one is closer to the building and in the shade but the other two are further from the building and it is hot to sit there because they are always in the sun.

 4) Ishibashi reported to Leong that the EPA wants the City to improve their sewage treatment plants by upgrading the system to the secondary treatment levels and most people feel it is not necessary. A test was run sending a few bales out to sea at a depth of about 200-300 feet of water with divers projecting it would take 50 years for them to surface.  The City wants to spend the money fixing our sewers that are 30 - 40 years old including fixing the cracks so we can prevent what happened in Waikiki, rather than spending  $1.2 billion to upgrade both plants. Hawaii‚s sewage is not as polluted as other states but the EPA is putting us through the process as they do other states. The Congressional delegation has advised the EPA that their request is unnecessary.

 5) Ishibashi responded to Hernandez that the EPA has told us they are making this request because they must hold us to the same standard as they do for other states although they know that Hawaii has less pollution and it is not as dense as many other states. There has been nothing to show that we need to go through the secondary treatment.

Questions, answers and concerns:

Residents commented they don‚t want home owners to have to pay for these kinds of expenses.

KAIMUKI PARKING LOT ˆ Darin Mar, from the Department of Transportation Services (DTS), the Project Manager for the parking lot, reported signs were recently posted asking the lot be cleared by this Friday so the DTS contractor can put in trenches for their electrical and data lines to go to the gates. The company needs to trench on the 12th and Harding driveway to the 11th Avenue Harding driveway, then across in the direction of the Kim Chee restaurant and back between the Waialae 12th Avenue driveway to the 11th Avenue Waialae driveway over the next two weeks.As soon as they dig their 2 foot wide, 2 foot deep hole to lay electrical and telephone conduits, they will cover them up with metal plates and then release the stalls back to parking status progressing around the property as explained.

Questions, answers and concerns:

 1) The plan is not to remove any trees from the lot.

 2) To do their work at night so as not to disturb businesses that operate during the day, they would have to apply to the Department of Health for a noise permit which they have not considered however the lots around the restaurants are also busy at night.

   3) He projects the DTS would have a June completion date and he advised the Board that this doesn‚t include the paving work. The contractor in this phase will put in his gates, parking and attendant booths, pay station and remove the meters; they have been given one year to complete the entire surfacing.

4) There is no money in this contract; the concessionaire is responsible for the entire bill of the work.

5) Residents warned Mar he will find many rocks as they dig up the parking lot.

COUNCILMEMBER ANN KOBAYASHI ˆ Councilmember Kobayashi‚s newsletter was distributed.

COUNCILMEMBER CHARLES DIJOU  - Stan Fitchman represented Councilmember Dijou while he is at army training. Dijou resigned from the Zoning Committee late last month and now he is the Chair of the Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs.

1) Resolution #7-152 presented by the City Council asks the Department of Planning and Permitting to be more cognizant of wheelchairs and wants them to decide about installing wheelchair ramps in residential areas.

2) Today the Council discussed the budget to reduce property taxes.

3) The Council discussed a place to name after Don Ho.

4) There was discussion on recycling and shipping of waste out of Oahu to relieve dependence on the Waimanalo Gulch landfill. The City Council is working on a comprehensive waste plan to go into effect after the Gulch closes.

5) Councilmember Dijou did not vote for the rail but since it has been approved, he supports what he sees as the best plan possible with the route serving residents going to the airport, Pearl Harbor and Hickam.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1) Schneider feels Oahu citizens like to travel and would use the rail going to and from the airport instead of using their cars. Ishibashi remarked a lot of the residents want to envision what the rail will look like; as the 13th largest metropolis in the United States we need to offer options.

2) Hack reminded the attendees that this is a minimum operating segment and there is more to come.

GOVERNOR‚S REPRESENTATIVE ˆ Dr. Susan Jackson, Deputy Director, Department of Health (DOH) reported tonight‚s topics have spanned across many issues in which the Department of Health is involved. The environmental section of the DOH is mainly a regulatory and enforcement section. 1) Dealing with the EPA has required much negotiation. Our island state has differences from the mainland in a number of ways, not only environmentally. Some of our conversations with the EPA cannot be known yet, but if people are interested in more information about the primary verses secondary waste water treatment, let her know so she can bring an environmental specialist to speak at this Neighborhood Board meeting in the future. The State‚s position on the secondary treatment plant is subject to negotiation which we don‚t want to make public until our negotiations with the EPA are complete. We cautioned the legislature against passing a resolution because the issue still has legal ramifications we really can‚t talk about regarding the expenditure to fix our sewer infrastructure which is sincerely needed, versus the changing EPA standards regarding secondary wastewater treatment, whereas previously it has been sufficient to send it so many miles into the ocean. 2) Regarding care homes, the Department of Health is responsible for licensing all the health care settings in the state, including adult residential care homes, and we work closely with the City and the Department of Planning and Permitting which is responsible for the zoning and related issues. Her office met last week with Councilmember Ann Kobayashi and Representative Kirk Caldwell, members of the Department of Planning and Permitting and Health Care Assurance to discuss the Manoa issue which has received a lot of press. There was a resolution in the legislature to ask the Department of Health to look at the issue which is three fold because we are dealing with the Federal Fair Housing Act, the state regulations for licensing and the City and County zoning and use permits. After that discussion, we had to factor in the population of Hawaii is aging two and one half times faster than on the mainland and they prefer to be in a community, residential setting rather than an institutional one because those people don‚t need high level nursing care. When our residents go to nursing facilities their level of acuity is much higher than on the mainland, partially because our sense of ohana with people looking after people and the issue of the adult residential care home. We realize it is a sensitive issue for many neighborhoods, but it is a very real issue and as a state we need to come to terms with it because a large group of our population is going to be significantly older soon requiring different levels of care in such facilities.

Currently the DOH is having attorneys look at federal, state and city and county regulations. The Federal Fair Housing Act is pretty specific about what you can and cannot do so the department cannot selectively say „No, I‚m going to give you a license but not you a license,‰ because there is nothing in the City and County regulations and Department of Health regulations that say how to keep the residents safe. There are proper care methods in place but there is no regulation saying that care homes must be at least 1,000 feet apart or that they canŒt be compensated.. We look at the licensing applications to see if they have satisfied city and county regulations and we have additional requirements regarding fire and safety compliance and issues related to ADA standards; we are in no position to deny someone a license.Questions, answers and concerns:

1) Chair Abe encapsulated Dr. Jackson‚s report for a resident with a potential residential care home coming to her busy residential street saying the issue is more of a zoning and City and County issue than a state issue since the State regulates how it is operated and the structure and location is determined by the City and County. Dr. Jackson added the Federal Fair Housing Act weighs heavily in the decision and she can explain about that at the next meeting concerning standards for a group home of disabled or elderly people. She appreciates the difficulties in neighborhoods that are crowded and could have a residential homes moving in.

2) Hack reported the Supreme Court in the Olmstead decision mandated community integration for persons with disabilities in the least restricted setting and he thinks it will be found that the presence of those with disabilities is a lot less stressful than a house full of college people coming and going.

3) Dr. Jackson appreciates hearing about the traffic and increased noise in neighborhoods and the changing environment. Her department is examining these issues with the task force and attorneys to sort out how all these different levels of regulations interact.

4) Dr. Jackson reported you need a use permit that allows a group home to have no more than eight unrelated people living there. She will investigate whether the DOH has received an application from the address the resident gave for a care home to explain the situation there more clearly.

5) Dr. Jackson addressed Hernandez‚s concern about Hawaii‚s preparedness in case a disaster  would strike as Greensburg, Kansas recently experienced. Maj. Gen. Lee, Adjutant General, State of Hawaii, has kept a close eye on National Guard and military resources available and is working with the Federal government to try to be as sure as possible that there is a balance of deployment so there are not too many National Guard troops deployed. She will investigate and advise the board about the availability of equipment.

SENATOR LES IHARA ˆ Senator Ihara reported the following:

1) The legislature appropriated $20 million to continue the Weighted Student Formula funding as it is now so smaller schools won‚t have to cut their budgets because it would cost more to maintain the infrastructure of their staff than a larger school; this helps this area which has many small schools.

2) Seventy percent of the 33 initiatives addressing caregiver issues presented to the legislature passed in one form or another helping to build a support system for families who care for their elderly relatives in their homes. Unfortunately the home modification tax credit didn‚t pass, which would have given financial returns to those who retrofit their homes with grab bars, etc., but he will work on it for next year.

3) He co-chairs the Joint Legislative Committee on Family Care Giving and will be working on the next phase of the Kapuna caucuses.

4) The legislature appropriated $3 million over the next two years for pedestrian safety improvements by the state and county; many elderly walkers get hurt and this would afford an increase in time for them to get through intersections, countdown timers at intersections, public awareness campaigns, enforcement of crosswalk laws, and pilot projects for strategies such as pedestrian-activated flashing signals and in-pavement warning lights.

5) He has been working to help change the Sunshine Law; the House passed one bill but it died in the Senate. Another bill died in Senator Lorraine Inouye‚s committee and said she didn‚t know about the issues because they don‚t have neighborhood boards on her island of Hawaii so she tabled the bill until next year. Another bill went to the Senate to Senator Hee‚s Judiciary Committee but it didn‚t pass. Senator Ihara asked for people to get the word out and support them next session. At the last Kaimuki Neighborhood Board meeting he attended, a meeting wasn‚t held because there was no quorum even though there was an agenda sent out announcing the meeting and many people came to present their reports. In a way it is good to have the Sunshine law which covers everything but then you have to make the law of exceptions. The other way is to have the Sunshine Law apply only when there is a quorum present, but this would allow too many loopholes. He supports a strong Sunshine Law with some specific exceptions so people don‚t get frustrated. There was overconfidence that the bills would pass, but a communication breakdown caused a breakdown of support for passage.

6) The Palolo Neighborhood Board asked for a skateboarding park and he is considering a location of a 5,000 sq. ft. abandoned building for the City to build and someone to maintain. Working with the State, he will try to make it a reality serving residents in the densely populated areas of Kapahulu, Palolo and St. Louis Heights.

Questions, answers and concerns:

1) Nahoopii reminded him that a Kaimuki skateboard park was proposed by the Kaimuki Neighborhood Board Vision Team, was supported by the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and it went through the planning stages but it wasn‚t approved by the

Mayor. Ihara will investigate whether DPR found it to be workable and will try to get it approved. 2) Two million dollars was appropriated for construction of Diamond Head State Monument rockfall mitigation measures and related improvements and $4,400,000 for construction of Diamond Head State Monument trail system improvements for load distribution and carrying capacity for the trail system.

3) Senator Ihara thanked Dr. Jackson for her help in getting the family caregiver omnibus bill passed and helping to fund parts of it using $200,000 in funds appropriated in 2006.

HOUSE SPEAKER CALVIN SAY ˆ Janel Cohen provided the Speaker‚s newsletter. There were no questions for the House Speaker.

REPRESENTATIVE BARBARA MARUMOTO ˆ Representative Marumoto reported the following:

1) She enjoyed working with the board and expressed her appreciation for their hard work on the Capital Improvement Project appropriations.

2) KCC graduated at least 1,000 students this month. The college will be developing a new curriculum working with the Manoa campus coordinating certain majors between the schools.

3) Kahala School raised over $100,00 to add onto their library and they have tremendous parental support.

4) The bills that didn‚t pass through the legislature are shown as vetoed with a „V‰ or overridden with an „O‰. Bills are alive for two years so they will be discussed in the next legislative session however resolutions die in one year. The Governor has until June 25 to veto bills and on July 10 the law makers will hold a special session to override the Governor‚s vetoed bills.

5) She is sorry all the Sunshine Bills did not pass; Senator Ihara worked very hard to help them be adopted.

6) She asked for any ideas the board might have for bills they want presented at the next legislative session.

REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT NISHIMOTO ˆ Representative Nishimoto‚s report was distributed.

REPRESENTATIVE LYLA BERG ˆ Representative Berg‚s report was distributed.

QUEEN LILIOKULANI SCHOOL RENTAL  - Chair Abe reported that the Board Treasurer, Randolph Hack, met with the school and signed an agreement with Queen Liliokalani School to accept the charge of a $25.00 fee per month to use their cafeteria for our Neighborhood Board meetings. Hack called the Kaimuki Neighborhood Assistant and found out this is a standard price which is deemed allowable and reasonable.

Hack moved and Hernandez seconded to accept the school charge of $25.00 from the Kaimuki Neighborhood Board fund for expenses. The Board moved unanimously to adopt the motion.

CIVIL UNIONS - Hernandez acknowledged House Speaker Calvin Say for introducing HB 908 earlier this year, a bill recognized as a compromise measure between marriage equality and discrimination. The bill is similar to the laws in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Portugal, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and in the states of New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. As we talk this evening about kapuna care, community safety related to substance abuse and issues of how we are going to pay for our homes and our taxes, this is an important issue because it creates the ability for families to be stronger by having legal access to rights such as state tax filing status and option benefits and importantly access to insurance benefits. With healthcare increasing, it is important for families to have access to it which in many cases they do not. This bill had a five hour hearing in the House Judiciary in February with hundreds of speakers in attendance. Most speakers were in favor of the bill including the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Hawaii Psychological Association, parents, faith groups, students, the Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Honolulu Advertiser, the Honolulu Star Bulletin and many other groups across our island. The main group opposed to this was the Catholic Church.Despite lengthy testimony, the Judiciary Chair, Tommy Waters, decided to table the measure and deferred it. By doing this the public is not apprised of who is opposed and who is in support of the bill. Hernandez wants to educate the citizens of Kaimuki because there are many gay and lesbian families in the neighborhood who could benefit from access to equal rights and equal protection. He encouraged everyone to get in touch with their legislators to ask for support of this bill next year when it will be heard again.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES ˆ There were no minutes to approve because there was no meeting in April.TREASURER‚S REPORT - Hack reported the April Statement showed $3,741.12 in the Operating/Publicity Account with printing charges of $15.77 and $76.86 for mailing the agenda and minutes. The refreshment account shows a balance of $27.29.

ADJOURNMENT - The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m.

Submitted by

Bonnie Trustin

Neighborhood Assistant

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