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Kaimuki Neighborhood Board - Minutes Of May 16, 2007 Posted
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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
Questions? Ready for an appointment?
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