From a prepared statement released this afternoon:

Honolulu, Hawaii - Today, more than forty state and county leaders representing all islands—including Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—joined together to commit to putting the best interests of the public first and called for moving forward to examine the potential of public utilities owned by the people.

“Public utilities don’t need higher rates to make profits for shareholders, and as a result they tend to have significantly lower rates than for-profit utilities across the country. We have an obligation to explore this option, especially if it can save residents a lot more money in the long run.” said Rep. Chris Lee (D-Kailua, Waimanalo) and Chairman of Energy and Environmental Protection Committee.

“As Republicans and Democrats we have differences. But, we can all agree that the skyrocketing cost of electricity is detrimental to local families. Until NextERA provides a framework for customer savings, it would be irresponsible not to explore options like co-ops and other alternatives,” said Minority Leader Beth Fukumoto-Chang (R-Mililani, Mililani-Mauka).

“As more and more people seek ways to become energy self-sufficient, we need to rethink our traditional electrical power distribution.  As the future heads towards decentralized systems, now is the time for us to explore public ownership as an option that could best serve the needs of Oahu residents,” commented Oahu City Council Chair Ernie Martin.

In addition to state legislators from every island, key county officials seeking to examine the potential of locally-owned public utilities such as co-ops include Oahu City Council Chair Ernie Martin, Big Island County Council Chair Dru Kanuha, Kauai County Council Chair Mel Rapozo, Maui County Councilmember Don Guzman, Chair of the Economic Development, Energy, Agriculture, & Recreation Committee, Big Island County Councilmember Margaret Willie, Chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Water and Energy Sustainability, Big Island County Council, Big Island Councilmember Karen Eoff, Chair of the Committee on Finance, and many others.

The Department of Facility Maintenance (DFM) is spending its time today going around Kakaako makai posting a notice informing the houseless community that has taken refuge there that sidewalk nuisance and stored property enforcement will resume next week, beginning Tuesday, September 8—I kid you not—“weather permitting.” If it’s a nice day out, folks, expect to be displaced from your current place of refuge. If there’s a hurricane, well, good luck.

The notice states that enforcement action will occur over the course of several weeks or months and will start in the vicinity of Ohe Street and Cooke Street, from Ilalo Street to Ala Moana Boulevard. The enforcement action will occur in phases and will cover sidewalks and other City property from and including the makai side of Ala Moana Boulevard to the ocean, and from Forrest Avenue to the east end of Ilalo Street. This neighborhood has become a refuge for a large population of Hawaii’s houseless, many of whom are in family units.

The city says it will hand out its Oahu Homeless Help Card and blue pouches that can be used to store important documents such as IDs and medication. The loss of these items during the city’s sit-lie enforcement raids on houseless encampments has been a major problem for the houseless community, as has been recovering confiscated property. The question of whether the sit-lie laws are constitutional also remains a central objection to the laws by houseless advocates who maintain they do much more harm than good. Where the large Kakaako makai houseless community will move to now remains an unknown.

Enforcement will begin on the streets mentioned above and will expand in a phased approach in subsequent weeks to the other streets of Kakaako makai, with specific locations and timing announced later. There are sidewalks in Kakaako makai that the city does not have jurisdiction over, but the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA) has provided the city with a formal “right of entry” that allows the city to enforce its laws on the sidewalks that the state agency has jurisdiction over.

According to the city, the notices are being posted and distributed in Chuukese, English, Marshallese and Samoan. The state coordinator on homelessness, Scott Morishige, says he is verifying that shelter space exists for the individuals and families affected by this first phase of enforcement. “Service providers have been asked to work with individuals and families in this area to help them find shelter this week before enforcement begins,” according to the city. Advocates maintain that, for many houseless individuals and families, shelters—such as they are—are not desirable or, in many cases, viable options.

The city has asked media wishing to cover the flier posting and handout to “be respectful of the individuals receiving the notices,” a statement many may find both ironic and distasteful considering the city’s history with sit-lie laws, to say nothing of a certain state representative who clearly needs that reminder more than the media does.

Photo: Will Caron

Na‘i Aupuni, the newly formed organization the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) has entrusted with the management of the current Native Hawaiian self-determination process, set the registration deadline to file as a delegate candidate to the Native Hawaiian constitutional convention, or ‘Aha, for September 15. According to the organization, only Native Hawaiians certified by Kana‘iolowalu, the Native Hawaiian Roll, can file. Candidates may file their nominations online at www.naiaupuni.org.

Many Native Hawaiian activists have criticized Na‘i Aupuni and OHA for relying on Kana‘iolowalu to determine who may and may not file to become a delegate. This criticism is part of a larger critique activists have on state-connected and -sponsored entities like OHA itself. Even OHA’s own trustees recognize the inherent problem of working to overthrow a system of control (like U.S. military dominance over Hawaii) from within that same system:

“At this point Kanaʻiolowalu is the property of the State of Hawaiʻi; it does not belong to us,” commented OHA trustee Peter Apo at an April hearing. And therein lies the main problem many Hawaiians have with Kanaʻiolowalu, and with its predecessor, Kau Inoa.

“As trustee Apo said today, Kanaʻiolowalu is the property of the State of Hawaiʻi; do you guys know what that means?” activist Andre Perez of Movement for Aloha No ka ʻĀina (MANA) asked at the same meeting. “We should know the implications of that term, roll, and the historical legal precedent of native rolls coming out of the Dawes Act. I’ve been saying for a long time now that we need to look at the implications that a roll has for our lāhui. Because state legislation is not true self-determination; it’s not self-determination unless it comes from the people.”

Delegate candidates must live in the area in which they run and will be elected by voters in that area. Delegates will be apportioned as indicated below:

Oʻahu – Represented by 20 delegates.
Hawaiʻi Island – Represented by 7 delegates.
Maui – Represented by 3 delegates.
Kauaʻi & Niʻihau – Represented by 2 delegates.
Molokaʻi & Lanaʻi –Represented by 1 delegate.
Out-of-state Hawaiians – Represented by 7 delegates.

The timeline of the delegate election process is:

Sept. 15: Deadline to file as a delegate.
Sept. 30: List of qualified delegates announced.
Oct. 15: Voter registration closes.
Nov. 1: Ballots for election of delegates sent to certified voters.
Nov. 30: Delegate voting ends.
Dec. 1: Election results announced publicly.

On August 29, 2015, the U.S. Navy signed the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Guam-Marianas Military Build Up despite significant, long-standing opposition to the plan. When President Obama visited Guam in 2010,it was under the guise of speaking about sustainability and environmental practices within the Pacific. Barely mentioned were the real reasons for Obama’s visit: to rally community and official support for the Department of Defense plan to relocate 8,600 Marines from Okinawa (Japan) to Guam, provide additional live-fire training sites, expand Andersen Air Force Base, create berthing for a nuclear aircraft carrier, and erect a missile defense system on the island.

The ROD allows for:
the green light on massive base construction and expansion projects set over eight years, including a new Marine Corps Base at Finegayan;
the taking of more sacred, historically and culturally rich lands at Litekyan and water for military use in Northern Guam;
the closure of public access to one of Guam’s most pristine places, the Ritidian Wildlife Nature Refuge;
the clearing of over 1,000 acres of diminishing limestone forests;
The destruction of some 55 acres of coral reef;
more war games, weapons testing and arms training over ancestral lands;
thousands more troops living and working behind thousands of more feet of fenced off lands;
an increase in waste left from live-fire training; and
the expansion of militarization to the rest of the Mariana islands.