Inside Honolulu: July 5
It’s a short week, but it includes a full Honolulu City Council meeting Wednesday, and there’s always something interesting going on at Honolulu Hale.
Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.
New State Law Protects County Firefighters, Lifeguards
4:09 p.m.
Don’t attack firefighters or lifeguards while they’re doing their job. Sounds simple enough, but under a signed today by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, hurting a firefighter or water safety officer engaged in the performance of their duties will be punishable as second-degree assault, a Class C felony.
That had already applied to corrections workers, teachers, doctors and nurses. The addition of firefighters and lifeguards was part of the legislative package from the Hawaii State Association of Counties.
The has photos from the bill signing ceremony.
Federal Highways Rep: City and State Need to Play Nice
11:55 a.m.
Federal Highway Administration transportation planner Elizabeth Fischer says the city and state’s inability to collaborate on transportation issues is undermining long-range efforts.
“Their lack of playing nicely in the sandbox is hurting the overall transportation planning process,” she told the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Committee this morning.
Fischer also criticized the board for making unilateral planning decisions without public input and for failing to communicate in “plain English” with the public.
She said OMPO should amend its structure to include a representative of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, which officially exists as of July 1 and “needs a seat at the table.”
City transportation chief Wayne Yoshioka said he thinks the city and state agencies play together just fine. He also said the city’s Department of Transportation Services, not HART, is the official grantee for rail money from the Federal Transit Administration.
Leeward Politicians Push for Bikeway
11:22 a.m.
One’s a Democrat and one counts himself among members of the Tea Party, but state Sen. Will Espero and Councilmember Tom Berg agree on the need for a Leeward Bikeway.
In discussion of the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization‘s Transportation Improvement Program, both Espero and Berg pressed for more aggressive action on the bikeway.
“We haven’t put, in my opinion, the attention to these bike paths that we need,” said Espero, who represents Ewa and Lower Waipahu.
Berg went further, saying he’d vote against the plan because it didn’t move the ball forward enough after decades of delays.
The program was approved despite his objections.
State Officials in the Hale for Transportation
11:07 a.m.
The Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization is meeting this morning in the council’s committee room, and state government is represented in the discussion.
State Rep. Marilyn Lee was elected chair of the OMPO Policy Committee for the 2012 fiscal year, while Councilmember Breene Harimoto went from being chair to vice chair.
Also here are councilmembers Stanley Chang, Nestor Garcia and Tom Berg and legislators Sen. Will Espero, Sen. Kalani English and Rep. Carol Fukunaga, all members of the committee. So are state and city transportation chiefs Glenn Okimoto and Wayne Yoshioka and Rep. Karen Awana.
Check out the agenda .
Ernie Martin’s First Agenda as Chair
9:11 a.m.
Last week in Inside Honolulu, we told you the City Council’s agenda didn’t include the controversial Marriott hotel in Laie — except for a time extension. So what is on new chair Ernie Martin‘s ?
Most of the items have come up before. There’s a for third reading relating to property taxes for ag land; there’s a authorizing the administration to issue and sell $475 million of bonds; there’s the acceptance of a few gifts to the city.
There are two new bills for first reading. , introduced by Nestor Garcia at the request of the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting, would re-zone 8.3 Waimanalo acres from the restricted agricultural district to the general agricultural district.
, introduced by new Council Vice Chair Ikaika Anderson, would limit the size of noncommercial signs in residential and agricultural areas.
There’s also a urging the city to investigate new sewage sludge technologies other than those currently in use at Sand Island.
The meeting is set for 10 a.m. tomorrow.
No Crime Stats for HPD
8:55 a.m.
Elsewhere on Civil Beat this morning, Alia Wong explains that the Honolulu Police Department doesn’t know how many officers have been charged with or committed crimes.
Read the fully story here.
Read Previous Editions of Inside Honolulu
July 1: City Parade to Cost $20K; Furloughs Are Over, Pay Is Up; No Laie Decision At Next Council Meeting; Housing Office Open For Business; HART Kicks Off New Era for Honolulu Rail; Happy New Year!; Martin Tabs Kobayashi as Budget Chair.
