Inside Honolulu: August 12
There’s always something interesting going on at Honolulu Hale.
Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.
4:41 p.m. Feds’ Rail Lawsuit Response
The federal government defendants in the lawsuit challenging the Honolulu rail environmental review filed their response in court today.
The U.S. Department of Transportation and Secretary Ray LaHood, as well as the Federal Transit Administration and Administrator Peter Rogoff, are among those defendants. The response was prepared by Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Yee.
The city already responded to the lawsuit, filed by HonoluluTraffic.com and others.
Peppered throughout are statements like “The allegations in paragraph 5 constitute conclusions of law to which no response is required” and “Federal Defendants deny the allegations in paragraph 82.”
Here’s the full response, if you care to read it yourself:
4:10 p.m. Carlisle’s Public Sked
Mayor Peter Carlisle will be making the following public appearances next week:
Saturday, August 13th
- No public events.
Sunday, August 14th
- No public events.
Monday, August 15th
- 8:30 am鈥擬ayor Carlisle delivers remarks at the Association of Government Accountants/American Society of Military Components Governmental Professional Development Conference. Sheraton Waikiki Hotel
Tuesday, August 16th
- 7:00 pm鈥擬ayor Carlisle delivers the keynote address at the Honolulu Police Department鈥檚 168th Recruit Class Graduation ceremony. Hawaii Okinawa Center.
Wednesday, August 17th
- 8:00 am鈥擬ayor Carlisle delivers remarks at the 2011 American Logistics Association/Defense Commissary Agency Hawaii Conference. Hawaii Prince Hotel.
- 6:00 pm鈥擬ayor Carlisle is a guest at an event celebrating Pacific Guardian Life鈥檚 Fiftieth Anniversary and the Thirty-Fifth Anniversary of the partnership between Meiji Yasuda Life and Pacific Guardian Life. Waialae Country Club.
Thursday, August 18th
- No public events.
Friday, August 19th
- 8:00 am鈥擬ayor Carlisle delivers remarks at the 2011 Made in Hawaii Festival opening ceremony. Neal Blaisdell Center.
3:58 p.m. Council Agenda Published
The Honolulu City Council this afternoon distributed the agenda for its meeting next week Wednesday. You can read it . The juicy bits from the 10 a.m. meeting:
- Third reading of , relating to real property tax of agricultural lands
- First reading of , allowing flat-rate taxi fares from the airport to Waikiki
- Adoption of , permitting a hotel complex in Laie
- Appointment of Corporation Counsel Bob Godbey
And for the afternoon public hearing:
- Second reading of , regulating political signs on private property
- Application submitted by Queen’s Medical Center for its 15-year master plan
- Second reading of , relating to the Honolulu Ethics Commission
10:15 a.m. Cabinet Gathers
Mayor Peter Carlisle has convened his Cabinet for a meeting this morning.
Calls to multiple department heads and the mayor’s office for other stories today were all met with the same response: Not available, at Cabinet meeting.
We know there’s at least one empty chair in that room.
9:27 a.m. Moku on HUD Meeting
The Department of Community Services is still trying to bring the troubled nonprofit ORI Anuenue Hale into compliance with grant rules laid down by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That process continued this week with a sitdown with HUD here in Honolulu.
Inside Honolulu spoke with DCS Director Sam Moku Thursday afternoon on the phone. The questions are not verbatim, but Moku’s responses are.
Inside Honolulu: Did you have a meeting with HUD?
Sam Moku: “It happened yesterday.”
IH: Is it pau or continuing today or Friday?
SM: “It’s done, it’s finished. We had a couple hour meeting with Mark Chandler, myself and Budget Director (Mike Hansen) and some of our other staff who are helping with monitoring.”
IH: How did it go? Did HUD give you marching orders?
SM: “It was very productive. At least we got, not really ‘marching orders.’ … The talk is basically HUD is going to look at what we sent to them and will be sending back their response … whether they approve it or not or whether we need to tighten up the monitoring process on them.”
IH: Do you monitor grant funds the city gives out?
SM: “Not only us but Budget and Fiscal, the Federal Grants Unit, they have a post-monitoring division. On our end, at the DCS level, when we’re setting up the contract and setting up the criteria, we can go in and do monitoring anytime. But the FGU level … they actually help kind of follow up with what our findings are. And we kind of work in tandem to make sure that each of the projects using CDBG funds are using them correctly.”
IH: What went wrong with ORI? How did they slip through the cracks?
SM: “I’m not sure what the last administration did. I haven’t done the investigation part of that internally on what monitoring was done. I couldn’t answer that question.”
“I think with the ORI monitoring that was done, it just helps us to realize that we need to step it up.”
IH: What should people understand about the meeting with HUD? What comes next?
SM: “I think HUD feels we’re getting closer to resolving not only their concerns but at least trying to work it out with ORI to ensure that they follow the eligibility of the CDBG program. I think they feel kind of hopeful. I was pretty confident … that we were going to get to a resolution. So, we just want to make sure that we continue working with them, ORI, in resolving those issues. We’re hopeful when HUD gives us back their response, that we’re just that much closer to closing this out.”
8:56 a.m. Transportation Newsmaker
Department of Transportation Services Director Wayne Yoshioka will be stopping by Civil Beat headquarters on Tuesday for the latest in our “Newsmaker” series. The half-hour chat will include questions submitted by readers like you.
Get more information about the interview, plus a short Q&A to whet your appetite, here.
Where’s Carlisle?
Mayor Peter Carlisle has no public events scheduled for today. A public calendar for the next seven days could be released later.
Read Previous Editions of Inside Honolulu
August 11: Horner Lays It Down; Mayor’s Math Problem; Capitol Moat Sewage; Council Chair on Commissioner’s Ethics Violation; HART Finance Committee to Meet; Where’s Carlisle?
August 10: Vacation Rentals Argument Not Over Yet; Quintal Retires, Quietly; Packed Auditorium; Beat the School Jam; Vacation Rentals on Planning Commission Agenda; Morning Reading; Where’s Carlisle?
August 9: Ethics Agenda Out; EPA Fines Pest Control Co.; Regulating B&Bs Not So Easy; Where’s Carlisle?
August 8: Bombardier on Appeal; Carlisle In Da Hale; Where’s City Oversight?; Police Department Names Names; Carlisle on Japan, in Video; Where’s Carlisle?
August 5: 6:51 p.m. Carlisle in Japan, in Photos; Bombardier Officially Rejected; Ansaldo Enlisted to Fix San Fran’s Light Rail Cars; Traffic Ticket Quota; Carlisle’s Public Sked; Ansaldo Honolulu “Pleased” With Finmeccanica Restructuring; Waianae’s Clean Water Award; Chair Garcia’s Checklist; Where’s Carlisle?
August 4: Congestion Tolls in Honolulu … Someday; HART Here, HART There; Zoning Appeals Board Appointments Advance; Committee Moves Sign Bill Forward; Moratorium Lifted on New Sewer Connections in Waimanalo; Free Speech vs. Open Space; Today’s Committees; Where’s Carlisle?
August 3: Board Defends Rate Hike; Appointee Asked About Water Rates; Tow Trucking Debated; Seniors, Disabled Ask for Help; ORI Discussion Coming Soon; Today’s Committees; Fewer Golfers, More Money; Chang’s Public Service; Where’s Carlisle?
August 2: Case Closed, Not Decided; City Rests, Ansaldo Satisfied; City Witness Rebuts Sumitomo; Ireland, Silva Like Merger; Talking Merger; No Competition for Carlisle; Berg: GOP “Party of the Skin Heads”; Today’s Committees; Want Train? Get Brains; Where’s Carlisle?
August 1: Across the Street?; Waipahu Board Backs Hoopili; Executive Session?; Ansaldo Responds; Rail Appeal Continues, With Questions Churning About Ansaldo; Sewage Spill in Kailua; Where’s Carlisle?
