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There’s always something interesting going on at Honolulu Hale.

Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.

12:18 p.m. Rail On PBS

From the PBS Hawaii :

Thursday, October 13 at 8:00 pm: Rail Transit

On the next INSIGHTS, host Dan Boylan and guests will discuss and debate Oahu’s 20-mile, $5.3 billion elevated rail project. Despite a pending lawsuit, construction is supposed to begin soon. Proponents say rail will help ease traffic woes and that the 2008 vote for the project should be upheld. Concerned with long-term environmental impact and cost overrun, opponents are calling for alternatives.

Scheduled guests include Drew Astolfi, director of Faith Action for Community Equality; former governor Benjamin Cayetano; former Honolulu City Council member Gary Okino; and business owner Cliff Slater.

10:39 a.m. Sidewalk Property Bill Advances

The controversial bill covered on Civil Beat earlier today — a proposal that would remove personal items from city sidewalks and other public spaces — has passed out of committee and will get a public hearing at the full Honolulu City Council.

“This has nothing to do with any particular group of people. No matter who you are, obstructing the sidewalks should be illegal,” Stanley Chang said, explaining his support for the bill.

Some have argued the bill would unfairly target homeless citizens who have no choice but keep all their worldly possessions with them in city parks or on city sidewalks. Nestor Garcia again voted against passage, just as he did last week when the bill came up on first reading.

9:43 a.m. Noise Bill Deferred

A proposal that would tweak the city’s noise ordinance has been deferred until the Honolulu City Council gets some answers from the administration.

The Committee on Safety, Economic Development and Government Affairs delayed action after a short discussion on .

Major Ron Bode of the Honolulu Police Department had explained the measure would help prevent the “cacophony” of banging drums, pots and pans and hitting luggage with a large stick — staples of Waikiki’s street performances.

But some brought up the idea of “noise discrimination” — that some activities would be subject to the new law, while the hotels and bars holding noisy performances on private property are regulated by the Liquor Commission.

Some hotels and the Waikiki Improvement Association testified in favor of the measure.

8:35 a.m. Merits of Rail-Volution

from the Pacific Resource Partnership to pay $17,500 for city officials to attend a rail conference in Washington D.C. is nothing new, but the ethical issues of the offer got a thorough fleshing-out from KHON last night.

“It isn’t about taking one position or another, but really looking at what’s possible,” PRP Executive Director John White told KHON’s Andrew Pereira. “What worked in other cities (and) what can work here in Hawaii.”

Read or watch the story .

Carlisle’s Blood

Monday marked Inside Honolulu‘s first-ever blood donation (well, this Inside Honolulu, anyway). Mayor Peter Carlisle is no first-timer.

Carlisle has attained the status of a “super-donor” by giving blood more than 60 times. The photo at the top of this page is the mayor lounging comfortably in the Blood Bank of Hawaii bus that sat in front of Honolulu Hale for about six hours Monday.

Note the blood coming out of Carlisle’s left arm and the T-shirt emblazoned with Korea, where he heads today.

Executive Assistant Jim Fulton has also been a major proponent of blood donations, starring as a vampire in flyers posted around Honolulu Hale.

Targeting Homeless?

On Civil Beat this morning is a story about the intent and impacts of a proposal that would remove personal property from public spaces. The headline asks the question: Honolulu Homeless Target Of Belongings Ban?

The bill will come up in committee today.

Rod Tam’s Friends

Rod Tam has had a tough year, but he’s always got friends.

Supporters of the disgraced former Honolulu City Council and failed mayoral candidate have produced a website — — to argue that his offenses are exaggerated and that the accusations against him are political in nature.

It’s worth a read for what the supporters call “another angle of the truth.”

(Hat-tip to

Today’s Meetings

• The Committee on Safety, Economic Development and Government Affairs meets at 9 a.m. includes restricting the use of any machine or device that produces sound on public property; establishing a procedure for the removal and disposal of personal property stored on public property and a discussion updating the public on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month.
• The Committee on Parks and Cultural Affairs meets at 10:30 a.m. includes to prohibit commercial activities at certain City beach parks on Sundays.
• The Committee on Executive Matters and Legal Affairs meets at 1 p.m. includes a number of appointments.

Where’s Carlisle?

Mayor Peter Carlisle has no local public events today or at all this week, according to the public schedule put out by his staff Friday. He leaves today for Incheon, Korea.

Read Previous Editions of Inside Honolulu

October 10: Transportation Committee Canceled; Hilton Hawaiian Village On The Agenda; Rail = Jobs; Honolulu’s Global Mayor; Zoning and Planning; Where’s Carlisle?

October 7: Gabbard: End The War; Real Property Tax Commission Meeting Monday; The Holidays Are Coming; Carlisle’s Public Schedule; New Rail Financial Plan; More Committee Agendas; Where’s Carlisle?

October 6: Second Committee Posted; Ansaldo Contract Not Signed Yet; Zoning and Planning Meeting Monday, Not Thursday; Rail Opponents To Speak at Rotary Club; Today’s HART Meetings; Where’s Carlisle?

October 5: Police For Sale?; Cameras Coming for APEC; Sidewalk Property, Noise Control Bills Advance; Private Possessions, Public Property; Today’s Honorees; Today’s Council Meeting; Where’s Carlisle?

October 4: Fifty Years Of Friendship With The French; ACLU Scolds HPD; FACE Rail Rally Today; Station to Station; Public Hearing, No Public; Where’s Carlisle?

October 3: Carlisle Responds, Others Attending; Carlisle Attending “Upscale” Condo Groundbreaking; Former DLNR Chair Thielen New City Ag Liaison; HART On Rail Costs; Archaeological Work Begins; Overcharging at Landfill; Carlisle Eats Local; HART Meetings Thursday; Where’s Carlisle?