10 Must Read Stories From the Week of June 3 -7
Honolulu Hale captured most of the headlines this week amid fresh revelations about an old scandal.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development finally — after years of investigation — decided to crack down on the city of Honolulu for the way it handled — or mishandled — millions of dollars in grants to ORI Anuenue Hale, a nonprofit organization that is supposed to help the elderly and the disabled.
HUD has ordered Honolulu to repay about $8 million in community development grants that were given to ORI. The feds want the city to essentially return the money to the grant program so that it is available for other applicants. But the city will still have to find the money somewhere, impinging on other budget priorities.
There are many questions raised by the federal investigation, including about the role of some elected city and state officials who HUD says let ORI slide in complying with the rules and who even agreed to forgive more than $1 million in loans made to the nonprofit. Those officials, who HUD has not yet named, were running for office and accepting campaign contributions from ORI principals.
Civil Beat has covered the ORI story for the last few years and we will continue to delve into some of the issues raised by HUD.
The city passed a new $2.16 billion budget this week, the biggest in Honolulu Hale history. And council members decided it was OK to earmark millions of dollars for their favorite charities despite the ORI scandal and the need to fund other programs and projects.
But city hall wasn’t the only item of interest in the news this week. Here are 10 stories you won’t want to have missed:
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Are Hawaii Lawmakers Weakening Support for the Elderly and Disabled?
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FACT CHECK — Caldwell: City Ahead of Schedule in Fixing Sewer System
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ORI Mismanagement May Throw A Last-Minute Wrench In City Budget
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Kickback? Letter Shows ORI Head Sought $90k Donation From Contractor
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Should The City Earmark Millions For Favored Nonprofit Groups?
