ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ

Election integrity: It’s not just Donald Trump who complains about “unfair” and “stolen” elections. There have been several legal challenges here in Hawaii, too, though none yet successful.

recently formed to raise awareness about possible voting problems on the Garden Island. AnneMarie Hamilton, a real estate broker in Princeville, tells The Sunshine Blog that concerns were raised in the 2020 and 2022 elections but were not handled to the group’s satisfaction by government authorities.

“We are an all-volunteer, nonpartisan group concerned about election integrity,” she says. “Every voter should be concerned about Kauai County elections, regardless of party.”

The group already has a slick logo and , the latter stating that election results from electronic voting machines “cannot be validated” in part because Kauai has no “chain of custody” — that is, the votes are counted at the state level, not the county level.

Hamilton declined to say who else is involved with Verified Vote Kauai, but she did say they are paying to run local radio spots as a “call to action” ahead of the 2024 races.

Spider-Man: Hawaii governors love to use the Ceremonial Room on the fifth floor of the State Capitol for press conferences, bill signings and the like. It features a fancy curved desk, a huge state seal and Hawaii and U.S. flags.

What most people probably don’t know is that there is a large spider encased in an acrylic-like substance underneath the desk but in view of anyone speaking from the lectern.

The spider, which looks very much like a tarantula, was a gift to Gov. Josh Green. The governor initially liked to place the spider right below the lectern, The Blog is told, but it apparently freaked out a few people and was moved to the floor.

Bookmark this: Civil Beat business writer Stewart Yerton recently reported that the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs restricts citizens from being able to plug a name into the state’s allegedly public database of business registrations to see what company they might be a principal in.

Instead, the state makes you buy a subscription to the entire database for $1,000 a month if you want to search by a person’s name. Ordinary folks without that kind of cash can only look up a business name on the state site, which then lists the officers or directors.

Thus, when newly appointed (but not yet confirmed) Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Vladimir Devens failed to make public that for years he was a director of the super PAC Be Change Now that has poured millions of dollars into political campaigns, there was literally no way to know he was involved with that particular organization unless, well, you already knew it and punched Be Change Now into the search.

But fortunately, The Blog has learned of a place not under the control of the state of Hawaii where you can search business records by the name of an officer — .

“Legal entities are the atomic elements behind the entire business world – and increasingly every other part of our lives too,” the company says on its website.

“OpenCorporates was conceived to make this underlying dataset more visible, more accessible and more usable – for everyone, from journalists to banks, citizens to corporations, NGOs to law enforcement.”

The Blog plans to put this site to good use, particularly with elections just around the corner.

Meanwhile, perhaps someone will introduce a bill this session to fix the DCCA business registration database so you can search for an individual name?

Your voice: It’s almost January and that means, yes, they’re back. It’s time once again for the Hawaii State Legislature!

Understanding how the “Leg” (some say “Lege”) works can be quite the challenge, but the is offering free training sessions to get you up to speed. The sessions include the following Zoom training options:

• Tuesday, Jan. 2, noon. .
• Wednesday, Jan. 10, 3 p.m. .
• Thursday, Jan. 18, 6 p.m. .

There are also tutorials on how to navigate the Legislature’s website:

• Wednesday, Jan. 3, 3 p.m. .
• Thursday, Jan. 11, 6 p.m. .
• Tuesday, Jan. 16, noon. .

Finally, learn how to read the legislative calendar and get to know the deadlines for bills:

• Thursday, Jan. 4, 6 p.m. .
• Tuesday, Jan. 9, noon. .
• Thursday, Jan. 18, 3 p.m. .

“Plan on an hour (45 minutes with time for questions) and get yourself prepped for session!” PAR advises for the training sessions. (.)

Before you know it, you’ll be as savvy as a lobbyist for Pacific Resource Partnership.

Disaster management: The 2023 Hawaii Legislature is expected to be dominated by bills and requests for money to respond to the Maui wildfires. But the Aloha State is not alone in planning for the worst.

A from the bipartisan offers state lawmakers a roadmap “to help them navigate the unpredictable nature of disasters such as extreme drought, wildfires, flooding, and heat,” as the report states.

Among the tips: how to use federal funding streams “to enhance and expand mitigation and resilience projects” and how to create “centralized planning functions” through the establishment of a state resilience office or chief resilience officer position. 

The report also features a summary of federal funding programs available to states and local governments.