Sara Lin – 天美视频 /author/slin/ 天美视频 - Investigative Reporting Wed, 14 Aug 2013 03:24:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 $24 Million Difference? Did Hawaii Pay Too Much for Healthcare Software? /2013/08/19672-24-million-difference-did-hawaii-pay-too-much-for-healthcare-software/ Tue, 13 Aug 2013 01:39:49 +0000 Winning bid was a lot more expensive and the losing company's protest resulted in its disqualification.

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To comply with the Affordable Care Act, the Hawaii Department of Human Services needed a new software system. So it sought bids last summer, and received two.

The agency awarded a $90 million contract to a multi-billion dollar consulting firm, , rather than a smaller company, , that has previously secured similar jobs in other states.

But EngagePoint’s bid would have cost taxpayers $24 million less.

And not surprisingly, EngagePoint was troubled by the process, especially since the 10-person group that evaluated the two proposals initially rated them nearly even. KPMG edged out EngagePoint by just three points, 727 to 724, when they were first rated across a dozen categories in November.

But state officials say KPMG turned out to be the most qualified bidder after a re-scoring process that saw what had at first been a minor point gap widen to a large margin. In fact, EngagePoint scored so low the second time around it was disqualified.

After the first round, EngagePoint protested and called on Human Services to reconsider the two companies’ scores. That request was granted in December after the department acknowledged in a letter to the losing bidder that proper procedures hadn’t been followed in the assessment process.

Among other things, DHS wrote that EngagePoint’s references were not appropriately evaluated because the language in the request for proposals does not specify that three separate corporate references are required. KPMG scored seven points higher than EngagePoint in the “qualifications and experience” category.

But the re-calculation brought unexpected results. KPMG earned an even higher score and EngagePoint did so poorly that it failed to even qualify for the project.

Two EngagePoint officials, David Smith and Sonia Lucas, responded with a four-page letter in which they took DHS to task over the procurement process.

鈥淭he reliability of the overall initial and re-scoring evaluation processes remain questionable at best,鈥 they said in their Dec. 4 letter.

The disqualification of EngagePoint suggests that DHS should not have proceeded with the company’s proposal from the outset if it didn’t meet the minimum requirements, but EngagePoint said it will not pursue an administrative appeal because further delaying the project would hurt the public.

The process began when the DHS’ Med-QUEST Division put out the bid in August 2012 for a project to develop a new software system as part of its Affordable Care Act-related preparations. In particular, the state is looking to upgrade its nearly 25-year-old system that determines whether a person is eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. The eligibility system is an integral part of the state healthcare exchanges that are being instituted as part of the new federal law.

The feds recognize that most states will need to upgrade their systems, so they are paying 90 percent of the implementation costs. In the case of this $90 million contract, that means Hawaii has to pay $11.48 million of it.

The state’s new health insurance exchange must be prepared to accept applications as of Oct. 1, 2013. DHS Director Patricia McManaman said in a Nov. 28 letter to the state procurement office that “any delay will result in the state’s failure to comply with federal law.”

The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs estimates that 54,000 Hawaii residents might be eligible for tax credits that average about $3,500 per individual annually. McManaman calculates that delaying the implementation of the eligibility system would cost Hawaii more than $15 million each month.

Med-QUEST Division Administrator Kenneth Fink, the procurement officer, deferred comment to DHS spokeswoman Kayla Rosenfeld.

The DHS spokeswoman told Civil Beat that the formal EngagePoint protest delayed the start of work by a month.

EngagePoint declined to comment for this article. But in its letter, EngagePoint urged DHS to carefully review the protocols that it uses to evaluate proposals, to make sure that they consistently follow requirements and to ensure that “differences” are dealt with so that fair evaluations can take place in the future.

Read DHS’s response to EngagePoint’s protest here:

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Read EngagePoint’s response to DHS here:

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10 Must Read Stories From the Week of July 15-19 /2013/07/19548-10-must-read-stories-from-the-week-of-july-15-19/ Sat, 20 Jul 2013 02:33:29 +0000 Recalling politicians, dancing in bars and Micronesians in Hawaii made the headlines.

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We spent a good part of our week telling stories about people struggling for justice.

Some citizens want the right to recall elected officials who they feel aren’t listening to their constituents, namely on controversial issues such as GMOs, geothermal development and raising the minimum wage.

Hawaii’s chief federal judge says that looming budget cuts could mean that poor defendants in federal court may not get representation 鈥 and the cases against them dismissed, as a result.

Micronesians, whose homelands have been taken over by military testing, have migrated to Hawaii seeking a new life. But instead they are often met with misunderstanding and racism.

And as the nation continues to debate the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Florida killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, locally here in Honolulu, the criminal case of Christopher Deedy 鈥 also laced with racial undertones 鈥 continues in state court. Political columnist John Pritchett offered his commentary.

Pritchett, by the way, now has a regular spot in Civil Beat. Watch for his artistic commentary on Thursdays.

And if you’re in the mood for something creative, check out the Civil Beat staff’s video news report that looks at why dancing is such a sticky legal issue here in Hawaii. That’s Nathan Eagle, Nicke Grube, Alia Wong and Alice Terry getting down for a good cause. Alana Hong is the videographer who scored an interview with “Footloose” creator Dean Pitchford, which we also broke out into a separate video.

Meantime, here are 10 more stories you won’t want to have missed:

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10 Must Read Stories From the Week of July 8-12 /2013/07/19497-10-must-read-stories-from-the-week-of-july-8-12/ Sat, 13 Jul 2013 01:13:50 +0000 We spent a lot of time this week figuring out who is going to pay for what.

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The question of who’s going to pay for what was the underlying question in many of our articles this week.

Should we increase taxes to pay for raises for police officers?

Hawaiian Electric Co. says that people with solar panels ought to pay a larger share of the cost of maintaining the electric grid.

We also know that our changing ecosystem, due to overfishing of bigeye tuna, will leave future generations to foot that bill.

And this week, as part of our ongoing look at the Public Utilities Commission on the 100th anniversary of its founding, we looked at staffing issues, including the fact that the commission is unable to retain highly qualified attorneys and engineers because they can get better-paying jobs in the private sector. That means the PUC invests public dollars to train people and get them up to speed, but that HECO enjoys many of the benefits.

And then there is the Navy research lab at the University of Hawaii. There is no doubt about who is paying for it, but no one can say what it does, or even where it is located.

That mystery echoes others in our story on the big-dollar Hawaii-based intelligence community. Even the state doesn’t know how many spies are among us. And figuring out the spy budget here in Hawaii can’t be easy.

Lots to catch up and in case you missed out here’s a list of 10 stories to help you do that:

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10 Must Read Stories From the Week of July 1 – 5 /2013/07/19453-10-must-read-stories-from-the-week-of-july-1-5/ Fri, 05 Jul 2013 18:39:53 +0000 Polls, polls and more polls.

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Election Day may be more than a year away, but election season is already starting to heat up.

Civil Beat polled nearly 900 registered voters about the top political races and hot issues, local and national.

The Senate seat now held by Sen. Brian Schatz who is being challenged by Rep. Colleen Hanabusa is up for grabs, according to our pollster. Schatz leads by three points, 36 percent to 33 percent, but with a margin of error of 3.3 percent, the race is a statistical dead heat. And within days of the release of our numbers, the different camps touted showing Hanabusa ahead in her poll and Schatz in his.

Although Gov. Neil Abercrombie is running unopposed for reelection, his relatively low approval ratings continue and could give rise to challengers.

On the issue of gun control, Hawaii voters overwhelmingly support a statewide ban on assault weapons. An even larger percentage support a national law expanding background checks for gun sales made at gun shows and over the Internet.

And could Hawaii be on track to a more direct democracy? Voters certainly seemed amenable to the idea, vis-a-vis a ballot initiative system at the state level that would allow residents to put issues directly before voters by getting enough signatures on a petition.

We’ve posted the full questionnaire and results.

Meanwhile, in case you were lost in the latest poll results or enjoying your time off at the beach, here are 10 other stories from this 4th of July holiday week:

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Hawaii Gets Tough on ‘Johns’ to Fight Prostitution, Trafficking /2013/07/19435-hawaii-gets-tough-on-johns-to-fight-prostitution-trafficking/ Tue, 02 Jul 2013 04:15:18 +0000 Governor signs slew of new measures aimed at helping victims and strengthening punishment.

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Hawaii’s prostitution and human trafficking laws just got a lot tougher.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed four bills into law this year 鈥 three on Monday 鈥 that increase services for victims and heighten penalties for those who solicit prostitutes.

No longer just a petty misdemeanor, soliciting sex from a minor is that carries a minimum $2,000 fine and up to five years in prison.

Lawmakers also closed a big loophole in how “johns” who pay prostitutes are charged.

Prostitution involving adults is a petty misdemeanor, allowing many johns to opt for what’s called a “deferred acceptance of guilty plea.” If defendants stayed out of trouble for a six-month period, paid fines and fees and avoided other arrests, the charges were dropped and their records expunged.

The plea was basically a “slap on the wrist,” said Kathy Xian, the executive director of the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery and the driving force behind the bills.

The johns were using the plea for multiple offenses 鈥 and they could use it repeatedly, she said.

Thanks to , that’s no longer an option. Prostitution offenses are no longer eligible for the deferred acceptance plea.

Another bill signed into law on Monday requires strip clubs, hostess bars and massage parlors to detailing how victims and the public can find help.

A fourth bill to allow child victims of human trafficking to be eligible for social services.

Taken together, the bills represent a huge turnaround for anti-human trafficking advocates at the Legislature.

Just three years ago, Hawaii was one of five states without a human trafficking statute. Local prosecutors and law enforcement said existing laws were adequate.

After a drawn-out fight in the Legislature, Hawaii got a human trafficking law in 2011. Meanwhile, victims of sex trafficking and prostitution were made eligible for witness protection in order to testify against their pimps.

Xian attributes the change in attitude to new leadership at the city prosecutor’s office.

“Keith Kaneshiro has really taken a step toward really wanting to bust the traffickers and end the demand,” she said.

Still, police at times appeared to have adopted a laissez-faire attitude toward prostitution.

A Civil Beat investigation of a year’s worth of prostitution arrests in 2012 found that police made virtually no prostitution arrests on weekends and arrested just one pimp.

Just last week, more than a year after his arrest, 28-year-old Isaiah Black was indicted for promoting prostitution in the first degree. If convicted, he could face 20 years in prison.

“We’ve come a long way since the beginning. It’s a really big deal,” Xian said.

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10 Must-Read Stories From the Week of June 24-28 /2013/06/19420-10-must-read-stories-from-the-week-of-june-24-28/ Fri, 28 Jun 2013 23:03:54 +0000 From same-sex marriage to Waikiki's Venetian nightmare amid rising sea levels, stories of transition dominated this week.

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The news this week was filled with stories of transition.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional and also effectively legalized same-sex marriage in California. Both decisions reflect a shift in attitudes toward same-sex marriage.

Also in Washington, D.C., as U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard‘s top staff leave her office, the top aides to the late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye have joined U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa‘s Senate campaign in hopes of giving her candidacy a boost.

Here at home, climate change could mean major changes for Waikiki as a new national report essentially showed beachfront hotels and the Honolulu Airport overtaken by the ocean as sea levels rise.

But before Waikiki washes away, there’s time to read about Hawaii’s transition toward using more electric cars 鈥 and how Geico Insurance wants nothing to do with the movement.

And with the local news business in flux, we’ve added political cartoonist John Pritchett to our weekly lineup. Don’t miss his first editorial, here.

In the meantime, here are 10 stories you won’t want to have missed:

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10 Must-Read Stories From the Week of June 17-21 /2013/06/19366-10-must-read-stories-from-the-week-of-june-17-21/ Sat, 22 Jun 2013 01:00:08 +0000 Getting oh-so-close to Kirk Caldwell, the mystery of the missing fish, and hey, how crazy is it that regulators are doing their job!

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As public affairs and investigative journalists, we are all about holding people accountable.

So we’re always glad to report that other people are doing it 鈥 whether organizations, commissions or regulators 鈥 as long as they are truly doing it in the public interest.

Our in-depth profile of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission 鈥 which turns 100 this year 鈥 demonstrated how the agency has finally rediscovered its purpose and begun to look out for consumers, forcing Hawaiian Electric Co. to refund Maui customers $8 million last month.

Then there’s the state auditor office that essentially got audited. Given that it got caught violating the procurement code, the auditor might do well to take a closer look at itself.

Another article showed that the federal government is asking the state to return more than a half-million dollars in stimulus funds that a local non-profit was supposed to use to help at-risk students. Most of the money was spent on computers that were left in boxes for three years.

Other notable articles include one about the disturbing implications of a lot of missing fish on the Big Island and an innovative proposal to kick-start a response to homelessness.

For a little fun, you can also take our quiz to see if you are local enough to be a good president of the University of Hawaii or be mesmerized by our intimate view of the mayor, via the Kirk Cam.

Here is the full list of 10 stories you won’t want to miss:

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Age and Disability Are Not Signs of Financial Need /2013/06/19298-age-and-disability-are-not-signs-of-financial-need/ Sat, 15 Jun 2013 02:47:06 +0000 Real property tax exemptions don't look at whether people actually need the break.

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Nearly a year and a half ago, a commission appointed by the Honolulu City Council to study some of the inequities in the real property tax ordinance dropped its findings on the desks of Council members and it seems that either the study went into the circular file or was promptly put on the shelf with other studies to collect dust.

Then again, who can blame Council members for ignoring the findings and recommendations as many of the recommendations tended to be controversial largely because the commission took an unbiased look at some of the preferences in the real property tax law that were either carried over from the time the state administered the tax or have been added since the counties took on the responsibility for the tax.

While many of these exemptions may have seemed appropriate at the time, many have been broadened or extended to other taxpayers who may have similar characteristics as the original grouping of favored real property owners. In other cases, some of these tax preferences may have been viewed as encouragement of a certain type of activity without fully understanding the impact of the exemption and the shifting of the tax burden that pays for the county services that are also enjoyed by the same real property owners who benefit from some sort of exemption.

Indeed, one can understand how policymakers of long ago were sympathetic to the needs of the aged and the disabled. For the elderly, the older one becomes, the larger the home exemption offered as the basic home exemption is increased in multiples. Or in the case of the disabled, the amount of the additional exemptions depends on whether one is blind, deaf, or somehow disabled or is a disabled veteran. These exemptions are blind to the financial needs of the elderly or disabled homeowner.

Likewise, the real property ordinances provide total exemptions to charities and nonprofit organizations be they providers of social services, health care, education or are places of worship. One of the more recent exemptions is for historic residential and commercial properties although a full exemption applies only to historic residential properties while commercial historic properties only get a partial exemption.

Another exemption that was added after the counties took over the responsibility for the real property tax is that extended to credit unions. While credit unions enjoy exemptions from the net income tax and sales tax on the purchases of tangible personal property as a result of being chartered by federal law, credit unions are not generally exempt from local real property taxes. As a result, the counties enacted a specific exemption.

Another exemption that was added after the counties took over the responsibility for the real property tax is the exemption that is extended to 鈥渒uleana鈥 lands. These are lands that were given to beneficiaries of the division of lands under the Great Mahele under King Kamehameha III. Ownership of these lands must have remained in the same family since that time in either residential or agricultural use. Those who advocated for this exemption argue that the beneficiary families have owned these lands and have used them in the required residential or agricultural use and have not benefitted from the appreciation of the lands surrounding them which may have been put into a higher and better use.

The problem with all of the foregoing exemptions is that just because the real property is owned or used by a type of person, or organization, does not mean they cannot pay for the county services they enjoy. This includes some of the basic services that insure the health and safety of the community like police and fire protection, sanitation, and parks and beaches. Since all of these basic county services are crucial to the health and safety of the county鈥檚 citizens, they have to be provided and paid for by taxpayers. If those who have exemptions from the real property tax don鈥檛 pay their fair share for these county services, then the burden is shifted to those real property owners who don鈥檛 enjoy similar exemptions.

While advocates may argue that because of their condition, be it that they are aged, disabled or a nonprofit, they should not have to pay taxes. The corollary to that is that then they should not use county services. On the other hand, such an argument to retain the exemptions ignores that some have the ability to pay despite their inclusion in a general category like disabled or nonprofit.

The best example is seeing a Jaguar parked in a metered stall with that blue disabled tag dangling from the rear-view mirror and with the parking meter flashing a bright red violation sign because the driver did not have to put a quarter in the meter. Now is that fair to other drivers?


About the author: Lowell Kalapa is the President of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii.


Community Voices aims to encourage broad discussion on many topics of community interest. It’s kind of a cross between Letters to the Editor and op-eds. This is your space to talk about important issues or interesting people who are making a difference in our world. Columns generally run about 800 words (yes, they can be shorter or longer) and we need a photo of the author and a bio. We welcome video commentary and other multimedia formats. Send to news@civilbeat.com.

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Could Hawaii’s New Tsunami Warning Center Survive a Giant Wave? /2013/06/19255-could-hawaiis-new-tsunami-warning-center-survive-a-giant-wave/ Tue, 11 Jun 2013 03:59:39 +0000 Despite a move to Ford Island to protect itself, the new site is spurring questions about access if disaster strikes.

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In the event of a large tsunami, surging water levels could easily course past two rows of houses, across a flat clearing, and reach an important one-story cinder-block building in Ewa Beach.

Employees in the exposed structure joke about the irony of their situation, which isn’t entirely surprising given that they work in the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Not surprisingly, the center is slated to move around the end of the year, but even the new site is spurring questions about its vulnerabilities in case of a tsunami.

The $153 million state-of-the-art complex that is being built on higher ground on Ford Island, in the middle of Pearl Harbor, will house the warning center, as well as other National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration groups.

But a by a watchdog agency and advocacy group called Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility, warns that the pontoon bridge connecting Ford Island to Oahu could be closed or severely damaged by a hurricane or tsunami.

“In that event, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations operations, such as its Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, may be compromised at the moment they are needed most,” the group said.

They fear that an extended bridge closure could strand staff on the island and undermine the organizations work.

A drawn up in response to employee questions states that if the bridge fails, the U.S. Navy, which owns Ford Island, will use 150-passenger water taxis to rescue people stranded on the island. The problem is that if water conditions inside the harbor are deemed unsafe, the boats won’t be allowed out.

Local NOAA officials pooh-poohed the report which, they say, rehashes old issues.

Besides, tsunamis have not historically caused large surges in Pearl Harbor because of its small and narrow inlet.

Even the 55-foot tsunami of 1946, that killed 173 people in Hilo, caused less than a 5-foot surge at Pearl Harbor, according to the warning center. That was the worst recorded tsunami to hit Hawaii.

During the 2011 Japan tsunami, the Navy didn’t even evacuate its ships 鈥 they just tied them down a little more securely, officials said.

“I think we’ve thought about those things, and there are solutions to pretty much all of those problems,” said Chip McCreery, director of the warning center. “Nothing should really shut us down out there.”

Hawaii typically has several days to prepare for slow-advancing hurricanes, and hours to issue tsunami warnings, McCreery said. That is because the nearest fault known to be capable of generating a major tsunami is 4.5 hours far away at the speed that such waves travel.

And if a tsunami does strike Oahu, any surge would only last for a period of “several hours at most,” McCreery said, adding that there is little reason to prepare for a sustained work interruption at the center.

Even if Hawaii’s tsunami center were to go offline, NOAA’s backup plan calls for a monitoring station in Palmer, Alaska to step in and cover for the station here. (If a disaster incapacitates the center in Alaska, Hawaii’s station will reciprocate.)

“If one goes down, there’s always someone to fill in,” said Steve Gallagher, site manager at the Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center, the complex where the tsunami center will soon be located. A total of 600 NOAA employees will share the 5-building complex sited on 35 acres.

NOAA isn’t planning practice drills for boat evacuations due to the “low likelihood” that such actions will be needed, and because such preparations would involve a “risk to employee safety.”

But Jeff Ruch, the executive director of the watchdog advocacy group, actually finds that last analysis alarming, according to his organization’s statement. “If NOAA’s evacuation plan is too dangerous to even practice, it hardly inspires confidence that it will work in the midst of an emergency,” he said.

Gallagher, the site manager, confirmed that NOAA has no plans for full-scale, dry-run evacuations of the island involving all workers, but he said his staff will practice simpler monthly drills. “We’re just not going to get 600 people loaded onto boats back and forth. It’s just not practical.”

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10 Must-Read Stories From the Week of May 20 – 24 /2013/05/19150-10-must-read-stories-from-the-week-of-may-20-24/ Fri, 24 May 2013 21:58:20 +0000 It's all about the Ala Wai Canal this week 鈥 its storied past, and its troubled future.

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If you live on Oahu, chances are you cringe when you hear about someone swimming in the Ala Wai Canal.

But it wasn’t always the stagnant murky waterway that it is now. We devoted a lot of our efforts this week to telling the canal’s story.

Our four-part series, The Ala Wai Canal 鈥 Hawaii’s Biggest Mistake?, looks at the canal’s storied past and its troubled future. It was built in the 1920s to drain the wetlands and allow for real estate development in Waikiki and areas mauka of the canal. But a fatal design flaw has turned into a major liability for the state.

Federal, state and city officials worry that a major rainstorm could cause catastrophic flooding that could drown Waikiki under five feet of water.

Ironically, despite data showing pollution levels off the charts and complaints of bacterial infections from canoe paddlers who use the canal, there’s been no effort to cut off public access to the waterway. Instead, worried parents endure and hope their child’s canoe won’t overturn, spilling kids into the murky dirty water.

But when people get sick, taxpayers will likely be on the hook as happened in 2006.

Federal, state and city officials acknowledge the problem and have been working on it for years. Critics are concerned it’s taking too long. Granted, at $100 million, it’s an expensive fix. But the cost and consequences of Waikiki flooding could be even greater.

We hope that you read the project 鈥 and please let us know what you think.

And have a great Memorial Day weekend. We’ll be taking Monday off, too.

In the meantime, here are 10 more stories you shouldn’t miss:

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