Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

[TuNnL]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

A true bureacracy buster would know that accross the country, most housing agencies and public housing authorities are administratively attached to or a Department of a City or County Governement.

No argument here, Samurai123. Unfortunately, as you pointed out, that’s not the way they do it here in Hawai‘i. As “dysfunctional” as that may be, that is the reality.

Besides if the city really had what they needed to address the situation, those renters at Kukui Gardens wouldn’t be down at the state legislature pleading their case.

At the risk of simplifying the issue let me put this in perspective for you: Homeless people need a home. The building code for new homes are based on national standards. Governor Lingle has said through a spokesman Russell Saito, that the many of the counties are hopelessly far behind on updated their building codes to meet national standards.

So as I said previously, let the city deal with the more pressing issues facing Honolulu. They just have too many multi-million dollar issues
(and one huge multi-billion dollar issue) on their plate and can’t afford to get sidetracked by a fraction of 1 percent of our community when the state has so many people who have more money, personnel, and jurisdiction over the matter.

[Jewlipino]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

When it comes to HCDCH let me put it this way.... The limited interactions I've had with them had to do with situations where HCDCH administration was clearly engaged in a dereliction of their fiduciary duties. A situation arose where a roof purchased for a HCDCH project went bad before its warranty was up and HCDCH admin, despite being allocated moneys for the repair by the State, waited so long to contact the original contractor to get the roof repaired that the warranty had expired and the State (that's you and I and everyother Hawaii taxpayer) wound up paying something like 5x what would have been required if they had moved with a lot more alacrity. It honestly would not surprise me if the contractor in question knew or was related to the HCDCH administrators and that HCDCH waited too long so that their "friends" wouldn't suffer from the shoddy work that they had done. I don't remember if the director was reappointed this session, but there were some nasty speeches against his reappointment due to the general poor condition that public housing is in. The State has allocated most of the money HCDCH asked for and HCDCH is just SITTING ON IT, which results in unnecessary evictions because not all of the units under HCDCH's control are fit to live in though they would be if they did their job and have them repaired.... with the money the State gave them.... instead of giving to their sycophantic contractor buddies for a quick buck. Fire em all and put them on trial for all the money they pissed away.

Jewlipino

[Samurai123]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

Honolulu adopted the Universal Building Code in 1997 and has incorporated amendments to the UBC as they have been issued. Its not the building code thats the problem, Honolulu's Building Code has been and continues to be updated. You make my point - the reason that the residents of Kukui Gardens are at the Legislature is because Mayor Mufi has negelected housing as a City prioity even though there is an overwhelming need for housing assistance and the City has resoruces that it refuses to put on the table. For example, the City is authorized to issue up t0 $72 million in multifamily housing bonds per year to finance the development of affordable housing. In fact the City in 2001 issued ove $100 million in bonds to help a developer acquire teh Moanalua Hillside project, this saving 1,000 rental units. These bonds are outstanding financial instruments in that they are secured by the real estate, in other words if the project were to go into bankruptcy, the only recourse would be foreclose on the real estate, the taxpayers will in no way be liable for the repayment of the bonds. Now, have you heard Mayor Mufi say something like - hey we can reserve up to 2 years worth of multifamily bond authorization, $144 million, to anyone (nonprofit or for profit) who wants to buy and preserve Kukui Gardens? No instead he allows the City's bond authorization to simply lapse - want a waste in the face of Honolulu's housing crisis. Think about it, five short years ago, the City was instrumental in the preservation of 1,000 rental units at Moanalua Hillside by working in partnership with a for profit entity and it did so at no cost to the taxpayer. What has changed since then that would make the City sit on its hands and watch what is going on at Kukui Gardens from the sidelines? A new City administration who had decided that housing is not their business and has turned its back on the residents of Kukui Gardens.

[damontucker]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

Ignore my ignorance...

Who won the Mufi/Duke 3 pt. shoot out recently...

(I'm being to lazy to look for an old thread and since this one seems to have some heat... I figure someone here would have the answer)

Lum check your PM's

[TuNnL]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

Think about it, five short years ago, the City was instrumental in the preservation of 1,000 rental units at Moanalua Hillside by working in partnership with a for profit entity and it did so at no cost to the taxpayer.

Uhh, you just said the city floated revenue bonds to pay for this. Bonds are not free money, TAXPAYERS end up footing the bill if the private developer chokes. Maybe it was a good idea back then, but that’s a big risk to take for a city which has so many more pressing priorities today. In my humble opinion, we should address them in this order:

1. Upgrade our sewer system under an emergency timeline, which of course costs more money but is absolutely essential to make up for a decade of neglect by the Jeremy Harris administration.

2. Accelerate the mass transit process, which of course costs more money, but is absolutely essential in order to prevent gridlock which is at epidemic proportions now, from getting even worse.

3. Accelerate the planning for a viable, sustainable and efficient ’opala system, which of course will cost more money, but is absolutely essential to ensure the health and safety of our entire community as well as the fragile island ecosystem.

4. Renew efforts immediately to implement curbside recycling which will enhance and complete what the city is trying to accomplish in #3.

After that, the city can turn it’s attention to the shared responsibility of a fraction of 1 percent of our community, who the state and feds have specific agencies charged with helping as detailed in jewlipino’s note.

[LikaNui]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

Who won the Mufi/Duke 3 pt. shoot out recently...
(I'm being to lazy to look for an old thread and since this one seems to have some heat... I figure someone here would have the answer)

As I recall, it didn't happen at all. I think Mufi had a scheduling conflict or some such thing.

[Samurai123]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

Uhh, you just said the city floated revenue bonds to pay for this. Bonds are not free money, TAXPAYERS end up footing the bill if the private developer chokes. .

You did not read my post, special purpose revenue bonds like multifamily housing bonds are not secured by the full faith and credit of the City. The City acts only as an issuer of the bonds. If the developer defaults, the only recourse the bond holders have is to the developer, more specifically the real estate that the bonds financed. Again - the City cannot be held liable in anyway for these bonds so the taxpayers are never held liable. So you see the City can and should make these bonds available becuase there is no risk to the taxpayer, and they are a good way to acquire and preserve affordable housing. By the way, did you know that special purpose revenue bonds are used by all kinds of entities for their development projects. For example Kuakini Medical Center and the Queens Medical Center used special purpose revenue bonds to construct buildings and other improvements. Even Palolo Chinese Home has an allocation of $40 million in special purposer revenue bonds to construct an assisted living project. These bonds have been in use in our communuity for 20 years or so and have finance some landmark projects. The question that needs to be asked is - given that these bonds pose no risk to the taxpayers, and there is such a need to preserve and construct housing, why isn't the City issuing these bonds even though several developers have in fact requested them?

I agree that there is much to be done in the City including mass transit, recycling, infrastructure improvements of all kinds. But housing is a real quality of live issue for many of our residents. Action on housing by the City is needed. It is just not right to sit on $72 million in annual multifamily bond authorization when there is such a demand for these bonds to develop and preserve affordable housing.

[Jewlipino]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

I agree the special purpose bonds would be very useful. Even with them Mayor Mufi (do you think he hates being called that?) is going to have a hard time dealing with the housing situation as long the Real Property Tax status quo remains in place. For some benighted reason the primary source of funding for counties in Hawaii is the RPT. This is pretty unique to Hawaii and definitely a uniqueness we can do without. There are multiple problems with RPT as a funding source for the counties; it is only loosely connected with the economy and actually lags behind the economy by at least a year or more, as long as it is the counties' jugular vein there is no incentive whatsoever to meaningfully reform it. In most states RPT is used to fund schools (resulting in it being lower). Unfortunately the Mayor can't do anything about it, zip, bupkes. Any changes to allowable county funding sources would have to take place at the Legislature level. Probably wouldn't require a constitutional change (maybe), but that's a question for the lawyers.

Jewlipino

[Samurai123]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

Gotta agree that the Real Property Tax is not the best mechanism for county funding. I know some mainland cities have a sales tax because that "exports" some of the tax burden to tourist. I guess the transit tax is the closest thing to a county sales tax, but the use of that revenue stream is limited to transit. Maybe as a community we need to start to think or discuss a county sales tax?

[TuNnL]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

As I recall, it didn't happen at all. I think Mufi had a scheduling conflict or some such thing.

I heard a third version: that the Mufi vs. Duke shootout was supposed to take place two hours after the the Korean Hotties and Nani Cockett. Were you there, LikaNui?

[zatoichi]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

Although I did not vote for Mufi, I expected a better performance.

His actions regarding the sewer spill revealed that he was not ready for prime time. I doubt they needed to dump that problem into the Ala Wai for that long a time.

His desire to "fix" Jeremy's mistakes are commendable, but he still does not get off the hook that easy. After all he was a city councilman during a chunk of Jeremy's time as Mayor. If memory serves me right, he was Council Chair from 1998 to 1999 and had served as a Councilman from 1994 to 2000.

Moreover I am not sure what he intends to do with all that surplus from all those increased property taxes. Those taxes could have and perhaps should have been rolled back sometime ago.

I am convinced that he does not have a PR problem. He has a competance problem.

[LikaNui]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

His actions regarding the sewer spill revealed that he was not ready for prime time. I doubt they needed to dump that problem into the Ala Wai for that long a time.

And I doubt that there was any reasonable alternative, unfortunate though that may be. The blame goes not on Mufi but on prior administrations who have let our infrastructure go to hell.
I have yet to see a single suggestion from anyone, anywhere, on what else Mufi could have done on that sewage spill. It's easy for people to complain (and I know, because I was one of them), but I'd sure like to see complainers offer suggestions.

[zatoichi]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

Assuming that there were no other alternatives are in itself an assumption.

Although I can't stand D'Jou he is right about this one. We need to have an investigation as to what was done and were there any alternatives.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

it seems like a physics question to me.

Where is/are the wastewater treatment plant(s) on O'ahu? What is the path of sewage on that isle? Is it that the Ala Wai was the closest water way when the sewer system exploded**? Would the alternative have been sewage spilling down the H1?

**I don't know exactly what happened, but "malfunction" seems too trite a word, and explode sounds sExIeR...so take the term with the appropriate measurement of salt.

[LikaNui]

Re: Mayor Mufi: Pulse check, O'ahuans

Assuming that there were no other alternatives are in itself an assumption.

Then assuming that there was an alternative is in itself also an assumption.