Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

Do supporters of the Superferry simply cede the media stage -- abhorrent as said "stage" is in concept -- to the professional protesters and professional litigators?

I agree, but what are the options? I suspect most supporters are not rabid supporters. They aren't likely to take time off from work or go too far out of their way, but would vote if it came to that.

So how does such a group do something worthy of media and/or political attention?

[Miulang]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

A reader of the Garden Island News had a very interesting suggestion about how the State might be able to keep the HSF in Hawai'i (and not sailing) while the DOT conducts its EA:

He said, why not have Hawai'i's Congressional delegation (especially Uncle Dan) and the Gov. approach Congress and request that the loan payments that are due to MARAD in November and next year be deferred while HSF undergoes the EA? Congress is the body that created the Title XI program, so they should be the ones who could allow for additional time from Marad, particularly since it is in their interest (and that of the US taxpayer) not to have HSF go into default.

Win-win proposal

The Superferry is publicizing that it will go into default on its loans if it is not allowed to operate, and thus its boats will be used elsewhere for other revenue generating ventures by its investors (private military contractors mostly).

Here’s a novel idea: What if the United States Congress passed a resolution to defer the federal loan payments on the Superferry project until the Hawai‘i Supreme Court-affirmed EA/EIS is complete? The unproven Superferry could then remain idle, without financial obligation.

Letting the Superferry operate while an EA/EIS is being done is as unethical as supporting unprotected risky sex practices while an AIDS test is underway. Kaua‘i and the other neighbors do not want Russian roulette being played with our home.

An act of Congress takes Superferry’s publicized financial worry off the table, the Neighbor Islands get their lawful EA/EIS to have honest safeguards for endangered whales, no mongoose on Kaua‘i, traffic, drugs, and cultural issues honestly and thoroughly addressed.

O‘ahu residents simply continue to travel by plane as has been done for decades, while knowing their ahonui (patience) is truly expressing aloha for all. A genuine win-win for generations to come.


John Tyler


Lihu‘e

Miulang

[Karen]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

Well, I have read ONE legitimate complaint on the Ferry and more good reasons to have it than I can keep count of. That one complaint is that fire ants maybe will get from island to island with it. Well, how the hell did the get into Hawaii?? The Ferry can't be blamed for them arriving in the Big Island and they can get onto Oahu the same way they did that island, as time passes. Face it, they're in the state already.

We want Ferry, it's that simple. Hawaii is already known as "tax hell" and as very unfriendly to business. If the Ferry somehow is successfully defeated this island is going to have an even worse business reputation.

It's beyond sad when the vocal few bully the majority. Kinda reminds me of gay militancy in the eighties, especially in Northern CA.

[oceanpacific]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

One thing for sure: any solicitation by the Sierra Club will be answered with a door closed in their face or a click as the phone is hung up.

[Miulang]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

They're webcasting the town meeting on Kauai with Gov. Lingle et al this evening. Should be a "lively" discussion!

Info

Miulang

[Konaguy]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

A reader of the Garden Island News had a very interesting suggestion about how the State might be able to keep the HSF in Hawai'i (and not sailing) while the DOT conducts its EA:

Total lunacy. What about the 300 employees working for HSF ? Or the 40 million in State of Hawaii taxpayer backed loans for harbor improvements ?

[Miulang]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

Total lunacy. What about the 300 employees working for HSF ? Or the 40 million in State of Hawaii taxpayer backed loans for harbor improvements ?

Unfortunately, $140 million from the feds trumps $40 million from the State. Without the $140 million from the feds, all Hawai'i would have are a couple of fishing pier extensions, unless Hawai'i taxpayers want to go even deeper in the hole and provide more subsidies for HSF.

Miulang

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

One thing for sure: any solicitation by the Sierra Club will be answered with a door closed in their face or a click as the phone is hung up.

I've heard several people at work who expressed the same sentiment. These are (were) active contributors to the Sierra Club. Probably proud owners of Sierra Club wall calendars, even.

I'll also be closing that door and hanging up that phone too but I think I'd be more likely to give the solicitor a piece of my mind first.

[Konaguy]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

Unfortunately, $140 million from the feds trumps $40 million from the State. Without the $140 million from the feds, all Hawai'i would have are a couple of fishing pier extensions, unless Hawai'i taxpayers want to go even deeper in the hole and provide more subsidies for HSF.

Miulang

That wasn't my point. If HSF goes elsewhere, 300 people will be out of work, Hawaii taxpayers will be out 40 million dollars and the State Of Hawaii will get a devastating hit to our business climate.

[Miulang]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

That wasn't my point. If HSF goes elsewhere, 300 people will be out of work, Hawaii taxpayers will be out 40 million dollars and the State Of Hawaii will get a devastating hit to our business climate.

Very few people want HSF to sail away (the ones who do would never be satisfied with anything less than the HSF not operating, and I am not one of those people). So far, the Hawai'i Congessional delegation has been awfully silent in this whole mess. Time for them to step up to the plate and represent the citizens who want the service. What's the harm in trying to get Congress to defer a few loan payments? As a federal taxpayer, I can wait for repayment. Lord knows, $140 million is a drop in the bucket compared to what we spend every day in Iraq.

If people get laid off, that's the chance they took when they applied for positions (it would be similar to being on probation at most jobs when you're first hired). If there can be a good thing about the timing it's that the unemployment levels are so low in Hawai'i that many jobs are going without takers. For instance, one of the Jamba Juice outlets in Kona is closing down because it can't find enough workers. The pay won't be the same as with HSF, but there are still jobs out there for those who want to work and bide their time until HSF can start service.

Miulang

P.S. I was watching Akaku today and saw part of the testimony of the expert witness from the Pacific Whale Foundation. You have to watch the hearings (I guess they will be rebroadcast in their entirety sometime next week on Akaku) in order to know what's really going on because the public record of the testimony won't include all the stuff that gets overruled and ordered to be left out of the record. That expert will be testifying again tomorrow.

[oceanpacific]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

Come now, one Jamba Juice location in Kona hardly compares with HSF for economic impact.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

Come now, one Jamba Juice location in Kona hardly compares with HSF for economic impact.

Unless they bring in fire ants.

[joshuatree]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

The federal deferment idea is hokey at best. Issues can't even be resolved at the local level so let's try to shoot for something even more complex such as getting a congressional action going?

Congress won't do a thing on this because if they do, they will set a bad precedent for future issues. Everyone and their mother will be asking for a deferment.

Why don't the Sierra Club put their money where their mouth is? They claim they are only doing this for the sake of the environment. So why not step up to the plate and pay HSF's loan payments for now till the EA/EIS gets done. Make it an interest free loan which HSF can then pay you back later? Hmm, I have a feeling I'll be hearing crickets to this idea. It's easy to make drastic calls when it ain't your money.

[mel]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

The video stream at the Governor's website is maxed out. Can't get in.

[Miulang]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

The federal deferment idea is hokey at best. Issues can't even be resolved at the local level so let's try to shoot for something even more complex such as getting a congressional action going?

Congress won't do a thing on this because if they do, they will set a bad precedent for future issues. Everyone and their mother will be asking for a deferment.

Why don't the Sierra Club put their money where their mouth is? They claim they are only doing this for the sake of the environment. So why not step up to the plate and pay HSF's loan payments for now till the EA/EIS gets done. Make it an interest free loan which HSF can then pay you back later? Hmm, I have a feeling I'll be hearing crickets to this idea. It's easy to make drastic calls when it ain't your money.

Check out Ian Lind's column today about the Inouye/Superferry connection.

Another Superferry tidbit…I’m still working on the assumption that, as reported earlier by the Advertiser, Senator Inouye remained on the political sidelines when federal loan guarantees to the Hawaii Superferry were being considered by the U.S. Maritime Administration.

That leaves me puzzled about a couple of questions among those posed in writing by Inouye to nominees for two U.S. Department of Transportation nominees during an April 2005 hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Inouye was, at the time, co-chair of the committee). The questions seem to imply that there was excessive bureaucratic scrutiny of the Superferry loan application. This tells you the senators’ office was aware of the Superferry application and how it was handled, which could be seen as inconsistent with the assertion that they took no position on the Superferry request.

Maritime–Title XI
Question. The Title XI ship financing program has recently undergone significant reforms to meet Congressionally mandated recommendations. Yet the financial safeguards the IG has imposed above and beyond GAO and Congressional requirements, has lead to excessive oversight, redundant reviews, and unpredictable bureaucratic red tape by the newly formed Credit Council. How do you intend to revitalize Title XI to focus the expertise of the Maritime Administration and the Department’s limited resources to make this program functional once again?

Answer. It is my understanding that the Credit Council was created to provide overarching credit policy direction for all of the Department’s credit programs. As with the implementation of any new process, the Secretary views the new credit process as a work in progress, which will be modified as needed to incorporate future refinements over time.

With the obligation of Title XI subsidy for the Hawaii Superferry project, I am told that there are effectively no subsidy funds available for new Title XI loan guarantees. Consistent with the Administration’s intent to eliminate corporate subsidies, the President’s FY 2006 Budget did not request subsidy funds for new Title XI loan guarantees. Thus, the Department’s main focus is ensuring that the Maritime Administration has the tools it needs to manage the outstanding Title XI portfolio effectively.

Then a question or so later:

Maritime–Review of Title XI Applications

Question. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Pub. L. 108-36) has a statutory provision for independent reviews of Title XI applications. The Committee report accompanying the legislation makes clear that Congress did not intend for this authority to be used in “routine cases or where MARAD already has sufficient expertise to assess full the risk or approving a loan guarantee application.”

In view of clear Congressional intent, why is MARAD required to obtain independent reviews from applications that appear to be routine or clearly within MARAD’s expertise?

Answer. I have been assured that MARAD is not required to obtain independent reviews of Title XI applications that would be counter to the guidance provided in the Conference Report accompanying the 2004 DoD Authorization Act. To date, there has been only one Title XI application–Hawaii Superferry–for which an external advisor has been retained. Although I was not here at the time, I have been told that MARAD proposed–and the Department agreed–that an external advisor should be retained in that case, because the project involved an applicant with less than 5 years operating experience and service in a new market.

HSF was the very last project that Title XI ever guaranteed (it was done in FY 2005). The reforms being mentioned were recommendations from a GAO report in 2003.

Miulang