Working for a better economy, better government and a better society
Council busybodies should work less to help residents
Maui County Council members say they spend more than 40 hours per week on the job, and some of them want higher salaries to account for that hard work. But, like Hawaii’s late small-business guru George Mason, founding publisher of Pacific Business News, used to say,...
More housing would boost Maui tax revenues
As Maui County lawmakers search under the couch cushions for loose change that would help them meet their budgetary goals, they should remember that finding extra cash could be easy, if they would only step out of the way of island homebuilders. That’s right:...
State’s use of contractors just a hint of what could be
At least 11 of Hawaii’s state agencies have each saved thousands of dollars a year by privatizing some of their janitor positions, giving a rare glimpse of the savings that could be possible if more state and county agencies followed this approach. The private...
Beware of Maui County’s ‘shiny new ball’
This article was originally published in The Maui News on Thursday, Nov. 29. Maui County Council members this month voted to “go vertical” and move forward on financing a proposed $81.2 million Wailuku Civic Complex, but policymakers would be wise to focus less on the...
HART’s P3 Plan Another Bad Sign For Rail
This article was originally published as a “Community Voice” in Civil Beat on Nov. 14, 2018. The Honolulu rail system is projected to lose millions of dollars every year after opening in 2026. So it’s baffling that any company would want to partner with...
Vacation rental fines inviting legal trouble
This article was published as a letter to the editor in The Maui News on Nov. 14, 2018. On Nov. 6, Maui voters decided to drastically increase the fines for illegal short-term vacation rentals on Maui, which could expose the county to dangerous legal challenges....
Higher taxes do not make housing cheaper
Many Hawaii taxpayers breathed a sigh of relief after the state Supreme Court on Oct. 19 voided a ballot question that would’ve allowed the state to raise taxes on investment real property. Supporters of the proposal had argued that higher taxes could be the key to...
Lower cost of living to help teachers, everyone
This was originally published as a letter to the editor in The Maui News on Oct. 28, 2018. Lowering Hawaii’s cost of living would be a better way to help our public school teachers than the proposed constitutional amendment that was thrown out Oct. 19 by the Hawaii...
