Ka‘ū News Briefs, Saturday, July 23, 2022

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits have been extended. See more below.
Image from SNAP

CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR, KAI KAHELE released a Youtube video on Saturday at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcnsQRE1zhw regarding campaign financing focusing on his opponent Lt. Gov. Josh Green. Kahele also recommended that voters look into Green's sources of income beyond his salary as lieutenant governor.

     Kahele contended that "mainstream media" hasn't thoroughly covered the sources of Green's funding and his personal income. He also recommended that voters look at where Green spends the money raised for his campaign. Kahele said the information is available through links from www.hawaiinotforsale.com to campaign spending reports on the state of Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission website. Kahele called on the Honolulu Star Advertiser and Civil Beat and broadcast media, as well as those planning to vote, to delve into the subject.

Kai Kahele supporters in Hilo on Friday.
Photo from Kahele campaign

     Kahele shows the links on his video and points to what he calls red flags. He says that out of $1.4 million in donations, $54,360 came from those donating under $100, while 312 non-residents gave $416,000 of mainland money to the Green campaign. Kahele focuses on such out of state donors to the Josh Green campaign as Humana Health Care - in Parkland, FL., a New York City real estate developer, a pharmaceutical company, and a Covid testing company, along with associates of PAR Hawaii - the only oil refinery in Hawaiʻi for gas, propane, jet fuel and fuel used to make power for the electric company. Kahele also points to donations from the only coal burning plant in Hawaiʻi. 

    Kahele says out of state donors are "Where I have red flags and hair stands up on my neck." 

    Kahele said that Green has held over 44 fundraisers in the 2022 election period and continues to have them. He says six of the fundraisers were outside of Hawai'i, the venues in Seattle, Washington, D.C., Maryland and California, and says that Hawai'i taxpayers pay for the lieutenant governor's security team that accompanies him out of state for the fundraising events. He also points to fundraisers in the state, describing country club and private home locations.   

    Concerning Green's income beyond his salary as lieutenant governor, Kahele points to Green's weekend job at Kohala Hospital working in the emergency room, where he earns $100,000 to $150,000 a year, in addition to his $165,552 annual lieutenant governor position. Much of the funding for the emergency room job comes through the state, as does the cost of Green's security detail that accompanies him on plane trips and on the ground to his outside job on Hawaiʻi Island, says Kahele. 

Josh Green highlights his experience as a physician and his leadership
as lieutenant governor during the pandemic in his campaign to become
 the next governor of Hawai'i. Image from Green campaign

    Kahele also questions whether Green is bringing in money through relationships with Covid testing and pharmaceutical companies that make money off the pandemic. He points to Nomi Health, a company whose associates donated to Green's campaign and are responsible for pop-up Covid testing sites around the state. He notes that the company was given as an example in a Politico story of enterprises that flourished in multiple states with lax oversight during the Covid pandemic when numerous no-bid contracts were given out. "Why are they donating to Josh Green's campaign?" asks Kahele. He says the connection between Green and Nomi Health contracts should be studied.

     Kahele also says that on May 10 the Green campaign collected 14 donations of $6,000 each, and asked whether this was related to a campaign funding event that should be studied.

     He also advises the electorate to look at expenditures by the Green campaign on out of state consultants and asked whether they were hired to seek donations from the mainland.

     Kahele also notes that Green was fined after his successful race for lieutenant governor for exceeding the limit on non-resident donations to his campaign.

     "I am sick and tired of all these people from the mainland trying to influence our elections and to control the economic and political life of the state," says Kahele in the video.

     Green has pointed to his role as a physician in caring for people during the pandemic as one of the reasons he is trusted to become the next governor of Hawaiʻi. See Green's comments on Kahele's questions in the Sunday Kaʻū News Briefs.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htm

SUPPLEMENTAL SNAP BENEFITS will continue through Sept. 20. Gov. David Ige signed a third emergency proclamation on Friday to allow the continuation of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in line with the federal COVID emergency.
    “Many Hawaiʻi families continue to suffer from food insecurity as they struggle to provide food for

themselves and their families because of the effects of the pandemic. Without additional support from SNAP, families may experience food insecurity, which poses a threat to the health, safety and welfare of our communities and constitutes this emergency declaration. The Department of Human Services remains committed to providing food security for our vulnerable community members,” said Gov. Ige.
    SNAP is managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is the largest food nutrition assistance program in the country. It benefits eligible low-income individuals and families through an Electronic Benefits Transfer card, which can be used to purchase eligible food items in authorized retail stores.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at 

https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htm

KAʻŪ PLACED FOURTH IN THE STATE IN THE #808 READS tracking for books read in the 2021-2022 school year and sixth for writing book reviews. "Amazing for our small community," says the Kaʻū High & Pāhala Elementary School Facebook.

THE PĀHALA SCHOOL CAMPUS WILL BE THE KA'Ū LOCALE FOR THE FIFTH ANNUAL HAWAI'I ISLAND COMMUNITY FOOD SUMMIT and 2nd Annual School Garden Workday. Students, their families and the public are invited to join in on August 6 from 9 a.m.-1p.m. at Kaʻū High & Pāhala Elementary School and seven other school gardens across the island.