Ka`u News Briefs August 7, 2011

While prices of Hawai`i County homes dropped in July, the number of sales increased.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA proposes a "reverse boot camp" to get Iran and Afghanistan veterans back to work. The plan is to provide $120 million in tax credits for businesses hiring these vets in order to assist them in returning to civilian life. Obama said he hopes businesses will hire or train 100,000 unemployed veterans and their spouses by the end of next year. 

Mayor Billy Kenoi

MAYOR BILLY KENOI has almost $60,000 on hand in his re-election coffers, and the Friends of Billy Kenoi campaign committee owes no money, according to Campaign Spending Commission reports due last week. According to the filing, the Kenoi campaign collected $33,000 from January through June. While County Council Chair Dominique Yagong is considered the most likely candidate to run against Kenoi, Yagong has not formally announced and collected and spent no money during the first half of this year. 

     Candidates have less time to campaign for the next primary, which takes place on Aug. 11, 2012 rather than the usual September primary.
     Kenoi’s contributors included the Hawai`i Firefighters union, the Carpenters union, homemaker Elaine Mukai, investor James Campbell, developer Stanford Carr, agro-forestry enthusiasts Muriel and Kent Lighter, and Reynolds Aluminum Recycling president Terry Telfer.
     Among County Council members, only Dennis “Fresh” Onishi received contributions during the first six months of this year amounting to $450.
     Ka`u’s Council member Brittany Smart showed 79 cents on hand, with no contributions to her coffers and no expenses.
     For more on all the public officials fundraising, see http://hawaii.gov/campaign

PUC commissioner
Carlito Caliboso

PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSIONER CARLITO CALIBOSO resigned on Friday. Caliboso had served as a commissioner since his appointment by former Gov. Linda Lingle in 2003. Until March, he was the PUC’s chairman. Gov. Neil Abercrombie appointed Hermina Morita earlier this year, and she became its new chairperson. Caliboso will serve until the end of August and plans on practicing law in the private sector. His successor has yet to be appointed. The PUC is currently considering whether to approve a contract between Hawaiian Electric Co. and `Aina Koa Pono for a proposed refinery between Pahala and Wood Valley and a biofuels farm between Pahala and Na`alehu. 

BIG ISLAND CONDO AND HOME prices fell in July, says the Hawai`i Information Service. According to HIS, single-family home prices fell 6.2 percent, and condominium prices fell 22.8 percent. But while the Big Island saw these price depreciations, the number of homes and condos sold has increased. Single-family home sales jumped 10.7 percent, and condos 25 percent. Kaua`i saw a similar drop in prices and increase in sales. 

HSTA leader Wil Okabe

THE HAWAI`I TEACHERS UNION has voted for mediation to settle contract disputes with the state. Leader Wil Okabe wrote a letter to Gov. Neil Abercrombie asking for mediation in response to a YouTube video of the governor telling Hawai`i State Teachers Association-Big Island leader Wayne Joseph that the state would be willing to continue talks with the union with mediation by a third party. The state imposed a contract on the union last month that cut salaries and forced teachers to take furlough days and pay more for their health insurance. The union subsequently filed a complaint, saying that the state violated their collective bargaining rights. A hearing on the case will be held this Wednesday.