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Rules useless unless enforced
The Honolulu City Council has passed three bills that have great potential to deter illegal dumping on agricultural land without impeding legitimate farming operations.
Assuming these measures win the mayor’s approval, the real test is in enforcement.
Heavier fines and other penalties will have no impact if violators are not cited in the first place.
Candidates put on their thinking caps
Who knew? A political season can yield discussions that are actually useful.
Example: In the gubernatorial race, candidates seem motivated this year to deliver ideas for addressing Hawaii’s housing crisis.
Current worries about homelessness seem to have brought it to the fore.
Republican Duke Aiona has raised an intriguing notion with his Home Ownership Personal Equity proposal. The concept is that renters who sign up with participating landlords will automatically save a portion of their rent to be used as a down payment later. In the meantime, they’ll also go through financial training.
Democratic and independent contenders, David Ige and Mufi Hannemann, are brainstorming, too.
Ige wants to leverage underused state properties for affordable housing, and the former mayor thinks turning over Kakaako development to the city would make affordable housing there more likely.
The ultimate results are unclear, of course, but whoever wins will find it hard to sidestep the issue now.