i L i n d . n e t

Last week, I was puzzled about the way mainland transit officials enthusiastically backed Mayor Hannemann’s plan for an all-elevated train system running on a tall concrete platform, although they were mostly from cities which, like Phoenix, have chosen to utilize flexible light rail technology (that can run either on elevated tracks or at ground level) instead of the type of trains selected by the mayor.

Turns out that I was right to be puzzled. In an email being circulated among Honolulu architects following the rail issue, another mainland consultant familiar with the history of rail in Phoenix pointed to what was not said during the Mayor’s rail symposium.

As to Rich Simonetta (CEO of Phoenix’s Valley Metro), I am sure that he did not mention that in 1989 the area’s voters disapproved a referendum that was intended to pay for an $8 billion (back then) 103 miles-long elevated railway using - Guess what? - automated light metro technology based on Vancouver’s Skytrain system [the SkyTrain is also the model for Hannemann's rail choice]; the successful opposition was based on affordability, feasibility and objections to the environmental blight that would result from an elevated railway built along those wide streets. The light rail concept was developed circa 2000, with construction beginning in 2004 following a referendum specifying light rail that the voters approved.

The all elevated train was voted down by a 3-1 margin.

That Phoenix history is outlined by the Arizona Rail Passenger Association, a pro-rail group.

Seattle Times columnist Jerry Large grabbed my attention yesterday with a column about dealing with an aging parent.

Aging has been doing its business to people forever, but when it’s your turn to face it, it feels new and wrong.

He’s definitely got the right of it. My dad has started dwelling on that sense of loss, of things, of freedom, of memories. He walks the halls of the nursing home some nights, looking for where he left his car. Or he complains to the nursing assistants that we have taken his car, and added insult to injury by even taking away his bicycle. He complains about the meeting he is supposed to attend if he could just remember where it is happening. He stands at the elevator on the third floor, telling people that he’s going home, while the electronic gizmo on his wrist keeps the elevator door from opening. He’s continually surprised that we’re able to find him, and I’m not really at all sure where he thinks he is. He wonders how many other people live in “this house”, which is how he perceives the nursing home.

I know it’s hard for him. And it’s hard for us to try to tag along on his journey. And Jerry Large understands that. Thanks.

Campaign issues…Check out Maui attorney Ben Lowenthal’s assessment of the recent Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals decision in the long awaited campaign spending case on his Hawaii Legal News blog.

And if the arguments over whether or not to limit or eliminate contributions to Hawaii candidates by corporations got you worked up, get ready for the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court to do their thing. The court is going to re-hear a case later this year that could pose a frontal challenge to the century-old ban on corporate contributions in federal elections.

A meeting held this week involving representatives from a broad range of mostly nonprofit journalism organizations has resulted in the call for creation of an Investigative News Network.

Therefore, with a full appreciation of both the complexities and the opportunities to be achieved by more formalized collaboration, the nonprofit news publishers at Pocantico hereby declare that preparations should be immediately made to form a collaboration, the Investigative News Network (working title). Its mission is very simple: to aid and abet, in every conceivable way, individually and collectively, the work and public reach of its member news organizations, including, to the fullest extent possible, their administrative, editorial and financial wellbeing. And, more broadly, to foster the highest quality investigative journalism, and to hold those in power accountable, at the local, national and international levels.

It’s actually very educational just to read through the descriptions of the participants and the settings in which they are working. There’s actually an unexpectedly large number of experiments underway, which I find very encouraging.

If there were a panel of judges holding up cards rating Mr. Romeo on his form, I’m sure he would be racking up some high scores! Back straight, legs directly in front, tail extended, eyes forward.

It was a very lucky shot. I happened to have the camera in hand when he took up a position on the floor, looking up to the counter top, and his back end signaled that he was preparing to jump. So I raised the camera and took several images in short order. This one caught almost the perfect moment as he appears to be hanging in mid-air.

Today’s Feline Friday collection also includes several photos taken as the cats started gathering in preparation for eating, which involves a lot of social interaction, as you’ll see. It’s all quite interesting to watch and I think you get a flavor of it from today’s gallery.

So just click on Mr. Romeo to see this week’s Feline Friday collection.

Check back later this morning for a more substantive additional entry. It is, after all, a holiday, so we’re starting just a little later than usual.

Senate President Colleen Hanabusa isn’t the only one who is suggesting that Gov. Lingle appears to be inflating the state’s budget deficit.

Lawrence “Bill” Boyd, labor economist on the faculty of the University of Hawaii’s Center for Labor Education & Research, says the cuts being proposed by Gov. Lingle are 25% greater than required to meet the Council on Revenues forecast.

A Powerpoint presentation summarizing his arguments can be found on the CLEAR web site.

Boyd says Lingle’s furlough plan will contribute to the decline in Hawaii’s private sector economy because of the multiplier effects of public employee spending (or lack of spending). He projects the private sector will lose in the neighborhood of $516 million annually as a result of the furloughs, and state tax revenues will be cut $50 to $60 million because of resulting declines in income tax and GET.

In an email yesterday, Boyd wrote:

By concentrating these cuts in wages (and going beyond what is necessary) she has made this worse because her cuts will directly effect local resident’s disposable income. The cuts will have about a $1.1 billion dollar impact over the next two years. These effects will
happen in the private sector through a drop in consumption.

This will lead to a further reduction in tax revenues. Between $50 million and $60 million annually. These will come primarily from reductions in GET collections and income taxes. The majority will appear as private sector tax losses.

Boyd warns that, as in the Great Depression, policy choices based on political ideas can quickly make the situation worse.

It was the actions of those making policy that made the “Great Depression” “Great”.

And these actions were based on ideas.

Something like the actions of Linda Lingle.

Lingle remains single-mindedly focused on across-the-board furloughs despite growing evidence that this will cost the state more than it saves in many areas.

KHON reported this week that Department of Health nurses providing required care for “medically fragile children” in public schools will be furloughed, even though the state will then have to contract for private nurses to provide the necessary care.

Sources say those contractors cost more than the state staff.

The Department of Health told KHON2 the Department of Education will be asked to reimburse the health department for outside nurse expenses.

This appears to reflect the ideological rather than fiscal basis of the governor’s furlough plan, at least as proposed and currently being implemented.

Yesterday, University of Hawaii president David McClain reviewed the budget situation facing the UH system.

McClain on furloughs:

Tomorrow, Judge Sakamoto of the State Circuit Court will take up the question of whether furloughs can be implemented outside of the process of collective bargaining. If it is found that furloughs are an option we could employ, I believe, based on discussions with the chancellors and other university constituencies, that the most sensible use of this instrument would be during the winter break between semesters, the spring break and the Friday after Thanksgiving. Taken together, 13 furlough days would amount to a 5% reduction in compensation and—applied to those faculty and staff members paid with general or special funds, including our executives—would save the university more than $23 million per year. Such an approach would permit us to continue to deliver our educational services to our growing student population with minimal disruption of the academic calendar. Almost everyone I have consulted also recommended that the university system adopt a single approach to any furlough program rather than varying by campus or unit.

Though there are arguments on both sides of this issue, for a furlough plan of this magnitude (13 days per year), I would not support having those paid with federal funds—except our executives in that category—take a furlough. Researchers paid on “soft” funds are true entrepreneurs, assuming the risk that their grants will not be funded, and represent a powerful stimulative force in Hawai‘i’s economy. Indeed, in the fiscal year concluded June 30, UH scholars brought in more than $412 million in research and training grants and contracts, an increase of nearly 20%.

In addition, UH will now be closing many buildings on weekends, and whole campuses during the winter and spring breaks, shutting off electricity and locking out faculty and students. McClain also said savings will be made through attrition, leaving positions vacant, and suggested early retirement incentives may be proposed.

Meanwhile, in the face of all that stress, enjoy this photo taken early yesterday morning in Kaaawa. Yes, it was as calm as it looks. Perhaps it’s contagious.

Senate President Colleen Hanabusa has warned Governor Lingle of “unintended consequences” of her furlough plan, including creating a financial “windfall” for some low paid public employees who could qualify for unemployment benefits to make up for lost wages.

Hanabusa’s warning came in a letter to Lingle dated June 30, 2009.

In addition, Hanabusa raises questions about the actual size of the budget deficit and the amount of savings or revenues needed to fill the gap.

She suggests that Lingle may be overstating the budget deficit, and proposes dumping the furlough plan and instead negotiating either a 1-day per month furlough, or a 5% across the board salary cut for all public employees.

The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly has filed a prohibited practices complaint with the Hawaii Labor Relations Board.

UHPA cites language in its contract, which expired yesterday, that seems to require its terms to be extended in the absence of agreement on a new contract. According to the complaint, UH President David McClain rejected a class action grievance based on the same contract language, prompting the union to proceed to the HLRB.

Click here to read the state’s reply brief to the joint HSTA/UPW motion seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the implementation of furloughs. The case is scheduled to be argued in court tomorrow.

The state argues that relieving employees of their duties temporarily for legitimate reasons is a non-negotiable management right under state law.

Despite the unions’ attempt to avoid even discussing the controlling law, HRS § 89-9(d) serves as the critical backdrop for this case. This statute reserves certain rights to the public employers, rights that are so fundamental and essential to the exercise of governmental powers that they cannot be bargained away. These rights are designated by statute as non-negotiable. HRS § 89-9(d). The Governor’s furlough plan clearly falls within the scope of these rights.

Included within these management rights are the public employer’s right to “relieve an employee from duties because of lack of work or other legitimate reason[,]” “[d]etermine the methods, means, and personnel by which the employer’s operations are to be conducted[,]” and “[t]ake such actions as may be necessary to carry out the missions of the employer in cases of emergencies.”

In addition, the state argues that the governor may invoke emergency powers in the face of today’s fiscal pressures.

Finally, the public employer may “[t]ake such actions as may be necessary to carry out the missions of the employer in cases of emergencies.” HRS § 89-9(d)(8). The missions of the executive branch are many, including: to ensure the public safety, run the prisons, protect Hawaii’s natural resources, maintain major roads, protect vulnerable children, elders, and the mentally ill, promote Hawaii’s agriculture, administer welfare and safety-net programs, protect consumers, run the State harbors, and regulate insurance and other industries.

It is the Governor’s job to “faithfully execute” the laws of this State, and to see that the many missions of the executive branch agencies continue to be pursued as best as possible despite the present economic difficulties. Haw. Const. Art V § 5. The Governor’s authority under HRS § 89-9(d)(8) therefore supports the furlough plan.

HRS § 89-9(d) does not limit “emergencies” to natural disasters. Addressing a budget shortfall of this magnitude can be every bit as exigent as almost any natural disaster, and poses potentially more of a disruption to the State’s ability to “carry out the missions” of the executive branch. An emergency should not be discounted just because it takes the shape of a financial crisis, rather than a naturally-occurring one.

I just finished a quick edit on this set of photos from yesterday afternoon’s unity rally that brought thousands of members of the four public employee unions together at the State Capitol. It was a remarkably diverse crowd, as you can see in these photos. I haven’t had a chance to add captions and other information, but the photos say a lot on their own.

Just click on this one for more.

With Hawaii’s public employee unions poised for a unity rally at the State Capitol this afternoon, it seemed like a good time to check furlough-related news from across the country.

• From Stateline.org, an overview of furloughs being implemented across the country.

• Another review of furloughs comes from Illinois, where the governor lacks legal authority to unilaterally send employees home, but must bargain with public employee unions.

• In New Jersey, the state court system shut down due to furloughs.

• In Wisconsin, state workers will be furloughed eight days per year, far short the three days per month planned by Gov. Lingle.

All in all, it’s grim everywhere. And I didn’t even wade into the California budget swamp.