Monday, January 16, 2017

Meet at 8:30a

Starts at Magic Island, ends at Kapiolani Park

Join the AiKea Movement at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade! If you’re interested in marching with us, email [email protected].

This Wednesday, October 5 at 10:00a at Kapolei Hale, Honolulu City Council will be holding its final hearing of Resolution 16-172, to approve the Manaolana Place luxury condo-hotel across from the Convention Center near the proposed Ala Moana Rail station).

City Council is still not holding developers accountable. After an outcry from affordable housing advocates and articles published in Civil Beat and the Star-Advertiser, the City Council Zoning & Planning Committee decided to make the developer increase their contribution to an affordable housing fund to $3 million; just $600,000 more than the original requirement.  Is this really that much better than the previous proposal? Council should be demanding something much more significant.

The condition will say “The Applicant shall contribute a dollar amount equal to the value of the 20 rental housing units specified above, to be deposited into the Housing Development Special Fund or into such other fund or account as may be designated by the Council by resolution; provided that this in-lieu fee payment shall not exceed $3 million.”

If the value of 20 rental housing units is $3 million, that’s $150,000 per unit. Can you buy a condo for $150,000? Is that how much it costs to build one? Did the Council check with anyone who has actually developed affordable housing in Honolulu?

Submit testimony to OPPOSE Resolution 16-172 before 10:00a on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Tell City Council that we need more affordable housing now!

You can testify in person, or just submit written testimony. Here are two ways you can submit testimony:

• Visit the City Council website:
  • Fill out your name, phone number, and email
  • Meeting date is 10/5/16.
  • Council/PH Committee is “Council”
  • Agenda item is Resolution 16-172
  • Your position on the matter: Oppose
  • You can register to speak in person at the hearing, or not
  • Write your written testimony in the box, or attach it as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf.
• Email your testimony using the form below, with the City Councilmembers CCed:

This action has expired and the email form is no longer available.

This Thursday, September 22 starting at 9:30a, The Honolulu City Council’s Zoning & Planning Committee will be hearing two bills that may significantly impact affordable housing:

• Resolution 16-172 (for the Manaolana Place luxury condo-hotel across from the Convention Center near the proposed Ala Moana Rail station): This will only require the developer to contribute only $2.4 million to an affordable housing fund. Alternatively, the developer could build at least 16 affordable rental units within a half mile of the Ala Moana or Kakaako Rail stations, but only if they prefer to do that rather than contribute the money.
• Bill 74: This bill would lock in development standards for transit-oriented development along the Rail stations. Currently, there are no real affordable housing standards for this type of development, and Bill 74 doesn’t propose any.

We must continue to hold corporations and developers accountable to our community, and demanding real affordable housing is one way to do so. Rail was supposed to help provide a better quality of life for local residents, including building affordable housing for working people along the Rail.

Submit testimony to the Zoning & Planning Committee before 9:30a on Thu. 9/22: demand to City Council that we need affordable housing now. You can testify in person, or just submit written testimony. Here are two ways you can submit testimony:

• Visit the City Council website. You must submit one form for Resolution 16-172 and one form for Bill 74:
  • Fill out your name, phone number, and email
  • Meeting date is 9/22/16.
  • Council/PH Committee is Zoning & Planning Committee
  • Agenda item is Resolution 16-172 and Bill 74 (remember to submit one form for each)
  • Your position on the matter: “I just wish to comment”
  • You can register to speak in person at the hearing, or not
  • Write your written testimony in the box, or attach it as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf.
• Email your testimony using the form below, with the Zoning & Planning Committee CCed:

Friday, September 23, 2016

5:30p – 8:00p

Musicians Association of Hawai’i (949 Kapiolani Blvd, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814)

The 5th Annual LaborFest Hawai’i will feature:

• William Puette (Center for Labor Education and Research) on labor history in Hawai‘i and workers’ rights
• Katherine Isaac (veteran Labor Organizer and current advisor to the President of the United Postal Workers of America) on her labor organizing and the various working class groupings that formed around key issues presented in the Bernie Sanders campaign.
• Ray Catania on the progress in the Fight For $15 campaign locally.

Learn more by visiting their Facebook event.

Friday, August 19, 2016

1:00p – 3:00p

University of Hawai’i at Manoa – Frear Hall (2569 Dole St. Honolulu, HI 96822)

Calling all UH Manoa students! AiKea UH is organizing a Student Housing action on Move-In Day this Friday, 8/19, 1pm-3pm. Find us at the Manoa Stream pokestop near Frear Hall. We’ll be sponsoring lures there. Catch Pokemon and sign our petition for better student housing!