April – June 2009 Mixed Plate of Talk Story

Hawaii tourism continued to struggle in May with visitor arrivals plummeting for the 15th consecutive month. The declining tourism and tough economic times have impacted upon the occupancy rates of vacation rentals and hotel pool properties in Waikiki. As a result, many owners have shifted their furnished condo units to long-term (six months or greater) rentals in an effort to improve their cash flow. Other owners that used to keep their furnished condos vacant for lengthy periods of time while they alternated living in Hawaii and on the Mainland are now attempting to rent them while they are not here. The result of these actions has been a sizable increase in the number of furnished Waikiki condos available for long-term rent. Long-term tenants usually prefer an unfurnished unit. As this is being written, there are more furnished condos available for long-term rent in Waikiki than unfurnished units. In some buildings unfurnished long-term rentals command a higher rent than furnished rentals.

Hawaii is constitutionally mandated to have a balanced budget, so GOP Governor Linda Lingle had to do something to conform to the law. Since 70% of the state’s operating funds go to labor costs and benefits, Lingle’s action was to impose a three-day-per-month unpaid furlough for state workers commencing July 1st, which translates into a reduction in income of about 14%. This has generated massive local hoopla. Three public worker unions have filed lawsuits stating that she does not have the power to do this, which may or may not be the case. However as governor, it appears she does have the ability either to impose layoffs or reduce allocated funding in lieu of layoffs.

We have an oversized, overpaid government that we simply can’t afford when the economy is contracting, tourism is plummeting and unemployment climbing. Many families in Hawaii have lost jobs or are experiencing a decline in their income. Lingle’s action merely spreads the suffering to state employees. Eighteen other states are implementing similar forced furloughs. Other alternatives are using the $150 million reserves in the state’s hurricane emergency relief fund and hoping we can avoid any hurricanes until we restore the funds. Or, raising the state general excise tax temporarily (sure!) by a half percentage point. Let’s see . . . an increase of a half percentage point for the rail, which everyone knows is not going to be enough. Now, a possible increase of another half percent (but only temporarily), so public workers don’t have to incur any pay cuts.

As for increasing taxes on our high rollers, Hawaii just leapfrogged over seven other states and now has moved into the top spot in the nation for high state taxes (11% for individuals making over $200,000, up from 8.25% . . . an increase of 33.33%). Plus, Hawaii will now have a dozen tax brackets, more apparently than any other state, which also increases taxes paid by the wealthy. For smokers, Hawaii will have the second highest cigarette tax at $2.60 a pack. And, to top it all off, the increase for hotel room taxes is up 28% . . . just what we need with our sagging visitor counts.

Les Keiter, a legendary figure in sports broadcasting, passed away in April less than two weeks before his 90th birthday. The “General” started his sports career in Honolulu in the 1940’s. In the 1950’s and 1960’s he worked in New York as an announcer for four major sports teams . . . the New York football and baseball Giants, the New York Knicks (basketball) and the New York Islanders (hockey). He was also a fight announcer and did a number of heavyweight championship fights including Muhammad Ali’s first title bout in 1964 where he upset 8:1 favorite Sonny Liston. In 1970, Keiter returned to Hawaii where he became the sports director of a local TV station. His co-anchor, Joe Moore, nicknamed him “The General” after he appeared as a general in an episode of “Hawaii Five-0” Keiter retired in Hawaii in 1990. His 1991 autobiography, Fifty Years Behind the Microphone” is in a special collection at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Next month, a 98-ton steel catamaran will moor each day some 200 yards past the surf break in front of the Sheraton-Waikiki Hotel on water about 50 fee deep. Named the “Kan-Doo! Island” it will provide a host of water sports such as snorkeling, scuba, parasailing, slides for children into a netted ocean pool as well as Jacuzzis restaurants and bars. Customers will be shuttled to and from Fisherman’s Wharf. The 148-by-48-foot vessel, a former dinner cruise and glass bottomed boat, is finishing up a rebuilding process. The catamaran will moor from 6:00 a.m. to midnight and then go to Kewalo Basin for servicing overnight. Several yachts have been purchased for charter. Local boaters will also be able to tie up for free when there’s space.

The U.S. Department of Justice is expanding its presence in Hawaii by building new headquarter for the FBI’s Honolulu Division on 10 acres of land in Kalaeloa (formerly Barber’s Point Naval Air Station) along Roosevelt Avenue. The FBI has spent the past 32 years in the Federal Building. The new building will provide the hundreds of agents, analysts, linguists, task force officers and support personnel the working space and technological equipment to support federal law enforcement in Hawaii, Guam, Saipan and America Samoa. Construction is expected to take two years. It is anticipated that further commercial development will follow this move by the FBI, which should enhance residential property values in the area.

Records exist to be broken. Satsuko Fujitake, “The Man With the Golden Arm” who held the dice at a Las Vegas craps table for three hours, six minutes and 118 rolls (California Hotel and Casino on May 28, 1989) had his 20-year-old record broken on May 23rd by a New Jersey woman with beginner’s luck that was playing craps for only the second time who held the dice for four hours, 18 minutes and 154 rolls at the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. Fujitake, a retired city painter, died in 2000 at age 77. Prior to his death, he and his wife visited Las Vegas about once a month. He was known for his success at the craps table; on several occasions, he held the dice at the California Hotel for over an hour.

The USS Hawaii left the East Coast in May and is currently enroute to its new homeport at Pearl Harbor. It will be the first Virginia-class submarine to be home-ported in Hawaii. The submarine carries a crew of 14 officers and 120 enlisted and has a nine-man airlock trunk enabling an entire SEAL team to lock out together. Rather than a periscope, it has a photonics mast with a camera thereby providing multiple digital images. Plus, the control room can be more effectively located as with no periscopes, it does not need to be located below the sail area . . . When June Jones was the UH football coach, one of his stated objectives was to play a service academy once each year. This makes a lot of sense, particularly for games at Aloha Stadium, with all the military presence in Hawaii. Recently, UH and Army agreed to a long-distance series with games at West Point in 2010 and 2018 and at Aloha Stadium in 2013 and 2019. When UH plays at West Point in 2010, they will travel 4,954 miles, their longest journey for a road game in the program’s history. This fall UH will play Navy at Aloha Stadium. I have a BS Degree from the Naval Academy and an MBA Degree from UH. Maybe I should shift sides at half-time like the President does at Army-Navy games

Daytime Oahu temperatures for eight consecutive days in June either set or tied high temperature records for Oahu . . . Honolulu was the only American city to make the top 24 “World’s Most Livable Cities” according to a “Monocle Magazine” survey featured in the Financial Times newspaper.  Despite our budget woes and struggling economy, we came in at 11th. The top three cities were Zurich, Copenhagen and Tokyo . . . President Obama hosted the annual presidential picnic for members of Congress on June 25th with a twist. Famed Hawaiian chef Alan Wong supervised the preparation of a luau fare such as kalua pig, lomilomi salmon, etc. with some picnic specialties such as wasabi potato salad. Tiki torches lined the perimeter of the South Lawn along with potted palm trees, straw huts, music makers and hula dancers. Leis abounded the 2,000-plus guests.

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