Department of Transporation Services delivers on promises to FACE

The City & County of Honolulu hand delivered a package that included a letter that addressed the concern about the use of bus funds for the rail project.

On August 31, 2010, a staff from the Department of Transportation Services (DTS) delivered a package containing a letter and the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). At FACE’s Accountability Assembly on June 26, 2010, FACE leaders announced a bus riders petition that would be collected for the month of July. On July 23, 2010, FACE leaders met with Wayne Yoshioka, the director of DTS, and raised the questions of how the department could consider a fare increase in the light of the economic situation of the islands, especially Oahu. FACE leaders also raised the concern that the current Environmental Impact Study (EIS) includes a section where traditional bus funds would be used to finance the rail project. The Federal Transit Administration’s Section 5307 grant monies have been used for years by TheBus for operations and maintenance. Under the EIS, this pot of money would be used for building and maintaining the rail project, to the scope of $30 million per year. This is a huge burden upon bus riders if that were to trickle down to the ridership, meaning that it could lead to closures to routes and services. The timing and the relation of the fare increase to the rail funding brought the question to forefront: is the bus fare increase related to the use of traditional bus funds by the rail transit project?

At the meeting, director Yoshioka reassured FACE leaders that the bus funds will remain the bus funds. Through the meeting, leaders came to understand that the director felt that the bus is a services much like the police and fire departments – a service to the community. As an assurance to FACE, leaders requested a letter addressing the concerns brought up in the meeting, as well as a copy of the TIP.

On August 31, 2010, after the county attorneys had the opportunity to look over the response, DTS did deliver on their promises by delivering the letter and TIP.

To see the letter and other transportation related documents, please click here.

FACE will continue to work on transportation issues.

Honolulu City Council Members Recognized

At FACE’s September 11, 2010 Delegated Council meeting at Our Lady of the Mount Catholic Church, city council members were thanked for working together with FACE and its leaders to pass resolution 10-38 for an Office of Housing within the City & County of Honolulu. Council members Ann Kobayashi, and Rod Tam were in attendance. Council member Romy Cachola was unable to come and sent his representative, Ben Cabreros.
Each member was given a certificate of recognition and a “FACE Game Ball”, thanking them for “putting the ball into play”. Now we have to SCORE the TOUCHDOWN on November 2nd and win the ballot initiative.

The council members who voted yes for resolution 10-38 are:
Ikaika Anderson
Todd Apo
Romy Cachola
Donovan Dela Cruz
Ann Kobayashi and
Rod Tam

Thank you for your support! FACE and the community appreciate your work.

FACE Photo wins Honorable Mention – Congratulations Dwight Morita of Nuuanu Congregational Church

Pluralism.org
September 10, 2010

Dwight K. Morita has been a wonderful asset to FACE for almost a year and a half. He has let us borrow his exceptional talent as he has generously taken photographs of our large events, like the 2009 and 2010 Interfaith Services, our November 2009 Honolulu Hale Prayer Vigil Action, and our Accountability Assembly this year. He submitted two of his photos to be judged. One from FACE’s 2009 Interfaith Service at Central Union Church on April 29,2009, and one from a Honolulu Memorial Day tradition titled “Floating Lanterns Lauched at Sunset”. The photo from FACE’s Interfaith Service titled “Love Never Faileth” was given honorable mention, and his Floating Lanterns submission won grand prize! Congratulations Dwight for your wonderful works.

The following is from their site:

Pluralism Project Photography Contest Winners, September 2010

Recast on Olelo of Board of Education Forum

There is very little information about the Board of Education candidates. Save Our Schools Hawaii hosted a forum on the at-large candidates on August 23, 2010. The video will be rebroadcast and we recommend that voters view it in order to make a more informed decision about school board candidates.

Watch the rebroadcast on ‘Olelo Community TV:

9/9/10 THURS 100PM OAHU Ch.52

9/12/10 SUN 1:00PM TEAC Ch.56

9/13/10 MON 6:30PM VIEWS Ch.54

9/14/10 TUE 2:00PM OAHU Ch.52

You can also watch the forum online at:
BOE Forum online at Olelo

First Unitarian Church will host a BOE Forum on October 10th after the primary election.

First Unitarian Church of Honolulu
2500 Pali Highway
12:15PM to 3:00PM
October 10, 2010

Please park at Temple Emanu-El at 2550 Pali Highway.
For any questions, please contact Steve Lohse at 499-5406.

Group urges Lingle to clear rail transit

Honolulu Star-Advertiser
September 3, 2010

An organization of religious and community leaders yesterday called on Gov. Linda Lingle to give rail transit the green light.

By Gene Park

Members of Faith Action for Community Equity Hawaii, or FACE, said they echo U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye’s plea for the governor to approve an environmental study and thus ensure federal funding for the rail transit project.

Delays could affect the estimated 125,838 jobs the project could create, according to a study commissioned by the Transportation Equity Network, of which FACE Hawaii is a member.

“Frustration aside, this is for the good of the state, and she (Lingle) should stop playing politics with it, I think,” said Drew Astolfi, FACE state director.
Lingle’s administration awarded a contract yesterday to conduct an economic analysis of the rail transit project.
Read more…

Study touts rail jobs will top 100,000

Hawaii News Now (KGMB)
September 3, 2010

By Jim Mendoza

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Bearing a banner outside the state unemployment office, a group called FACE insisted rail’s the fast track to a paycheck.

“We think that a lot of the people coming in here are people out of work that would be put back to work by this project,” Drew Astolfi said.

Astolfi’s group released a 30-page study Thursday.

In it researchers at the University of Missouri-St. Louis said rail-created jobs will surpass a hundred thousand..

“We’re looking at approximately 125,000 jobs over the course of the life of the project,” FACE president Sam Domingo said.

FACE said the figure includes construction and other employment related to development along the transit line.

But rail critics call the study results “ridiculous” and characterize the number of jobs projected as “over-stated.”.

“It’s easy enough to create jobs if you go into debt to do it. It’s a question of what kind of a hangover of debt are you going to wake up to when it’s all over?” said Cliff Slater of HonoluluTraffic.com.

FACE stands for Faith Action for Community Equity, an alliance of churches and temples that support rail.

“We believe that it will concentrate investment, concentrate capitol in the urban core,” Astolfi said.

FACE said the study is based on numbers the city used to secure a promise of federal funding.

The study is posted on the organization’s web site at facehawaii.org.

Click here for original article.

Study says rail could bring over 120,000 jobs

KHON Channel 2 News
September 3, 2010

A new study released today says the rail transit program could bring in thousands of jobs.

Commissioned by the non-profit group Faith Action for Community Equity or “FACE.”

The study shows that over 120,000 jobs may be created from the rail project in the next ten years.

“Those jobs are tied to the construction of the route, the development of the buildings and also to the businesses that are there,” said FACE organizer Jun Yang.

FACE paid just $200 for the study, which was part of a larger study done of 24 metropolitan areas.

Click here for original article.

Study Linking Transit to Thousands of Jobs for Honolulu

September 2, 2010

The Transit Study if available for viewing and download.

Of the 24 metropolitan areas, Honolulu has one of the top ranked transit projects in the country. It means that thousands of jobs will be created for island residents over the next decade.

Please click on the link below for the study:
MORE TRANSIT = MORE JOBS

20 FACE leaders and clergy gathered in front of the Unemployment office on Punchbowl Street earlier Thursday morning. TV news reporters as well as the Star Advertiser were in attendance to ask questions regarding FACE’s support of the rail and questions about the study.

If there are any questions, please contact FACE Organizer Jun Yang

Voters to decide on housing office

Honolulu Star-Advertiser
September 2, 2010

A City Charter amendment would put the agency within the mayor’s office

By Gordon Y.K. Pang

Voters will get a chance to decide whether the city should re-establish a housing office that would tackle homelessness and affordable-housing issues.

The Council voted 6-0 yesterday to ask voters to consider a City Charter amendment at the general election to place a housing office within the mayor’s office.

Meanwhile, acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell has offered his own plan that would resurrect the housing office as part of the Department of Community Services. That plan could be implemented internally and not require a decision by the voters.

In either case, the city would be going back to the future by re-establishing a housing agency.

Oahu voters in 1998 chose to eliminate the city’s housing agency as part of a governmentwide reorganization plan initiated by former Mayor Jeremy Harris and designed to streamline government operations and make it more efficient.

In the wake of the Ewa Villages scandal, in which housing agency employee Michael Kahapea was found guilty of stealing $5.8 million from taxpayers, there was little resistance to the end of the agency.

Housing advocates, however, testified yesterday that times have changed.

“The crisis in housing and homelessness has become far worse than it was,” said the Rev. Bob Nakata, chapter president of the nonprofit Faith Action for Community Equity. “The voters chose to take out the housing department — the voters should be given the opportunity to reverse that decision.”

Putting the choice before voters will make the decision “far more permanent and far more likely to be implemented,” Nakata said.

Cat Wong, president of the Ohana Housing Network of Oahu, a coalition of tenant associations from city affordable-housing projects, said it’s not just the homeless who could benefit from re-establishing a housing agency.

The group’s goal “has always been preservation and protection of existing affordable housing in perpetuity,” Wong said.

“Affordable housing and any future housing needs to be intelligently and coherently developed and organized, so that the housing community can continue to thrive in its own livelihood and (residents can) experience some sense of security and peace of mind that their homes will be protected,” she said.

Proponents of the Council plan also argue that putting housing functions within the mayor’s office would ensure that it gets top priority instead of being mired among the multitude of city agencies.

“If it’s in the office of the mayor, then it’s going to happen,” said Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz. “And we would have someone accountable.”
Read more…

FACE Releases Study That Links Transit to Thousands of Jobs for Honolulu

For Immediate Release

Honolulu, HI, September 2, 2010—FACE leaders will gather this morning at 10:00 AM, at the state’s unemployment office, at 830 Punchbowl Street, to release a transit jobs study commissioned by the Transportation Equity Network (TEN) and FACE entitled “More Transit = More Jobs”.

“This study highlights how many real jobs can come into Honolulu for the next ten years,” said Reverend Bob Nakata. “These are jobs that are very much needed right now, especially in the light of our island’s economic struggles”. The study highlights the impact on the number of jobs when more money is placed into funding public transit.
Read more…