Overly optimistic, or naive.
That’s what comes to mind in hearing Gov. David Ige’s proclamation of success regarding the homeless clearing from under the H-1 freeway viaduct. “The cleanup of this airport viaduct area is complete,” Ige told reporters at the site Tuesday. “It’s now safe and secure. … We have turned this corner. This is a very important milestone, we believe.”
It’s certainly true that the area is now significantly cleaner and clearer, which was needed for an entrenched encampment where occupants had built elaborate structures. One risk to the public was proven when three fires broke out under the viaduct recently, knocking out service to T-Mobile, Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom consumers.
The state spent $516,000 for crews to remove 180 homeless people, their belongings and trash from the area; the nearly 4-week effort yielded an astonishing 110 gallons of hazardous waste; the equivalent of two 40-foot shipping containers of personal belongings; 2,050 tons of rubbish, enough to fill 216 dumpsters; and 110 dogs and 40 cats.
Ige hailed the effort as a “new approach” to addressing homeless encampments on state land — an approach that apparently entails, at least at the viaduct site, regular enforcement activity and security patrols, a new fence, new motion detectors and finding housing for those displaced.
But with just 12 of those 180 homeless people at the viaduct known to have entered shelters, the whereabouts of the vast majority are unknown. That, unfortunately, likely just means resettlement at another public street or spot.
Let’s hope Ige’s “new approach” proves effective — and us naysayers wrong.
‘Oumuamua pays a visit
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away …
No, this isn’t an ad for the upcoming “Star Wars” installment, “The Last Jedi” (which, by the way, comes out Dec. 15) — but a heralding of ‘Oumuamua, the first-ever space object detected from another solar system.
The exciting discovery of the mysterious interstellar asteroid, cigar-shaped and nearly eight football fields long, was made last month and analyzed by University of Hawaii astronomers using data from the Pan-STARRS telescope atop Maui’s Haleakala and other scopes around the world.
The study, led by Karen Meech of UH’s Institute for Astronomy, appeared Monday in the journal Nature, and it’s rightly causing quite the stir.
The object’s name, ‘Oumuamua, means leader or scout. Very basically: ‘Oumuamua is from another solar or star system, and it was discovered Oct. 19 by UH researcher Rob Weryk atop Haleakala as it hurtled past our sun; it’s thought to have been zooming across space for billions of years before it zoomed into our solar system. Further analyses of ‘Oumuamua might tell us more about formation of planets around its otherworldly parent star, and might suggest the presence of organic molecules.
Adding to the excitement: Another team of scientists estimates there might be another 10,000 interstellar visitors like ‘Oumuamua whizzing throughout our solar system, currently undetected.
Upset over tax IT upgrade
It’s not like the state’s Tax System Modernization (TSM) mega-project needs more turmoil — but here it is anyway. The Hawaii Government Employees Association is publicly warning that the Department of Taxation (DOTAX)’s $60 million project has gotten seriously off-track, and is pressing for course correction to prevent the system’s “inevitable failure, under current leadership, and the catastrophic effects it will bring.”
The grievance centers around DOTAX employees who say they aren’t being sufficiently consulted, plus a “complete lack of confidence” in the TSM’s leadership, including DOTAX’s deputy director and, since July, state Chief Information Officer Todd Nacapuy and a half-dozen staffers transferred under him from DOTAX.
Friction isn’t unexpected, of course, whenever modernization forces a redefining of lines, evolving duties and new ways of doing things — all elements that tend to raise bright red flags for civil-service unions. But with so much at stake, and with an earlier $87 million “modernization” failure already around the Tax Department’s neck, now would be the precise time for all parties to clear the air — and re-infuse the process with ongoing openness, flexibility, inclusion and cooperation. Do not allow today’s discord to turn into a self-imposed, self-fulfilling prophecy.
