Question: Regarding the new lofts in Kakaako (808ne.ws/artistlofts), will local artists in particular get preference?
Answer: No, Hawaii residents will not have priority in the lottery system used to select tenants for the Ola ka ‘Ilima Artspace Lofts, and “there are no units set aside specifically for Hawaii residents,” according to the application packet on the project’s website, 808ne.ws/loftapp.
Construction of the 84-unit, low-income rental complex at 1025 Waimanu St. was financed using a combination of federal, state and city funding and/or tax credits, according to the website.
Anyone who qualifies generally for low-income housing may apply for a rental unit, but preference will be given to artists, broadly defined. The category includes “people engaged in photography, literature, architecture, singing, dancing, film-making, acting, fashion design, canoe building, weaving and more,” whether or not they earn money from the creative pursuit. People in art-supporting jobs, such as teachers and technicians, also may qualify for the preference.
Tenants must occupy their units continuously as a primary residence; they may not be away for more than 60 days in a row, or, if they have a medical problem, for more than 180 continuous days.
All completed applications that are received by 4 p.m. Tuesday will be entered into the lottery scheduled for Jan. 29, the application says.
Q: The Honolulu City Council term limits are two four-year terms. How is Ann Kobayashi, elected in 2009, still serving?
A: Because she won a special election that year to fill the vacancy caused by the death of then-Councilman Duke Bainum. “The vacancy term is not counted toward the term limit,” according to the city clerk’s website. Term limits apply to Kobayashi in 2020.
We’ll clarify, too, that Honolulu City Council members are limited to two consecutive four-year terms, per Section 3-102 of the city charter. The word “consecutive” is significant.
Kobayashi, who represents District 5, held the same Council seat from 2002 to 2008, when she resigned to run for Honolulu mayor. Although her challenge of Mufi Hannemann was unsuccessful, she was soon back in city politics. She won back the Council seat after Bainum, her successor, died of an aortic aneurysm on June 9, 2009.
District 5 includes Kaimuki, Palolo Valley, St. Louis Heights, Manoa, Moiliili, McCully and parts of Ala Moana, Kakaako and Makiki.
For a list of Honolulu City Council members since 1961, see 808ne.ws/council.
Kobayashi, 81, was unanimously selected as the Council’s interim chairwoman this week, presiding as it moves forward with only eight certified members while the status of the ninth seat — District 4 — is hashed out in the Hawaii Supreme Court. Council members passed a resolution saying they’ll select a permanent Council chairman after all nine districts are represented, but need to get to work in the meantime (808ne.ws/counres).
District 4 is in limbo because candidate Tommy Waters challenged incumbent Trevor Ozawa’s 22-vote victory, asserting that mail-in ballots should have been counted only if they were in the city clerk’s possession by 6 p.m. Election Day. The city clerk disagrees, saying that would disenfranchise voters and upend years of usual practice, which counts mail-in ballots that are received by the U.S. Postal Service by that time and transferred to the city’s possession about an hour later. Read more about the ballot collection process in a story by Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter Gordon Pang, 808ne.ws/ gpsty.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
