[ OUR OPINION ]
Liquor panels belong
under county controlTWO former city liquor inspectors who contested charges of accepting bribes have been convicted by a federal jury, but the verdict carries no assurance that the Liquor Commission will be free of corruption in the future. This year's Legislature was remiss in rejecting a bill to bring the county liquor commissions under control. The proposal should be enacted in next year's session.
THE ISSUE
A federal jury has convicted two former Honolulu liquor inspectors of taking bribes.
Former liquor inspection supervisor Harvey T. Hiranaka and inspector Eduardo C. Mina were convicted of racketeering, conspiracy and extortion charges. Six other former inspectors earlier pleaded guilty to similar charges. The charges stem from an honest inspector becoming a whistleblower, wearing a wire for the FBI to gather evidence of the bribes in 2000 and 2001.
The corruption was not new to the commission. In the late 1980s, an investigation found numerous incidents of money laundering, extortion, racketeering and bribery by liquor inspectors and their supervisors, according to Linda Smith, who took part in the probe as a city finance director and is now a senior policy adviser to Governor Lingle.
Federal Public Defender Pamela Byrne, representing Hiranaka, said the more recent bribes were part of a culture of "gift-giving" by bar owners. That is a pleasant way of saying that corruption was and could remain systemic within the commission.
The county liquor commissions are vulnerable to corruption because of lack of oversight. They were created by state law but are county agencies, supposedly managed by the county councils. A bill proposed by City Councilman Charles K. Djou and endorsed by Lingle to bring the commissions under greater county control was not considered seriously by the Legislature.
"I hope we do not wait for yet another sex-for-permit or bribery conviction before we all agree on the need to reform the liquor commission system," Djou said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Seabright agreed, saying the public should be asking how the corruption went undetected and what measures will prevent future inspectors from being on the take.
Eight of the 11 night-shift inspectors were bought and paid for by liquor establishments. Wallace Weatherwax, the Honolulu commission administrator and former U.S. attorney, has said he was unaware of the bribery, probably because both night-shift supervisors were among the corrupt, and their immediate supervisor failed to closely monitor the night shift. That is no reason for the commission to remain aloof.
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Dreams of a home
become a nightmareHAWAII'S booming real estate market is fueling economic growth, increasing home ownership and keeping brokers busy. That's good news for some, but bad news for people with low and moderate incomes.
THE ISSUE
High-rising real estate costs are leaving many isle families in the dust.
Real estate developers and dealers may view requirements for lower-cost units as interfering with market forces and potentially damaging to their bottom lines. However, adequate housing is necessary for those who earn less and government should aggressively promote building houses they can afford. A property tax structure that discourages speculative ventures also should be evaluated.
Mortgage rates, which last year dropped to their lowest levels in 40 years, have spurred buying. Prices have hurtled to record-highs on the neighbor islands where incomes are significantly lower than on Oahu. Even with government programs designed to help, owning a home eludes low-income Hawaii families.
Single-family homes on Kauai shot up more than 46 percent this year from last with a median price at $477,500, a cost a middle-income family earning $56,000 would be hard-pressed to buy.
On Maui, where mid-income is $60,000, the median for single-family homes has hit the half-a-million mark while condominiums are selling for $310,000.
Despite the tab, mainland buyers seeking investments more stable than the stock market are scooping up second homes and vacation dwellings. About 90 percent of homes sold on Maui went to out-of-state buyers; the same amount of housing construction there is for off-island clients.
On Oahu, newcomers are buying in areas once considered less desirable, snatching up less expensive property in Waianae and other rural neighborhoods. Like on Maui, most of the sales -- about 75 percent -- on the Leeward Coast have been to mainland clients, some as investments, others for retirement or second homes.
Developers who put projects on hold during the slow-going 1990s are ramping up construction again, but plans are for upscale homes that bring in higher profits. Although there are government requirements that developers also build lower-cost housing, regulations allow them to pay a fee instead, fees so low that developers can easily recoup through returns on a market-priced home.
As a result, owning a home is stretching beyond the reach of families in lower-income brackets. There's no relief in sight as analysts predict prices will continue to rise indefinitely.
