Hey, Seoul sister: Five members of the Honolulu City Council plus another city employee are expected to get approval Wednesday to travel to Seoul and Incheon, South Korea, beginning Sunday. Approval should not be difficult, as it is the nine-member council that will vote on the request.
Chair Tommy Waters submitted four resolutions last week on behalf of himself and colleagues Radiant Cordero, Matt Weyer, Tyler Dos Santos-Tam and Val Okimoto along with Brad Kitsu, Honolulu’s Sister City coordinator.
The first resolution will allow the council to accept several nights of lodging, local transportation and a luncheon valued at $7,500 from the Seoul Metropolitan Council to attend the 10th anniversary of the Seoul-Honolulu Friendly Relationship in Seoul.
The second reso will allow the acceptance of $5,500 for similar accommodations from the Incheon Metropolitan Council to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Honolulu-Incheon relationship.
The other gift resolutions will permit the council members to bring some tasty treats to their Korean hosts: 100 boxes of Hawaiian macadamia shortbread cookies from Diamond Bakery (value: $380), and 100 milk chocolate bars (value: $500) from Waialua Estate Coffee and Chocolate and Dole Food Co.
Dos Santos-Tam told The Sunshine Blog that any donation to the city over $2,500 requires a resolution to accept it, but the members disclosed all four “in the interest of public disclosure.” Council members are expected to make up the difference in travel costs either on their own dime or to use their office budget, which is $25,000 a year per member to pay for things like postage and newsletters.
The definition of junket? Tyler Dos Santos-Tam acknowledged to The Blog that people often look at trips like the one to South Korea as junkets — a needless trip by government officials paid for with public money.
“And there is no way around that,” he said. “But I am committed and I think my colleagues are too that any trip comes with some tangible benefits.”
Dos Santos-Tam said he and others can learn more about economic diversification, mass transit, transit-oriented development, waste management, public safety and more.
“It’s not sitting on a beach in Cabo.”
This year also marks the 120th anniversary of Korean immigration to Hawaii. Honolulu has Sister City relationships with dozens of cities including Hiroshima and Edogawa City, Japan and Fuzhou City, China.
Gridiron star: Hawaii football legend Russ Francis, 70, was killed Sunday in a plane crash at the Lake Placid Airport in New York. The former Kailua High School standout won a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers in 1985.
But Francis also had a brief political career. In 2000 he lost as the Republican challenger to Democrat incumbent Patsy Mink for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District.
That race wasn’t close, but two years earlier Francis narrowly lost to Andy Mirikitani for a seat on the Honolulu City Council.
Mirikitani was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison in 2011 for a “kickback scheme” to steal thousands of dollars from the city.
“Federal prosecutors hope Mirikitani’s fate holds a lesson for other public officials,” Hawaii News Now reported at the time.
Lowering the Barr: You may have missed this one from a few days ago, but former TV star Roseanne Barr is threatening to run for governor of Hawaii.
Several online outlets picked up the video of Barr’s podcast with Kari Lake, the unsuccessful gubernatorial wannabe from Arizona who just this week said she’s now running for U.S. Senate in the Grand Canyon State against incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
“In Maui, Hawaii, they’re suffering. And I’m just always praying that aid does reach people,” Barr said, adding that she hears from local friends that “good things are happening” in terms of goods and services reaching survivors.
Lake then says that she hopes the survivors will be able to keep their property.
“Oh, no, they’re gonna keep their property, I swear,” Barr responds forcefully. “If I have to come down there and kick some ass and run for governor, they’re gonna keep their property.”
Barr, who has dallied with politics before but has also landed in a heap of of trouble for unfortunate public remarks, is reported to enjoy “a quiet life” on 46 acres in Honokaa.
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