Musings: On the Move

As the county works to balance its budget, it seemed reasonable to look at how much top elected officials are spending on travel. So I requested records for Prosecutor Justin Kollar, Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. and all the Councilmembers.

Let's start with Bernard. Since June 15, 2014, he has incurred costs of $8,637.21 for airfare, $382.20 on car rentals and $2,683.49 for per diem. Another $1,070 was spent on registration. Much of his travel has been inter-island, but he also has gone to Washington D.C. for a conference of mayors, the Philippines on a trade mission and London for a presentation on a waste to energy plan. Grand total for eight months: $12,772.90.

My request for Council travel dated only from Dec. 1, 2014, when they were sworn in. The expenditures are as follows:

Mason Chock – Airfare, $207; car rental/parking, $59. He attended a leadership forum and met with Rep. Derek Kawakami. Grand total for three months: $266.

Gary Hooser – Airfare, $352.40; car rental/parking, $105. He met with state legislators, and then met with the chairs of various Senate committees. Grand total three months: $457.40.

Ross Kagawa – Airfare, $1,933; per diem, $1359.86; car rental/parking, $217.01. He went to London for a meeting with British Airways; the National Assn. of Counties Board of Directors meeting and a symposium on transportation and infrastructure; a meeting with the consulate general of Japan; the Honolulu City Council inauguration; a Hawaii State Assn. of Counties executive meeting and legislative briefing; opening day at the Legislature; a meeting with legislators and Office of Information Practices; a meeting with legislators and the press; and a National Assn. of Counties legislative conference. Grand total for three months: $3,509.87

Arryl Kaneshiro – Airfare, $961.11; per diem, $541.25; registration, $490. He went to the National Assn. of Counties conference. Grand total for three months: $1,992.36.

KipuKai Kualii – Airfare, $1165.20; per diem, $726.25; registration, $490. He went to the National Assn. of Counties conference and opening day at the Legislature. Grand total for three months: $2,381.45.

Mel Rapozo – Airfare, $749.10; per diem, $2575.92; car rental/parking, $301.94. He went to the National Assn. of Counties Board of Directors meeting and a symposium on transportation and infrastructure; a meeting with the consulate general of Japan; the Honolulu City Council inauguration; a Hawaii State Assn. of Counties executive meeting and legislative briefing; opening day at the Legislature; a meeting with legislators and Office of Information Practices; a meeting with legislators and the press; and a National Assn. of Counties legislative conference. Grand total for three months: $3,626.96.

JoAnn Yukimura – Airfare, $1,043.29; per diem, $461.44; car rental/parking, $329. She went to opening day of the Lege, the governor's state of the state address and met with Legislators about bills dealing with housing credits on Hawaiian Homelands. Grand total for three months: $1,833.73.

Regarding that trip to London, I asked Ross what it was about:

I went on the trip with Mayor Carvalho to meet with representatives from British Airways and Pelatron to meet and discuss a proposal to solve our landfill problem regarding MRF and waste to energy. British Airways will be producing jet fuel from the waste in London, which currently sends their waste to Switzerland. Jet fuel is very similar to diesel, is my understanding. It is a very new technology that uses plasma arc to a higher level with practically no emissions and a much smaller end product called slag, unlike the large amount of emissions and ash that is the result of older technology like H-power.

They also have newer science that cleans the gasses to a higher level that produces more energy than current waste to energy plants produce.  We have approximately 6.5 years left at Kekaha landfill. This project proposes to extend the life of Kekaha another 30 plus years. There are 7 other proposals that I will be spending time on, we don't have much of that left. The council, I'm certain will have full blown presentations before making this very important decision. The county did pay for the trip.

Former county spokeswoman Beth Tokioka provided this statement about the mayor's participation:

Mayor left for London from Washington DC (after the close of his annual US Conference of Mayor's meeting) on Thursday, January 22, and returned to Kaua'i on Sunday, January 25.

Earlier in January, the county concluded a request for information (RFI) process, where we solicited information from companies who could offer new technologies for solid waste disposal that would increase diversion from the landfill and create more sustainable solutions for waste management. Last year the County Engineer visited a waste conversion facility in Tennessee as part of our efforts to research alternative means of managing waste. Pelatron is one of the companies that responded to the RFI, along with the Tennessee company and six other respondents. We anticipate that other site visits will be made as part of our due diligence in evaluating the information received via the RFI.  

Over the years we have learned - through our own experiences and from those recently on Maui and the Big Island - that innovative waste conversion technologies are very complex and must be thoroughly researched before any public funds are committed or contracts entered into.

The County is currently reviewing the RFI submittals and then will be evaluating what next steps are to be taken.

As for Justin's travel, he spent $1,725.40 on airfare in the first six months of 2014, and $2,493.78 on air travel for second half of 2014 and first two months of 2015, for a total of $4,219.18. Car rental for that same 14-month period totaled $413, and per diem of $797.38.

His travel was all inter-island, attending an access to justice conference, trainings on elderly abuse and impaired driving, the opening of the Legislature, testifying on a domestic violence bill, a law forum hearing, meetings with the Hawaii Prosecuting Attorneys Association and a session at the Hawaii Supreme Court. Grand total for 14 months: $5,429.56