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Joey Manahan

Representative Joey Manahan

Joey Manahan / What was your biggest accomplishment this session?

“As the Chair of the House Committee on Tourism Culture and International Affairs, I took the initiative to make various improvements to the Hawaii Tourism Authority and tourism laws including expanding the scope of a tourism emergency to include a national or global economic crisis and requiring 12.5% of the two percent increase in the transient accommodations tax beginning July 1, 2010 to be deposited into the tourism special fund for fiscal year 2010-2011. These initiatives will increase HTA’s marketing capacity by $12-15 million in fiscal year 2010. I personally worked with the House leadership, my counterparts on the Senate Tourism Committee, as well as the Finance and Ways and Means Chairs of the House and Senate respectively to ensure the passage of HB754.

Our committee also held informational briefings to ensure that HTA’s new president and CEO would have good knowledge and understanding of our local and host culture and its importance to the overall well being of our tourism industry. We also held an informational briefing with Mayor Hannemann prior to the HTA making its decision to renew the Pro Bowl contract to highlight the importance of this event to our State and our communities while ensuring the event stays in Hawaii.”

With which piece of 2009 legislation are you most proud to be affiliated and why?

“I introduced a bill to help local farmers be able to provide locally grown produce to our hotels—HB1471. I worked with the hotel industry as well as my colleagues in the house and Senate to be able to pass such a measure.”

What was the biggest disappointment of the session and how might a similar disappointment be prevented in the future?

“The biggest disappointment for me was having no clear direction from the administration as to how to balance an unprecedented $2billion budget shortfall. To make matters worse, the governor made a public spectacle of vetoing our proposals that attempted to balance the budget, but that’s politics, I guess. ”

Debating which issue turned out to be the biggest distraction from your priorities?
“There were many debates that probably should not have taken place, but the one that sticks out in my mind is a bill that would allow us to hang our clothes on a clothesline. One would think that this would not require any legislation, but apparently, it does.”

What’s one thing you wish voters better understood about you or the political process as a whole?
“The legislative process is not easy and it requires a great deal of patience and understanding of people. I am grateful to my colleagues who helped me this session, and I am especially grateful to my constituents who have afforded me this honor.”

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This week

Fortress Oahu

With roots planted in the 1893 overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani and a presence that extends through the entire archipelago, the military’s influence in Hawaii is surpassed only by tourism. The military controls some 236,000 acres throughout the state, including 25 percent of the land mass of Oahu, and thousands of square miles of surrounding airspace and sea.

Breaking The Waves

“I’m having a hard time not swearing right now,” Spike Kane says in his UK accent, all smiles after his first surf session at the second annual Hawaii “They Will Surf Again” event hosted by the Life Rolls On Foundation (LRO). “It just feels so good to be in the water again.” Kane beams.

Greedy, Scheming Saga

Into Willie Sabel’s vast and detailed set enter a cast of rippled sweatshirts and oversized shoulder-pads, thanks to Dusty Behner’s sense of color and history, and Lisa Ponce de Leon’s especially-80s hairstyles. A few of the bunch even manage to hold-their-own against the largeness that is the setting of Dividing the Estate, the newest show to hit Manoa Valley Theatre.

Mayumi Meets Mother Earth

Mayumi Oda, an artist often dubbed the “Matisse of Japan,” is a petite woman with boundless ambitions. In the book Merciful Sea: 45 Years of Serigraphs by Mayumi Oda, meetings with intensely raw and passionate artists, including Ginsberg, Rothko and De Kooning, triggered her to reflect, “I am small.

Editor’s Note

Everything’s coming up mangoes. And last week, we joined the crowd at Foster Botanical Garden to witness the first-ever Honolulu blossoming of Amorphophallus titanium, nicknamed the “Corpse Flower” for its malodorous, fly-catching bouquet.

he’s official

Through the years there have been many mayors who’ve aspired to be governor, but for the first time in Honolulu ’s history, a former governor is running for mayor. At Honolulu Hale on Friday, May 18, as he signed the nomination paperwork making him an official candidate for the 2012 race, Cayetano told the room that, back in January, he made his decision quickly.

Rail suit hangs on

Important back stories are huddled behind last week’s Star-Advertiser headline, “Federal Judge Narrows Lawsuit on Rail.” Foremost is that the lawsuit will go forward unimpeded. The same substantive points of contention including the most important historic and cultural sites are still at issue.

wed lockdown

In announcing his support of same-sex marriage two weeks ago, President Barack Obama reinvigorated a vexed debate. Locally, the wrangle has been deadlocked following the contentious legalization of civil unions and subsequent federal court challenge in January.

outsourced LEI

Thailand grows 75 percent of the flowers used in Hawaiian-made lei, but a flooding in the country last fall destroyed 80 percent of its orchid crops, according to Summer Campos, co-founder of the Hawaiian Lei Company. Together with the graduation season and the growing popularity of lei on the mainland, “All lei prices have inflated due to the orchid shortage,” Campos says.

Bus cuts

Lynne Matusow’s letter [“Goodbye Bus, Hello Rail?” May 16] hit the nail right smack dab on the head. The rail may have its attributes but it seems the more we delve into it the bad seem to outweigh the good.

Second “city”

We have a problem with traffic congestion on the major highways leading into the city; we have the controversy over the issue of rail; and we have the concern over preserving prime agricultural lands. It would seem to me that all these issues point to one thing in one way or another and that is the development of a second city in Kapolei.

Traffic mess

Though you didn’t discuss it in the most recent issue, there was a brief mention of how long it took for the Kinau off-ramp to be completed. Ambulances [had] ALWAYS been able to take the exit BEFORE Kinau, and turn left directly into the Emergency Room.

More politics

I enjoyed your issue on Mayoral Candidate Peter Carlisle. It would be great if you did a series on those running for the two congressional seats and the Senate race.

Ads not edit

On [April 26] the Weekly [ran] a story damning Hoopili as you have been for quite some time. Then you are running a full-page promotional ad this week?

Editors’ Reply:

It’s important to understand the difference between editorial content and ads. At the Weekly, they are two completely separate departments.

Corrections

We retract the letter “Questionable Ethics?” [May 9] and apologize to Herb Barboza for its inaccuracies. Mr.