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Rick Hamada

Bill 42 (2025) CD1 - RELATING TO TAXIS - Repeals various fares and charges provisions that apply to taxicab companies and drivers. Allows fares and charges to apply when a taxicab is hired. Allows taxicab drivers and taxicab companies to pass on (sic) taxes and third-party fees to passengers. Requires a report from the CSD Director.

This is the official title of legislation meandering through the Honolulu City Council, which is the latest in the ongoing discussion and debate between two prolific adversaries. Not since the Romans and the Jews, dogs against cats and the Bears vs. the Slackers (oh, alright, the Packers - they still suck) has there ever been a battle of such biblical proportion.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"YES!"}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Taxis V. Uber\/Lyft."}]

And, of course, you're caught in the middle.

I'm giving you a heads up. This is not a definitive journalistic piece on the 

 of legislative analysis. Nor is this in any way an attempt to sway public or political commentary. This is simply the opinion of a columnist who has taken various modes of international transportation, and I'm simply rendering my perspective based on countless of hours in the back seat of both taxis and rideshares and thousands of dollars of questionable expenditures for the aforementioned services.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"But first. "}]

A minimal amount of legislative analysis which will sway nobody at all.

The fundamental argument levied against Uber/Lyft entering the Hawaiʻi market in August of 2013 was that rideshare enjoyed virtual unregulation posing unfair competition for traditional taxi services. Since the beginning, Uber/Lyft was a hit with consumers for it's cost and the convenience using tech to made it more attractive than a cab. It's important to note that traditional taxis enjoyed business from a cliental who preferred a tradition they embraced.

This debate ensured across the nation as rideshare companies were subjected to similar legal challenges with varying degrees of success. One aspect was regulatory authority at the state level and Hawaiʻi had it's own strategy to be involved although we were one of the last states to do so. 

Rideshare services are governed while acknowledging they are different from traditional taxi providers. These companies must maintain specific insurances coverage levels, and their drivers must meet set criteria for background checks and vehicle upkeep. (

However, this city council bill consideration focuses on rates that you must pay for these services.

The taxi industry has been controlled by government law defining what a company can charge. Perhaps this was a necessity when taxis were the only game in town. Regardless, price controls levied on industries in general are a very bad idea. Consider a recent UHERO report that states government regulations comprise up to 30% additional cost to residential construction. Want affordable housing? Start with de-regulation.

It's this consistent position that is the center of Bill 42 (2025) CD1.

It's to abolish governmental price controls specifically on the traditional taxicab industry.

The bill would theoretically create a more level playing field freeing up pricing options for taxis creating competition in the marketplace. 

I say theoretically because the chances are great that inevitably something will get screwed up.

Let's assume pricing does become more competitive. Logically other ancillary parts of the customer experience become more relevant and important.

Here's a very subjective and biased assessment of these services.

The Uber app is the bomb. I have the Lyft but I find Uber is easier to navigate. The range of riders are many, the time of pick-up to destination arrival is a bit flawed but pretty consistent. All driver and vehicle information is posted plus direct communication with the driver is in real time. You can request the style of vehicle from basic to ultra-premium or larger for more utilitarian uses. Have a dispute? The online customer service is accessible with timely responses and agreeable resolutions. Pricing is fair and, yes, there is surge pricing when demand is greater. However, as a frequent customer, I receive discount surge pricing and the benefits I cited make up for the spotty additional costs.

A big advantage for taxis is the ability to hail either from stands or the streets. Immediate service. But these opportunities are fewer and far between. 

One of the most frustrating is the taxi access at Honolulu Airport. Let's just say whatever the system is, it's no bueno. Again, a columnist's subjective opinion that's based on other airports on the mainland and globally. Examples? Vegas, San Francisco, Sea-Tac, Paris, Gerald Ford in Grand Rapids, MI and Cozumel, Mexico. We attract up to 8 million visitors per year via HNL and we have a lack of easily accessible cabs and rideshare is buried in the second floor parking with virtually no signage. HNL, serve your customers. Expletives deleted.

Most taxis but not all accept credit/debit cards. In our increasingly cashless society, this is a definite benefit. It would be better if prospective riders knew this was for all cabs. Assisting those who require assistance is a noble trait steeped in the tradition of taxis. I'll cite Dale Evans, owner, of Charley's Taxi who is renowned for this essential service. Rideshare may provide, too, but time on the job is a quality that cannot be discounted.

Finally, personal transportation provided by taxis and rideshares. This is for both of you.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"And for riders:"}]

This an opportunity for "Rick You're Right or Rick You're Wrong." Please, share your thoughts with 

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<title>Hamada: Debate on Hawaiʻi's taxis and rideshares</title>

Some thoughts about the Honolulu City Council's legislation aimed at giving traditional taxi services an even playing field against Uber and Lyft. Plus, tips for drivers and riders.

Hamada: Debate on Hawaiʻi's taxis and rideshares

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Long-awaited improvements to a long-shuttered police substation in Wai‘anae finaly began on Monday.

Nearly a decade ago, in 2016, a $16 million police station was built in Wai‘anae, where it has remained in disuse ever since. The second floor of the facility has been unfinished, left without air conditioning, power outlets and other basic functional infrastructure.

 at the time hypothesized that the project ran out of money because of a large radio antenna at the site of the former police substation, which was built in 1961. Construction crews were legally not allowed to move or disable the antenna, for emergency purposes, leading to an expensive process where the antenna was lifted, the old station was demolished, the new station was built and the antenna reinstalled.

Since then, short staffing at the Honolulu Police Department has made filling the substation a low-priority project.

In 2023, however, the county began the slow process of improving the substation. That year, the City Council allocated $300,000 to HPD to carry out the improvements to make the substation’s second floor usable.

And in March of that year, the Council also passed a resolution urging HPD to develop a plan to fully utilize the derelict building. The resolution, introduced by Wai‘anae Councilwoman Andria Tupola, requested that HPD create a ninth patrol district to address limited police resources in the region.

That resolution stated that, at HPD’s then-current recruitment rate, it would take six years to fill all the department’s nearly 350 vacant officer positions, assuming no other officers left the force in the interim.

While the new patrol district never came to pass, the renovations to the substation’s second story began Monday.

“We promised the community that strengthening public safety in Wai

anae would be a top priority — and today, construction finally begins,” Tupola said in a statement. “Our community is thankful to finally see long-overdue progress on a project that is so critically needed.”

Tupola 16x9

<title>Long-awaited improvements coming to Wa‘ianae police substation</title>

Wai‘anae facility built in 2016 will finally get a functional second floor.

Long-awaited improvements coming to Wa‘ianae police substation

Crime & Courts

A man serving a life sentence for stabbing a man to death in Wahiawā in 2019 will get a retrial.

In 2024, a jury convicted then-25-year-old Kai Dela Cruz of second-degree murder after he had reportedly stabbed 45-year-old Isaac Lee repeatedly in Nov. 2019.

According to court records, Dela Cruz was at his mother’s Wahiawā apartment with Lee, described as a friend of the family. The two were alone on a lānai before Dela Cruz’s mother reported hearing screams.

Lee was found bleeding with multiple stab wounds; a paramedic who responded to the scene judged that any one of the wounds would have been life-threatening on their own, according to court records. Lee was pronounced dead at The Queen’s Medical Center.

Dela Cruz fled the scene in his mother’s car, but he was found a few hours later lying facedown on a road and arrested. Subsequent evidence determined that he had been smoking methamphetamine before the stabbing incident.

But on Monday, the state’s Intermediate Court of Appeals 

 Dela Cruz’s conviction and called for a retrial.

According to the ICA’s ruling, the First Circuit Court erred when reading Dela Cruz his rights at trial. At any criminal trial, the judge confirms with the defendant their right to testify in their defense and their right to remain silent. In Dela Cruz’s case, that exchange went poorly.

A transcript of Dela Cruz’s conversation with the judge — 

 states that judge Shanlyn Park presided over the case, although the ICA ruling doesn’t include any names — reveals that the judge failed to ask Dela Cruz, after he had decided not to testify in his defense, whether anyone had pressured him to remain silent.

The law is clear on this, the ICA ruled: by failing to properly ascertain whether Dela Cruz’s decision was his own, the court had violated his constitutional right to testify. If that right is violated, any subsequent convictions must be vacated “unless the state can prove the violation was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt,” read the ICA ruling, itself quoting previous case law.

Because Dela Cruz did not testify, the ICA determined that there is no way of knowing what he would have said in his defense and, therefore, the violation cannot be considered “harmless.” Therefore, his conviction has been overturned and his case returned to the First Circuit Court for a do-over.

This was the only error the ICA issued an opinion on Monday, although his attorneys — public defender Jon Ikenaga and deputy public defenders Benjamin Lowenthal and Henry Ting — had raised similar issues with a Honolulu Police Department interrogation of Dela Cruz.

During that interrogation — which court records note was held within 24 hours of Dela Cruz smoking meth — Dela Cruz seemingly did not knowingly waive his right to have an attorney present. When an HPD officer asked Dela Crus if he wanted to have an attorney present, he said no. Dela Cruz’s attorneys argued he had misinterpreted the question to mean if he wanted to have an attorney appointed to him.

During the trial, Dela Cruz and his attorneys unsuccessfully attempted to have the confession he gave during that investigation suppressed.

Dela Cruz’s attorneys also argued that he should have been instead charged with manslaughter owing to his “extreme mental or emotional disturbance.” They claimed in their appeal that Lee, who was homeless, had repeatedly broken into Dela Cruz’s apartment against his wishes, frequently stealing food and clothing and once reportedly standing over Dela Cruz’s bed as he slept.

The ICA did not make any determinations regarding either the HPD interrogation or the manslaughter angle. Further proceedings at the First Circuit Court have not yet been scheduled.

Kaahumanu Hale 16x9

<title>Man convicted of fatal Wahiawā stabbing to get retrial</title>

Kai Dela Cruz was sentenced in 2024 to life imprisonment after a 2019 stabbing in Wahiawā. That conviction was vacated Monday.

Man convicted of fatal Wahiawā stabbing to get retrial

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Hawaiʻi to the World,” a televised talent competition launched by Hawaiian Council has named its Oʻahu winner, Lartiza, who will be one of five acts from four islands to advance to the contest’s grand finale, which airs this Sunday, Dec. 14.

The winner of the talent competition takes home a $10,000 cash prize. 

The fan favorite, determined by online voting

, will also receive cash. "Hawaiʻi to the World" is aired by Hawaiʻi News Now and simulcast on K5 and KHNL, following Sunday Night Football.

Patrick Makuakāne; Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, also known as Kumu Hina; and Lehua Kalima

. The show is hosted by McKenna Maduli. Auditions for each Island’s talent contest include a guest judge. For the Oʻahu auditions, that guest judge was 

Laritza’s winning act combined a traditional oli, or chant, with classical piano.

“Our first performer is classical meets drag in a performance that’s as bold as it is beautiful,” said Maduli, the show’s host, as she introduced Laritza during the Oʻahu competition. “

Juilliard trained pianist and Hawaiian artist T.J. Keanu Tario

 transforms into Laritza blending grace, power and pure artistry.”

The finale will include contestants from four islands: Kauaʻi, Maui, Hawaiʻi Island and Oʻahu. Laritza will advance alongside Kaua‘i’s two finalists: 

Kumu Hula Troy Allen Lazaro with Hālau Ka Pā Hula o Hīnano

; Maui’s finalist, the Island and reggae band, 

; and Hawaiʻi Island’s finalist, the singer and songwriter, 

. The voting for fan favorite closes at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9. 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Laritza

<title>Oʻahu winner advances to “Hawaiʻi to the World” finale</title>

“Hawaiʻi to the World” judges selected one artist, who received classical training at The Juilliard School, to represent Oʻahu in the finale of a new talent competition. The winner will take home a $10,000 prize. Voting is still underway to select the fan favorite, who also receives a cash prize.

Oʻahu winner advances to “Hawaiʻi to the World” finale

Aloha Spirit

When Kānehoalani passes over Oʻahu, sunlight glimmers on Skyline tracks and new garden beds at Hōʻaeʻae Station. Between the steel and the soil at Honouliuli Station, 25 varieties of kalo lift their leaves to the dawn while 15 ʻulu trees spread their shade – living symbols of a quiet transformation taking root.

This fall, Skyline stations in Waipahu and Hoʻopili came alive – boosted by the October opening of segment two, which now connects Kapolei to Kalihi. Kūpuna arrived with carts, keiki darted between food tents, and local farmers sold produce while sharing moʻolelo of the lands that nourish them. Students from Waipahu High School’s Culinary Arts Pathway offered dishes made from the very produce they had grown in their own campus nursery.

For the City and County of Honolulu, these gatherings were more than symbolic. They marked the start of a bold idea: transforming these 13 Skyline stations into food access hubs – places where local, healthy, and culturally rooted food is as accessible as catching a train. This initiative – now a finalist in the global Bloomberg Philanthropies 2025 Mayors Challenge – emerged from the urgent realities facing island residents.

“Our goal is that everyone living along Skyline’s 19-mile route will have access to fresh, affordable, local food,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “Honolulu is building stations of abundance for the people of Oʻahu.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Healing the land, nourishing the people"}]

Oʻahu imports nearly 85% of its food, and prices continue to rise. Many residents live far from grocery stores that sell affordable local fruits, vegetables, and starches. These barriers intensified when SNAP benefits were paused nationwide in November.

But for Native Hawaiians, food access is more than an economic challenge – it is a spiritual wound born of disconnection from ʻāina momona, the abundant lands that once sustained generations in our own respective kauhale and kaiāulu. Restoring that abundance is about more than food – it’s about restoring mana as our legacy and mauli ola as our destiny.

Grounded in these values, the city began prototyping its “stations of abundance” idea at two stations in West Oʻahu. Partnering with the Hawaiʻi Foodbank, ʻElepaio Social Services, Waipahu High School, DR Horton Hawaiʻi, and local growers, the city hosted farmers’ markets and mobile pantry events that distributed 7,000 pounds of fresh produce – roughly 5,800 meals – to more than 300 households in just a few hours.

Residents lined up early, eager not just for the food, but for the belonging it brought to be part of something positive, growing long-term sustainability. Lina of Waipahu said she came with her friend so they could help each other carry their groceries home between Hōʻaeʻae and Pouhala stations. “We would come twice a month if they came back,” she smiled. “We help each other – that’s how it should be.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Innovation rooted in Indigenous wisdom"}]

While the stations of abundance vision embraces innovation – like scoping refrigerated food lockers, food-as-medicine vouchers, and transit-linked farmers’ markets – it’s guided by Indigenous knowledge using the Kūkulu Hou methodology.

City staff worked with practitioners to align planting on Skyline’s footprint with Native Hawaiian lunar cycles. Strategic plantings at Hōʻaeʻae and Honouliuli are for both edible crops and cultural plants like ʻuala for lāʻau lapaʻau, acknowledging the full spectrum of nourishment that ʻāina provides.

To hoʻoulu lāhui Hawaiʻi, they are seeds of mauli ola – a return to wellness and vitality.

We’re designing a city that reflects our values, where government acts as a steward rather than a manager. Stewardship here means laulima. While the mayor’s offices and city departments lead this effort, the real strength comes from the community itself. Schools, farmers, Native Hawaiian organizations, social service agencies, and residents each bring their expertise.

By 2028, the city hopes to scale the project across all 13 stations, supported by more than 25 community partnerships and an anticipated 1 million meals provided through local food systems. Each site will reflect the cultural and culinary identity of its neighborhood.

[{"type":"text","text":"Building pilina along the Skyline"}]

Food is not separate from place or people; it is the bridge between them. This program intentionally weaves relationships and reciprocity across agencies and communities that historically worked in silos.

“Skyline stations are not just physical infrastructure, and now, thanks to this project, they are becoming part of the social and cultural infrastructure of our communities,” said Jon Nouchi, City Department of Transportation Services deputy director.

ʻĀina momona is giving rise to a new kind of city planning that begins with listening, nānā pono, being present, and addressing quality of life. When residents are part of the design and prototyping, the results are quicker and more cost effective, generating community pride.

Those stories have shaped the work. Program participant Hermina shared that she went to an October event – not for herself – but for her ʻohana. “Local vegetables are better. I have 14 grandchildren and they like purple lettuce. I usually go to three markets to get it,” she said, laughing. “Now maybe it’ll grow here where I catch TheBus.”

[{"type":"text","text":"A model for island resilience"}]

Islands across Moananuiākea and neighboring counties each face the same challenge: cities’ complex role to feed people in ways that are affordable, local, and culturally meaningful while activating the public lands each county is entrusted to steward.

This work reconnects the past to the future. The lands underneath and surrounding Skyline’s 18.9-mile corridor can better host plants that feed local families as our moʻolelo recount. Young people use Skyline stations not just as stops on a line, but as living classrooms for mālama ʻāina. Kūpuna see traditions re-rooting in public spaces once paved over. And city government is reimagining its role – from transit-oriented development to cultivating life.

As trains hum past the young Hāloa, leaves shimmer with promise. The land remembers its purpose, and so do the people. Along Skyline’s path, the city is rediscovering what it means to feed one another.

Impact

The City and County of Honolulu’s stations of abundance initiative will connect ʻohana to fresh, local and culturally rooted foods along the new Skyline corridor:

13 Skyline stations to become transit-oriented food hubs by 2028

50 food-at-Skyline events, workshops, demonstrations, and markets reach 50,000 residents

10,000 pounds of food plants and cultural crops harvested, shared, and distributed to residents

25 community partnerships established with the city supporting ʻāina momona

1 million local, healthy and culturally inclusive meals provided over two years

Through hoʻōla – reviving living systems – the program strengthens pilina between people, place and food, reminding us that abundance grows when we nurture the land that feeds us all.

This article is reprinted with permission from 

," OHA's Ka Wai Ola newspaper, December 2025, Vol. 42 No. 12. Read more at 

Food Access Hubs

<title>Community Voices: Restoring abundance along our Skyline</title>

The city’s new vision to bring food, culture and connection through food access hubs.

Community Voices: Restoring abundance along our Skyline

A Waimānalo volleyball coach and firefighter arrested last year producing child pornography of a student has been charged in federal court.

Ken Sorenson, U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawai‘i, announced Friday afternoon that Elias David, a Waimānalo 37-year-old reportedly arrested in July 2024 for second-degree sexual assault, has been charged in U.S. District Court with producing child pornography.

According to a criminal complaint, the Honolulu Police Department was informed in July 2024 that the family of a then-17-year-old girl had discovered a sexual relationship between the girl and David, her volleyball coach.

The victim told an FBI special agent that David had been her coach since she was 13, and he had begun a sexual relationship with her when she was 16. She said the two would meet at the fire station where David worked and a warehouse next to the fire station.

HPD later found pictures in David’s work locker that appeared to be screenshots of a video of him and the victim having sex. That video, and about 30 others, were taken at David’s encouragement on her cell phone, the victim said — although she added that David had recorded some videos on his phone, but David’s wife had discovered them in 2023.

David told the special agent following his 2024 arrest that he and the victim had “fallen in love” while he had coached her, and that he had not made sexual advances on other minor students.

While state law places the age of consent at 16, federal law states that any sexually explicit photo or video of a person under the age of 18 is considered child pornography.

The charge carries a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years.

Courtfed

<title>Waimānalo volleyball coach charged with producing child porn</title>

Elias David charged in U.S. District Court for producing videos of him having sex with a 17-year-old student.

Waimānalo volleyball coach charged with producing child porn

Lee Wang 3 Large

As Executive Director of Housing Hawai‘i’s Future, Lee Wang leads youth-driven advocacy and education efforts to ensure Hawai‘i’s next generation can afford to live and thrive at home.

<title>Lee Wang</title>

Lee Wang

On Oct. 28, Housing Hawai‘i's Future will host a conversation among the seven living generations who call Hawai‘i home, because housing — and Hawai‘i's lack of affordable housing — affects everyone. Come join the conversation.

Lee Wang

Latest from Lee Wang

Community Voices: With housing, let's have an intergenerational conversation

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