$800K to crash victim among payments approved by council
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
The city has agreed to pay $800,000 to settle a lawsuit stemming from a 1998 car crash in Waimanalo that killed a man and injured his passenger and the driver of a second car.
The suit, filed by the family of injured passenger Alexandra Ramirez, charged that the intersection of Kakaina and Mahailua streets was unsafe.
Punahou School graduate Michael MacKinnon, 19, died after his Honda Civic collided with a Dodge pickup driven by Elgin Santos.
The suit alleged that stop signs on Mahailua Street were obscured by trees and a utility pole. The city later added stop signs on Kakaina Street to make all drivers stop at the intersection.
The City Council unanimously approved the settlement yesterday.
The council also agreed to settle a 2000 suit the city filed against Unity House.
The labor organization agreed to give up more than $1.1 million in income and interest from its development of the federally subsidized Lokahi Greens subdivision in 'Ewa Villages.
But the nonprofit group, which assists union members, will get the money back through a city-administered federal grant as part of a plan to remodel a subsidized Kane'ohe apartment complex.
The suit alleged Unity House failed to notify the city by a 1998 deadline that it was backing out of a deal to develop a second 'Ewa Villages subdivision.
That 57-lot property remains vacant, and there are no immediate plans to build there, said deputy city budget director Chris Diebling.
"It's been tied up by all this controversy," Diebling said. "I'm sure with the housing market the way it is, it would not be a bad idea to have that developed."
Dozens of Lokahi Greens homeowners also are suing Unity House over alleged construction defects, and some say the organization should get no more public money until the problems are fixed. Unity House says cracks and other structural problems are due to shifting soil under the homes.
The Council also agreed to spend as much as $50,000 to defend City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle from a lawsuit filed by political commentator and activist Robert Rees. The suit alleges Carlisle improperly used public money and government employees to campaign for a 2002 ballot question that streamlined the way some criminal defendants are charged in court.
The suit charges that Carlisle violated city ordinances that prohibit the use of public resources for campaign purposes, violated the free speech rights of taxpayers who opposed the measure, and "encouraged and intimidated" deputies into working on the campaign.
Carlisle called the suit a waste of time and taxpayer money.
"I did nothing wrong, period," he said. "Some of the allegations are bald-faced false."
Rees, who contributes opinion columns to The Advertiser, is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
