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Every Saturday, we’ll present these short-take editorials that reflect on some of this week’s news. Read more

It was not unexpected — but still unfortunate — that new affordable-housing rules for Kakaako aren’t as “affordable”-friendly as they could have been. The Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency overseeing the area’s development, has just adopted new rules for producing moderately priced homes; the revised policy is nearly four years in the making.

The last hurdle was cleared when the HCDA board conceded to Gov. David Ige’s objection over the agency’s buyback period for below-market homes, and adopted a 10-year window. Ige had worried that a “too extreme” 30-year period — which HCDA had rightly favored earlier — would discourage prospective homeowners from buying in, which would prevent developers from erecting projects in the first place.

The laudable goal behind a buyback-period provision is to retain affordability of the unit — in this case, allowing HCDA to repurchase if a resident vacates within a decade, then resell it to another moderate-income buyer; the idea is to prevent unchecked “flipping” of units that escalate prices, taking once-affordable units quickly out of income reach.

The 10-year buyback is an improvement over the previous 5-year, and it’s just one aspect of HCDA’s overhaul of its reserved-housing rules for new projects (they don’t apply to projects under grandfathered masterplans by Howard Hughes Corp. and Kamehameha Schools). Other improvements will make “reserved” units more affordable — down to 120 percent of area median income, instead of 140 percent — and with rentals at that cost cap maintained for 30 years, up from 15 years.

All this is supposed to create more housing for a range of locals in “live, work, play” Kakaako. Between the area’s top-line luxury condos and the downtrodden homeless street encampments, we’ll see if the area’s new rules create enough of a sweet spot for builders to meet locals’ housing needs.

Ing betrays trust of donors

State Rep. Kaniela Ing has been ordered to pay $15,000 for a raft of campaign spending violations, including filing 23 false reports and using campaign funds to cover his personal rent repeatedly and a credit card bill for his domestic partner. Where to start?

At first, many gave the millennial politico the benefit of a doubt, believing in his line that the “inadvertent mistakes” were due to his inexperience.

But in scouring through five years of Ing’s bank records, the state Campaign Spending Commission found the many violations and still couldn’t account for how he spent more than $80,000 in contributions. In Wednesday’s appearance before the panel, Ing — a candidate for Congress, remember — even had the gall to try to blame a bank teller for not catching the fact that he had deposited a $2,000 campaign check into his personal bank account.

“Mistakes happen, yeah, but to blame the teller is not that nice,” admonished commission Chairman Bryan Luke.

Despite Ing’s trail of excuses for his failings, commissioners could not bring themselves to refer his case for criminal prosecution. Incredulously, one commissioner even remarked: Such a “prosecution could end this man’s career and there are not enough good politicians.”

The consideration here should not have been to Ing’s career, but to the true damage: that the violations erode precious confidence and trust in our politicians and political process. People invested money and hope in Ing — in his political potential, anyway — and that has been abused. Surely, that’s worth more, much more, than a mere $15,000 fine.

Legionnaires’ disease gets deadly

Ten days ago, the state Health Department notified the public that it was investigating a confirmed case of legionellosis, aka Legionnaires’ disease: a Honolulu resident who was hospitalized and receiving treatment, though the infection’s source had not been determined. Tragically, on Wednesday, the number of cases had risen to four — with one death. The chilling news was compounded by the fact that all four patients had been treated at The Queen’s Medical Center — and that in the two cases thought to be related, the illness had been contracted at Queen’s.

The hospital is dealing with the situation with an abundance of caution — that’s both necessary and reassuring. Faucets have been modified, flow devices removed or changed, water chlorination increased. The hospital uses water from its own private well, and extensive testing and searching are underway to find the source of the bacteria, which can take up to two weeks to grow and is transmitted via water, primarily aerosolized droplets.

Let’s hope Queen’s and the Health Department get to the root of the problem soon, and that no more cases emerge. And as noted by state epidemiologist Sarah Park, this “underscores the importance of every facility, not just health care facilities — hotel facilities, homes and such — to maintain our water wells.” Indeed.