Power to the people: Citizens who like to complain that there is no reason to vote because it’s always just the same old Democrats on the ballot are finally getting their chance to make a real difference, at least when it comes to changing the way local government in Honolulu operates.

We’re just starting a process that comes along only once every 10 years — proposing amendments to the Honolulu City Charter. Although City Council members can send charter amendments to the ballot in non-Charter Commission years, this once-in-a-decade process is the only chance citizens have to bypass the council and propose their own ideas.

The Blog urges you to seize the day here. And the time has come to get down to business.

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At a meeting last week, a Charter Commission committee that has been tasked with overseeing the proposal submissions came up with a tentative schedule. The key dates: Aug. 4 is the first day to submit proposals and Nov. 7 is the last day the commission will accept them. After that the commission will spend some time sorting through public submissions as well as whatever its own members come up with.

Public hearings are expected to be held from January to May next year, followed by more review and revamping and the commission will decide by Aug. 12, 2026, what to send to the ballot. Then comes a “public education” period (The Blog thinks this is code for campaigns for or against the ballot props) and then the voters have their say on Election Day, which is Nov. 3, 2026.

It’s an ambitious schedule that still needs to be approved by the full commission, but commissioners are worried that the process has already fallen behind. In 2015, proposals were already being accepted by July 1.

That year, people submitted more than 150 ideas to the Charter Commission and the commission ended up putting 20 questions on the 2016 ballot. Among other things, voters rejected a proposal to get rid of term limits for the mayor and City Council members, they gave the Police Commission more power and they created a city Department of Land Management.

Show them the money: The Blog has come to look at election season a lot like the Christmas shopping season. It seems to start earlier every year.

That’s definitely the case for the 2026 elections. Campaign fundraisers began right after the legislative session wrapped up in May and many more are already scheduled. The next campaign spending reports are due July 31 and should reflect donations and expenditures from Jan. 1 through June 30, a good way of assessing a politician’s popularity and power just a year away from the 2026 primary.

It’s become common for legislators to team up when raising money. This flier showed up in The Blog’s inbox last week and we were a bit confused at first, thinking it had something to do with a holiday party.

But political wonks pointed out that the fundraiser is “starring” Sens. Donovan Dela Cruz, Chris Lee, Henry Aquino, Sharon Moriwaki, Troy Hashimoto and Michelle Kidani.

As of Friday Kidani had not filed a notice of intent for a fundraiser with the Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission, but the other senators were all legitimately scheduled for the pau hana at Bishop Museum last Tuesday.

Unfortunately (or perhaps by design) that fundraiser occurred after the June 30 reporting period. So we’ll have to wait until the end of January to learn who donated to whom and how much. That’s the deadline for the next filing.

And he’s back: The statute of limitations on how long one must suffer from a hard political fall before finding a soft landing has apparently run its course for one veteran politician. As has been talked about for nearly a year, former state Rep. Scott Saiki has landed as the state’s new insurance commissioner.

Saiki is the former longtime House speaker who was ousted in the August 2024 Democratic primary by Rep. Kim Coco Iwamoto. He actually has a solid track record, particularly as a lawmaker representing Kakaʻako with all its condominiums, working to find solutions for rising insurance costs.

In 2024, Saiki co-chaired Gov. Josh Green’s Executive and Legislative Condo and Property Insurance Task Force and previously chaired the House Select Committee on Covid-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness. He joined the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs in December 2024 and has been acting chief deputy insurance commissioner since February.

According to a press release from the DCCA, Saiki will be responsible for overseeing the insurance industry in Hawai‘i, including companies, insurance agents, self-insurers and captives.

“In recent years, the Hawai‘i insurance industry has experienced a volatile property insurance market, which has seen unprecedented rate increases due to a hardening global insurance industry and increasing catastrophic events around the world,” says the DCCA press release. It included praise for Saiki from Green, who approved the hiring decision by his DCCA director, Nadine Ando.

Fanfare: A new poll from Morning Consult Pro came out this week and Hawaiʻi politicos are generally feeling pretty good about it.

Democrat Brian Schatz is among the most popular U.S. senators, coming in at No. 3 (out of 100) with a 63% approval rating.

He’s slipping a teeny tiny bit though. In 2023 the same poll had him at No. 1 with a 64% approval rating.

Schatz’s national profile has risen notably in recent months as he puts himself more and more in the spotlight in his bid to take on the No. 2 spot in the Senate Democratic hierarchy.

Mazie Hirono, also a Democrat, came in 12th in the Senate at 59% approval. Technically, she tied with three other senators but had a higher disapproval rating.

Democrat Pete Welch of Vermont ranked No. 1 (65% approval) while Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky remained the “most unpopular senator” for the 18th successive quarter with a 59% disapproval rating.

Morning Consult Pro did not poll House members.

But it did ask about the nation’s governors. Hawaiʻi’s Josh Green enjoys a 63% approval rating, tying him for fifth most popular. That is up from the No. 10 spot and a 60% rating last year in the same poll.

Green, who is up for reelection next year unlike Schatz and Hirono who don’t run again for at least a couple more years, promptly included the poll in a pitch for donations.

“I am deeply grateful for this level of support,” he said in a campaign email, “but I don’t take it for granted, and I’m going to continue working hard every day to earn it.”

Republican Phil Scott of Vermont is the most popular gov “for the 12th quarter running” with a 72% approval rating, while Republican Kim Reynolds of Iowa (49%) remains America’s “most unpopular governor” for the sixth quarter in a row. She is not running for reelection.

And how does Donald Trump do in Hawaiʻi? Not very well: Just 37% of voters approve of the president while 58% disapprove. Only Vermont, Maryland and Massachusetts has worse numbers for POTUS. But Wyoming (67% approval), Idaho (65%) and South Dakota (62%) simply love the guy.

Morning Consult surveys 6,000 adults in the U.S. every day on key political and electoral issues. Its generally considered to be a nonpartisan political organization.

A picture is worth a thousand words: Check this one out. It’s Sen. Kurt Fevella’s office door at the State Capitol.