Thank you for this thorough article.  Another piece of the puzzle is Mr. Wallace's work with former Council member Dela Cruz to insert language into the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan in order to aid this proposal.

Along these same lines, this information should stand out to readers:

"In the last 10 years, the movie theater executive has donated more than $55,000 to the candidates in Hawaii, according to data from the state Campaign Spending Commission.
About $33,000 of Wallace’s donations went to current City Council members."

How does the average resident (especially those in so-called "working class housing") compete with these types of donations?  

Lastly, are Hawaii's and Honolulu's Campaign Spending and Ethics laws the norm, or are there other states and municipalities that prohibit elected officials from taking action on their donors' proposals once the officials have received donations from the donors seeking regulatory approvals?