Honolulu City Council Members Seek $250K For Church (xpost from GD)

[KamaAina]

http://www.civilbeat.com/2016/04/councilmembers-seek-250k-for-church/

Honolulu City Council Chairman Ernie Martin and Councilman Joey Manahan want to spend $250,000 in taxpayer money to pay for the expansion of New Hope, an international evangelical Christian megachurch with multiple locations on Oahu.

Martin, who represents the North Shore, and Manahan, who represents Kalihi, added the $250,000 request to their latest proposed budget amendments.

“The Center for Hope will include a 4-story parking structure that will fit approximately 270 stalls, an expo center, a 400-seat auditorium, a dining cafe, a resource center, and new restrooms,” Manahan’s budget request explained. “The center will benefit its thousands of islandwide church members and provide various outreach programs.”...

The church paid $775,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming it shortchanged the state when it rented public school facilities on Oahu. The church subsequently ramped up its political activism.

For you Neighbor Islanders, New Hope is to O'ahu what Joel Osteen is to the mainland.