City reviews
Easter Seals’ food
festival fees

The Council chairman says
charging admission might
violate city rules

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

The Easter Seal Society of Hawaii may have violated a City Charter provision when it was allowed to charge $2 admission to the grounds outside Honolulu Hale for its Taste of Honolulu event last weekend.

City Council Chairman Mufi Hannemann said the Council's approval is needed whenever fees are charged on city property.

Under the Charter, it is the Council's job to "fix the fees and charges for all services rendered by the city and for the use of city property and facilities except as otherwise provided (by the Charter)."

"There was a benefit; they charged money," Hannemann said.

The councilman has asked city attorneys for an interpretation on whether the Charter was violated.

Carol Costa, spokeswoman for Mayor Jeremy Harris, said, "We think we were correct in allowing them to charge to get in for adults, except seniors, but we're having the attorneys take a look at that."

This year marked the first time in the seven-year history of the event that such a fee had been charged.

Longtime city grounds officials said they could not recall another time when the public was charged to enter the grounds between City Hall and the Municipal Building, according to Hannemann.

Billie Gabriel-Zito, vice president for development for the Easter Seal Society, said she thought city officials had checked the matter.

All money collected at the gate is going directly to Easter Seal programs, Gabriel-Zito said.

As in the past, half the proceeds from food and beverage sales also are going to the society.

Gabriel-Zito estimated her organization netted about $150,000 during the three-day event.

Hannemann said he attended this year's Taste of Honolulu and supports both the Easter Seal Society and the annual event. Nonetheless, he said, the law should be followed, and the group probably should have been told to go to the Council before charging admission.

Other organizations might complain that the Easter Seal Society got favoritism by being allowed to charge admission, he said.

Further, Hannemann said, it may be time to look at whether the society, or others using city grounds, should pay for any impacts to the city.

"When you have an event like this, there is always property damage (to the grounds)," he said. "If they're going to charge fees, maybe we ought to have a portion come back for the care of the grounds."

Gabriel-Zito said there are few other impacts to the city.

Volunteers do much of the work for the event, and the society brings in the booths and even the lights and generators, she said.

Contractors are paid to set up tents and electrical lines and do other work, she said.