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Skateboarders The Skateboard Seven from Hawaii Kai have pulled off the best trick of the year: They've sped up the wheels of government by several years.
take fast track
Young activists get the city
to speed construction of a
skateboard parkBy Pat Gee
Star-BulletinAnd, they are only 11 to 17 years old.
In June, tired of being kicked out of public places to skateboard by police, the neophyte activists started circulating petitions, writing letters and attending meetings to urge the city to build a skateboard park that was five to eight years away in the planning at Koko Head District Park.
Not only did they succeed in getting Mayor Jeremy Harris to promise it would be in place by the end of next year, but they got a temporary ramp that was completed last Friday.
"We'll get it done. Thank you, skaters, for participating in your government," the mayor wrote next to his signature on one of their petitions. In all, the group collected more than 500 signatures.
Shaun Peck, 15, who attends Honolulu Waldorf High School, is the leader of the core group of seven, who rounded up over 50 other skateboarders, armed with their boards, to speak up at neighborhood board meetings.
"I didn't think this would ever happen," Peck said. "Government is so slow." After attending some 20 meetings, and despite his success, he's decided he will never seek a career in government because of the lengthy process of decision-making. He thinks officials should "work harder" to get things done instead of constantly postponing business to another meeting.The Skateboard Seven includes Peck's brother, Forrest, 11; David Joseph, 12; Eric Dunn and Josh Sydow, both 15; and Seth Lockwood and Joey Nordgren, both 17.
"In the beginning, we got discouraged when they told us it would be five or six years away, but then it made us even more determined to get it done and done quickly," according to Lockwood, who is home-schooled. City officials told them there was no money available in explaining the delay, "but then you see some other projects (funded) that don't make sense," he said.
"It's discouraging because you feel there's nothing you can do about it."
Cynthia Bond, the mayor's representative, said the project had been given medium priority under the City's VISION program for community planning. But, in response to the skateboarders, the city Parks Department will ask the City Council for Capital Improvement Projects funds that should be available next July, she said.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the cost of the temporary wooden ramp was absorbed by the parks department. Estimates for the cost of the permanent skate park are expected in a few weeks, she said.
Lockwood said the group persisted in pushing for facilities because they only manage to get five minutes to an hour of skating in before "we'd get kicked off" the Park-and-Ride lot in Hawaii Kai or other public places. "We needed a place we'd know we could skate (at) without worrying about cops or people complaining," he said.
Forrest Peck, who attends Honolulu Waldorf Elementary School, said the mayor made an arrangement for skateboarders to use the Park-and-Ride lot without being hassled by police until the temporary ramp was completed. Even though he was "scared to talk in front of others" at a neighborhood board meeting, he said he made himself do it because he wanted a skate park so badly. He bugged his mother every day to make calls to see what was holding things up.
Brother Shaun said the sport inspires such passion in skateboarders because "it makes you push your limits" and it's a lot more fun than "just being on the streets."
Terri Christine, Shaun and Forrest's mother, said Shaun was studying civics in school about the same time he took the leap into learning how government works firsthand. She told her sons, "If there's something you really want and believe in, you have to manifest what your dream is.
"Don't be afraid to ask for what you want, and be respectful."