Flea market
vendors protest
state’s move
for higher bid
The Stadium Authority
has had several inquiries
about the contract
By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin
Aloha Flea Market sellers at Aloha Stadium are protesting state plans to open bids for the operation, which they fear will result in higher rents for them.
They've called a protest meeting at 2 p.m. tomorrow at the stadium.
"Now is not a good time," said Lee Tran, head of the Aloha Flea Market Sellers Association. "The rent is already too high."
Tran, a vendor at the stadium for 16 years, said the move doesn't make sense because of the state's bad economy.
But Deborah Ishihara, the Stadium Authority's administrative services officer, said the authority would be remiss if it didn't solicit bids.
She said the authority must generate its own funds, and it has had inquiries from more than four parties interested in the contract.
She said the Stadium Authority is receiving about $2,000 a day less than it did last year from Aloha Flea Market because of the bid structure in its contract. "We accepted it because they were the only bidder (three years ago)."
Others are interested now, probably because they're "looking for other avenues of generating the economy," Ishihara said.
Between 400 and 600 vendors set up at the stadium three days a week. They now pay $42.75 per stall, Tran said yesterday.
Edward Medeiros, president of Aloha Flea Market Inc., which holds the current state contract, said he has a three-year contract with an option to extend two more years at the current price or 10 percent higher, if his performance was satisfactory.
Ishihara said the contract provides for renegotiation if it is to the advantage of either party. Because of inquiries from others, she said, "It's to our advantage to go for rebid."
Medeiros said to bid the contract out now would be unfair and that the state should wait until his five years are up.
He said a higher bid would mean higher rent from the vendors.
"It's a case of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't,'" Ishihara said. "If we don't go out for bid, other people will be upset. Then you will get calls that the state has an opportunity to make more money but they aren't doing it."
In a May 20 letter to Medeiros, Stadium Authority Chairman Michael Green notified him that the authority was terminating his agreement with no contract extension.
The letter said because of interest from other bidders, "the Authority is confident that the rental payments resulting from any such solicitation will be significantly higher than the current rental rate."
Medeiros filed a lawsuit against the authority and two of its employees on March 31, over the authority's contract with Ararmark Inc., which provides food and beverages at all stadium events, including the flea market.
The suit alleges Ararmark did not adequately serve flea market customers and that the flea market lost money, according to a press release from Medeiros.
The suit also alleges that the Stadium Authority retaliated against Aloha Flea Market for supporting Linda Lingle in the 1998 general election.
Aloha Flea Market has operated at the stadium since 1979, paying the authority more than $35 million in total rent.
Ishihara said Aloha Flea Market at one time was paying $30,000 a day for the operation. Now it's paying $16,000 a day, she said.
Star-Bulletin reporter Helen Altonn
contributed to this report.
