Mayor has Maui
Triathlon canceled,
citing inadequate
safety measures

By Gary Kubota
Maui correspondent

WAILUKU -- This weekend's Maui Triathlon, with close to 200 participants from 14 countries, has been canceled after Maui Mayor James Apana obtained a temporary restraining order barring race organizers from using county roads and facilities.

Apana said race organizers failed to provide adequate safety precautions.

"We have no problem with the concept of the Maui Triathlon," Apana said. "In fact, we would like to see the event happen. But we have an obligation to ensure that the event is conducted safely, not only for the participants, but also for the users of our roads and highways."

Race spokesman John Dunbar, who was served with the court order Wednesday, was scheduled to meet with race participants today.

Dunbar said he learned only recently that the Apana administration wanted $14,000 to pay for police traffic control, a "prohibitive" increase over last year.

He said race organizers were able to come up with $7,000 a little over an hour past the deadline, but the administration wouldn't budge on its decision to halt the event.

"To me, that doesn't show a can-do attitude to cooperate, and it's just a terrible shame," said Dunbar, a Maui businessman.

"I was willing to sign a note to make this happen, and there were people, athletes, willing to pay up the money."

Dunbar said participants have brought their families and friends from Germany, Japan, Austria, South Africa and other nations to spend time on Maui and that the cancellation is bad publicity.

Dunbar said race organizers asked for six to 10 police officers to control traffic during the event, but the county wanted 28.

He said he was told by a county attorney that one of the reasons for a larger force was a pending lawsuit against the county as a result of the Maui Marathon in March.

The Apana administration said since the Maui Triathlon was first run in 1994, police have worried about the lack of safety measures, including the absence of reflective vests for contestants, insufficient road signs and a lack of race marshals.

"It is regrettable that we had to take such action," Apana said. "However, in light of the problems we have experienced over the years with the organizers' failure to address safety concerns, we had no alternative."

The administration said Maui police sent a letter to Dunbar after the 1998 event identifying six problems that had to be resolved before this year's race, but that Dunbar failed to address the issues.

Apana said he interceded to see if the event could still take place after police denied Dunbar's application on Sept. 14.

The administration said off-duty police have had difficulty getting paid promptly by event organizers, and as of the date the county went to court, no police had signed up for off-duty work for the event.

Apana said in the absence of off-duty officers, police would have to be assigned to traffic control at an estimated cost of $30,000.

The administration said there are about 50 public events each year, including parades and marathons, and none has the same problem as the Maui Triathlon.

Apana administration officials also said Dunbar had not obtained a permit to use Polo Beach Park for the swimming portion of the triathlon and as a staging area for the running and bicycling events.