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Editorials
Monday, April 10, 2000State should acquire
former YMCA buildingIT seems inconsistent for Governor Cayetano to be saying the state can't afford pay raises for its employees while proposing to buy the former Armed Forces YMCA building, now known as the Hemmeter Building or the No. 1 Capitol District Building, for $22.3 million.The issue: Governor Cayetano proposes to buy the former Armed Forces YMCA building.
But Cayetano isn't known for wild extravagance, and this proposal makes financial sense. The main point is that the state has been using the building -- paying rent -- since 1990 and probably will continue to use it.
The departments of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and Budget and Finance use the upper floors.
Purchasing the building rather than continuing to pay rent could save taxpayers money in the long run. Unneeded space, if any, could be rented out to private companies.
Moreover, the building, as beautifully renovated by developer Chris Hemmeter, is an important enhancement of the Capitol District. The site is historically significant -- the original Royal Hawaiian Hotel was located there. It adjoins the State Capitol and Iolani Palace grounds. The existing structure, built in 1928, was known to generations of servicemen as the Armed Forces YMCA.
The lavish renovation by Hemmeter a decade ago restored the structure's status as one of Honolulu's most beautiful buildings. It should be preserved as such, and acquisition by the state could ensure that while putting the property to good use.
The ground floor was a lobby and is not suitable for offices. Cayetano proposes to use it to display the art collected by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. The governor says this would help attract tourists to the Capitol District and the downtown area. The citizens of Hawaii, who paid for the art, might also like to see what they bought.
As the governor explained, "What it will do for downtown is that it will provide another attraction for people so that tourists will be able to visit the State Capitol, Iolani Palace, the state foundation and the Mission Houses, so downtown will become more interesting." He added that his wife Vicky has plans for tours of Washington Place.
This is not a proposal to spend money on art. The art has already been acquired under existing law, but the state has no place to display it. And the display would be in a building the state is already renting. There is also a central courtyard that could be used for concerts.
Both houses have refused to include money for the purchase in their budget drafts. House Speaker Calvin Say says the state may want to resort to condemnation of the property to get a lower price. Perhaps so, but one way or another the state should acquire it.
Rights of homosexuals
bolstered by rulingIN the last 18 months, state courts in California, New York and Florida have ruled that lesbian ex-partners are not entitled to visitation rights with children they helped raise.
But now the New Jersey Supreme Court has handed down a ruling that affirms the parental rights of same-sex couples. The court declared that lesbian partners who raise children have the same legal rights as any parent incustody disputes.
The court unanimously ruled that a lesbian who helped raise her then-lover's twins was a "psychological parent" with legal standing akin to the biological mother, and granted the woman visitation now that the couple has split up. Legal advocates for gay and lesbian rights praised the ruling as the broadest to date in cementing the rights of same-sex partners.
The case involved a woman who became pregnant by artificial insemination and gave birth to twins in 1994 that she and her lesbian partner, raised together for two years.
After their 1996 separation, a trial court denied the partner joint custody and visitation. An appellate court gave her visitation rights but was divided in its legal reasoning as to why.
In the ruling, Associate Justice Virginia Long said the partner carries the status of a "psychological parent" to the children and has a right to share parenting duties, despite the objections of the birth mother.
The ruling maintained the partner's rights for weekend visitation with the twins. But Long turned down a request for joint legal custody, which would have given her a say regarding decisions on the children's upbringing, because the partner has not been involved in decisions regarding upbringing for four years.
HAWAII voters' approval of a constitutional amendment in effect restricting marriage to heterosexuals dashed hopes that the state would become the first to recognize same-sex marriage.
However, the debate over the amendment served to educate many residents on the broad issue of homosexual rights. The New Jersey decision does not address the issue of same-sex marriage but is a step toward giving homosexuals equal treatment on a related issue that could affect people here as well.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
