Boaters decry Some boaters are incensed that state lawmakers are trying to push through a measure that would privatize two small boat harbors without a public hearing.
absence of hearings
on harbors
A privatization measure now
rests with the SenateBy Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com
Local fisherman William Aila tried to testify before the Legislature against a resolution to privatize the Ala Wai and Honokohau small boat harbors. He was angered to learn that the vote would have been taken yesterday without public testimony.
"To sneak this privatization legislation in without a public hearing is a disservice to the boating public, and to the general public, as well," Aila said.
The resolution was passed by the House 31-12, with eight excused.
The measure was sent to the Senate, which will consider the resolution.
Rep. Paul Whalen (R, South Kona-North Kona), who introduced the resolution, said yesterday the Legislature needed to take action now to address the state's economic woes. If they waited until the next session, he said, nothing would happen at the harbors until July 2002.
"It's still going to take some time to do the negotiations and the contracts and the setting-up (of) the parameters," Whalen said. "The idea of setting up this special session is that we are in an emergency situation. People are losing jobs, visitors are not coming here, money is drying up. What can we do right now?"
House Republicans were split on the issue, however. Rep. Galen Fox (R, Waikiki-Ala Wai), who voted against the resolution, said a substantive resolution of this nature generally requires a public hearing.
When privatization of the state's small boat harbors have come before the Legislature in the past, overwhelming outcry from the community -- small commercial boat operators, private boat owners, residents in the surrounding areas, small business owners, surfers and paddlers -- have halted passage of the bills, Fox said.
"One surmises that why they ran the bill through this way is that they are afraid of public testimony," he said.
Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, Kaneohe-Kailua) called the process undemocratic and unprecedented.
"It's the first time in the House of Representative history that anything of this nature has happened," she said. "They shut the public out and railroaded it through."
Whalen said the Honokohau Partnership's plans to privatize the Big Island harbor were received favorably by community members.
"They rely on the tourists," he said. "To have something attractive that enhances their experience here in Hawaii would be a positive thing."
But Rick Gaffney, owner of Pacific Boats and Yachts, said that community members who would be most affected have not been consulted on what they would like to see at Honokohau.
The partnership said it had been working with the community for a year, "but if they had been working with the community, they certainly hadn't been working with the boating community," Gaffney said.
Gaffney said some boaters were concerned that part of the company's improvement plans called for moving the boats to a different harbor while they did construction.
"This is the base of a lot of marine businesses, and they can't up and move to a harbor without a lot of assistance," he said.
At the Ala Wai harbor, some are concerned that privatization would mean increased slip fees.
Boat owner Stephen Fekete said: "It's another bloodsucker. This was one of the things we could afford. Now we cannot even afford that."
Although Whalen said the private companies have committed to stay within the state Department of Land and Natural Resources fee schedule, Fekete said boat owners expect to see their slip fees increase substantially, to $500 a month from $180.
"It's going to be an empty harbor," he said.
But Mike Welsh, commodore of the Waikiki Yacht Club, supports the move to privatize the Ala Wai harbor and dismissed complaints about higher fees.
Welsh said the fees are the lowest in the nation and suggested the state was subsidizing the yacht owners, calling it "the yachter's welfare system."
A privatized harbor could create a new industry and new facilities could attract a different class of boaters, he said. "There's a pent-up demand for people who want to have nice boats."
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