UH bid for Aloha With more than a third of the legislative session over, House and Senate leaders say it is unlikely the University of Hawaii will gain the authority this year to control and operate Aloha Stadium.
Stadium falters
Legislators want more details
on how UH would run the stadiumBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com
Along with many unanswered questions that have stalled the request, lawmakers also want to publicly hear from other top UH officials -- besides the football coach -- on how they will run the stadium, what they would do with the popular flea market and how it will affect high school football games played there.
House Speaker Calvin Say (D, Palolo) said yesterday the transfer should not be based solely on UH football coach June Jones' desire to have control of the stadium, which is home to the Warriors football team.
Jones has advocated UH control of the stadium to help make the UH athletics program one of the best in the nation.
One individual, Say said, should not dictate what state public policy should be.
"Personally, I think it's the athletic director or the president that's suppose to make the request to the Legislature, rather than an individual coach," Say said.
"There's no position by the regents, no position by the athletic director, directly through some form of communication, (nor from) the president. All three of these individuals, who have the jurisdiction of running the statewide system, have not come out publicly to say one way or another," he said.
Two bills that would have transferred the Stadium Authority to the university died in committee this month. The Senate Economic Development Committee held Senate Bill 2349, while the House Tourism and Culture Committee held House Bill 621.
In their place, lawmakers proposed a resolution for the state auditor to study the feasibility of such a transfer, but even that measure was deferred.
Senate President Robert Bunda (D, Wahiawa), in his opening-day speech at the Legislature last month, asked legislators to consider giving UH control and management of the stadium so it can take its athletics program to higher levels.
"I say we give them the opportunity," Bunda had said.
Even so, Senate Vice President Colleen Hanabusa (D, Waianae) said yesterday the stadium transfer is likely dead this session. But she cautioned there are always ways for bills to resurrect themselves.
UH government affairs director David Morihara acknowledged passage is unlikely this year as the university works to smooth out transfer details. If approved, the university could save $800,000 in rent each year. The university also believes it could improve parking and customer relations there.
Morihara, a former state legislator who led the House Higher Education Committee, said that while passage is unlikely this year, it is not out of the question.
He added that similar bills have appeared over the past three years, so the push this year is not just because of contract negotiations between the university and Jones, whose contract expires after next year.
"This is about a facility that we're a major user that might tie in well with the university athletic program," Morihara said. "But there are considerations. We want to be able to accommodate the vendors, the community and the high schools because they play there. So there's a lot of issues that just need to be talked about."
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