[ OUR OPINION ]
HSTA off the mark
on bond proposalTHE public school teachers union does a disservice to citizens in its skewing of information about a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would help private schools finance construction projects. By characterizing the amendment as one that would deplete resources for ailing public schools to the benefit of private educational institutions, the Hawaii State Teachers Association unnecessarily inserts a divisive and misleading element into the issue.
THE ISSUE The teachers union opposes a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would help fund private school construction.
The proposal would allow the state to act as a conduit to finance facilities for nonprofit private schools, colleges and universities by issuing special purpose revenue bonds to private investors, who would fund the construction and accept the risks involved. Investors -- not taxpayers -- would bear the burden of nonpayment or default on any loan. The costs of the bond issue and administrative expenses would be paid by the private institutions.
The amendment also would permit separate private schools -- 80 percent of which charge less than $6,000 a year for tuition -- to bundle individual building projects so that they may seek the lower interest rates for loans. That way, smaller schools that don't have the financial resources of say, Iolani or Punahou, can afford to improve their facilities.
The bonds would have to be approved by the state Legislature before they are issued. This provides sufficient safeguards against abuse and allows public examination of the financial need and propriety of the plans of private institutions.
Legislative research of First Amendment questions found that similar programs in other states have been cleared by the courts as consistent with the U.S. Constitution. The courts have ruled that as long as the projects financed are for instructional and not religious purposes, there are no constitutional boundaries.
HSTA has legitimate concerns about the poor condition of public school facilities. However, union president Karen Ginoza should refrain from tagging the goal of the amendment as one that would take away from public education while giving to the private schools. That is simply not true. Ginoza's remarks pitting public vs. private sullies her union's members -- teachers whose chief objective is educating Hawaii's children no matter where they go to school.
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Fix condo land bill
to allow fair salesWHAT seemed to be a wording touch-up of an ordinance allowing condominium owners to acquire the land under their buildings has paralyzed the City Council and threatens to unravel the entire law. The Council should put the issue on the back burner, allowing next year's Council to take a fresh look at the ordinance approved by the Council in 1991 and salvage what it can.
THE ISSUE A proposal to change the city's lease-to-fee conversion law for condominiums has become mired in the City Council.
More than 30,000 condo owners seek to buy fee-simple interest in their homes, just as owners of free-standing homes were able to buy their house lots after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Hawaii land reform act in 1984. However, the state Supreme Court in June ruled that phrasing in the city ordinance conflicted with the way the city had been handling the condemnation process leading to lease-to-fee conversions.
The original draft of the ordinance allowed the process to begin if at least 25 or at least half the "condominium owners" -- defined as owner-occupants -- in a building applied to purchase fee-simple interest in the land. By the time it was enacted, the latter part of the threshold requirement had been changed to "owners of 50 percent of the condominium units." The definition of condominium owners as occupants did not apply.
It seemed like an unintended flaw. However, Councilman Gary Okino, who had proposed correcting the language, says he now believes the quiet change of wording in 1991 was intended to appease landowners. Okino withdrew his support of the proposed editing, and the Council, for the time being, has declined to adopt the amending language.
Opponents of the ordinance have legitimate complaints. For example, the Queen Liliuokalani Trust is concerned that it could be forced to sell land beneath its Foster Tower property in Waikiki to the building's 142 condo owners because eight of the 16 owner-occupants have sought lease-to-fee conversion. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has complained that forced sale of the Foster Tower land would reduce revenues for orphaned and destitute children who are beneficiaries of the trust.
Changes may be needed in the ordinance to prevent a small number of condo owners from forcing large condemnations while protecting opportunities for many to acquire full ownership of their homes. The ordinance allowing lease-to-fee conversion of condominiums should not be totally scrapped.
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