Harris ignores Opponents of mandatory lease-to-fee conversion measures covering three condominium projects stood outside Mayor Jeremy Harris' office yesterday hoping to meet with him.
lease-to-fee law
opponents’ pleas
By Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com"We're urging the mayor to veto all," spokesman Leroy Akamine said.
But the group of about a dozen or so left about two hours later without getting in to see the mayor or getting an appointment to see him.
"We've written him three letters and have gotten no response at all. We went there last week, a group of us. He wasn't available," said Akamine, a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools, which owns the land under the Kahala Beach condominiums.
Akamine said that they will continue to lobby the mayor through phone calls and e-mail.
Neither the mayor nor a member of his administration returned a call seeking comment.
The City Council voted 5-4 earlier this month to use its condemnation powers so that qualified leasehold condominium owners at the Kahala Beach, Admiral Thomas and Camelot can buy the land under their homes.
Those who showed up yesterday say they are up against a deadline because if the mayor does not veto the measures by tomorrow, then the condemnation will move forward. "The mayor has a responsibility to not permit these resolutions to move ahead," according to the group's written message to the mayor.
Members of different groups fighting the condemnation showed up at City Hall carrying signs and banners and wearing black T-shirts they wore during the City Council vote. They argued yesterday that condemnation in this kind of situation is "wrongful and immoral," and want to see the law allowing the lease-to-fee conversion repealed.
"I would like to think that (the mayor) would go beyond the law and try to do what's right in this situation. That's why we came down here; that's what we're hoping for," said Peter Jensen, whose family co-owns the land beneath the Camelot in Makiki along with the Sisters of Sacred Hearts.
The third project is the Admiral Thomas. The First United Methodist Church, the landowner, shares the land with the condominium.
Leasehold condominium owners have said the current law helps them negotiate a fair market price for the land -- which they are not able to do now.
City & County of Honolulu
