The board of directors of the Aloha Tower Development Corp. has guided and worked closely with the ATDC staff for the past four years. Based on this relationship, I speak on behalf of the entire board when I convey our displeasure with your recent editorial on ATDC which, like the Office of the Auditor's report, was one-sided and unbalanced (”;Dissolve Aloha Tower agency,”; Star-Bulletin, April 11).

After initiating a strategic planning process in March 2009, our board of directors adopted ATDC's Strategic Plan. This plan details development concepts for the Aloha Tower jurisdiction and includes transit-oriented development opportunities presented by the proposed mass transit stations in the Downtown corridor. ATDC recognizes the need for a well-thought out and comprehensive master-planned development along the Honolulu downtown waterfront areas that will be built around the Chinatown and Downtown transit stops. With our planning, zoning and subdivision powers, ATDC is poised to be a major player in bringing this project to fruition. Furthermore, the current ATDC board and staff have resolved many of the past legal issues that have stymied our efforts to develop the Aloha Tower Project Area. We are now able to move forward with the development concepts identified in the Strategic Plan.

ATDC's ongoing progress on implementing and expediting the Harbors Modernization Plan has had an immediate impact on the economy of the state of Hawaii. First of all, the statewide harbor infrastructure improvement projects are essential to maximizing efficiencies in handling existing and future cargo requirements within our harbors. And since 2008, ATDC, in conjunction with the Department of Transportation, has issued $7.5 million in planning, design and construction contracts that will translate into $76.5 million in construction work over the next two fiscal years. Additionally, the current economic climate that has lowered construction costs may provide an opportunity for competitive contract pricing that may allow the state to include and move forward with harbor improvement projects that were budgeted for future fiscal years. These construction projects provide a necessary shot in the arm for the harbor users and the construction industry. The state can ill afford to have the progress of statewide harbor infrastructure improvements be stopped in its tracks.

The auditor's report chose to ignore the aforementioned Strategic Plan and ATDC's significant progress on the Harbors Modernization Plan projects. The report's narrow focus on the past and not the good work currently being done is a great disservice to the agency. We hope the Legislature will look beyond the audit report and recognize the true value and potential of ATDC.

Jason Okuhama, vice chairman of the ATDC board, is a real estate/financial professional and managing partner with Commercial & Business Lending.