By James Gonser
Advertiser Central Bureau
As a state consultant presents its study on the possible relocation of the Pearl City Juvenile Sex Offender Treatment Facility, there is growing opposition to moving the center at all.
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| Administrator assistant Cindy Pigg works at the Pearl City Sex Offender Treatment Facility, which may not move after all.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Two of four neighborhood boards that have heard the presentation by Kimura International have voted against moving the facility into their communities..
They join a number of skeptics, including some lawmakers and state officials, who also have asked whether the center should be moved. A final presentation on the plan is scheduled for tomorrow night before the Wahiawa Neighborhood Board, moving the state closer to a decision.
Yesterday, the state House Health Committee announced plans to tour the Pearl City facility and the top three alternative sites on Monday, before making a recommendation on state financing.
Pearl City residents and their Neighborhood Board are holding Gov. Ben Cayetano to a pledge to move the center, if a suitable location could be found and the money allocated.
"We are hoping the governor keeps his promise," said Pearl City board chairman Albert Fukushima.
Brent Buckley of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board is one who believes the facility should remain in Pearl City.
"Why redo the process because one community doesn’t like it?" Buckley asked. "It is already built, so why spend money to do it again?"
Department of Health Director Bruce Anderson said Friday that he could not argue with that logic.
"If we didn’t think this was an appropriate location for this facility in the first place we wouldn’t have put it there," Anderson said. "No community is going to embrace this facility being in their back yard, but on the other hand these kids pose a minimal risk to those living in the area."
In December the state opened the $1.8 million treatment center for juvenile sex offenders at the Waimano Training School and Hospital despite opposition from residents who said the center was too close to Pearl City High and Momilani Elementary schools and that the community was not properly informed of the state’s plans.
In response to citizens’ concerns, Cayetano told Pearl City residents the state would move the center if a suitable location were found.
After reviewing dozens of possible new sites, the consultant selected three locations — Kahi Mohala psychiatric hospital in ‘Ewa; in Wahiawa near Kemo‘o Farm; and at Kalaeloa, formerly Barbers Point — as the best alternatives. The cost of moving the facility is estimated at up to $2.6 million.
On Feb. 2, the ‘Ewa Neighborhood Board heard the presentation listing the three preferred sites and voted against the plan. Last week the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board did the same.
The Waipahu Neighborhood Board heard the presentation but refused to take a stand on the issue because none of the sites is within its jurisdiction. Members were also concerned about liability if they were to vote against something that could be seen as hurting business, said board member Gary Tomita.
The only board in support of moving the facility was the Pearl City Neighborhood Board, which voted Thursday to accept the findings of the study and asked that the governor select the new site.
"The governor made the commitment to us that he would relocate the site," Fukushima said. "We felt that the consultant has made its three top choices and the governor should fulfill his promise by selecting from those sites so the Legislature can fund the project."
The governor’s press secretary, Kim Murakawa, said that when the board presentations are completed, the consultant will make its recommendation to the governor, who will make a final decision on a move.
"The governor promised to look at other possible sites for the treatment center and to request funding for construction of another facility," Murakawa said.
"The site survey has been done and the follow-up has been done," said Pearl City resident Chris Bayot, who has opposed the facility. "Now it is critical to make sure that the move actually happens."
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