House OK of harbor resolution criticized
| • | Senators narrow scope of emergency powers bill |
By Kevin Dayton and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
House lawmakers bypassed the normal public hearing process yesterday to pass a resolution that would clear the way for private operators to redevelop the Ala Wai and Honokohau boat harbors.
Opponents were quick to denounce the move as an attempt to sneak the measure through without giving the public a chance to be heard.
House Speaker Calvin Say said he had never been involved in a floor vote quite like the one yesterday on House Concurrent Resolution 15, which authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to lease out submerged lands to private operators of the two harbors.
The resolution was pushed through the House during a special session without a public hearing because the issue is an emergency, Say said.
"The crisis is that the individual private developers wanted to consider going ahead," said Say, D-18th (Palolo, St. Louis, Kaimuki). Lawmakers said the harbor redevelopments would pump more money into Hawai'i's ailing economy.
The resolution appears unlikely to pass in the Senate, however.
Senate President Robert Bunda, D-22nd (Wahiawa, Waialua, Sunset Beach), said he will recommend that the Senate kill the resolution and take up the issue next session.
"We can't just pass something like that on special session, especially when we haven't really had full public input," he said.
"We need to know all the facts, and we don't have it before us. We need a public hearing. We need to go through the process before we actually pass anything like this."
Proposals to privatize state harbors have often encountered emotional opposition at the Legislature, and boaters and environmentalists cried foul yesterday.
"I did not know elected officials were in the business of facilitating things for private developers," said William Aila, a Wai'anae fisherman who has been active on boating issues. "I thought they were beholden to their constituents."
"The public doesn't even get a chance to discuss the merits or demerits of privatizing public boating facilities when things are snuck through on the weekend," said Donna Wong, executive director of the Hawai'i's Thousand Friends environmental group.
Say said additional public hearings would be held on the leases and the privatization effort when the issue is before the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
State Rep. Paul Whalen, R-5th (North and South Kona, Ka'u), said companies Westrec and Honokohau Limited Liability Corp. are interested in redeveloping state harbors, and "under the circumstances, we have to move quickly."
Westrec Marinas bills itself as "the world's largest owner operator of marinas and marine-related businesses."
Whalen said that company is interested in operating the Ala Wai and the Honokohau harbors.
Whalen, who co-sponsored the resolution, said Honokohau is proposing to invest $120 million in Honokohau Harbor over 10 years.
"It will be a gem of Hawai'i versus an eyesore, with things falling apart with repairs needed but not being made," he said. "If we waited until the regular session, nothing would happen until next July on this issue."
Whalen said he would be willing to hold a public hearing on the resolution, but said that would require more time and would force an extension of the special session.
