Posted on: Friday, May 3, 2002

Kealakehe meeting site off-limits

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

KEALAKEHE, Hawai'i — A conference room in the Kealakehe Police Station that is used as a meeting place by more than two dozen community groups is being placed off-limits because it does not meet accessibility standards.

The Big Island Police Department was advised by Hawai'i County attorneys to close the room, effective June 1, after someone who attended a meeting there brought the accessibility issue to the attention of county officials, said Maj. Harry Kubojiri, who heads field operations in West Hawai'i.

The opinion from the county corporation counsel's office said that if people with disabilities are prevented from using the conference room, then no one should use it.

Kona resident John Hartman, who uses a wheelchair because of a polio-related condition, said he agrees with the decision to close the conference room. He pointed out that the entryway and bathrooms fail to meet ADA standards.

"I don't want to see a meeting room in Kona discarded, but I want meeting rooms accessible to everyone," he said.

Hartman was one of the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that led to a 1998 consent decree in which the county was directed to bring all its facilities into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

As part of the consent decree, a schedule of accessibility modifications for various government facilities was developed with community input.

Because no money is available to immediately fix the problems at the police conference room, Kubojiri said the improvements will have to wait until at least mid-2006, when modifications are scheduled for the Kealakehe Police Station.

Assistant Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna said that when the Kona police headquarters was built in the late 1980s, the conference room was never intended to be a community facility.

Now, he said, 26 groups have been using the room, including senior citizens, the American Red Cross and youth sports organizations.

The decision to close the room to public use also was based on police concerns about safety and potential liability, Mahuna said, since the conference room is within proximity to the receiving desk where suspects are processed.

Andy Levin, an executive assistant to Mayor Harry Kim who doubles as the county's ADA compliance officer, said West Hawai'i has too few meeting places and the closure will hurt community groups. He believes inexpensive temporary measures could be undertaken so the conference room could remain open for public use.