Posted on: Tuesday, June 8, 2004

Kamehameha parade gets fee waivers, green light

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Even before city officials chose yesterday to waive the cost of police traffic control and save this year's King Kamehameha Floral Parade, community donors had offered to pay for the $10,000 service.

The state police officers union, Hawaiian Airlines and JN Automotive, among others, kept telephones ringing with offers.

"It proves a point," said B.J. Allen, arts and programs specialist for the celebration commission. "People are interested and they care about their traditions and they want to see this continue."

Parade organizers feared last week that the cost of traffic control would force them to cancel the parade for only the second time in its 88-year history.

In the past, those services were provided free by the city and the police department. That changed last July when the city adopted new rules stating that private parades had to pay for the services.

And even though the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission knew this was coming, the actual cost of traffic control was higher than expected. When city officials outlined the costs in mid-May, they threatened to revoke the parade permit if the commission could not pay for the services.

But the city and the police department waived that yesterday.

"The good news is that the parade will go on," said city Managing Director Ben Lee. "HPD has agreed to provide the escort and any kind of traffic monitoring of the parade without charging them."

Lee said it was frustrating that the City Council had reduced the city's operating budget, thereby eliminating services like parade traffic control.

"There are these types of instances where we need the flexibility to have the discretion to provide for police escort and monitoring in these very important cultural events," Lee said. "Clearly, the parade is a part of Hawai'i and a part of our city."

The city began charging for these services because it lacked the money to pay for it on its own, Lee said.

"This time, the police department was able to absorb the costs," Lee said.

Alex Garcia, O'ahu chairman of the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers, said traffic control will be handled by volunteers and on-duty officers.

"We are still trying to get volunteers," he said. "I don't know how many we have. We have been signing them up all day. The parade will go through."

Garcia said the parade is important because it sends a positive message to the rest of the country.

"I think this is a good expression of our aloha," he said. "I think it would reflect badly on everyone if we couldn't have our annual Kamehameha Day parade."

The parade was canceled only once in its long history — during World War II. In recent years, it has drawn nearly 100,000 people along its 4-mile route from downtown to Kapi'olani Park. This year, the parade will feature 3,000 marchers, 50 vehicles, six marching bands, six floats and five horse units.

Ken Stanford, vice president of JN Automotive, yesterday said his company offered to pay the $10,000 because the parade was a Hawai'i tradition.

"We've lost enough traditions here already," he said. "We've lost too many things. I just didn't want to lose the parade."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.