Posted on: Thursday, June 24, 2004

Hanauma Bay autonomy sought

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi wants to give Hanauma Bay more control over its finances so it doesn't have to rely on standard city budget processes for hiring, purchases and other activities necessary to run the nature preserve.

Because money collected from admission and parking fees, and from fees charged to the businesses that run concessions at the bay, are intended to be used solely to finance operations and upkeep at Hanauma, then it stands to reason that the bay should have control over what is spent and what isn't, Kobayashi said yesterday at a City Council Budget Committee meeting.

"We need a different way of handling the (Hanauma Bay Special Fund) itself because it shouldn't be the regular budget process that other departments have," Kobayashi said. "The bay is self-sustaining. It raises its own money and should be able to spend its own money. No city money is used. "

Yet members of the Friends of Hanauma Bay, a volunteer group that helps educate visitors to the bay, say the bay has been repeatedly turned down by the city Parks and Recreation Department — operator of the nature preserve — for spending requests on such things as a $15,000 security camera, the filling of three maintenance worker positions, a ranger position, a clerk receptionist position, office furniture, a public address system, a defibrillator, a photocopier and night-vision goggles for lifeguards, said John Norris, president of the Friends of Hanauma Bay.

The University of Hawai'i Sea Grant program, which runs the education program at the bay, is owed $200,000 from 2003.

"I don't want the bay to have needs that are unmet," said Kobayashi. "The bay needs more control. Maybe it's in the form of a public/private partnership where the Friends take over the bay."

Kobayashi plans to bring the issue up again at the next budget committee hearing July 28.

The issue of the Hanauma Bay special fund came up last month when the city proposed a one-time raid of $1.1 million to help balance the city budget. The council turned down the request.

The city law that created the fund stipulates that money raised at the bay must be spent at the bay. And a 2002 ruling by Judge Alan Kay held that while the admission fee was constitutional, the money it generated was required to be applied toward Hanauma Bay only and could not be spent elsewhere, including neighboring parks.

For months the Friends of Hanauma Bay, has been asking the city for a detailed accounting of the finances of the bay. Yesterday, Kobayashi asked the city's budget and finance director to provide the breakdown to the group.

Ivan Lui-Kwan, city director of the Budget and Fiscal Services department, responded that budgeted income for the bay in 2004 is $4.6 million and the expenditures are $3.7 million. He said he did not know if there was a surplus from previous years or why the bay's spending requests have been denied.

"If there's a surplus, why are we facing these denials?" Norris said. "We have a world-class facility yet we're treating it like some kind of stepchild.

"If we were like other parks, we could understand the denials, but this is a dedicated fund."

Norris also said no provisions are being made for the bay's long-term needs, such as extending the road to Witch's Brew so an ambulance can get there in case of an emergency.

"These kinds of things need to be funded with these funds," Norris said.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.