“DOBOR just can’t get the job done.”
That sentiment, expressed by Hawaii Fishing and Boating Association Chairman Rick Gaffney, is the driving force behind a pair of House and Senate bills that would pave the way for privatization of Honokohau Small Boat Harbor.
Kona Sen. Josh Green didn’t introduce Senate Bill 2464 because he has a specific vision for alternative management. Instead, “I wanted an open-ended discussion,” Green said.
The lack of progress in basic repair and maintenance of the harbor has been an ongoing issue, and served as the main impetus for the legislation.
The bill authorizes the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to transfer operation and management of Honokohau to a county or community-based board, public-private partnership, or private entity.
“You can’t even get basic pipes and cracks fixed unless you go through an enormously long and complicated process,” Green said of current management under the state Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, which falls under the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The counties are sometimes better at identifying and addressing needs at the local level, said Kona Rep. Nicole Lowen, who introduced a companion bill on the House side.
The sometimes inefficient and political nature of state management prompted Lowen to sponsor not only HB 2235 but also HB 1616, which increases the county share of the transient accommodations tax so the counties can fund lifeguards and emergency personnel themselves rather than appealing for state money.
“For certain things, local control is more responsive to the community,” Lowen said.
“The Legislature is always Oahu-dominated, so it’s always an uphill battle for the Neighbor Islands.”
Lack of paving, lighting and proper washdown and pump-out areas for boats — along with a loading dock that is still waiting for Department of Health permits before it can be repaired — have irked Honokohau users for years.
Visiting members of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means were critical of the lack of progress at the harbor in November, with chairwoman Jill Tokuda calling for a comprehensive plan to address the current repair and maintenance backlog and the need for future improvements.
Gaffney said there are few opportunities to engage DOBOR officials about local needs.
“There’s no attempt to reach out to the boaters or the boating business community,” Gaffney said.
Honokohau could be served well by a management authority similar to the newly proposed Banyan Drive Redevelopment Agency, a plan the county announced earlier this month to take over the role of overseeing leases and development in that area of Hilo, Gaffney said. DLNR has indicated it supports the idea.
The department’s spokeswoman Deborah Ward responded to an email Wednesday but had not supplied a response to the Honokohau legislation as of press time.
Privatization of some of the state’s boat harbors has been talked about for decades, but the concept has always been met with sufficient resistance from harbor users that the efforts have been stymied.
In 2001, the House passed a resolution to privatize the Ala Wai and Honokohau small boat harbors, but encountered a backlash from those who said lawmakers were trying to push the measure ahead without a public hearing.
Gaffney said he thinks the current bills are intended to test the legislative waters to see if other lawmakers are on the same page.
The problems, he said, are not unique to Honokohau.
“The boating management program is badly broken,” Gaffney said. “What we’re proposing is a new paradigm.”
Email Bret Yager at byager
@westhawaiitoday.com.
