KAILUA-KONA — Two Kona legislators are pushing for management changes at the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor as its state of disrepair, and the overall quality of other harbors like it, have become a growing source of frustration across Hawaii Island.
Sen. Josh Green, who represents Kona and Ka’u, introduced a bill in 2016 that would have allowed for the privatization of the harbor, moving it out from under the management of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, an arm of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
It’s a move he still believes would lead to quicker, more comprehensive action to both upgrade and maintain facilities there.
“I can never get enough appropriations to fix things and people are always frustrated that we have a second-tier harbor,” he said. “So if someone wants to take up the challenge in a partnership, I think we should let them.”
Green’s bill died in conference committee for what he believes were concerns from other legislators about potential cost increases or restricted access if a private entity took up a stake in a harbor meant for public use.
He said he doesn’t share those concerns, noting that privatization would require a bid process that would allow for oversight.
“If (a bidder) looked like it wouldn’t be community-minded, that bid wouldn’t win,” Green said. “I would intervene. I wouldn’t let it happen. (The harbor) is going to maintain a West Hawaii flavor, for sure.”
Green believes the most likely outcome of privatization would be that a group of harbor users would band together, perhaps with an investment partner, to operate it.
Still, to satiate concerns and in hopes of generating movement on the problem, Green has introduced Senate Bill 22 this session to revisit the issue.
There are a few small changes from last year’s proposal that would open up the transfer of management from DOBOR not only to a private entity, but also the county or a community-based board.
Rep. Nicole Lowen, who represents Kailua-Kona, Holualoa, Kalaoa and Honokohau, has introduced a competing measure, House Bill 188, which would allow for a transfer of harbor management to the county alone.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to look at taking things in this direction, but essentially DOBOR … is a source of huge frustration for the community on a consistent basis,” she said.
“In my opinion, and in the opinions of many others, they don’t do a good job of managing small boating facilities and meeting their mission. Because we haven’t been able to get assistance from the administration — either the leadership in the DLNR or frankly in the Governor’s office — to address what we see as large and ongoing issues with DOBOR, now we’re turning to look at these other options for management. “
Lowen, who often finds herself in-step legislatively with Green, was somewhat at odds with his proposal last session to involve a private entity in the management of Honokohau Small Boat Harbor.
She’s not wholly opposed to the idea, and said it’s something she’d entertain under the right circumstances, but she has her concerns. Those namely involve maintaining jobs at the harbor and preserving the mission that it exists for public use.
“If you transfer it to a private entity and leave it up to the DLNR to negotiate what that looks like, I feel like we’re not quite there yet,” she said. “I wouldn’t necessarily oppose it per se, but the legislature would have to lay out guidelines for some of the terms.”
She said there would be logistical issues to work out regarding what county department would handle management, adding that the county may also need to earmark some funds in its next budget to make the transfer possible, but those are small hurdles.
Lowen noted the example of the county’s effectiveness managing Mauna Kea Recreation Area as a basis for the belief that Hawaii Island is more equipped to run the harbor than DOBOR and would be more responsive to the needs there.
She said she has yet to discuss such a transfer with the new Big Island administration, but plans to hash the issue out in due time. Lowen had engaged in previous talks about the harbor with former Mayor Billy Kenoi and members of his team.
Green said he sees Honokohau as a test case, and if a management transfer was successful there, it’s something he would push for not only across the island but across all of Hawaii.
That would include the Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor in Kawaihae, which Arnie Wolfe has been using for recreational fishing since 1994. He said he favors privatization over other options and hopes it travels north up the shoreline sooner than later.
“I think a private contractor, if he was under contract, would do the job of keeping it open for us,” Wolfe said. “DLNR hasn’t been doing it for us. It’s been years of this. The last meeting I went to was just about a month ago, and when I walked away from it, I said ‘I’m done.’ They gave us a list of stuff they were going to get done and I thought, ‘Good luck.’”
As Green’s bill indicates, he’s fine with either privatization or county management, just as long as the transfer is completed expeditiously.
“Anything would be an improvement on what we’ve got,” he said.