Hawaii Boaters at Packed Public Hearing Vent Outrage Over Boating System Mismanagement

(NOTE: SEE PUBLIC TESTIMONIES HERE)

A packed March 2nd, 2019 public hearing outed  Ed Underwood's DOBOR and Suzanne Case's 13-234 rules package proposal as "outrageous," "dishonest," and a "shocking betrayal of public trust," that would negatively impact thousands in the ocean recreation community while doing nothing whatsoever to provide emergency first aid to a severely broken boating management system.

The packed public meeting had a bizarre feel to it from the very first moment. It was obvious to everyone who attended that there was no one to talk to that mattered at the front moderator's table, occupied only by two minor, rather lonely-looking, DOBOR employees. Seeing this, several of the public who testified wanted to turn the microphone around in order to address the actual participants at the meeting, who seemed much more interested in what was being said.  But Meghan Statts, appointed DOBOR lead, was quick to reprimand those who wanted to address the crowd, either having something to do with jealousy for their abundance of common sense or for her knee-jerk need to enforce vacuous protocol, and demanded that they continue to "face forward" and talk to nobody, meaning the lonely two DOBOR underlings sitting at the moderator table appearing distracted by something they were writing.  It was reported, by those who attended the meeting, that DOBOR Administrator, Ed Underwood didn't show up,"couldn't make it today," and that DLNR Chair, Suzanne Case, was a no-show too because, apparently, she feels that she's above attending public hearings like this one.

Despite the fact that there was no one there to hear their testimonies, boaters, one after the other, easily filled the two-hour meeting with passionate testimony, expressing their frustration with the State's inept handling of it's marine public assets.  It might be noted that, in addition to these testimonies, Ed Underwood's DOBOR, and Suzanne Case's DLNR, have received an avalanche of written public testimony from the ocean recreation community protesting their 13-234 rules change proposal. A cross-section of these public testimonies has been posted online here, on the Hawaii Ocean News website, for everyone to see.

Despite the public's outcry, there has been no assurance from DOBOR that it's representatives, or those from the BLNR will actually listen to the testimony recordings, or, if they do, will take any of it very seriously. The public has no way to fact-check or verify this. It is for this reason that we encourage all boaters, Statewide, to submit their testimony, in writing, to  dlnr.harreview@hawaii.gov (up until March 15th, 2019) and a copy of this testimony to the Hawaii Ocean News website (send to Katherine@HawaiiOceanNews.com) for inclusion into our growing list of online public testimony -- a registry of shared testimony.  By submitting your testimony to Hawaii Ocean News, you can be sure that your concerns will be read and paid attention to by, not only the Governor (David Ige), the Attorney General (Clare Connors), Ed Underwood, and the members of the BLNR, chaired by Suzanne Case, but by Hawaii's public and the rest of the world.  Your testimony, online, will serve as a reminder to our leadership that Hawaii's public is, in fact, concerned and is attempting to get involved and help make Hawaii a better place for everyone to live.  Your voice, online, will be hard to ignore.