seeks access to documents relating to 2019 Request for Proposals for bids on Ala Wai public properties
A lawsuit, filed yesterday, challenges the Department of Land and Natural Resources and its Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation to provide evidence that they had authority, under statute, to enact recent changes to Statewide rules and boater fees.
The lawsuit seeks a judicial declaration that the boating user fee increases imposed at public harbors, and elsewhere, Statewide, are not authorized by statute, and also seeks to compel disclosure of documents and communications relating to DoBOR's 2019 Request for Proposals that was tendered to interested private bidders for redevelopment of the public's Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor properties. (see map)
The Complaint, which is accompanied by over twenty exhibits, suggests that the implementation of mooring fee increases based on appraisal were voted upon and implemented by persons within the DLNR and DoBOR who knew full well that the rules package implementation was a deliberate violation of existing Hawaii State laws.
The lawsuit also questions the integrity of DoBOR’s Request for Proposals process that sought bidders for private development of public harbor lands, including eleven acres of the public's Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, and seeks to compel the DLNR and its DoBOR division to produce and hand over, as required by law, the documents and communications relating to that process.
A link to a copy of the full Amended Complaint (lawsuit), which was filed on January 16, 2020, is available in its entirety HERE
There is so much of this kind of fraud going on in Hawaii right now. This is an island community, so people don’t want to say much about what they know inside to be true. People in power know this and take advantage.