DoBOR is Now in the Hawaii State Legislature’s Crosshairs

Years of complaints -- past audits that did not target trouble spots

This may be the best evidence for kharma, ever.  After years of complaints by Hawaii resident boaters and ocean recreation enthusiasts, Hawaii's legislature is taking note.   The recent introduction of House Bill 2422 seeks an independent audit of DLNR's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation. 

"Long overdue," said one boater at the Keehi public marina, and her sentiment was echoed over and over again during our interviews with residents in the Ala Wai and He'eia Kea public marinas.

DoBOR officials, including DoBOR Administrator, Ed Underwood, have repeatedly been called out for gross negligence, malfeasance, chronic lying, corruption, mismanagement of public funds, illegal retaliatory responses to individual whistle-blowers, missing monies, inappropriately spent public funds, UIPA violations, public stonewalling, and a whole host of other complaints.  In recent years, they have been involved, along with past and present DLNR chiefs, Laura Thielen and Suzanne Case, in an aggressive attempt to privatize public lands, submerged, fast and adjacent dry lands.  Laura Thielen, and recently, Suzanne Case and Ed Underwood, have aggressively instigated legislation that would have our Hawaii laws changed so that privatizing public assets would be completely legitimate business-as-usual in the Aloha State.

The public is urged to weigh in on this most crucial piece of legislation, a rule that signals legislators' impatience with the way our ocean recreation community is being misled and harmed by corrupt government officials and lax oversight, sloppy administration, and general mismanagement.

Auditors who did the last comprehensive DLNR audit sounded the alarm, loud and clear

Suzanne Case's HB2422 testimony (HERE) would have us believe that the DLNR is routinely audited.  In fact, however, the last independent audit of the DLNR was in 2001.  In that audit, auditors expressed their concern about the operation and management of public assets through the DLNR, stating:

"Inadequate management of state boating facilities has been a recurring problem. Our prior audits in 1993 and 1998 reported on these deficiencies.  In our present audit, we found that little had changed in the poor conditions of these state boating facilities.  The boating program’s mismanagement and neglect have deteriorated facilities to the point where their continued use threatens public safety." 

Some recent examples (among dozens) of DoBOR bungling are troubling bellwethers:

• The handling of the Navatec II incident (costing public boaters thousands of dollars from their Special Boating Fund)
• The Ala Wai's 800 Pier debacle (which cost the Special Boating fund tens of thousands of dollars through contract flubs and unfortunate DoBOR responses)
• The recent and patently illegal 13-234 rules package with its wildly arbitrary and capricious public fee increases, and a whole slate of unrealistic and unenforceable rule updates that do nothing to empower the public boating community in the Hawaiian Islands.
• Repeated public stonewalling through misinformation, disinformation, a repeated and illegal refusal to comply with UIPA laws, and generally, just outright chronic lying.
• The list is long, including repeated mismanagement that has affected the health, safety and well-being of the public ocean recreation community here in Hawaii, as well as the viability of the entire public boating scene in the Islands.

Public Participation is not difficult; here's how to be heard:

What: HB2422:  Will require that an independent auditor scrutinize the conduct, performance and management record of DLNR's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.

Where: Bill scheduled to be heard by the House Committee on Finance,  FIN,  on Monday, 02-24-20, 12:00 PM, in House conference room 308:

Hawaii State Capitol
415 South Beretania St.
House conference room 308
Honolulu, HI 96813 .

How: Go in person at the above address (best and most effective testimony), or submit your testimony by email HERE (Click on "submit testimony" button in upper right-hand corner of page)

Any questions? Write to us.

Other Legislation of vital importance to boaters, surfers, divers, swimmers, and all ocean recreation enthusiasts

There are now no fewer than five pieces of legislation making there way through Hawaii's legislature that seek to bypass public consent en route to privatizing submerged and dry public lands on behalf of huge corporate interests seeking to capitalize on their potential for profit. 

One piece of legislation carried over from last legislative session and four pieces of newly introduced legislation brings the total number of bills attempting to force the privatization of public lands to five. These pieces of legislation seek nothing less than the right to steal public lands from Hawaii’s people and hand them over to private, for-profit interests.

The legislative bills in question are the following:

HB2353:  Authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to lease any existing state boating facility in part or in its entirety, and fast lands and submerged lands within any existing state boating facility, by public auction, request for proposals, or direct negotiation for private development, management, and operation. Clarifies that legislative approval is not required to award a lease. Repeals fast lands and submerged lands lease authorization for Ala Wai Boat Harbor under section 200-2.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes

SB2909: Identical companion bill to the above

HB2354:  Amends the various fees the Department of Land and Natural Resources may charge for the usage of state small boat harbors. Amends the manner in which those fees are applied. If this bill were to pass, a historically disoriented DLNR would have free reign to set public boating fees without checks and balances.  To put this into perspective, if HB2354 were to pass, the owner of a boat in the 35' range, who has been issued a legal primary habitation permit by the State, would be liable, in five years time, for more than $3,000 per month in rental fees -- comparable to the cost of renting a house in Kailua or Hawaii Kai.

SB2910: Identical companion bill to the above

SB2909:  Authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to lease any existing state boating facility in part or in its entirety, and fast lands and submerged lands within any existing state boating facility, by public auction, request for proposals, or direct negotiation for private development, management, and operation. Clarifies that legislative approval is not required to award a lease. Repeals fast lands and submerged lands lease authorization for Ala Wai Boat Harbor under section 200-2.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

HB2353 (above): Identical companion bill to SB2909

SB2910: (see above) Amends the various fees the Department of Land and Natural Resources may charge for the usage of state small boat harbors. Amends the manner in which those fees are applied.  Among the frightening implications of this bill: gives the DLNR, already plagued with a history of corruption, malfeasance and mismanagement, the nearly unchecked right to set fees for public boaters.

SB1258: Allows the Board of Land and Natural Resources (Board) to lease any existing state boating facility in its entirety, and fast lands and submerged lands within any existing state boating facility, by public auction, request for proposals, or direct negotiation for private development, management, and operation after making a finding that the lessee has met certain community involvement requirements. Clarifies that legislative approval is not required to award a lease. Repeals fast lands and submerged lands lease requirements specific to Ala Wai Boat Harbor.

The Attorney General’s “Fraud Squad”

Meanwhile, It seems that Hawaii's attorney general, Clare Connors, is becoming more interested in policing the actions of public servants. Connors has just asked for funding to begin development of an anti-fraud initiative with which to police for internal illegal activity within Hawaii’s government.  DLNR Chair, Suzanne Case, DoBOR Administrator, Ed Underwood, Senator Donovan Dela Cruz, Senator Sharon Moriwaki, Senator Laura Theilen, and an unsettling cross-section of other State of Hawaii legislators and agency operatives have been, as of late, accused of being involved in activity that would suggest fraudulent collusion with private interests and ethical violations such as deliberate UIPA violations, among other assertions, especially as these relate to public land privatization issues.  Connors’ “fraud squad” would be a welcome addition, helping to boost the credibility of our government operatives.

Other new bills of interest:

HB2422: (SEE ABOVE) Requires the auditor to conduct a performance and management audit of DLNR's division of boating and ocean recreation.

HB1688: Suggests ‘condominiumizing’ the boat slips belonging to the public’s harbor properties. 

Here is what you can do to help protect our public lands:

Sign up on the State of Hawaii's Legislature information website; it's free, they don't press for personal information, and it's a quick and easy way to 1) stay up with legislation that will affect you; 2) gives you quick access to the contact information of every single legislator (please contact us if you need email contact info for Suzanne Case, Ed Underwood, AG Clare Connors, or other important Hawaii agency operatives); 3) gives you a way to submit testimony to the legislature in a timely fashion (access to testimony starts with the simple sign-up procedure), or, alternatively, when to show up in person to present testimony on a certain bill under consideration.

Here is a list of all legislators and their contact information.

Here is a handy 'dashboard' on the legislature website that allows you to access a wide range of information on that site.

Again, these are the bills of concern to the ocean recreation community, at present, click on any one of them to find out where the bill is in the legislature and when the next hearing is so that you can talk with lawmakers directly:  HB2353, SB2909, HB2354, SB2910, SB1258