Mokihana suspends operations

Kaua’i High, swim club to meet for renegotiation

The waters of the Kaua’i High School swimming pool were calm Tuesday evening. Absent was the churning of young bodies normally present at the time.

Mokihana Aquatics has owned the weekday evening hours at Kaua’i for two years. Now, however, the club has temporarily suspended operation while it waits to negotiate a new contract with the high school.

“The administration of Kaua’i High met with me three days before our contract was to end on September 1,” Mokihana head coach and CEO Orlando Anaya said. “They hit me off with financial and time demands we cannot meet.”

Anaya said that the school’s proposal “would increase our rent by more than 1000 percent to about $15,000 for the year.”

It would cut in half Mokihana’s current 13 hours’ worth of pool time each week.

“That would be unacceptable,” Anaya said. “You can’t run a swim program like that, at least not one that wants to perform at the highest levels, which is what we are doing.”

Kaua’i principal Linda Smith, who wouldn’t elaborate on the school’s proposal, never thought the situation would result in the suspension of Mokihana’s operation.

“We have always been very supportive of Mokihana’s effort,” Smith said. “It was never our intention to shut down the club. We think they do a great job and would like to keep the lines of communication open.

“However, we had to look at what they were being charged as compared to what it costs to operate the facility.”

For the past three years, Mokihana has been using the pool at a rate – $1,200 per year – far below figures handed down by the department of education for such facilities. The reduced fee was put in place, Anaya said, because of the benefits offered to the community by his non-profit organization.

“The base rate for facility use like this is $18 per hour,” said Greg Knudsen, spokesman for the DOE. “Then you would add utilities and custodial fees to that.”

Based on Mokihana’s 13 hours per week of usage, the club’s current per-hour payment works out to around $1.75.

“I’m hoping they can come to an agreement,” said Daniel Hamada, Kaua’i’s District Superintendent of Schools. “Right now the school is taking on almost all of the operation costs. I don’t think $1,200 is going to cover the entire year.”

But it might not take $15,000 either.

“We expected to make a proposal,” said Smith, who, as Kaua’i’s principal, has the final say on the financial matter. “Then they’d come back with a proposal and we’d negotiate.”

Instead of a counteroffer, though, Anaya opted to pull the plug on the club until a more permanent foundation can be laid.

“We’re a federally recognized non-profit organization. Our books are open to the public,” Anaya said. “We want to meet with the administration at Kaua’i, show them where we’re at and get something going.”

Anaya’s biggest concern is that Mokihana get a long-term lease. Anaya said the school had suggested a review every three months.

“We’d like as many years as they’ll give us,” Anaya said. “That’s the only effective way to run a program like this. You can’t do it in limbo.”

Which is where both sides will stay until a face-to-face meeting can be arranged.

“I know the folks at Kaua’i High well,” Hamada said. “They have no intention of hurting the kids. Hopefully there will be a fast resolution.”

Mokihana Aquatics officially began in 1983 and continued until 1991. Anaya shut down the program from 1991-1998 to spend more time with his children. Mokihana returned in 1998 for masters swimming, added 10 core youths in 1999 and jumped to 68 members in 2000.

Of the 88 people currently signed on, 60 pay dues – $40 – monthly as regular participants.

Anaya said that besides facility rental, Mokihana’s expenses, for which it plans an annual budget of $40,000 to $50,000, include travel, equipment and administrative costs.

As the club is his livelihood, Anaya does earn a salary that varies between $1,000 and $3,000 per month. However, he also supports a staff of three.