LIHU‘E — A bill working its way through the state Legislature would change the auction system currently in place for the sale of Koke‘e cabin long-term leases to a lottery system, giving residents without “deep pockets” an equal opportunity to
LIHU‘E — A bill working its way through the state Legislature would change the auction system currently in place for the sale of Koke‘e cabin long-term leases to a lottery system, giving residents without “deep pockets” an equal opportunity to secure access.
House Bill 2270, introduced this year by state Rep. Roland Sagum, has secured the support of the Koke‘e State Park Advisory Council, a group tasked with the preservation of one of Kaua‘i’s premiere destinations for visitors and locals alike.
“Members of the Westside community asked me for one more bite at the apple,” Sagum said recently. “The people who are there are part of the cultural landscape … If it goes to auction, of course the billionaires are going to get it.”
Under both the existing and proposed legislation, available leases would be offered first to “bona fide full-time” Hawai‘i residents, then to nonresidents.
“We feel it’s more fair for our kama‘ainas and the people on Kaua‘i, more fair for people with and without a lot of money,” KSPAC Chair Canen Ho‘okano said recently.
“Originally when these campsites up in Koke‘e were envisioned, they were not envisioned to go to an auction system. They were created for kama‘aina families of Kaua‘i, and other islands also, but mainly for plantations who had cabins for their employees,” he said. “Workers could go up for relaxation and rejuvenation of the body and mind. These campsites were particularly created for the man of modest means.”
Ho‘okano said a lottery system would create a smoother transition from one lessee to the next, and said it would be more fair than an auction “for the people who have deep pockets and the people who don’t.”
Ho‘okano also criticized a recent decision to take a cabin near Camp Sloggett that had been used for DLNR enforcement for generations and put it on the auction list.
“There’s no price that you can put on safety,” he said.
The status of the lottery legislation was set to be discussed at Monday’s KSPAC meeting, according to an agenda published on its Web site.
The Legislature’s Web site shows the bill was introduced — by Sagum, state Reps. James Tokioka and Hermina Morita, as well as three others — in late January, recommended for approval by the House Committee on Water, Land and Ocean Resources, and passed on second reading with no votes in opposition.
On Feb. 10, it was referred to the House Finance Committee, which has Sagum and Tokioka among its 17 members.
For more information on HB 2270, go to www.capitol.hawaii.gov. For more information on the KSPAC, visit www.kokeeadvisory.org.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com.