Sen. Galuteria ‘Incensed’ With Rep. Saiki Over Kakaako Development Bill
The majority leader of the state Senate is upset with the majority leader of the state House of Representatives over a bill regarding residential development in Kakaako.
Sen. Brickwood Galuteria said on the Senate floor today that he was “incensed” about Rep. Scott Saiki reportedly saying that was “dead on arrival,” even though the House on Tuesday voted 41-10 in favor of the bill’s passage.
Because SB 3122 was amended by the House, the Senate must either accept the changes or work them out in conference committee beginning next week. But Galuteria, who introduced SB 3122, interpreted remarks attributed to Saiki as “a foregone conclusion” that the bill will die.
“I don’t appreciate anybody standing up in the public forum and saying that if we go to conference, we don’t need to talk about anything because it’s done,” Galuteria said. “Is that the way to do business with the Senate? Is that why we are the upper house? Because we don’t do business like that?”
Galuteria continued: “I got news for anybody who does business like that: You got — you got something coming. When we go to conference, we intend to talk (about) the bill, we intend to take every opportunity to vet the bill. And if at the end of the day, if the conference committee decides it’s dead on arrival, then we will decide that — certainly not half the house. Certainly not half this Capitol.”
Saiki told Civil Beat he wasn’t sure why the Senate leader believes the House leader said SB 3122 is dead.
“It’s not dead,” Saiki said Thursday. “It’s going to conference committee.”
Galuteria was reacting to in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on SB 3122 that contained a subheadline that read “Rep. Scott Saiki votes for the bill but says it is unlikely to survive and become a law.”
Senate Majority Leader Brickwood Galuteria at the Capitol, March 18, 2014.
The story, which says Saiki believes there are “irreconcilable differences” regarding the legislation, explains that Saiki met with members of the Save Our KakaÂako Coalition that assembled at the Capitol Tuesday to rally against SB 3122.
Saiki, the article said, “told them that House leaders have heard their concerns over allowing residential development in the KakaÂako makai area. ‘You shouldn’t feel too worried about (the bill),’ he told the group before posing for a photo with coalition members.”
Asked about what he said to the protesters, Saiki told Civil Beat Thursday, “I told Friends of Kewalo they should not be worried, that we understood the pros and cons of this proposal.”
SB 3122 is controversial. If signed into law, it would repeal a 2006 measure that prohibits residential use in KakaÂako Makai. The bill was passed in large part because Friends of Kewalos, named for a popular surf spot off Kakaako, and Save Our Kakaako pushed for it after Alexander & Baldwin sought to develop the area.
But in 2012 the Legislature approved a proposal from Gov. Neil Abercrombie to transfer 10 parcels of state land in Kakaako Makai to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to settle a $200 million balance in ceded land revenues.
OHA wants to build residential towers on three of those parcels to make money. As OHA Trustee Peter Apo argued in a Community Voices column this week, “We want to see the area thriving with residents, local visitors, and others who enjoy a uniquely Hawaiian experience. In short, OHA intends not just to be a responsible developer, but to be a Native Hawaiian developer, with all of the values that implies.”
Surfers, fishermen and park users are skeptical. So are many Kakaako residents who are worried about development not only in the makai area but also in the mauka area on the opposite side of Ala Moana Boulevard, where development is expanding under the purview of the Hawaii Community Development Authority.
House Majority Leader Scott Saiki conferring with Speaker Joe Souki and Rep. Karl Rhoads at the Capitol, 2014.
But Galuteria says he has been meeting with “stakeholders” to craft legislation “worthy of consideration” to address concerns. On the Senate floor Thursday, he pointed to , which alters HCDA’s membership, establishes legislative oversight of HCDA’s bond authority, sets building height limits and requires greater public notice of project proposals.
HB 1866 is Saiki’s bill, and it remains in play, too. Saiki and Galuteria are Democrats whose districts include Kakaako, and Galuteria has already attracted a potential primary challenger, Sharon Moriwaki — a resident upset with Kakaako development. Both Saiki and Galuteria are up for re-election.
Another level of politics also appears to be part of the debate over SB 3122 and HB 1866, where bills can be used as bargaining chips between House and Senate leadership during conference — often right until deadline and one side either blinks, a compromise is struck or legislation dies.
Galuteria dismissed as “fallacies” the contention that SB 3122 would lead to shoreline development and block residents from enjoying the waterfront. He told his colleagues Thursday that the parcels proposed for development are 2,000 feet away from the shoreline, and that five roads allow people to easily access the waterfront, which is dominated by a park.
Galuteria also said that the legislation would still require OHA to ask HCDA “for the ability to build residential (property) on the makai.”
“I hope my words are ringing somewhere, and it’s just not empty, because we intend to go to conference and talk it out,” Galuteria said.
Otherwise, he said, citizens may conclude that some legislative votes are meaningless.
Contact Chad Blair via email at cblair@civilbeat.com or follow him on Twitter at .
