The next meeting of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board is scheduled for Tuesday, March 9, 2010, at the Waikiki Community Center located at 310 Paoakalani Avenue, 7:00-9:30PM.  Here is the agenda and timeline for the meeting. 

The agenda includes several items pertaining to the ALA WAI HARBOR.  As you know, the Ala Wai Harbor is located directly in front of the Ilikai.  Needless to say, lots of commercial interests would love to take a bite off that piece of such prime land.  Any developments there could potentially have significant effects on the Ilikai.  (I have never been to the Waikiki Neighborhood Board meetings.  But from what I heard, they are pretty good at adhering the meeting to the timeline listed on the agenda.  That way interested folks do not have to attend the whole meeting and can simply arrive for the meeting portion of interest.)

DISCLOSURE: I have NOT researched this subject, its pros, cons, etc.  I am posting this information as it has been supplied to me by folks who are very active in this area and have thorough knowledge of what is happening.  Below is information as it was provided to me, I did not write it.

This Bill, if passed, could have a highly significant impact on the Ilikai, since the Ala Wai Harbor is right in front of the Ilikai!

This is one of the last chances for ocean loving people of Hawaii and particularly Keehi and Ala Wai boaters to stop the bill in the Senate that would limit their opportunities to the waterfront.  Submitting testimony couldn’t get any easier, see instructions below.  One or two points in a couple of sentences expressing your opinion is more than enough.  Keep it simple.

HB 2582 (click on the link for more information) authorizes moorage for commercial vessels and commercial vessel activities in the Ala Wai and Keehi Boat Harbors and adjusts fees for permittees of vessels that are used for a place of principal habitation in state small boat harbors.  It has been assigned to the Senate’s WTL & WAM committees.  HB 2582 proposes to reduce the number of recreational slips in both harbors – meaning longer on a wait list for a slip to 1) get a boat or 2) to change boats, in other words, being locked in the same sized boat – by converting 15% of the slips from recreational to commercial.   At the FIN hearing, DLNR stated that they wanted to commercialize the 700 / 800 rows.  DLNR could get the same amount of revenue simply by increasing the percentage to 30%, the same percentage that was recommended in 1976!

On Wednesday, Mar 10th @ 2:45pm WTL <http://capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/senate/comm/commWTL.asp>, the committee that hears most boating bills, will hear HB 2582.  Please see below the instructions how to submit your testimony – by Tuesday. 

At the previous hearing before the House FIN committee, only one individual testified for a commercial operator that it would be “more convenient” for his customers to come to Ala Wai rather than get on a bus or take a taxi to Kewalo where he now operates several boats.  Consider possible effects on the parking, on the harbor infrastructure and the recreational users. 

We recommend that you read Reg White’s testimony at FIN starting on page 9 and that of others – click here to read the HB 2582 testimonies and more from earlier hearings – click here for other HB 2582 testimonies.  These testimonies highlight the strongest points of why this bill should not pass.  Showing up in person on Wednesday will have the strongest impact on committee members.

Instructions how to submit your testimony:

Persons wishing to testify should submit testimony in one of the following ways by 2:45 p.m. [Tuesday] the day prior to the hearing :

*** By E-mail:  Testimony may be emailed if less than 5 pages in length, to the Committee at WTLTestimony@Capitol.hawaii.gov .  Please indicate the measure, date and time of the hearing.  E-mail sent to
individual offices or any other Senate office will not be accepted.

*** By Web: Testimony may be submitted online if less than 4MB in size, at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/emailtestimony.

*** In person:  1 copy of the testimony to the committee clerk, Room 228, State Capitol.

*** By fax:  Testimony may be faxed if less than 5 pages in length, to the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms Office at 586-6659 or 1-800-586-6659 (toll free for neighbor islands), at least 24 hours prior to the hearing.  When faxing, please indicate to which committee the testimony is being submitted and the date and time of the hearing.

The word is out that CBS may be remaking “Hawaii Five-O.”  Here are some recent reports that CBS has given the OK to a remake of “Hawaii Five-O.” 

Here is a Honolulu Advertiser article of March 7, 2010 that reports, “‘Hawaii Five-O’ may step into economic gap of ‘Lost’ departure.”  Click here for a PDF version of the article.

Here is another Honolulu Advertiser article of March 7, 2010 that reports on “‘Hawaii Five-O’ then and now.”  Click here for a PDF version of the article.

An earlier, 2008 article in the Pacific Business News informed, “Actor Steve McGarrett standing on the penthouse balcony of the Ilikai Hotel forever will be remembered in the opening scene of “Hawaii 5-0.” But what some people may not know is that the Ilikai also appeared in the TV shows “I Dream of Jeannie,” “Jake and the Fat Man,” “Lost” and “Magnum PI.”"

By the way, the “penthouse balcony” that was used in the opening scene of ‘Hawaii Five-O’ – that is the penthouse that is often called “the Chinn Ho’s penthouse” because it used to be owned by the Ilikai’s developer, Chinn Ho.  Most would agree that this is the very best unit at the Ilikai, facing the ocean directly.  By the way, the current owner of that penthouse was in attendance at the Ilikai AOAO Annual Meeting earlier this week.

What are your thoughts re plans to remake ‘Hawaii Five-O’?

I find it amazing and delighting how many folks from other condominium associations read my blog.  Recently I have been hearing from quite a few of them from around our state.  It always delights me!  I invite folks from other associations to contact me.  I love hearing from you!

In fact, one of my wish-to-do items for this year, if and when I get time, is to get going a parallel website – which would be broader in scope and post news and updates about other condo associations.  I get lots of information coming my way from various sources.  For one thing, many of the same “players” are also at other associations, – for ex., management companies (Hawaii First, Hawaiian Properties, Certified Management), Richard Emery, insurance (Sue Savio and others), attorneys, Scott Merlo, etc etc.  And of course – importantly – many of the issues are the same or similar.  There is so much one can learn by sharing experiences.

Tonight we had the Annual Meeting of the Ilikai AOAO.  Seven of the nine Board Directors were for re-election.  Here is who got elected to the Board:

Dass Ramadass (3-year term, till 2013)

Bill Moore (2-year term, till 2012)

Lea Sasak (1-year term, till 2011)

Leslie Love (3-year term, till 2013)

Steve Stinson (3-year term, till 2013)

Scott Merlo (1-year term, till 2011)

Linda Anthony (2-year term, till 2012)

The above listed seven Directors join the two Directors who had remaining terms: John Hall and Bob Romo.

Some clarifications re who is who.  Dass Ramadass is not an owner here, he is an employee of the Tokioka Family’s companies.  Bill Moore and Lea Sasak are owners, they are part of the OBC group (Old Boys (and some ladies) Club) fraction of the owners.  The OBC group is closely connected with Marina Hawaii Vacations (a company of the Tokioka Family).  Leslie Love and Steve Stinson are representatives of iStar (the current owner of the Ilikai hotel).  Linda Anthony is a representative of Shell timeshare.  Scott Merlo is a new addition to the scene here.  He is an owner, he owns a penthouse here.  Also, he set up and operates a significant rental business here.  His rental program reportedly includes circa 75 Ilikai units, that’s how he got so many votes to get elected.  Up till now he was staying away from the Ilikai politics.

I did not get elected.  But I tried.  On a positive note, through this process I met some most wonderful people here.  For ex., tonight I talked to some owners who have been supporters of my efforts.  It was truly heart warming meeting them and talking to them.  Truly heart warming.  We’ve got some really wonderful people here.  I feel blessed that I got to meet them and for the opportunity to do what I can for the Ilikai.  HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO VOTED FOR ME!!!!!!!

As a reminder, the Ilikai AOAO Annual Meeting is today, Tuesday, March 2, 2010.  Location: Hawaii Prince Hotel.  Time: The registration starts at 5 PM, the actual meeting to start at 6:30 PM.

I will be there.  Take a moment to stop by to say hello and/or introduce yourself

At the request of an Ilikai owner (who is also a full-time resident at the Ilikai), I am posting their letter, please see below.

“Olga,

       I completely agree with you assessment of the current board. I am not at all comfortable with the fact that most of the people at the front of the room during board meetings [OLGA: this refers to the Board Directors] either are or were products of the second floor rental office [OLGA: this refers to Marina Hawaii Vacations, a rental and sales company owned by the Tokioka Family].   And if not directly involved with that office, they are indirectly involved in that they rent their condos through that office. In effect they have formed a close knit club among themselves and slant their decisions to favor their agenda rather than the interests of us, individual owners. Furthermore, please explain to me why certain individuals who neither live in the Ilikai nor own anything in the Ilikai are on our board of directors supposedly representing us, owners [OLGA: this refers to Dass Ramadass who is an employee of the Tokiokas' companies that own one unit at the Ilikai (or several at most if under different names).  Dass Ramadass is a Board Director, but he does not own anything at the Ilikai.  How can he act in undivided loyalty to the AOAO and owners if he is not an owner here?  Isn't his loyalty instead directed to his employer, the Tokiokas' companies?].  I would suggest they would be better suited being on the board of directors of the building or neighborhood in which they live rather than on the board of the building in which I live.

Concerning the upcoming board elections, Hawaii First in their mailings to us did not even tell us how many seats are up for reelection (they should go too).  I believe you pointed out that 7 of the 9 seats are up for election, so it is a big and important election. The present board is, of course, doing everything possible to acquire proxies in order to keep themselves in power, however, in my opinion a number of them should go. It is also my opinion that I-Star should, as they own a large portion of the Ilikai, have representation on the board.  They are Steve Stinson and Lesley Love. The only other candidates that I know of (other than the current board) are you Olga Geling , Robert Humphreys (a recently retired attorney) and Cheryl Van Law (a relatively new and very qualified (real estate) arrival).  I would suggest to undecided voters to give these five applicants serious consideration.  To be voted off the board are (in my opinion) Dass Ramadass, Lea Sasak, Robert Currie and others of your choosing.

                               For a better Ilikai,

                              Robert Vogtritter”

P.S. Olga’s comment: I certainly agree with what Mr. Vogtritter has to say.  With one exception – regarding the Board candidate Cheryl Van Law.  I certainly agree with Cheryl on many issues, most notably regarding the assessment of the current Board as a total major roadblock to any progress here.  This Board had a whole year to prove themselves, but they failed, dismal record.  But I disagree with Cheryl on several key issues.  For ex., Cheryl has been advocating for letting Shell and timeshare stay here and making statements to the effect that timeshare is legal here.  These statements of hers are totally off-base and do NOT correspond to what our covenants and applicable law and law cases say.

I am posting this for those who are out of town and may be wondering what has been happening here in terms of the tsunami warning.  This was quite an exciting day here, in anticipation of drama, if not tragedy, but then luckily nothing happened.  At 6 AM we heard a statewide tsunami warning siren that went on for some time.  After that, the Ilikai security announced via the speaker system about the tsunami alert.  They made several announcements over the period of several hours.  There was no evacuation or anything like that here at the Ilikai.  Luckily, there wasn’t really much of a tsunami at all, no damage around here or anything like that.  The tsunami warning got canceled.  It was interesting to see the Ala Wai Harbor at least half empty, as folks took their boats to the ocean for safety to wait out the anticipated tsunami.  Most of the boats that remained at the Harbor were those of absentee owners.  I know a couple people who have boats there, and they sure were quick to take their boats to the ocean for safety once they found out about the warning.  Now the mood is happy and celebrative

From a personal perspective, I would add that I was really impressed with how prepared our State seemed to be – organized, with warnings, announcements, evacated whoever needed to be evacuated, no panic.  Organized and prepared.  Very impressive.

Pacific Business News reports: “Sarento’s owners see bright future for top of the Ilikai.”

The next Board meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, February 25, 2010, at 3 PM, Kauai room on the 2nd floor.  Ilikai owners are invited and encouraged to attend.