It Could Happen Here On The North Shore

From The Pacific Business News - Princeville Resort to shut Sept. 19 for makeover

...The Princeville Resort on Kauai will close Sept. 19 for $40 million in renovations, putting 366 employees out of work.

Resort General Manager Kelly Hoen cited economic reasons for the decision to close the hotel rather than remain open during the work, which will take about seven months. The closure will affect 366 employees...

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My Open Letter to Governor Linda Lingle About Her Lying Or Ignorance Of Turtle Bay's History

Aloha Governor Lingle.

I was listening you this morning (2-5-08) on KHVH News Radio with host Rick Hamada and I must say you were either lying or ignorant in your words.

To say Oaktree put a couple of million dollars in to Turtle Bay Resort and wants to "flip it" is a gross lie and does a disservice to the thousands of people who worked to turn Turtle Bay around. Your number is off by about $140,000,000 in terms of what they spent on the project. When Oaktree bought Turtle Bay Resort in 1998, it was a mess. It was close to closing, large dangerous pieces of concrete were missing from exterior and the rooms were dingy, moldy and dismal. The rate was about $60 a night and occupancy hardly ever got past 50 percent. Oaktree saved that property and I for one worked on the renovation. We all busted our butts and helped create a new jewel. You owe Oaktree an apology for your characterization.

Your comment of "pristine land" is either a lie or ignorant. The community through the Unilateral Agreement set up Turtle Bay to continue to be productive land. Some of the previous uses of Turtle Bay were an airfield (check out the pictures here)- there are still remnants of the building and runways on the undeveloped parts of the property. The PGA Tour and LPGA use a former runway as the center of their operations. If you ever actually went there to see it, you would marvel at the amount of old concrete and blacktop there is to sustain the 10-20 mobile trucks in the TV compound. If you ever spoke to anyone there they could easily show you.

Turtle Bay was also a sugar cane field. That is why all the trees there are the same size. They all started growing when the fields went fallow and we lost our jobs at the Kahuku Sugar Mill. There were also houses on the Turtle Bay side of the Kawela Bay as late as the 1980s. There are small patches of land that are pristine. Yes the beaches are beautiful, but the plan we put together that you so disparagingly referred to as "old" protected the beaches, created parks, created a walkway across the entire property so everyone could access it.

You obviously know nothing about this history or you are lying.

You should talk to some people who do not have a strictly preservationist viewpoint. Carol Philips for example, is a known Serial Campaigner over here and we know she is/was on your staff. She was a supporter of Turtle Bay until she ran for office and used it as an issue.

Finally, this is a distinction that you know is true but will not be perceived by many. You are using your bully pulpit in affecting the sale of the property. Nice dodge to attack Rick Hamada of KHVH - AM for his analogous column, you knew it was allegory yet you chose to distort his intentions to duck discussing the issue, THAT WAS COWARDLY AND SHAMEFUL.

A project this size does not get sold over night in a depressed real estate economy, in a state that has a well deserved reputation for being horrible to do business in. Your proclamation that the state wants to buy it and preserve it is going to affect the market.

To say the State of Hawaii is just another buyer like you did this morning (2-5-08) is a pure, 100 percent unadulterated, SHABAI (to be polite).

I have written some history about the property that is not socialist propaganda from radical, strong armed Eco thugs that seem to have your ear.

Here are the links, please get educated.

Let's pretend it is 1997 and YOU are Mr. Oaktree. (Part 1) http://keepthenorthshoresane.blogspot.com/2006/09/lets-pretend-it-is-1997-and-you-are-mr.html

Turtle Bay Opponents - Do the Ends Justify The Means? (Part 2) http://keepthenorthshoresane.blogspot.com/2006/09/turtle-bay-opponents-do-ends-justify.html

The Genius of Carol Phillips

http://keepthenorthshoresane.blogspot.com/2006/11/genius-of-carol-philips.html

Pave Kawela Bay

http://keepthenorthshoresane.blogspot.com/2006/12/are-you-idiot-or-liar.html

Please Governor, read these and apologize to Oaktree for being misinformed. Go back to being a Republican and back away from the Socialist Pipe that you have been inhaling from.

Governor Lingle, A Lot Of Smart People Think Your Turtle Bay Deal Is Arrogant, Laughable and Terrifying.

The people who work at Turtle Bay are shocked, stunned, amazed and scared crazy by the prospect of the State of Hawaii having anything to do with Turtle Bay. The State of Hawaii is dysfunctional. Just look at the pathetic, embarrassing and disgusting condition of the other state assets on the North Shore.

• - The Parks are neglected with broken down equipment. They are in a losing fight against homeless homesteading. The bathrooms are the worst in any park in the USA, they are beyond gross, you feel like vomiting just entering them.
• - Kam Hwy. between Haleiwa and Kaaawa is the worst state road I ever seen or heard rumors of. It is pathetic, pot hole riddled menace.
• - The UH Agricultural Facility is a falling down, steaming heap of junk. I think it has been condemned because having animals live there would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. I do not think any of their housing units over there has collapsed this week, but the gaps in the property lines (for those of us who remember) are from houses that have literally fallen down.
• - Sunset Beach Elementary has only enough funding to complete the roof and the walls while the state has to try and figure out where to get the money to finish the building so it can actually be used for the school's administration.

So Governor Lingle, we are expected to believe that somehow you and the State of Hawaii can do something with Turtle Bay that private industry with vast, deep pockets has not been able to do? Everyone I have talked to about your idea, just laughs, is disgusted, shakes their head or thinks quite frankly that you have lost your mind. I have to let you know that I talk to way more people over here than you do who are not Serial Protestors named Denise, Carol, Bob, Karen, Gil and Mark.

But why listen to me? Here are some of the other smart people who think you're having Molokai flashbacks. They represent some very diverse backgrounds. Not sure if you have been paying attention to the dissent but here it is:

Lee Cataluna (radical local liberal) Honolulu Advertiser 1-25-08 - ...But it's not even clear that's what the Turtle Bay business is about. Legacy project, a way to make Democratic lawmakers look anti-preservationist, a tool to stick it to Clayton Hee, a veiled way to bail out the would-be developer who is in a financial bind? There must be something else going on here because the idea is so out of nowhere... It would be great if the Turtle Bay acreage were saved from further development in perpetuity. But to put that land in the care of state government? The same operation that keeps our public schools in such top shape, our prisons world class, our community hospitals well-appointed and our airports spic and span? Yikes. As Mufi Hannemann likes to ask: Do we need it? Can we afford it? Can we maintain it? (And the answers are yes, no, you gotta be kidding.)...

... Lingle also tossed out an idea of holding a worldwide online fundraising campaign to "Save O'ahu's North Shore." Yeah, like the e-mail we get from guys in Nigeria. "Greetings from Hawai'i! My name is Lenny and I have a favor to ask of you ... " It's hard to believe that Lingle would throw in such a huge, flapping red herring in a time when there are so many other pressing issues to be dealt with...

Her full column, click here.

Rick Hamada (Right Wing Talk Show Host) Midweek 1-30-08 ...Does the state of Hawaii have a vested interest in the demise of the Turtle Bay Resort? This is not a flippant observation, rather a possible explanation for an improbable proposal delivered by Gov. Linda Lingle in her recent State of the State address advancing the idea that the state purchase the Turtle Bay Resort. ...When the governor advances the idea the state is desirous in purchasing the Turtle Bay Resort, what signal is that to a potential investor? It’s a signal that there is too much controversy, too much instability and too much uncertainty - all of which are deal breakers to an astute investor. In the short-term analysis, the governor has rendered the ownership of the Turtle Bay Resort virtually impotent in its ability to survive. I am not sure if this was the intent, but it certainly is a consequence of the most blindsiding policy statement made in recent memory.

His full column click here.

Ian Lind (60's Radical, Lifelong Liberal) Ilind Blog 1-27-08 ...we had another episode in which an unformed idea is dumped raw and undeveloped onto a public stage as sort of a challenge to others to step up and make it into something. I don’t think this kind of leadership by press conference can be effective in getting things done, although perhaps its an effective political tool for establishing one’s own brand and keeping it in the public eye. ...

His full column click here

Governor Ben Cayatano (2 Term Governor) Star Bulletin 2-3-08 ..."It seems like their approach is mostly public relations-oriented," said Lingle's predecessor, former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano. "If they're that serious about this stuff, they would sit down and talk to the developer to kind of find out what's involved. The whole thing really is not feasible." ... "There's a lot of community sentiment out there to keep it country, in fairness to them she cannot give them false hope," Cayetano said. "I don't know who dreamt this up, but it seems to be devoid of any substance in terms of details and how it would impact other state priorities."...

Full Story Click Here Additional copy in the story...Local real estate experts who asked not to be named were critical of Lingle's idea, saying the proposal might be a red herring and a political play by the governor to gain community support, particularly from environmentalists, to recover from the controversy surrounding the Hawaii Superferry....

Governor George Ariyoshi (2 Term Governor Land Preservationist) Star Bulletin 1-28-08 ...In an interview last week, Ariyoshi said that while he does not want to see more hotels built on the North Shore, Lingle does need a plan. "She's talking about buying the resort. Well, if you had all the money in the world, it might by OK, but you have to prioritize," Ariyoshi said...."If she is concerned about keeping areas under state control, why did she want to develop the Kewalo Basin property?" Ariyoshi said. "This is contrary to what she is talking about at Turtle Bay. She talks about one thing but her actions are very contrary." He suggested that Lingle consider how to proceed with more care. "When you take a step like this, you have to really look carefully at it, see how you are going to make it happen. You have got to talk to all of those who are going to be involved and not just spring it in the State of the State," Ariyoshi said....

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