Support Governor's Initiative to Buy Turtle Bay!

[red]

Governor Linda Lingle today proposed a bold initiative to buy the Turtle Bay Resort. We must all immediately send her a letter of thanks for her leadership and then send letters to the newspapers and to our electeed officials to ask their support.

The Governor said, "This is a once-in-a-generation chance to preserve both a lifestyle for thousands of residents, and a part of Hawaii that millions the world over have come to love and identify as the real Hawaii."

Indeed, this everyone's chance to keep the momentum rolling. The letter does not have to be perfectly worded; it just needs to come from the heart. Send a positive note now!

Email and web links to the Governor and other leaders are posted at http://www.keepthenorthshorecountry.org
Keep the North Shore Country
Box 356
Haleiwa, HI 96712

http://www.KeepTheNorthShoreCountry.org

[goro]

nice in concept, but the reality is that the state can't even afford to take care of what it already owns...look at all our parks, aloha stadium, the uh, roads, and on and on...people want things like free so raising taxes is doa so what to do?

[red]

Good point, but you gotta figure buying the joint outright is a bargain compared to the cost of running utilities out there and expanding the kam to a four or six lane highway. Development always leads to more taxes, not less.

[LGREANZ]

yeah i agree with goro.
the state has so many other problems. hospitals, housing, schools,etc.

the entire healtcare industry is a mess, but Hawaii's problem is worsening, due to the fact of supply and demand.
there are just not enough physicians and services available for the public.

there are just so many other problems that the individual public faces day to day.

why should a resort or a superferry affect the governor when the everything is falling down around us.

i can see the headlines now.....

[red]

On a recent visit to the ER I had a talk with one of the docs who said that pretty much the whole Hawaii healthcare mess rests on the shoulders of HMSA. They have such a tight grip on the whole industry here and so many middle men lining their pockets that not only are they driving costs through the roof but docs don't get paid shit either compared to their counterparts on the mainland. I had a friend who was looking into this place and instead she went to Canada cause it was ridiculous what they wanted to pay her here. The choice was a mortgage on a two story house or struggling just to get by.

[red]

Turtle Bay purchase
Governor's Message
Gov. Linda Lingle, Star-Bulletin
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Turtle Bay purchase is once-in-a-generation opportunity
In my State of the State address, I introduced the idea that the state, in collaboration with private, public and nonprofit partners, should purchase the 850-acre Turtle Bay property on Oahus North Shore.

As I stated in my address, and firmly believe, we cannot speculate or sell ourselves into prosperity. There is a time and a place for large-scale land development projects. We have many such places on Oahu, such as the downtown and Kakaako urban areas and the developing second city in Kapolei.

But there is also a time and place to preserve our natural environment and our heritage. The Turtle Bay property is the place and now is the time.

For too long, and too often, important pieces of rural Hawaii have been sold to the highest bidder and then developed into something that forever changed the essence and character of the entire area.

These developments are usually justified as necessary for job creation and economic expansion. But we cannot continue on this path because land is finite and its development will not sustain a healthy economy for future generations.

Instead, we need to transform the economy to one reliant on the intellectual capacity of our people, while pursuing opportunities to protect the environment and to preserve the crucial elements of Hawaiis lifestyle and identity. Preserving Turtle Bay is an important step in this direction.

The Turtle Bay property is an important part of the North Shore community. It remains a rural countryside, removed from the more populated areas of Honolulu and represents a vestige of Hawaii that is precious and significant to us all.

The property includes about five miles of coastline, much of which is pristine and undeveloped, and other large tracts that remain in their natural state.

Many Hawaii residents, as well as people throughout the world, know the North Shore as a place of refuge from our increasingly urban surroundings and also as an area of favorite surfing spots such as Sunset Beach, the Bonzai Pipeline and Waimea Bay.

This area is world renowned because it is the ideal Hawaii to many, and one of the few remaining places like it. We should work together to preserve this treasure.

The Turtle Bay property has one hotel, which includes 443 rooms, restaurants and other amenities. There are also two 18-hole golf courses, which host well-known tournaments. Residents and visitors alike enjoy the existing hotel, golf courses and related services, and they provide jobs for many in the community. These should be kept in place and continue to operate.

But, if developed as planned, Turtle Bay could turn into something very different, with five additional and separate hotel sites, five separate resort condominium sites, a shopping village, an equestrian center, a commercial clubhouse and a beach club. It is reported that this could add another 3,500 rooms to the property, a significant increase.

I have proposed that the state purchase the Turtle Bay property in order to protect the remaining areas and to allow the community, as a whole, to shape its preferred future.

I do not propose that the state operate the hotel or go into the resort business. Rather, I have suggested that the resort portion of the property could be sold as part of financing the remaining pur- chase. I believe such a sale is possible and that there are ways to allow the hotel to succeed as an integral part of the community, without needing to overbuild its surroundings.

Since I introduced the idea to purchase Turtle Bay, many have speculated on the cost. Some have suggested figures that are significantly inflated and which I believe have no basis. I do not believe it will cost anywhere near $500 million, as reported in the media and on Internet blogs. Local real estate experts and those familiar with the history of Oaktrees attempts to sell the property agree.

Before beginning discussions with the property owners, we are talking and meeting with many individuals and organizations that have knowledge of the property as well as the subject of large land preservation projects.

I also have made initial contact with the U.S. Department of the Interior and hope our congressional delegation will find ways to help the community achieve its dream of preserving this precious area.

Some are concerned that I have not presented a specific plan to purchase the land or explained what will be done with the property once it is acquired. I believe this proposal touches our entire community, and therefore requires discussion, collaboration and input from all sectors to develop a plan to finance the purchase, as well as the best way to manage and preserve the land.

As a community, we have recent successful land and building purchases, such as preserving Waimea Valley and Pupukea-Paumalu, and saving Kukui Gardens affordable housing, to draw upon as inspiration. Not only for the fact that it can be done, but it can be done through the enthusiastic participation of many partners who share the effort, the hard work it will no doubt entail, and the expense.

I ask that we all work together to pursue this worthy effort for the benefit of those here today and for those generations to come.

[goro]

we've heard this stuff many times before...
like gov. cayetano (see below) gave a similar plea to buy the hemmeter bldg...
it used to be really, really nice...now the state owns it and maintains it...well check it out for yourselves...
it's deteriorating to say the least...10 years from now, it'll probably be really messed up...
now the state wants to take over a hotel resort?
might as well already tell people it will be all for the homeless...

State should acquire
former YMCA building
The issue: Governor Cayetano proposes to buy the former Armed Forces YMCA building.
Our view: The idea makes sense because the state is already using it on a rental basis.


IT seems inconsistent for Governor Cayetano to be saying the state can't afford pay raises for its employees while proposing to buy the former Armed Forces YMCA building, now known as the Hemmeter Building or the No. 1 Capitol District Building, for $22.3 million.
But Cayetano isn't known for wild extravagance, and this proposal makes financial sense. The main point is that the state has been using the building -- paying rent -- since 1990 and probably will continue to use it.

The departments of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and Budget and Finance use the upper floors.

Purchasing the building rather than continuing to pay rent could save taxpayers money in the long run. Unneeded space, if any, could be rented out to private companies.

Moreover, the building, as beautifully renovated by developer Chris Hemmeter, is an important enhancement of the Capitol District. The site is historically significant -- the original Royal Hawaiian Hotel was located there. It adjoins the State Capitol and Iolani Palace grounds. The existing structure, built in 1928, was known to generations of servicemen as the Armed Forces YMCA.

The lavish renovation by Hemmeter a decade ago restored the structure's status as one of Honolulu's most beautiful buildings. It should be preserved as such, and acquisition by the state could ensure that while putting the property to good use.

The ground floor was a lobby and is not suitable for offices. Cayetano proposes to use it to display the art collected by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. The governor says this would help attract tourists to the Capitol District and the downtown area. The citizens of Hawaii, who paid for the art, might also like to see what they bought.

As the governor explained, "What it will do for downtown is that it will provide another attraction for people so that tourists will be able to visit the State Capitol, Iolani Palace, the state foundation and the Mission Houses, so downtown will become more interesting." He added that his wife Vicky has plans for tours of Washington Place.

This is not a proposal to spend money on art. The art has already been acquired under existing law, but the state has no place to display it. And the display would be in a building the state is already renting. There is also a central courtyard that could be used for concerts.

Both houses have refused to include money for the purchase in their budget drafts. House Speaker Calvin Say says the state may want to resort to condemnation of the property to get a lower price. Perhaps so, but one way or another the state should acquire it.

[red]

If anybody else has a suggestion of how to make sure the place doesn't turn into a gigantor resort then I'm all ears.

[LGREANZ]

i think the turtle bay community acerage will be a great place to let all the homeless hawaiians live.
but here is the catch you gotta be hawaiian.
they could turn the place into a giant hawaiian cultural camp/lifestyle community with schools/ day care / and community outreach programs on site.
hey we can even feed them, and have alcohol and drug treatment facilities. this setting would be an excellent environment for ex-cons to
matriculate back into a normal society and get their slippahs on the right foot.
The Turtle Bay Hawaiian Homeless Ohana.
But seriously how nuts would that be if you live on the beach one week then in $300 a night hotel room overlooking the ocean the next.
it is possible.

imagine how all the "let the country be country" folks would react to that.
all these wanna be hippies would be flipping out about their property value.

this is just a ploy for Lingle and her administration to line their pockets after her term is up.
buying this hotel and property it will be such a huge undertaking and mess she and her crew will be the ones to have to fix the problems
and then charge the public for their service.

[red]

I was thinking maybe sell it to the military. That way they can blow a few more holes in the reef and add some extra 'habitat' for nesting sea turtles.