Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 11, 1 November 2004 — Lease-to-fee repeal bill passes out of City Council committee [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Lease-to-fee repeal bill passes out of City Council committee

The measure likely has enough votes to pass the fu 1 1 eouneil, but outcome of a veto scenario is uncertain By Sterling Kini Wong Now that Bill 53 has passed the Honolulu City Council's Executive Matters Committee, it appears that there is enough backing in the eouneil to repeal the city's controversial condominium leasehold conversion law. The repeal bill passed the committee, whieh is made up by the full eouneil, on Oct. 21, by a vote of 5-3. Councilmembers Charles Djou, Barbara Marshall and Gary Okino voted against the repeal, with Donavan Dela Cruz, Mike Gabbard, Nestor Garcia, Ann Kobayashi, and Rod Tam voting in favor. Romy Cachola, the committee's chairman, was absent. Bill 53 would abolish the city's 13-year-old leasehold conversion law, called Chapter 38, whieh allows the city to force landowners to sell their fee interest in condominium land to qualified lessees. The law is supported by lessees who believe leasehold conversion

affords them an opportunity at homeownership. On the other side, small landowners and charitable trusts say the law threatens to strip them of potential revenue. One such organization is the Queen Lili'uokalani Trust, whieh uses its revenue to benefit destitute and orphaned children of Hawaiian ancestry. If all goes well for the bill, it will be heard during the Nov. 10 eouneil meeting, then be referred to its final committees hearings and finally sent back to the eouneil for a final vote on Dec. 1. But while the bill seems to have the minimum five votes needed to pass the full eouneil vote, it may not have enough to overturn a mayor's veto, whieh requires six votes. So whether the leasehold conversion law is repealed depends on three factors: the five eouneil members who support the bill continuing to do so; whieh way Cachola votes; and who is mayor. As Ka Wai Ola went to press shortly before the election, Duke Bainum was leading Mufi Hannemann in the polls. Bainum told Ka Wai Ola during the campaign that he would veto the repeal bill if it eame to him as mayor, while Hannemann said he would sign it. ■

Nū Hou

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Hōlau Kū Mana charter school students dance in front of Foster Towers, one of the condominiums at the heart of the leasehold conversion controversy, during September's Kū i ka Pono march opposing forced conversion. Photo: steriing Kini wong