Category: Media

  • Recent brutal attacks in Waikīkī prompt renewed discussions about what can be done

    Recent brutal attacks in Waikīkī prompt renewed discussions about what can be done

    State Sen. Sharon Moriwaki says she hopes Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm brings the “Weed and Seed” program to Waikīkī following a rise in violent crime in the tourist district.

    The program has seen some success in neighborhoods such as Oʻahu’s Chinatown. Chronic drug users and other criminals have been arrested and removed, while social programs have been implemented to help with community building.

    Moriwaki told HPR that she and state Rep. Adrian Tam have discussed the issue with Alm.

    “We definitely support that, in fact, both Rep. Tam and I reached out to Prosecutor Alm to see whether he could speed up that process of coming to Waikīkī and we would put every assistance that we can from the state side. And I’m sure that Council Chair (Tommy) Waters would do the same thing on the county side to make that happen sooner rather than later,” the senator said.

    Tourists have been flocking back to Waikīkī following the lifting of COVID restrictions, and violent crime has risen in the district.

    A brutal assault on a military veteran and his girlfriend is the latest high-profile crime in the tourist district.

    A little over a week before veteran Joe Herter and Amanda Canada were attacked in March, 20-year-old Marqus McNeil was shot and killed in the same area.

    “I think in the past there was a prohibition, I guess, for the military to come into Waikīkī because there were concerns that they were attacking the military, for example. And it had a racial undertone to it. And of course, any kind of violent attack on anybody is problematic. Really, there’s no place for that in Hawaiʻi,” Moriwaki said.

    Moriwaki represents Waikīkī, Ala Moana, Kaka‘ako, McCully, Mō‘ili‘ili, and part of Maikiki.

    All of us have to be vigilant until we are able to stem out the crime that’s happening, and having the message sent to the criminals that they can’t do this anymore without really having severe consequences,” Moriwaki told HPR.

    This interview aired on The Conversation on April 13, 2022. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.

  • Hawaii Tourism Authority criticized for hasty $250,000 appropriation to LPGA Lotte event

    Hawaii Tourism Authority criticized for hasty $250,000 appropriation to LPGA Lotte event

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    The Hawaii Tourism Authority voted Thursday to move funding from its website budget so it could award a $250,000 sole-source contract to the 2022 Lotte Championship golf tournament — a controversial move that required the organization to seek an exemption from state procurement rules.

    Several HTA board members said the decision was in the interest of forging future relationships with the Ladies Professional Golf Association and the Lotte Corp., a South Korean multinational conglomerate — brands it believes will be good partners in their efforts to grow “regenerative tourism.”

    They also praised HTA staff for negotiating the price down to $250,000 from $500,000, the original sponsorship request.

    The sponsorship gives HTA commercial marketing rights and provides the community with benefits such as a golf clinic for up to 40 women and free tournament attendance for locals.

    Fred Atkins, chairman of the HTA Branding Committee, told the full HTA board on Thursday that “Lotte wants to come to the table. They see a board that wants not just to give money, but to be a partner.”

    The tourism board likely would have tied this year’s Lotte funding to future commitments; however, it was unable to pursue a multiyear contract while using a state procurement exemption.

    Some tourism leaders and lawmakers are questioning the hasty request, which came after the LPGA and Lotte had already announced that the event would be held April 13-16 at the Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa.

    The tournament will feature a field of 144 players competing for a $2 million purse, with $300,000 awarded to the winner.

    The LPGA and Lotte announcement came less than a month before the tournament’s slot on the LPGA Tour calendar. The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the event has spent the past decade in Hawaii. The tournament was held at Ko Olina Golf Club from 2012 to 2019 and at Kapolei Golf Club in 2021.

    Some critics say HTA’s decision to provide eleventh- hour funding to the Lotte comes across as somewhat tone-deaf. HTA is adjusting to its first year under state procurement rules while battling the Legislature to keep its $60 million budget.

    Legislators in 2021 took out their frustrations about over-tourism by overriding Gov. David Ige’s veto of House Bill 862.

    When HB 862 became law last year, the measure took away HTA’s dedicated funding source and cut its annual budget to $60 million from $79 million. The bill also removed the agency’s procurement exemption and made the HTA funding subject entirely to the whims of state lawmakers.

    This year the state House of Representatives allotted HTA $1 to pay for its operations and eliminated all money for staffing in the version of the state budget that it transmitted to the Senate. The House’s version also allocated $1 for the Hawai‘i Convention Center and $1,000 to fix its roof.

    The Senate Committee on Ways and Means has the measure and is expected to make a decision on it Tuesday.

    HTA also could face pushback from the chairs of the Senate Committee on Energy, Economic Development and Tourism and the Committee on Government Operations, which recently amended House Bill 1785 to allow them to reorganize HTA and exert more control over the agency’s spending.

    State Sen. Glenn Wakai (D, Kalihi-Salt Lake-Aliamanu), who chairs the Committee on Energy, Economic Development and Tourism, and Sen. Sharon Moriwaki (D, Kakaako-McCully- Waikiki), who chairs the Committee on Government Operations, said HTA needs more accountability.

    HB 1785 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Labor, Culture and the Arts and the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.

    Wakai said it’s problematic that HTA decided to fund the Lotte, even though the LPGA event was already coming to Hawaii this year.

    “The request came very late, and the event is going to happen anyway,” he said. “We are going to get the free visibility anyway. We don’t have to put public funds into this tournament.”

    Moriwaki said HTA’s decision to move funding from their GoHawaii.com budget for a last-minute golf request is an example of why lawmakers need to put controls on the agency’s spending.

    It’s ridiculous. (Their budget) is not a slush fund.

    “It’s ridiculous. (Their budget) is not a slush fund,” she said.

    Former HTA board member Keith Vieira said he supports golf marketing to bring higher-spending visitors to Hawaii. Still, Vieira said he understands why people are questioning HTA’s support for this year’s Lotte.

    “You have to look really deeply at it because of the money situation, the lack of future funding, the scrutiny from the Legislature and the need for multiyear partnerships,” he said. “This is a one-off.”

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