Transient rental business is good for Kailua and state

I am the owner of Island Treasures Art Gallery, Inc. and Kailua Beach Walk, Inc.

I have been a business owner there for more than 15 years and prior to that, owned Maui Clothing Co. Inc., which is 30 stores now owned by my daughters.

Between the three corporations, we employ more than 300 employees and generate sales and tax revenue for the state. We are in the tourist resort business selling clothing and Hawaiian art and gifts on Lanai, Kauai, Big Island, Maui and Oahu.

When I first opened in 1996 in Kailua, it was a sleepy little town with very little tourism and we were the first retail gift gallery. Most residents had to go over the Pali to buy gift items or clothing they needed, and when we opened, people were so happy to see us come to Kailua.

The town grew over the years and many small boutiques opened, and tourists started coming to Kailua. There were only a few legal bed-and–breakfast rentals, not enough to accommodate all those who would love to experience visiting their families, returning to Kailua from their childhoods, visiting military personal returning from war, and generally loving the beaches that Kailua has to offer.

These tourists are not your normal Waikiki tourist; they are families visiting relatives and they would never stay in Waikiki or a big resort hotel. They are decent families looking for the safe family experience that Kailua offers. They shop and eat in our restaurants, and the owners of such house rentals shop to buy accessories at our stores to keep their homes looking new and nice for their guests.

It would be an economic disaster to destroy the guest industry that has been there for 20 years. It has enabled our town to grow at a strong economic rate, even in light of the recession. In talking with customers and friends, my sense is that many homeowners are upside down on their mortgages in Kailua and would be in foreclosure if not for the B&B/transient vacation unit economy.

The state and federal governments are experiencing a substantial tax base increase from the rental industry and from the many business that have recently been developed in our area due to increased tourism. My guess is that at least hundreds of employees are hired by these rentals to maintain Kailua properties; maids, gardeners and others are hired to work in the stores and restaurants.

Do we want to see Kailua roll backward into the ’90s, when only a few shops existed, there were no restaurants and no boutiques offering creative and unique merchandise? Do we want to cut tax revenues and lay off more employees?

The vocal minority is not the majority of people voting in our community. They are not the working class dependent on jobs created by tourism. Many are retirees who have time on their hands to create turmoil in the community. They are against any kind of busing of Japanese tourists into our area to increase business. They don’t realize that the state is dependent on the tourist economy throughout Hawaii. We need to protect that tourism to save our businesses. There must be a better solution than ending the home rental business in Kailua.

I vote "no" on Mayor Peter Carlisle’s new bill to amend Chapter 21; enforcement only is premature. Why during a recession are we spending so much of our taxpayers’ dollars on this issue to fight the actual persons and businesses who are making money for the state?

Why not legalize and regulate such vacation rentals, as Maui has been successful in doing, to increase tourism and create more jobs and economic stability?

A good bill would address both sides and create a compromise instead of pitting neighbors against neighbors and erasing the business community off the map financially.