Question: Park users at Kanewai Park on Dole Street have been having problems finding parking because a number of University of Hawaii students and mountain bikers are parking there. Can something be done to monitor the parking more efficiently for park users?
Question: Who is responsible for enforcing the parking at Kanewai Park? Signs were put up this summer saying parking is for park users and enforcement was to begin in June. We use the pool on Saturdays and Sundays and find a regular group of mountain bikers who leave most of their trucks at the park, then go biking. Attached are photos of two trucks. To date, there has been no visible enforcement.
Answer: Parks officials say it’s just not feasible to post a monitor in the parking lot for any length of time.
"Sometimes our recreation director will stand in the lot," which will discourage "a lot of people" who are not park users from parking, said Craig Mayeda, administrator of the city Department of Parks and Recreation’s Parks Maintenance and Recreation Services.
"But we do not have the funds to have someone stand in the parking lot," he said. "Even in good times it would be difficult to place a monitor in the parking lot to make sure everyone parking was going to be a park user."
"This is a situation in which HPD could be called," Mayeda said. "The hardest thing for HPD would be to verify whether the individual is or is not in the park."
We passed your complaint on to the Honolulu Police Department, which handles the enforcement in city parks.
As Mayeda said, "It’s difficult to tell which cars belong to park users," said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu. "Officers will make checks when they can."
Based on the photos of the trucks, she said HPD would also contact the registered vehicle owners to remind them that parking is for park users.
Question: Regarding the new Gold Star license plates: Are they only for people who were killed in combat during the wars in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, or are they also for those killed in the Vietnam and other wars?
Answer: The Gold Star license plates are for family members — widows/widowers, parents and next of kin (siblings and children) — of service members killed not only during periods of war dating back to World War I, but during international terrorist attacks and while engaged in action against enemies of the U.S.; in "conflict with an opposing force"; or while serving with "friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict" in which the U.S. is not "a belligerent party." The Korean and Vietnam wars are included.
Basically, the Hawaii Gold Star Family license plate is reserved for family members of service members who are eligible for the Gold Star Lapel Button, which was created by Congress to recognize the families of those killed in action on behalf of the United States.
As the Star-Advertiser previously reported, state Rep. K. Mark Takai worked with Allen Hoe and retired Army Col. David Brostrom, who both lost sons in combat, for more than a year to pass a state law creating the Hawaii Gold Star license plates. There is now only one state, Maine, that does not offer the plates.
Those who qualify can contact Takai at 586-8455 or email him at reptakai@capitol.hawaii.gov to get instructions on how to apply for the plates.
MAHALO
To everyone who helped when my 5-year-old son lost consciousness on a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Las Vegas on Sept. 30. An EMT and a nurse responded to a request for help, working as a team. It was decided to turn the plane around so my son could seek further medical attention. I never had the chance to properly thank the two, as well as the flight attendants who helped us. We will always remember and be thankful for their acts of kindness. — Christy Sasano
Write to "Kokua Line" at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
