Kailua prepares for another first family holiday visit

Kailua residents began bracing for the possibility of a fourth consecutive Christmas visit from President Barack Obama and the first family as activity picked up Tuesday around the beachside compound that’s come to be known as Obama’s Western White House.

"We’re just starting to hear from the Secret Service," Kailuana Loop resident Herb Fuller said. "And a lot of guys have to get their boats out of (Kawainui) canal by Friday, or they’ll get socked in by the Coast Guard."

Neighbors along Kailuana Loop saw at least four Hawaiian Telcom trucks parked around the compound Tuesday, and said two Coast Guardsmen were talking to neighbors and surveying Kawainui Canal, which was patrolled by military boats outfitted with aft machine guns during Obama’s last Christmas vacation back home on Oahu.

The first family’s previous vacations have turned normally quiet Kailuana Loop into the most heavily guarded stretch of real estate in the islands. Officials set up security zones for Kawainui Canal and Kailua Bay.

Residents along Kailuana Loop — and their holiday visitors — have to be registered with the Secret Service to gain entrance to the neighborhood off of Kalaheo Avenue, which is often filled with tourists hoping for a glimpse of the presidential motorcade.

But the security apparatus that protects the president and his family has been unable to guard against the vagaries of Hawaii’s winter storms.

During Obama’s 2008 Christmas trip as president-elect, Kailua and the rest of Oahu were thrown into an islandwide blackout that cut off power to Obama’s vacation compound for 11 hours. Last year, first daughters Sasha and Malia were shopping at Ala Moana Center during one of a series of power failures that hurt Christmas business at Hawaii’s largest mall.

First lady Michelle Obama and Sasha and Malia are expected to arrive Saturday for a 17-day vacation on Oahu with or without the president, who has vowed to stay in Washington beyond Friday’s scheduled congressional recess until members approve an extension of the Social Security payroll tax cut.

On Tuesday the Republican-controlled House passed a tax extension bill that also included a provision to accelerate the controversial Keystone oil pipeline project, which the Demo­cratic-controlled Senate was expected to reject, according to media reports.

Obama’s last two Hawaii vacations as president also were delayed by work in Washington.

Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 3rd Class Anthony Soto said he was unable to confirm the presence of Coast Guardsmen along Kawainui Canal and Kailuana Loop on Tuesday.

Hawaiian Telcom spokesman Scott Simon declined to comment on any work in the area.

"For privacy and security reasons, Hawaiian Telcom does not comment on the installation or service needs of any customers," Simon said.

A person who lives along the canal said the White House has contacted him about the possibility of renting his home for the visit, most likely for support staff or security details.

The resident asked not to be identified for security reasons and because an agreement to rent his home to the White House has not been finalized.

He said White House staff framed the request as "‘if and when he’s coming.’ But my understanding is that he’s coming and they’re going to need a lot of homes."

Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz, former head of the Demo­cratic Party of Hawaii, said he had no information on where the first family will stay on Oahu.

Unlike November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Oahu, which included high-level talks among Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Obama’s annual Christmas visit back home likely will be low-key as usual, Schatz said.

"The expectation is that if he’s able to come, there will be no public business conducted — and that would include anything in the realm of fundraising," Schatz said.

In his two previous Christmas vacations as president, Obama joined his wife every morning at Marine Corps Base Hawaii’s "Semper Fit" gym for workouts among military members and their families.

Obama also typically plays golf with friends and takes his family — and the families joining him on the trip — to some of Oahu’s more popular tourist attractions.

There also have been drives to the North Shore, dinners out, visits to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, where Obama’s maternal grandfather is interred, and simple pleasures such as stopping for shave ice at Kailua’s Island Snow, which now offers the "Snowbama," a concoction of Obama’s favorite flavors: guava, cherry and lemon-lime.

Obama and the first lady also have visited Marines and other military members and their families on Christmas Day at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

After three consecutive Christmas visits by the Obamas, Fuller of Kailuana Loop has reluctantly grown accustomed to the routine.

"The first time he came it was a novelty," Fuller said. "We were kind of hoping they wouldn’t come back this year. But you have no choice."