Prediction of Kakaako measure’s failure riles senator

In a rare public outburst, state Senate Majority Leader Brickwood Galuteria on Thursday lashed out at state House Majority Leader Scott Saiki for implying that a bill that would allow the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs to pursue residential development near the waterfront in Kakaako is dead before conference committee negotiations have started.

Galuteria said he was "incensed" by Saiki’s comments Tuesday that there would likely be irreconcilable differences in conference committee that would prevent the bill from becoming law. Saiki was speaking to community activists who had staged a protest at the state Capitol against OHA’s plans for residential development in Kakaako makai.

The House approved the bill Tuesday, setting up a possible conference committee with the Senate.

"This bill is dead on arrival? We already have irreconcilable differences with the Senate? What would that be? They agreed to our bill," Galuteria (D, Kakaako-McCully-Waikiki) said on the Senate floor. "So is it a forgone conclusion that the House is going to kill something that they just agreed on? Is that how we do business here in this house? Is that how we do business here in the Legislature?"

Saiki (D, Downtown-Kakaako-McCully) said House leaders have never said that the bill is "dead on arrival."

"We expect that it will go to conference committee, and at that point (the negotiators) will have to weigh the pros and cons of the bill and make a recommendation," he said.

Saiki, who posed for a photograph with the protesters Tuesday, said his comments that day were meant to convey that the House understood the dynamic of the bill. "So they shouldn’t be worried about that, because we understood what the pros and cons were," he said.

Both Galuteria and Saiki represent Kakaako and have been pulled into the intense debate over rapid development in the region. The flare-up could be a prelude to difficult negotiations on a bill that straddles questions of growth, land conservation, equity and Native Hawaiian rights.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs received land in Kakaako makai in a $200 million settlement with the state in 2012 over former crown land revenue. OHA is interested in residential development to get the highest value from the land.

But a state law passed in 2006 prohibits residential development in Kakaako makai. A collection of community activists and surfers persuaded the Legislature to pass the law after Alexander & Baldwin Inc. proposed a project that included high-rise condominiums.

Dozens of Native Hawaiian activists have appeared at the Legislature in favor of OHA’s ability to develop the land. OHA would have to gain project approval from the Hawaii Community Development Authority.

The HCDA would impose association fees on residential development that would finance services and projects, including free public parking for park users and public beach access.

But dozens of community activists in the Save Our Kakaako Coalition are fighting OHA’s plans, forcing lawmakers to choose between two vocal and politically active interest groups in an election year.

Galuteria, in his Senate floor speech, sought to address what he called "fallacies" spread by opponents of OHA’s development strategy. The senator said opponents have decried the potential for shoreline development when the OHA parcels are almost a half-mile from the waterfront.

He said some have complained about a loss of access to the waterfront for recreation yet have overlooked the association fees in Senate Bill 3122 that could help preserve access.

But Galuteria’s main message was for Saiki, his counterpart in the House.

"So I hope my words are ringing somewhere and it’s just not empty, because we intend to go to conference and talk it out," he said.