City abuses power by condemning private Portlock driveway

On Sept. 26, a City Council committee voted to proceed with condemnation of an easement over my private driveway and lane. Unfortunately, much of the publicity over this Portlock issue does not state that the driveway and lane are private, not public, property. There is no public easement.

In effect, such a condemnation would make it public property, exposing our safety to all the problems of the rest of the city, such as vagrants, hoodlums, robbers and the homeless. That would essentially be like stealing all the reasons to own property — i.e., private property rights.

If a handful of public officials can do that to me, they can do it to you and everyone else. Would City Council members allow easements for the public over their driveways and backyards? I doubt it.

The reason is as fictitious as a Grimm’s fairy tale — namely, that people are prevented from going to the ocean. Not true; on Portlock Road, there are 22 lanes going to the ocean. Next to me are two lanes about 50 yards away. Surfers and fishermen use them all the time. Several lanes to a big beautiful beach are perhaps 300 yards away. They are open.

Adding to the insult is how badly this process has been handled. On Sept. 25 late afternoon, I received an email about the City Council meeting the next day. I was overseas. Twelve hours notice is really improper.

Here’s my take on the easement situation, paraphrased from a reply I sent to the mayor and City Council members upon receiving the city’s recent “Letter of Initiation of a Proposal to Acquire an Easement”:

How can this easement be considered in the “public interest, use, necessity and purpose,” which is a requirement for using eminent domain? City officials misrepresent that people are prevented from going to the ocean by a lock on my driveway gate.

This is an absolute lie, for political purposes. As mentioned, there are 22 lanes going to the ocean off Portlock Road — including just a few hundred yards at the beginning of Portlock Road, other lanes that lead to a big wide beach. Additionally, Maunalua Bay Beach Park is less than a quarter-mile from Portlock Road. Where is the need for this property condemnation?

Selecting only my property out of 22 lanes for alleged access to the ocean, when there is plenty of access within 50 yards on either side, makes this resolution for condemnation absolutely unnecessary, perhaps even discriminatory. My wife has been called the worst four-letter words by people trespassing into our property. Because of her Latin accent, they told her to go back to her country.

You are placing our safety in tremendous danger for no purpose except political gains of a few Council members.

As public officials, your responsibility is to protect the people, not please a small group of people. Honor and integrity is what you swear when you are elected as a public servant.

There is no “public interest or use” here. But there is a big issue of forcing a private-property owner to let hoodlums, drug users, vagrants, homeless people and robbers trespass over his property.

All I ask is a common-sense decision by city officials to put this matter to rest.

Bert Dohmen-Ramirez, a Portlock resident, founded his international economic research firm in Honolulu in 1976.