Three days into his job as state comptroller, Curt Otaguro was asked by legislators not to allow the process of determining the future of Aloha Stadium to languish in the Department of Accounting and General Services.
In a joint briefing Monday, members of the senate committees on Ways and Means and Government Operations sought answers about the progress of deciding the fate of the 44-year old facility, including why the Stadium Authority was denied an opportunity to undertake a site study of stadiums in Atlanta and Los Angeles that feature ancillary development similar to that envisioned here.
Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz (D-Mililani Mauka, Waipio Acres) said the Stadium Authority isn’t the only entity that has faced slow going.
“A lot of those projects get stuck on someone’s desk at DAGS, so that’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Dela Cruz said. “We have a new director and he needs to be made aware of these problems since we can’t have the project stuck in DAGS.”
Otaguro last week replaced Rod Becker, who had been comptroller and head of DAGS since November 2016. Otaguro had been executive vice president and division manager of the digital banking division for First Hawaiian Bank.
Otaguro said he has met with Stadium Authority officials and the attorney general’s office and said, “I’m hoping that we can move this process forward.”
In a letter to the Stadium Authority last month denying approval for the trip, Becker wrote, “We note that the stated purpose of the trip does not fall under the powers and duties of the Stadium Authority,” citing an interpretation of state statutes that the Stadium Authority took exception with.
Sen. Gil Keith-Agaran (D-Wailuku, Kahului) asked if that isn’t in the Stadium Authority’s province whether it would be with DAGS.
Dela Cruz said, “I’ve been here through previous administrations, and the previous administration, including the lieutenant governor, who had made sports a major issue, said he wanted to move this forward. They wanted to do something with transit-oriented development and, then, to all of a sudden have the DAGS director say, ‘You know what, I don’t necessarily agree right now,’ when the administration has said, ‘We need to move this forward.’”
“I can’t argue that with you, senator,” stadium manager Scott Chan said. “Good point.
“We realize that time is of the essence.”
