Meeting with the Mayoral Candidates

On August 4 and 5, members of the Friends of Hanauma Bay, volunteers and staff met separately with the two main mayoral candidates, Mufi Hannemann and Duke Bainum. Questions had been posed that were intended to assure that the candidates supported three key objectives of the Friends:

• Appropriate allocation of dedicated Hanauma Bay Preserve Fund resources to meet the operating needs of the Bay. This includes ongoing sharing of information on Fund revenues and expenditures.
• Support for management and staff of the Bay and the Education Program.
• Enforcement of Parks’ rules relating to visitor use levels and controls,
  especially with respect to “taxis” and commercial tour companies.

As busy as they are, the candidates readily agreed to the meetings, and both agreed to our videotaping of the sessions. We wanted a record of commitments, as we intend to hold the successful candidate to his promises.

Those in attendance were pleased with the supportive responses of the candidates regarding all three objectives. Both offered to “share the books” on the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve Fund and work closely with the Friends after the election.

They also both promised not to raid the Hanauma Bay Fund and expressed their opinion that special funds should remain separate from the General Fund.

Bainum spoke of visiting the Bay, when he was shown by former FOHB President Robin Bond the problem of inaccessibility of the Witches Brew area by ambulance, now that obstacles of tree beautification have taken priority. He asked how he can ensure that the illegal transporting of tour customers can be halted. He also felt an audit of the Hanauma Bay Fund would not be needed as he would give the FOHB complete access to the books.

Bainum also asked if Alan Hong, manager of Hanauma Bay, and Peter Rappa, manager of the Hanauma Bay Education Program, were still at the Bay. He remembered they really did a good job of running the Bay and he wants to continue working with them.

Hannemann expressed an interest in increasing the number of residents visiting the Bay. He also invited the FOHB to give him a tour of the Bay and point out what things need attention. At closing he mentioned that Hanauma Bay would be a very special project for him and would get a lot of attention.

The Board will not endorse a candidate, as both are supportive of our efforts to preserve the Bay.