VICTORY - PROTECTORS WIN AGAIN
SHERWOOD FOREST PROJECT STOPPED

KITV.com - Thursday June 18, 2020 

Mayor Kirk Caldwell gathered with Waimanalo community leaders, both supporters and opponents of the grass field being built at Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, to announce that his administration would be stopping further progress on the project, including not proceeding with any part of the Master Plan.

“It is clear to me that despite our differences about this field, everyone involved in today’s announcement cares deeply about our community, about Waimanalo, and about the future we are leaving our kids,” shared Mayor Caldwell, who continued, “I’ve made the decision that this administration is pau with the field and master plan.  I am pau with the field and master plan. The next steps are up to this community to determine, but it is time for the land and our community to heal.  I look to you as kupuna and next generation leaders – to determine what happens here as place people can come together, decide how to do things differently, communicate differently, and respect all views while building on the dream you have as a community.”

Ku'ike Kamakea-'Ohelo, President of Save of Sherwoods shared the statement, “He leo kako'o keia i ka Meia i 'olelo ai, i pukana ai, i puana ai, i ka ho'oku 'ana i ke kukulu 'ana o keia paka pa'anipopo.  Keia manawa, o ke aloha ka mea wale i koe.”  This is a voice in support of the Mayor’s announcement to restore the parcel we know as Phase I.  Now, aloha is all that remains. Kamakea-'Ohelo also expressed appreciation to many community members and City staff, especially the Honolulu Police Department Community Policing Team, who played a critical role in the ongoing discussions with the City.

Earlier this year, the City administration had announced that after long discussions with project opponents and leaders of Save Our Sherwoods, they had come to an agreement to move forward on finishing a grassy field without a play apparatus, limited parking, and a commitment to support the cultural and historical importance of the site.  Mayor Caldwell has long expressed that he would not pursue the remainder of the Master Plan.  However, COVID-19 coincided with the planned re-start of the field construction, and Mayor Caldwell paused the work for community health and safety reasons given the potential for gatherings in protest and the discovery of a bone fragment.

Department of Design and Construction Deputy Director Haku Milles explained that there are still things that have to be done to restore the site, including leveling the construction mounds and planting ground cover. “It has always been important to Mayor Caldwell that we restore this land from what was previously covered in invasive Christmas berries  and haole koa.  We are working to determine the best way to reesetablish ground cover that includes indigenous grass suited for this area.”  The City will also make funding avaiable for indigenous trees to be planted once the land and grass settles.

Mabel Keliihoomalu and Blanche McMillan, whom Mayor Caldwell affectionately calls “The Aunties,” were part of the community leadership that began planning for the project over a decade ago. “A long time ago, Sherwood Forest was our playground with all of our family – we used to go camping, fishing, and get together on the weekends,” shared Aunty Blanche, who continued, “we all need to work together, no grumbling, no protesting no more, put it on the table, bring in the kupuna for their advice, and let’s decide what we want to have in our Waimanalo.”

Aunty Mabel added, “I was one of those who planned it and worked really hard to get the monies in there and spent 10 years getting it through the City.  It hurt that we lost those funds for our community, but I am happy that we are able to come back to the table and incorporate everyone’s mana'o.”  She also excitedly shared the news of funding being announced for Azevedo Field, “this is because of you, the younger generation, coming to the table to advocate and the Mayor listening to your voices.”

Mayor Caldwell shared that the City budget to be announced later this week includes $1.2 million in funds to try to find a new solution for Azevedo Field, which has struggled with repairs for years due to tough clay soil conditions.  Other important projects in Waimanalo continue, including $6 million invested in the past few years into capital improvements to various bathrooms and playgrounds as well as the Waimanalo District Park gym, Waimanalo Beach Park pavilion, and Kaupo Beach Park.

“Sometimes things gotta get ugly before they get better, and that’s what happened,” shared Kalani Kalima, one of the project opponents.  “We would like to mahalo the Aunties and those that had the vision to provide for our keiki.  As makua, we gladly accept the responsibility to utilize lokahi, unity, in all of us coming together, laulima, to work together as one community – kupuna, makua, and 'opio – the kauhale, the ahupua'a, the community of Waimanalo to get our community forward.”

Mayor Caldwell closed, “Our community is built on relationships – and what we are doing today is putting those first and making a commitment to continue doing the hard work together of building a postive future for our kids.  Mahalo to everyone for giving this special place an even stronger voice.”

SENDING BULLDOZERS TO BURIAL SITE - KIRK CALDWELLʻS BIGGEST GAFFE YET

 

Lee Cataluna -  Honolulu Star-Advertiser - April 10, 2020

People are getting sick, some have died, businesses are closed down, kids can’t go to school, families are shut in their houses, afraid and bored and climbing the walls. Everybody is worried about basic survival stuff, and Honolulu’s mayor decided to roll out the bulldozers on his controversial pet project.

That could be the biggest gaffe of Caldwell’s gaffe-filled administration. Can’t say for sure, though. There’s still time for him to top it.

There are missteps that people forgive and forget, and those that are so convoluted that it’s hard to get worked up about it after enough time passes and campaign season rolls around again. Gaffes that are hard to sum up in a short phrase or require too much backstory to explain, or the ones that are achingly human and relatable, don’t tend to be fatal flaws.

But then there are those misdeeds — like this misdeed — that defy explanation, can’t be chalked up to “I’ve done that, too,” and can be described in a short sentence, like this: Caldwell sent out bulldozers to dig up an ancient burial ground when those who have opposed the project were locked down because of a pandemic. That’s memorable. That’s indelible.

Just about every day since the new corona­virus took over our lives, Caldwell has been hosting his own news briefings, parsing out exactly what you can and can’t do and where you can and can’t go on Oahu beaches, emphasizing that everyone needs to hunker down and focus on what really matters, peppering his scolding with, “We’re all in this together.”

To spew all of that hectoring and then send out a construction crew to dig up land that people have been insisting contains ancient burials is … I don’t even know the word. Some have called it sneaky. UH law school professor Ken Lawson called Caldwell crooked. Lt. Gov. Josh Green, Caldwell’s most feared competitor in his quest to be Hawaii’s next governor, called it “a really bad call.” It’s tone-deaf and irresponsible.

When he announced the resumption of construction, Caldwell said it was essential to keep county crews working. Uh, don’t they have storm drains to clear or park restrooms to clean? Another implausible explanation from the mayor, revealing his utter disdain for the public’s intelligence.

And then a bone from an ancient burial was found on the site, just like protesters kept saying would happen, and Caldwell was forced to backtrack. He didn’t apologize, though, or say that maybe his timing was off, and he used the squishy word “pause” to describe shutting down work on the project.

Calling out the bulldozers on Sherwoods during an islandwide lockdown may be one of the bigger missteps of the Caldwell years, but he still has a few months in office to stubbornly mess up even more. And who knows? He might outdo himself and — burials be damned, protester safety be damned, political career be damned — send the bulldozers out to Sherwoods again.

HONOLULU MAYOR BLASTED FOR PULLING FAST ONE THEN PUTS PROJECT ON HOLD

 


















ACTION ALERT: Call Mayor Caldwell At (808) 768-4141 & Tell Him To STOP Construction PERMANENTLY At Hunananiho (Sherwood Forest) Or Email Him - mayor@honolulu.gov
 
Hawai`i Nerws Now - April 7, 2020 

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced Tuesday that he’s putting construction of a controversial park project in Waimanalo on hold, saying that the risk of protests is too high during the pandemic.

The announcement comes a day after a small human bone fragment was found at the site.

“I greatly support the First Amendment rights of all members of our community,” Mayor Kirk Caldwell said, in a statement. “But I am greatly concerned with gatherings during this time.”

He said he would “pause” the project as the city consults with the Oahu Burial Council and others.

“I continue to believe this is a project that can be valuable to the future of the Waimanalo community. I urge everyone to continue to follow the stay-at-home order to keep yourselves and your family safe."

Construction resumed at the project Monday, triggering a small protest. But n the wake of the discovery of the bone, believed to be iwi kupuna, some were anticipating larger protests at the site in the days to come.

BULLSEYE

HAWAI`IʻS ʻNO MAKE WAVESʻ CULTURE IS FADING

 





Honolulu Civil Beat - October 2, 2019 - By Trish Kehaulani Watson

For too long the status quo has been projects that proclaim themselves to be “for the people,” but “the people” seem to be strangely absent from the process, the planning or the result.

The new rules regulating the HRS Chapter 343 (the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act) have an interesting new element in the scoping process for environmental impact statements. People who attend scoping meetings need to have the opportunity to indicate when their position is “no comment” or neutral. It’s a small, but fascinating rule, as it allows people to attend meetings, but be clear that their attendance is not an indication of silent consent.

I like it.

This is because “silence is consent” has long been the unspoken rule in these islands. In our “no make waves” culture, officials seem to assume that the only three positions one can have are vocal support, vocal opposition, or silent consent.

This just isn’t the case anymore. The silent majority concept seems to have faded. I believe there’s a new category: the silent opposition.

It’s not far-fetched to say that people in Hawaii are widely unhappy with our government at all levels. The federal government and the president in particular seem to be spinning so madly out of control that it’s dizzying to even try to keep track of it all.

Our state government seems to be in a political paralysis over Mauna Kea. And now Honolulu’s mayor who wants to be governor has thrown himself head-first into the melee by refusing to back down on the development at Sherwood Forest.

When kupuna are getting arrested by the dozens across the state it is an unequivocal sign that something is terribly wrong.

It’s understandable that some people would be genuinely perplexed by the sudden increase in protests, and in particular acts of civil resistance where residents are willing to put their bodies in harm’s way and be arrested to make their point. How do you reconcile these actions against a state that boasts itself being the “happiest state in America?”

The reality is that simmering just below the sand and sun are real problems, among the worst of which is the feeling that government does not listen to the people. The result of this disconnect being a growing sense that Hawaii is moving away from the people — economically, socially and culturally.

We are becoming strangers to our own home.

People don’t feel safe. The recent string of violent murders leaves many people feeling uneasy and unnerved. Gun violence used to be a rarity, but we are hearing about it more and more, and in our own neighborhoods.

Housing prices continue to bolt away from local families. Children of multigenerational residents struggle to become first-time homebuyers, to make safe homes for their young families. Making ends meet feels like it is getting harder and harder.

Kupuna are living in the streets at levels that are both heart-breaking and embarrassing. What does it say about us as a society that we allow the children and the elderly to be homeless? What is wrong with us?

“Progress” should not cost us our humanity.

People are frustrated. People have had enough.

What started with Mauna Kea has moved to Waimanalo. It won’t stop there, because it’s not about a park, it’s about a community. Arresting people isn’t the answer. Listening is.

Rather than fueling the conflict, our elected officials need to stop and take a hard look at the path that got us to where we are today, because clearly this is not where any of us want to go, or where any of us should be.

We can do better. We must do better.

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