HILO — Some Hawaii County Council members are questioning why Mayor Billy Kenoi hasn’t acted on eviction orders a judge granted more than three months ago to clear almost $6 million worth of county-owned Kawa Bay property of people living
HILO — Some Hawaii County Council members are questioning why Mayor Billy Kenoi hasn’t acted on eviction orders a judge granted more than three months ago to clear almost $6 million worth of county-owned Kawa Bay property of people living there.
County Deputy Managing Director Wally Lau told West Hawaii Today on Thursday he is preparing a management plan for the property that he will present to Kenoi in early April. Lau said the plan involves establishing a memorandum of agreement with a nonprofit to use community input to develop the property into a county park.
“We’ve almost completed a stewardship management plan already,” Lau said. “Once it’s finalized, we’ll talk with viable community nonprofits in that area. … We want this one to be very special.”
Abel Simeona Lui, who has been living on the property for 20 years, claims Native Hawaiian rights to the 784-acre parcel. Lui and a group of family and friends have erected tents, constructed buildings, installed portable toilets and created gardens on the property. Lui has said he doesn’t block public access, but some members of the public disagree.
The councilors’ questions follow a community meeting Kenoi and his staff held Monday at Naalehu, where a packed crowd asked when they would have access to the land, which contains Hawaiian artifacts and features some of the best surfing on the southern part of the island.
“There were nearly a hundred people there that night, and they spoke 10-1 against what Abel was doing — and they were Hawaiians,” said Nelson Ho, legislative assistant to Ka‘u Councilwoman Brittany Smart, who attended the meeting in her stead.
Ho said Smart is “very respectful” of the Native Hawaiian history and claims to the property, but she understands the Ka‘u community is deeply divided over what should be done there. Ho said Smart emphasized a park management plan must be transparent to the public and provide clear timelines for actions.
Council Chairman Dominic Yagong followed up Wednesday with community concerns in a letter to Kenoi.
“Members of the public asked me whether it is the County Council or the mayor that is given the authority and responsibility to act on the court order. I explain that the responsibility rests in the office of the executive branch and that the mayor is the ultimate authority on acting on the court order,” Yagong said. “With that said, members of the public have asked me to question you as to what action will you be taking on this matter.”
“The county has legally acquired the property and we hold clear title,” added South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford. “It’s the mayor’s responsibility to enforce the ruling of the court.”
Lui claims his great-great-grandfather, Timoteo Keawe, got the land in a royal grant and that under kingdom law, it could be leased but never sold. But the state Supreme Court in 2007, in an 83-page opinion, ruled the Apikis — another Native Hawaiian family that traces its roots six generations to a Kawa Bay fishing village — and other families had no ownership interest in the land.
Deputy Corporation Counsel Laureen Martin said Thursday the county has what it needs to move forward with eviction actions, but she is awaiting a go-ahead from administration to do so. 3rd Circuit Judge Joseph P. Florendo Jr. in November denied the group’s motion to stay the eviction and then had sheriffs forcibly remove Lui for causing a disruption.
