Perhaps less understandable is the rejoicing likely to come from the office of state Rep. Galen Fox. After visiting scores of marinas from San Francisco to Mexico, I have seen how thriving marine-oriented communities are nearly always established through a partnership between public tideland ownership and private business management. Such agreements provide government entities the task of creating and maintaining public water ways while allowing private enterprise the opportunity to provide amenities desired by the public. And, unlike Hawaii's government-run marinas, this approach provides the state with lease income as well as sales tax revenues. Aila has been a longtime advocate of the status quo when it comes to Hawaii's state-run small boat harbors and, as an employee charged with overseeing one of them, it is surely understandable.
Few things are worse than a threat to job security.
For the moment, the privatization issue is dead. But it's my guess that it will keep jumping back from the grave until legislators have enough facts to allow them to finally support the measure. Ray Pendleton is a free-lance writer based in Honolulu. His column runs Saturdays in the Star-Bulletin.