Honolulu City Council OKs stand-alone Ocean Safety Department

May 17—1/1

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ERIK KABIK / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Lifeguards patrolled the beach on Thanksgiving 2022 during high surf at Waimea Bay.

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Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi's plan to establish a stand-alone city Department of Ocean Safety sailed through the City Council on Wednesday.

The City Council voted unanimously in favor of the city's Resolution 103, which seeks an executive action to quickly create a new public-safety sector. Currently, the city Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division is under the larger Honolulu Emergency Services

Department.

Likewise, the panel voted without opposition to amend Council member Andria Tupola's Resolution 50, which now seeks a voter-­approved charter amendment on the Nov. 5 general ballot to create an oversight body, the Ocean Safety Commission.

Previously, Tupola's resolution would have asked voters to decide whether Ocean Safety should be a separate city department with a chief and commission. But Council member Matt Weyer introduced a floor draft amendment to Tupola's resolution to see it focused solely on an Ocean Safety Commission.

Before the votes, members of the public expressed support for the creation of an independent Ocean Safety Department.

Among them, Jesse King, a veteran city lifeguard, said he was in strong support of Tupola's Resolution 50.

"It's crucial for this resolution to go to the ballot so that people can vote on it," King said. "I see it as a great opportunity, and it's going to allow Ocean Safety the proper pathway to set up a new department the right way. It will allow us to

properly structure the department, and give us the autonomy separated away from a mayoral-appointed director."

"As a public-safety agency, we need a commission where our department chief answers to the commission and not to the mayor," he added. "It will offer us more transparency and accountability. We hope to structure it in the same way that (the Honolulu Police and Fire departments) have their agencies structured."

King stressed that although the mayor's Resolution 103 was "a great idea, (it) is not going to give us the structure that we want for the longevity of ocean safety and allow us to meet the growing needs of the public and the county."

Joey Cadiz, another city lifeguard, said he backed the mayor's resolution "as this has been our goal from the beginning ... to obtain a department to seek the autonomy that we've been asking for."

Oahu resident Angela Melody Young spoke to ongoing public concerns on the North Shore over "the need for an ocean safety/first responder/urgent care center in that (Council) district."

Young alluded to a controversial, planned development being advanced by commercial real estate developer Hanapohaku LLC, which hopes to build a 34,000-square-foot shopping center near Shark's Cove in Pupukea, according to project plans.

"I think prioritizing the district's capacity to implement an emergency response center for ocean safety is very important," Young told the Council. "I don't think a shopping center is more important than an ocean safety/first responder center, so I'm in strong support of this discussion of Ocean Safety because of that priority."

After Wednesday's Council meeting, a spokesman for the mayor said the administration has had discussions with Hanapohaku and its owners, Andrew Yani and Lawrence "Cully" McCully Judd III, over the property sometimes called McCully's Corner.

"Mayor Blangiardi is a strong supporter of a first responder center on the North Shore. As to the Pupukea location — it is owned by a

private developer," Scott Humber, the mayor's communications director, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser via email. "The mayor has met and spoken with (Yani and Judd) on a couple of occasions to discuss their plans, and any interest they may have in selling the property. They are not looking to sell at this time."

Humber said the city is "continuing to look at other options on the North Shore for a first-responder center, including city-owned

parcels."

Meanwhile, Council Chair Tommy Waters said in a written statement that Resolutions 50 and 103 will "work together to transparently and efficiently advance this important initiative aimed at improving public safety."

"I am eager to continue working closely with the administration and community to ensure that our Ocean Safety first responders have the resources they need to protect and save the lives of individuals who visit our beaches throughout our island home," Waters said.