Kahana: what was, what is, what can be. - Legislative Reference ...

KAHANA: WHAT WAS, WHAT IS, WHAT CAN BE
Other residents, perhaps less than inspired by the state park "program," do the
minimum required. According to state parks personnel, many of the lessees do not
have knowledge of traditional Hawaiian practices. The state parks staff do not
themselves supply any training, although they have at times brought in someone to
teach a class, like feather lei making or kapa making, and will approve training by others
on a case-by-case basis. State parks staff say that there has been low turn-out and
follow-through, even when the training was made available at nights and on the
weekends. Staff has offered to develop an interpretive skills training program for the
residents, but the residents feel that it is not needed. 4 Thus there is no consistent or
ongoing training program. State parks has taken the role of guidance and monitoring,
but has not taken an active role in helping to re-establish and solidify the knowledge of
the residents or train them how to communicate that with park visitors.
One of the interpretive staff members suggested that Kahana should offer
regularly scheduled programs, such as a fishpond program on Monday, a lo`i program
on Wednesday, and so on. The park manager refused, and park management did not
pursue it. A schedule such as this would actually have been very beneficial to Kahana,
both to allow a structure for the residents to use to put in their hours, and as regularly
scheduled events that the public could count on attending.
Controversy Related to the Interpretive Service Requirement
Of the five interpretive service caretaking goals, the most controversial area is
the "mâlama o ka `âina" – care of the land. There is some disagreement about what is
an interpretive service, and what should be classified as mere maintenance and the job
of the state parks maintenance personnel. The second Kahana Advisory Committee
was formed to help resolve that issue, but it remains unresolved today. The park
manager appears to favor a more expansive view of what qualifies as interpretive
service than do some residents, who think he is giving credit inappropriately for mere
maintenance activities.
The Kahana residents are supposed to have signed contracts with the park
manager stating what they will be doing to meet their interpretive service requirement.
According to state parks personnel, the park manager does not monitor the
implementation of the contracts very closely, and there are no timetables or
benchmarks for performance. The suggestion has been put forward that rather than put
in interpretive service hours, residents who elect to do so could simply pay rent. While
the park manager's supervisor did not agree with that, the administrator did, as long as
the applicable law and leases were changed. The Administrator commented that this
arrangement had made state parks a landlord anyway, and it would be cleaner to
terminate a lease for failure to pay than the current failure to put in interpretive service
hours.
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