At a recent Hawaii Community Development Authority board meeting, plans to shift Kakaako parks from the State of Hawaii to the city was met with disagreement. The state plan involved transferring more than 40 acres of recreational park space as well as parking lots to the city. A representative from the group “Friends of Kewalos” warned of the possibility of parking meters being installed and essentially commercializing the area. The Hawaii Community Development Authority has said that they cannot maintain the parks due to staffing and money.

The Hawaiʻi Community Development Authority (HCDA) is a public entity created by the Hawai‘i State Legislature to establish community development plans in development districts; determine community development programs, and cooperate with private enterprise and the various components of federal, state, and county governments to bring community development plans to fruition (Source 2). These objectives of the HCDA would still apply to the Kakaako zone in the event of the proposed transfer. This means that the HCDA would still keep the final say in development in the Kakaako area.

“It will be a huge reduction in expense because of all of the entities involved in this process right now. By having one person or one department or one entity in charge, it will make it that much easier.”  -David Ige

Governor David Ige’s administrative director, Ford Fuchigami, said “It will be a huge reduction in expense because of all of the entities involved in this process right now. By having one person or one department or one entity in charge, it will make it that much easier.”  This has been seen as the state avoiding the homeless problem and giving the responsibility of the task to someone else. The HCDA wants the transfer approved by May, so board member Wei Fang encourages the public to speak their minds because they have “thought about it thoroughly” and have “the answers to all the questions.”