HR59 HD1

WHEREAS, the Pacific Gateway Center was founded in 1973 to help immigrants, refugees, and low‑income residents of Hawaii gain access to opportunities and services by fulfilling skills that lead to self‑sufficiency while respecting the integrity of diverse cultural heritages; and

WHEREAS, Oahu Head Start, founded in 1965, strengthens families through early childhood education, ongoing parent education, and parent policy council leadership opportunities; and

WHEREAS, the administrative facilities of both the Pacific Gateway Center and Oahu Head Start are extremely dilapidated, deteriorating, overcrowded, substandard, and unsafe; and

WHEREAS, because of the poor work environment, the staff are restricted and obstructed in their ability to deliver services and assist target populations that include low‑income families, homeless families, recent immigrants, high school drop‑outs, and abused spouses; and

WHEREAS, both of these non‑profit organizations recognize that their target populations and clients share common characteristics and will benefit from the convenience of receiving services from a one‑stop Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center; and

WHEREAS, this comprehensive approach not only improves the delivery of program services to common target populations, but also enables the two organizations to share common costs and eliminate the unnecessary duplication of administrative overhead; and

WHEREAS, Oahu Head Start's lease for its current Kapalama Military Reservation site terminates in two years; and

WHEREAS, the Pacific Gateway Center and Oahu Head Start are collaborating to develop a Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center; and

WHEREAS, the Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center is envisioned as a comprehensive one‑stop facility that can accommodate early childhood education programs, comprehensive child care programs, workforce development training programs, food service facilities, administrative office space, and a designated area for police; and

WHEREAS, these community services are presently scattered across the City and County of Honolulu; and

WHEREAS, as planned, the Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center would have a campus‑like atmosphere by dividing 64,000 square feet of floor area into five separate structures; and

WHEREAS, each structure would be designed in a contemporary Hawaiian manner with landscaping to beautify the surrounding area; and

WHEREAS, the Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center project is estimated to cost $15,000,000 and will be funded by various sources; and

WHEREAS, section 171‑43.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, permits the Board of Land and Natural Resources to lease public lands, by direct negotiation and for nominal consideration, to a qualifying eleemosynary organization for the organization's chartered purposes; and

WHEREAS, the Pacific Gateway Center is a qualifying eleemosynary organization; and

WHEREAS, investing in the proposed Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center will result in long‑term returns by reducing the costs for incarceration and public assistance as family-strengthening strategies are effectively implemented by the two organizations and their community partner agencies; and
WHEREAS, approximately 13.2 acres of vacant and unimproved state‑owned public land near Ke‘ehi Lagoon, that is leased month‑to‑month, has been proposed as the location of the Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center; and

WHEREAS, the 13.2 acres of state‑owned public land near Ke‘ehi Lagoon in question is comprised of different parcels that are identified as TMK 1‑1‑3:30, 138, 204, 205, 206, 207, 211, and 212; and

WHEREAS, the proposed Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center is a worthy project for the public welfare, and state‑owned public land appropriate for the project should be leased to the Pacific Gateway Center for the purpose of developing the Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, that the Board of Land and Natural Resources is requested to assist the Pacific Gateway Center in finding an appropriate location to lease for the purpose of developing the Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center, including continuing to consider the location near Ke‘ehi Lagoon; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature requests that the lease be at a nominal consideration, by direct negotiation, and without recourse to public auction pursuant to section 171‑43.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Director of the Pacific Gateway Center, and Director of Oahu Head Start in Hawaii.

Report Title:

Public Land; Ke‘ehi Community Resource Center

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	59
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII