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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
21 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Honolulu Emergency Services Department is responsible for the safety of the one million residents of Oahu and approximately ten million annual visitors; and
WHEREAS, the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division staffs forty-one towers around Oahu and conducts patrols with trucks, jet skis, utility task vehicles, and all-terrain vehicles to keep Oahu residents and visitors safe; and
WHEREAS, the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division partners with many first-responder organizations; and
WHEREAS, the Revised Charter of the City and County of Honolulu designates the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division as the primary responder for emergencies arising on the beach and in the nearshore waters of the island of Oahu, which features two hundred twenty-seven miles of coastline; and
WHEREAS, the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division is divided into five operational districts:
(1) The South Shore (from the Pearl Harbor entrance to Maunalua Bay);
(2) The Windward Coast (from Maunalua Bay to the Kailua side of the Mokapu Peninsula);
(3) The North Shore (from the Kaneohe side of the Mokapu Peninsula around Kahuku Point all the way to Kaena Point);
(4) The Leeward Coast (from Kaena Point down to the Pearl Harbor channel entrance); and
(5) Hanauma Bay; and
WHEREAS, each of the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division's five operational districts is staffed by a captain, three lieutenants, and between twenty-one to sixty ocean safety officers, or lifeguards; and
WHEREAS, each operational district uses tower and mobile units to provide ocean safety service; and
WHEREAS, with some minor exceptions, most mobile units are currently staffed from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and towers operate from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and
WHEREAS, the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division currently employs two hundred thirty-five full-time lifeguards and thirty-seven contract lifeguards, for a total force of two hundred seventy-two lifeguards, and has an annual operating budget of $19,800,000; and
WHEREAS, nearshore waters extend from the shoreline to one mile off shore, which is where the vast majority of ocean recreation activities occur; and
WHEREAS, the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division is challenged with maintaining service levels by an ever-increasing amount of ocean activity, particularly with the introduction of kayak rental operations, stand-up paddling activities, and surf instruction operations; and
WHEREAS, with the amount of responsibility that it bears and the scope of its duties, the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division warrants becoming a separate department within the City and County of Honolulu; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, the Senate concurring, that the City and County of Honolulu is urged to remove the Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division from the Emergency Services Department and establish it as a new, separate department; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu and Honolulu City Council are urged to work together to establish the new department pursuant to section 4-202 of the Revised Charter of the City and County of Honolulu; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, Chairperson of the Honolulu City Council, and Director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department.
Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division; City and County of Honolulu; Separate Department