May 3, 2008 From Honolulu Advertiser
Law spelled out to protesters
Sovereignty group at palace must pay to park, DLNR warns
By gordon Y.k. pang
Advertiser Staff Writer
Officials with the Department of Land and Natural Resources are telling a
Hawaiian sovereignty group that has gathered daily since Wednesday on the
grounds of 'Iolani Palace that they need to abide by the same parking and
other park rules as everyone else.
Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government were told yesterday that their
cars would be ticketed if they did not feed their meters. The organization
also was told it would need to obtain a permit to assemble if it intends to
return to the palace lawn on Monday as it has announced.
"We've made it clear to them that if there are any violations, we are going
to enforce our existing rules and whether they understand those rules or had
read them previously is irrelevant," said Laura H. Thielen, the state's Land
Board chairwoman and head of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Mahealani Kahau, described as "head of state" for the Hawaiian Kingdom
Government, said her group has applied for a permit to assemble next week,
but stressed that it attached language from the Hawaiian Kingdom civil code
and penal code.
"We're complying with our civil code and penal code," Kahau said yesterday
afternoon. As for whether she and her staff will begin feeding parking
meters on the site, Kahau said, "if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't,
it doesn't. Everything we do is under kingdom law."
The group has occupied the mauka lawn of the palace over the past three
days, stating that it is the legitimate government and that the palace
grounds are its "seat of government."
Up to 75 of its members have spent the daylight hours of the past three
days, in the words of the group's leaders, "conducting business" on the
property, although they have not entered the palace itself. On Wednesday,
for about eight hours, it also blocked access onto the grounds to
non-Hawaiians.
A number of the group members have parked at metered stalls on the property
and not fed the meters but have not been cited, according to state
officials.
Thielen said two of her top lieutenants — Parks Division Administrator Dan
Quinn and Conservation and Resources Enforcement Division Administrator Gary
Moniz — met with leaders of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government yesterday
morning to detail the specific rules the group needs to follow if it intends
to stay over a longer period of time.
Among the areas covered by the state administrators were "parking rules,
assembly rules, (and) noise levels," she said.
The two administrators also explained areas that contain burials or cultural
or historical objects that the public is asked to stay away from "in order
to protect those resources," she said.
The group also was instructed on the procedure for applying for a permit to
conduct a First Amendment rally, required when there are gatherings of 25 or
more people.
"They also discussed the consequences for failure to follow the rules, which
include civil penalties and petty criminal misdemeanor (charges)," she said.
Thielen said group leaders were agreeable to the rules. "They understand
what the consequences are," she said, noting that yesterday's talk was one
of a series that have been held with the group since Wednesday.
The group submitted an assembly application to DLNR yesterday, but it was
returned because it was incomplete, Thielen said.
Kahau insisted that the application will point out that the group will abide
only by its laws. "They said we need to abide by administrative rules, and
we said we will abide by Hawaiian Kingdom law, which they are also subject
to," Kahau said.
Group officials have asked for office space at the Kana'ina Building as well
some free parking stalls. "We told them that request cannot be accommodated,
that these are public park lands," Thielen said. "They need to abide by the
rules like anybody else."
Thielen said she understands the group's position that it has a right to the
property. "We have told them that if they want to claim ownership to the
area, the venue they would have to take that to is the courts," Thielen
said.
Kippen de Alba Chu, executive director of Friends of 'Iolani Palace, which
has the lease to maintain and run the historic facilities as a museum, said
the Hawaiian Kingdom Government's presence has been disruptive. Some palace
volunteers uncomfortable with the presence of the group chose to stay home
this week.
Meanwhile, parking was at a premium through the week, he said. That issue
began to ease yesterday afternoon when state officers began citing cars that
were illegally parked, Chu said.
"Some of their (Hawaiian Kingdom) cars got cited and then they moved them
off the property," he said.
Group members have criticized the media for unfair reporting of the
situation. For instance, the group vehemently denies placing locks on any of
the gates to the palace grounds on Wednesday.
But Thielen said it's clear to her that the group placed chains and locks on
the gates when they arrived Wednesday morning and began turning people away.
State law enforcement officers who arrived at the palace at 6 a.m. Wednesday
"observed there were cables and locks around the gates for the four main
vehicle access gates, that people had brought in a gate for one of the
pedestrian gates, and had other areas closed and barred," Thielen said.
"These were not the state's cables or locks."
Law spelled out to protesters
Sovereignty group at palace must pay to park, DLNR warns
By gordon Y.k. pang
Advertiser Staff Writer
Officials with the Department of Land and Natural Resources are telling a
Hawaiian sovereignty group that has gathered daily since Wednesday on the
grounds of 'Iolani Palace that they need to abide by the same parking and
other park rules as everyone else.
Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government were told yesterday that their
cars would be ticketed if they did not feed their meters. The organization
also was told it would need to obtain a permit to assemble if it intends to
return to the palace lawn on Monday as it has announced.
"We've made it clear to them that if there are any violations, we are going
to enforce our existing rules and whether they understand those rules or had
read them previously is irrelevant," said Laura H. Thielen, the state's Land
Board chairwoman and head of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Mahealani Kahau, described as "head of state" for the Hawaiian Kingdom
Government, said her group has applied for a permit to assemble next week,
but stressed that it attached language from the Hawaiian Kingdom civil code
and penal code.
"We're complying with our civil code and penal code," Kahau said yesterday
afternoon. As for whether she and her staff will begin feeding parking
meters on the site, Kahau said, "if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't,
it doesn't. Everything we do is under kingdom law."
The group has occupied the mauka lawn of the palace over the past three
days, stating that it is the legitimate government and that the palace
grounds are its "seat of government."
Up to 75 of its members have spent the daylight hours of the past three
days, in the words of the group's leaders, "conducting business" on the
property, although they have not entered the palace itself. On Wednesday,
for about eight hours, it also blocked access onto the grounds to
non-Hawaiians.
A number of the group members have parked at metered stalls on the property
and not fed the meters but have not been cited, according to state
officials.
Thielen said two of her top lieutenants — Parks Division Administrator Dan
Quinn and Conservation and Resources Enforcement Division Administrator Gary
Moniz — met with leaders of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government yesterday
morning to detail the specific rules the group needs to follow if it intends
to stay over a longer period of time.
Among the areas covered by the state administrators were "parking rules,
assembly rules, (and) noise levels," she said.
The two administrators also explained areas that contain burials or cultural
or historical objects that the public is asked to stay away from "in order
to protect those resources," she said.
The group also was instructed on the procedure for applying for a permit to
conduct a First Amendment rally, required when there are gatherings of 25 or
more people.
"They also discussed the consequences for failure to follow the rules, which
include civil penalties and petty criminal misdemeanor (charges)," she said.
Thielen said group leaders were agreeable to the rules. "They understand
what the consequences are," she said, noting that yesterday's talk was one
of a series that have been held with the group since Wednesday.
The group submitted an assembly application to DLNR yesterday, but it was
returned because it was incomplete, Thielen said.
Kahau insisted that the application will point out that the group will abide
only by its laws. "They said we need to abide by administrative rules, and
we said we will abide by Hawaiian Kingdom law, which they are also subject
to," Kahau said.
Group officials have asked for office space at the Kana'ina Building as well
some free parking stalls. "We told them that request cannot be accommodated,
that these are public park lands," Thielen said. "They need to abide by the
rules like anybody else."
Thielen said she understands the group's position that it has a right to the
property. "We have told them that if they want to claim ownership to the
area, the venue they would have to take that to is the courts," Thielen
said.
Kippen de Alba Chu, executive director of Friends of 'Iolani Palace, which
has the lease to maintain and run the historic facilities as a museum, said
the Hawaiian Kingdom Government's presence has been disruptive. Some palace
volunteers uncomfortable with the presence of the group chose to stay home
this week.
Meanwhile, parking was at a premium through the week, he said. That issue
began to ease yesterday afternoon when state officers began citing cars that
were illegally parked, Chu said.
"Some of their (Hawaiian Kingdom) cars got cited and then they moved them
off the property," he said.
Group members have criticized the media for unfair reporting of the
situation. For instance, the group vehemently denies placing locks on any of
the gates to the palace grounds on Wednesday.
But Thielen said it's clear to her that the group placed chains and locks on
the gates when they arrived Wednesday morning and began turning people away.
State law enforcement officers who arrived at the palace at 6 a.m. Wednesday
"observed there were cables and locks around the gates for the four main
vehicle access gates, that people had brought in a gate for one of the
pedestrian gates, and had other areas closed and barred," Thielen said.
"These were not the state's cables or locks."
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