The fishy flap over a farmers' market from Hawaii News Now
Imagine an evil state official who wants to make trouble for some people he's been dealing with, while simultaneously obstructing a campaign promise of the governor and reinforcing the citizenry's worst suspicions about bureaucrat. He smiles when he hits upon the action to take: tell the organizers of the popular Haleiwa Farmers' Market they can no longer operate at the same old stand because the land they use is still on the books as a state right-of-way, even though it hasn't been a road for years. MWAHhahahahahahaha! The weird thing about this action, which has actually been taken in real life, by the state Department of Transportation, is that I have no doubt the officials who took it are confident they are doing the right thing, and that anyone who has the temerity to object simply doesn't understand. In the movies and on TV, evil actions are always taken by people who know they are evil and relish it, but in real life most evil acts are undertaken by people who never kick their dog and have relatives who love them and are convinced what they are doing is not evil because they're not bad people. For three years the Haleiwa Farmers Market operated rent-free on land the state DOT didn't need because it moved the road when the Haleiwa Bypass was built. The ladies who organized it, operating on their own, not under the imprimatur of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, made it possible for North Shore farmers to sell their goods during the middle of the recession - and not only farmers, but others selling baked good and crafts. They created a farmer's market, and a craft fair, and a tourist attraction, and an economic engine, at a time when the North Shore needed all of those things. They did it with the state's help, since the state didn't charge rent for the land, which even now DOT mentions at every opportunity, understanding at some level that this is a creditable act. About a year ago, someone in the state DOT decided it was necessary to renegotiate this. The timing is a little fishy, since Gov. Abercrombie campaigned in part on a promise of nurturing and developing the local food supply, and this farmers' market was helping with that goal. So I don't think he had anything to do with this: why work against a popular goal that you genuinely support? In fact, Abercrombie, Mufi Hannemann and Duke Aiona all supported local farmers. The official DOT explanation is that it's illegal to sell by the side of the road "on a state right-of-way" and someone thought there might one day be a problem cracking down on shrimp trucks if the high-powered legal help that owners of shrimp trucks are so famous for should say, "well, you let them do it, those farmers' market people!" Of course, the state only intermittently says boo to the shrimp trucks, and then usually only to plead with them to get a GET license and pay taxes from time to time, but let that pass. To the average citizen not employed by government, the logical solution to this would be to change the legal status of the land where the farmers' market operates, since it is not a roadway, no matter what the paperwork says, and hasn't been since - I think since John Waihee was governor. Can it really have been that long? How long does it take to change the paperwork to reflect the fact that a right-of-way isn't in fact a right-of-way any more? Jim George, the managing editor of Pacific Business News, who had always regarded farmers' markets in general and the Haleiwa Farmers' Market in particular as part of what's good about Hawaii, wrote a commentary using the phrase "a taste of state bureaucracy," but his criticism of the situation was quite civil compared to the cynicism expressed in some of the posted reader reactions. One said he had been to the market and never realized he was "playing in the street." Another hailed whoever did that as an "overpaid chairweight." One thing that concerns me is that I have heard from three different people who work in the state DOT who, while giving me not-for-attribution defenses of the action taken against the farmers' market, have brought up side issues that should not play a role in the matter at all. All three said the organizers make good money from the market. What a curious irrelevant thing for three different people to bring up. I doubt if it's true: people who don't operate their own businesses seem always to believe that people who do are growing rich without working for it, but my experience with small business owners and entrepreneurs is that they work practically around the clock. Even so, in the unlikely event that the slam on the organizers were true, why would anyone bother to bring it up? Is this a case of hammering down the nail that sticks up? My problem with it - and my problem with the state's action regardless of motivation - is that dozens of vendors including farmers stand to be injured by what the state is doing, so even if a justification could be found to go after the organizers, the cost of doing something that spiteful is too high. Taking the most benign possible view of this - let's assume for the sake of argument that no side issues are involved, there is no hidden agenda, the officials insisting on eviction have the highest motivation - we are left with this: why is the state government, which expects private sector people to wait months, sometimes years, for the state to do things that look like they could be done in a few days, expecting the farmers' market organizers to find new quarters immediately? Does the state DOT really want to be held to this same standard when it comes to, say, fixing potholes? Aloha Market Friend! What a wacky week. We are please to tell you that all three markets will be up and running this weekend! We hope to see you in town and/or country to celebrate our farmers and support the local economy. Every time you choose to purchase locally grown produce you are making a statement in support of local agriculture. We like that! Let's all make statements this weekend! WHEN IS A ROAD, NOT A ROAD? Monday, we received word that the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation issued our Hale'iwa Farmers' Market an order to vacate, within five days. It seems that the little strip of asphalt that was once the Kamehameha Highway and has been sitting fallow since the opening of the Joseph P Leong Bypass in 1993, is still technically a 'road, ' and thereby fell under Section 264-101 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes: "Vending from highways is prohibited." Luckily, today we were able to sit down with the Department of Transportation. Everyone agreed that it would be a travesty to close the market on such short notice. The farmers have grown crops to sell at the market, and the community expects to feed that produce to their families. By this afternoon, we received a call from our attorneys that the DOT is allowing us to continue operations through the end of the month. We hope that all the powers that be will come up with a solution that will allow us to continue operations until we can find a new suitable home in Hale'iwa. Please continue to spread the word of our Petition to Save Haleiwa Farmers' Market. Your signatures and comments (64 pages of them!) have been delivered to the DOT. How many more pages shall we add to that?? This extension is just a reprieve... we have a long way to go and need your support to make it happen. And please join our FaceBook page to keep current on this issue. Mahalo! Below you will find a link to Ben Gutierrez' piece for Hawaii News Now, which gives a good overview of the issues we have been faced with this week. Thanks, Ben! Haleiwa Farmers' Market given 'notice to vacate'
By Ben Gutierrez - bio | email HALEIWA (HawaiiNewsNow) - A popular outdoor Sunday event on Oahu's North Shore is in jeopardy after the state issued a notice to vacate to the operators and owners of the Haleiwa Farmers' Market. The market has been an icon in the community since it started back in 2009. Recently, the issue of where the market operates has drawn some controversy. The Department of Transportation says the 2.5 acres of land at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and J.P. Leong Highway is technically a highway right of way, and is zoned for agricultural use, not for doing business. According to the DOT, that puts the state at risk for possible lawsuits if something should happen at the market. "I really want to stress that we've been working with these people, I mean we've really been working hard with them trying to figure everything out," DOT spokesperson Dan Meisenzahl said. "We haven't been charging them rent. Once again, we support the effort." The owners said they're shocked and confused by the state's response and add that they felt they met all the conditions of an annual lease. The roadway, once part of Kamehameha Highway, has been used since the Joseph P. Leong Highway bypassing Haleiwa opened in the 1990s. "Even though it's been dead for 12 years, unless somebody changes that, that name of it, to this road, then that statute applies to that dead piece of dead end road," said Farmers' Market co-owner Annie Suite. "Go figure." The DOT said the department discovered the legal problem when it was trying to come up with a more formal annual agreement. The state has been allowing the Farmers' Market to use the property, rent-free, on a month-to-month basis. The abrupt shutdown will affect local North Shore farmers. "They have a lot of produce in the fields. One of the farmers sells a hundred dozen eggs out there every week, and we're very concerned about where this product will go this week," said Farmers' Market co-owner Pamela Boyar. "It's a big thing on the North Shore," said Howard McGinnis of the Hawaiian Honeybee Co-op." It's a quality market that you don't just find everywhere, because its more than just a market." But right now, it's a road. "That kind of thing takes a lot of time to change," said Meisenzahl. "It's really an unfortunate situation, but our hands are tied." "I worry, not so much for myself because I have other markets that I can survive on," McGinnis said. "But I worry about the farmers that are only at those markets, and to shut something down so abruptly, how long before it opens back up? Yet they still have bills to pay." "We'll find a place to have them sell their produce if we have to open up another market somewhere else," said Suite. "If we have to do that, we have to do that." She said, however, that the longtime location had been perfect. According to Meisenzahl, the HFM will be allowed to operate for the next three Sundays. The DOT will honor April's agreement, but after that, the HFM will not be allowed to operate due to liability issues. from: hand eye [email protected] to: [email protected] date:Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 8:32 AM subject:Request for the Dalai Lama's attention Your Holiness, There is a hard push being applied by big business and government interests on the islands to snuff out the community’s ability to grow, sell and consume locally produced food. One of the most important people in this islands struggle for locally produced, non-GMO food, Noble Mushroom, will be in attendance at your Sunday rally, so she will be unable to support our cause in person. However I am hoping you can speak to the issue of how to best conduct resistance to the big business interests that are trying to crush these connections within the local community. I feel like the inspiration you might bestow onto her, could in turn help her to bring the focused and peaceful leadership this movement needs to succeed in our cause. Or perhaps do you think that conducting your Sunday rally at the location of this local farmers market on the North Shore might be the cosmic purpose for the timing of your visit? If there is anyway your address can be delivered at the sight of the market, I think it would be a powerful statement. Especially if everyone involved, would wear t-shirts with pictures of posters that have t-shirts on them. I believe this will alternately confuse and inspire those that our current conflict is with. thank you, Driftwood Hicks |
This is going to get warm and fuzzy...Being a part of the community at the Farmer's Market feels so good inside, it's beyond words. Small businesses and farmers hanging out together and interacting with their customers, I just think that's priceless. No middle man, greater transparency, a more personal opportunity to connect and talk with the people who grow or make your food, an easy way to invest in your local economy, when I think about it it's so beautiful I want to cry a little bit... Archives
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