Toni Marie Davis, 61, serves as executive director of the Activities & Attractions Association of Hawaii.

LAHAINA — Of the 16 commercial permit holders for the Mala Boat Ramp, only one, Theodore King, would comment on the ongoing conflict for the record.

King, active in local commercial boating since 1982, was reached by phone in Costa Rica. He acknowledged that he holds three permits for commercial use at Mala and has an additional three permits at Kaanapali.

King said that he was not included in the negotiations between community groups and most of the other Mala commercial permit holders.

He was not as interested in talking about why the situation between the commercial and non-commercial users has become so tense as he was in discussing the “run-down” condition of the property. He commented, “if the two factions could work together, I could visualize a beautiful park.”

He added, “Mala’s a special place. There will be a day, and it’s just a matter of time, that it will be what it should be.”

King noted that the commercial users pay a hefty fee to the state for the right to operate and they also create stable employment for local residents.

He characterized the current ongoing disagreement as a “pathetic attempt to divide us.”

King said he has held his permit for many years and had worked as a beach concession operator at many of Maui’s best known resorts. He spoke highly of Ed Underwood, who heads the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR), saying, “He does an excellent job for the boating community.”

Also willing to comment for the record was Toni Marie Davis, 61, executive director of the Activities & Attractions Association of Hawaii, a non-profit 501(c)(6) trade advocacy group which represents many of the commercial boaters. Davis said that she has been in the job since 1997 and was formerly both a commercial boater and fished recreationally.

She pointed out that despite assertions to the contrary, the ramp at Mala has always been designated for both commercial and recreational use, saying that in the early 1990s — when the smaller boat harbors were transferred from the Department of Transportation to DOBOR — both kinds of use were authorized then and are still authorized now.

Davis agreed that there is likely a parking shortage, but, she said, the three times she visited for site inspections, including once on a holiday weekend, she had no difficulty finding a spot for her car.

Davis disagreed that commercial users were “hogging” the ramp, saying that “commercial operators all have an incentive to get in and out of the water as rapidly as possible and also to load and unload quickly. I witnessed people moving in and out in a functional, friendly way,” she said.

Like King, she noted that commercial users pay substantial fees to the state based on their gross revenues, and their activities provide jobs for Maui residents.

Davis said that she personally believed that the ramp would be better operated and maintained if it were privately run. “Each one of Maui’s small harbors is uniquely different, and needs special attention to run it in a way that makes money and ensures that it is kept up.”

She also said that the likely reason the other commercial boaters would not speak for publication was “because there is litigation both pending and threatened; and that they have been advised that it is in their best interests not to comment.” DOBOR: The Sound of Silence

All attempts to contact staffers at DOBOR on Maui or on Oahu, in person, by phone, by e-mail, through their public information office or through their website, were met with obfuscation.

Sometimes the inquiry was rejected politely — sometimes, rudely — and sometimes it was routed to a public relations representative who, several weeks later, has yet to respond.