Joint Statement from Intervenors and Plaintiffs

Happy New Year, Everyone:

In the spirit of cooperation, this is a joint statement by the Intervenors and the Plaintiffs concerning the settlement discussions we are having.  As many of you may already know, on December 20th, Jim Mahoney, Dave Keyes, and Ann Marie Mahoney on behalf of the Intervenors, and Christopher Zyda, Chris’ husband Michael Wieland, and Carol Meyer on behalf of the Plaintiffs, met in Southern California.  We met in hopes of discussing how we can work together to reach a possible settlement agreement to put an end to the litigation and avoid the upcoming trial scheduled for September, 2019.

The goal of our meeting was to spend some time together and consider important areas of concern for the Intervenors and for the Plaintiffs to determine if there might be issues of mutual agreement.  Generally, we all agreed that it would be in everyone’s best interest to try to settle this matter “once and for all” to try to return to the Ohana spirit — a main reason why we all became Hualalai homeowners.  But, there was also an acknowledgement that the real work is to determine what could become a potential “settlement proposal” that we could present hopefully as a group to the Defendants, who did not attend this meeting.

Overall, the meeting was very cordial.  We covered a broad range of topics.  And, we discovered, as Carol Meyer aptly stated: “We have more we agree on than we thought.”

During our conversation, we also jointly determined that a convening of a broader cross-section of Intervenors and Plaintiffs sometime between January 26th-February 2nd, when a majority of Hualalai Club Member residents will be on island, would be a good next step in crafting a possible settlement proposal to present to the Defendants.

Chris made it clear that he does not want to be the sole voice for the entire Plaintiff group regarding any “settlement proposal.”  Dave, Jim, and I also agreed that it was a good idea to involve a broader group of Intervenors in the conversation with the Plaintiffs to maximize input from homeowners and Intervenors.

During our meeting, Chris, Michael, and Carol shared a document entitled “Main Categories of Issues.” (Please see the attached, which is an integral portion of this joint communication). We all reviewed and discussed the document.

Also during our meeting, Dave, Jim, and I shared the Intervenors’ primary areas of concern: 

1. Establish a reasonable guest fee policy that does not inhibit renting but addresses the factual realities of resort overcrowding during peak periods.
2. Guarantee that the public, including unaccompanied non-family member guests, and renters, will not ever be able to access Club facilities — including the Keolu Golf Course and Clubhouse and the Canoe Club, thereby confirming Club exclusivity (Plaintiffs agree with the Intervenors on this point).
3. Vigilantly guard against the passing on to Hualalai Club Members any increased fees, dues, dining, and use costs if and when an eventual settlement is entered into between the Plaintiffs and Defendants. This will ensure that the cost of settlement or litigation does not get passed on to the Club membership.

In the spirit of Ohana, and the mutual interest that all Hualalai homeowners have to end this lawsuit, the Intervenors and the Plaintiffs have agreed to convene a broad cross-section of Club Member homeowners representing both Plaintiffs and Intervenors to discuss the various issues of concern to determine if we can agree on a potential “settlement proposal” that can subsequently be presented to the Defendants through the mediator that has been assigned to the litigation.  The convening date is being determined.  Subsequent to that meeting, we will provide further joint communication to keep the Club membership informed.

May you and your families have a very happy and healthy New Year.

Best Regards,

Dave Keyes, Ann Marie Mahoney, Jim Mahoney, Carol Meyer, Michael Wieland, and Christopher Zyda