by Andrew Walden
Does accused murderer and drug dealer Michael Miske “perpetuate the historical and cultural traditions of the Hawai‘i beachboy”?
Palekaiko Beachboys Club, Inc. tops a list of “Miske’s active businesses” listed in an FBI backgrounder on Miske filed in Federal Court under seal November 12, 2015, in support of a search warrant application. The backgrounder was unsealed by court order Nov 17, 2022.
Miske was allegedly “perpetuating the tradition” of filling beachboy concessions, ILWU stevedore positions, security guard companies, and union movie crew jobs with mobsters.
Read: “Union Boss Gets Greedy -- Almost Pays Price in Blood”
According to Palekaiko’s DCCA business registration documents, Miske was first listed as a director in 2012. But when Palekaiko re-registered in 2014, Miske’s name was manually scratched out as a director. Over the next two years, Miske would systematically remove his name from the ownership documents of many of his other so-called ‘legitimate’ businesses.
Palekaiko, in a 2018 Star-Advertiser column, explains it was formed as a 501c4 non-profit advocacy group to take advantage of a no-bid contract opportunity created by Neil Abercrombie:
In the 1990s…(w)ith the support of then-Councilman Neil Abercrombie and former Parks Directors Walter Ozawa and Tom Nekota, the Honolulu City Council in amending the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu (ROH) Chapter 28-3.3(e) found “that the Hawaiian beachboys are rooted in the state’s historical and cultural traditions and there is a need for the city to provide concessions to licensed beachboys on beach park property under the jurisdiction of the city.”
This ordinance exempts nonprofit beachboys concessions from the requirements of bidding ….
Gradually the mafia deathgrip on Waikiki beaches is being chipped away.
According to BREG filings, since 2011, Palekaiko Beachboys’ address has been 2450 Koa Ave, a location which is also home to Star Beachboys.
In August 2003, Unity House union bosses Anthony and Aaron Rutledge were indicted for skimming $350,000 in earnings from Star Beachboys from 1992 to 1997 and using the money as a slush fund.
In May, 2004, Palekaiko sued to keep the Waikiki Hilton from hosting a non-mafia beach rental business.
In December, 2004, Unity House was seized by IRS.
In February, 2006, Tony Rutledge pled guilty to one felony count of aiding and assisting in filing a false tax return connected to "Star Beach Boys." He was sentenced to 3-years probation and required to resign from Unity House.
In 2018, a Judge ruled to dismiss Starr beachboys suit seeking to block a non-mafia operator, Dive Oahu, from Waikiki.
A March 10, 2022, federal court opinion dismisses Palekaiko Beachboys Club, Inc. vs. City of Honolulu.
On October 27, 2022, the BLNR voted to repeal a ‘Blue Card’ licensing requirement for Waikiki beach boys. Mafia operators had been attempting used the card requirement to keep non-mafia operators out.
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Drugs, Fish, and Termites: Miske FBI Backgrounder Unsealed by Federal Judge
Union Boss Gets Greedy -- Almost Pays Price in Blood