Starwood’s corporate lawyer speaks for the company that owns the 1 Hotel, wants to develop our open space, and cast the hotel’s votes that put Director Rose Krebs and her husband, Ace Hodgin, on our Board (see the ties). He speaks for Starwood in court, at our Board meetings, to the state Department of Health, and on Nextdoor. This page sets out what he has said and done, in his own public words, the court record and documents filed in court. Where we rely on a neighbor’s account, we say so.
James “Jamie” Raved is Starwood’s corporate lawyer. His public LinkedIn profile lists him as an attorney at Starwood Capital Group, the company that owns the 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay and the Makai golf course. He is not the lawyer who argues Starwood’s case. At a May 5, 2026 hearing, Starwood’s court lawyer, Claire Wong Black of Dentons, introduced him as the “client representative.” Starwood’s lawyers of record are Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert and Dentons in Honolulu and, on the appeal, Davis Polk & Wardwell and Paul, Weiss. He writes from a Starwood email address, posts often on Princeville’s Nextdoor about residents by name, and at our June 25, 2026 Board meeting he spoke “as a representative of Starwood.”
Elected on the hotel’s votes. The 1 Hotel votes as one block, two votes per door, and the company Raved represents owns it. In 2024 the hotel cast all 1,008 of its votes for Rose Krebs, about two-thirds of her roughly 1,491 votes. Her husband, former president Ace Hodgin, also went on the Board on the hotel’s votes. Raved and Starwood executive Roy Shanholtz speak for Starwood on our Board calls and at the annual meeting, and members believe it is Raved who directs how the hotel’s votes are cast. How the hotel’s votes work →
Close to Starwood’s lawyer. Members have raised concerns about how close Rose and Ace are to Raved, including whether private Board information has reached him. On Nextdoor, when Raved posted about how Ema spells her name, Ace followed up in the same thread to back him up. See the Ace & Rose map →
A family company that could profit? Rose and Ace’s daughter co-founded Hawaii Project Development, a Kauaʻi development company. She and the company’s other co-founder have both worked for The Resort Group’s Princeville Development, the master developer behind Princeville Resort. According to an account relayed to us, the other co-founder told Kauaʻi builders he was in line to be the Development Manager for Starwood’s Woods Course. If Starwood builds, the family’s company could possibly profit. Ace Hodgin has said publicly that the company does construction project management and has never had business with Starwood. Members should ask. About the company →
Why this page. Starwood wants to build on the open space our homes were planned around. How its lawyer treats our neighbors, and how his words compare with the court record, helps every member weigh what Starwood tells us.
Sources: Raved’s April 24, 2025 email to the Department of Health (Trial Exhibit P-195); PHCA Board meeting of June 25, 2026 (our transcription); PHCA Board of Directors 2024 Election Results (Oct. 26, 2024); Raved’s Nextdoor thread of June 4, 2026 (screenshot on file); hawaiiprojectdevelopment.com; The Resort Group’s Princeville page (theresortgroup.com); an account relayed to us; Ace Hodgin’s Nextdoor reply (our transcription); hearing of May 5, 2026 (open court); Intermediate Court of Appeals, CAAP-25-0000609, notice of May 29, 2026 (Dkt. 126).
Raved says he has never threatened to develop all 27 holes. These are his words.
“Ema, please don’t twist my words. I never threatened that Starwood planned to development all 27 holes. … The Mull/White litigation strategy foolishly jeopardizes risk of development on all 27 holes. That’s why the Original 2026 Committee led by Sam George and several other PHCA members concluded it was prudent to limit future development to the Woods-9 in exchange for a community benefits agreement that would have preserved the Ocean-9 and the Lakes-9.”James Raved, Nextdoor, July 2, 2026
“… if we prevail as we fully expect to … you’re jeopardizing development for all 27 holes …”James Raved, speaking “as a representative of Starwood” at the PHCA Board meeting, June 25, 2026 (our transcription)
What the court decided. In 2025 the court found that the Dedication protects the whole 27-hole golf course, and that it renews every five years unless owners holding 75% of the votes decide to end it. The protection covers all seven parcels the Dedication lists. Starwood has appealed. See all 27 holes on the map →
Sources: Raved’s Nextdoor post of July 2, 2026 (screenshot on file); PHCA Board meeting of June 25, 2026 (our transcription of the recording); Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, July 14, 2025; Judgment, Aug. 6, 2025; Dedication of Golf Course Property (1972), Schedule A.
During the 2025 trial, Judge Kathleen Watanabe warned Raved on the record to stop making comments to the plaintiffs, and told him he would be removed from the courtroom if it happened again. Ema’s name came up in the exchange.
The Court“Mr. Raved, there’s an issue that came up yesterday about you making comments to the plaintiffs. The issue has again arisen. I understand that Mr. Kugle has given you some warning to stop making comments to the plaintiffs. It’s distracting. It’s disturbing, and frankly, for the Court to have to take the time to admonish you on the record is rather upsetting because we’re trying to focus on the trial.”
Mr. Raved“I don’t want to argue with you, your Honor. I’m not engaging in conversations with plaintiffs.”
Andy White, a client of the homeowners’ lawyers but not a plaintiff, told the judge what Raved had said to him on the way out of the courtroom.
Mr. White“Your comment was, Emma Shultz is quite a writer.”
Mr. Raved“And Ms. Shultz is somebody who received a cease and desist letter from us quite some time ago.”
The Court“All right. But you’re acknowledging that you had this discussion.”
Mr. Raved“Not at all. I just -- I thanked Mr. White for opening the door. Nothing else.”
Mr. White“That is not the case.”
The Court“… Should this happen again, Mr. Raved, I’m going to have you removed from the courtroom and you can watch the proceedings -- we’re shutting down Courtroom 5, which would mean that you’re going to have to watch via Zoom.”
Mr. Raved“I understand.”
Ema says she never received a cease-and-desist letter from Starwood.
Source: Mull & White v. SOF-XI Kauai PV Golf, Fifth Circuit Court, 5CCV-21-0000063, trial transcript, June 25, 2025 (afternoon), pp. 51–53, in open court.
Two months before trial, Raved emailed the Hawaiʻi Department of Health about the anthrax on the Woods Course. Here is what he wrote, next to what the court later found and what Starwood’s own scientists said.
Starwood did thorough testing with an experienced lab to verify that our development site is not contaminated with anthrax.
The Mull and White plaintiffs continue - without any evidence - to make outrageous, unfounded, and self-serving claims about anthrax.
A neighbor’s post included a fabricated cartoon/image of dead cows,
and we’re afraid Petrov’s call to action will motivate gullible people to contact your office.
The final report of Starwood’s experts was not credible due [to] the numerous deficiencies, missing information, and Starwood’s failure to provide testimony from Dr. Blackburn to explain the testing procedures and findings.
¶124
Dr. Jason Blackburn, the scientist who did Starwood’s anthrax testing, had written: We CANNOT say it isn’t there.
¶126
Starwood’s own testing: 14 of 188 samples tested were identified as ‘suspect’. This means that they had positive results for at least some of the B. anthracis markers.
¶128
The historical record and local testimony established that there are anthrax burial sites on the Woods Course.
¶190
One test. Two different stories.
we did thorough testing with an experienced lab to verify that our development site is not contaminated with anthrax.Email to the Department of Health, April 24, 2025 (Trial Exhibit P-195)
you can’t say it isn’t thereDr. Kimothy Smith and Dr. Scott Deitchman “both testified that they could not say anthrax is not in the soil of the Wood[s] Course” (Findings ¶130)
Copied on Raved’s email to the state: Dr. Scott Deitchman, one of the two Starwood experts who later gave that testimony.
Raved’s answer, on Nextdoor: “We’ve never lied to a state agency.” Read his words and the court’s, and decide for yourself.
Sources: Trial Exhibit P-195 (Raved to the Department of Health, April 24, 2025); Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, July 14, 2025, ¶¶89, 105, 113, 124, 126, 128, 130, 190 (quoting Trial Exhibits P-166, P-185 and P-206); Raved on Nextdoor, September 2025 (screenshot on file).
In more than a year of posts on Princeville’s Nextdoor, Raved has described our neighbors, and the judge who ruled against Starwood, like this. Every line is his, word for word.
Sources: Raved’s Nextdoor posts, September 2025 to June 2026 (screenshots on file). He also wrote to the Department of Health that neighbors who contact it are “gullible people” (section 04).
Raved has gone past Ema’s posts to Ema’s life and family.
“… I suggest Shen check with his bosses at Sotheby’s International Realty about Starwood Capital Group’s reputation for integrity and success. He’ll learn that we have many longstanding and mutually beneficial relationships with his senior partners.”James Raved, Nextdoor, October 27, 2025. Shen, Ema’s husband, is a realtor. We left out the part where Raved pointed readers to his business website.
“Olivia, what are you talking about? Ema spells her name with just one “m.” In fact, I just checked her Linkedin to verify the spelling and also learned the following about Ema’s accomplishments: …”James Raved, Nextdoor, June 4, 2026. In the part we left out, he reposted a long passage from her LinkedIn about her childhood, naming her late father.
“Ema, nice clip. Thanks for sharing! is that the view from your backyard? I don’t see any rock piles or silver oak trees.”James Raved, on Ema’s Earth Day video, Nextdoor, April 24, 2026. Rock piles and silver oak trees are how the anthrax burial sites were marked (court finding ¶106).
“For all - Ema and Shen don’t support transparency. … I’ve formed a good rapport with the team at Nextdoor, they see what Ema is trying to do, and they’re keeping track of her efforts to de-platform others. My guess is she’ll be banned if she keeps making false claims.”James Raved, Nextdoor, June 30, 2026. Shen is Ema’s husband.
Ema’s late father and her husband have nothing to do with the golf course. We have not repeated the personal details Raved posted. In July 2026, at least five of his Nextdoor comments, including the June 30 post above, were removed.
Sources: Raved’s Nextdoor posts of October 27, 2025 and April 24, June 4 and June 30, 2026, and Nextdoor’s “Comment removed” notices of July 2026 (screenshots on file); Findings of Fact, July 14, 2025, ¶106.
On May 14, 2026, after a hearing in the case at the Līhuʻe courthouse, a friend texted Ema that Raved had walked up to a woman there and asked if she was Ema. Ema was not there. A later message said he may have asked a second woman, too.
“THAT IS CREEPY AND I CONSIDER THAT STALKING. What exactly were you going to say if it was me?”Ema Schulz to Raved, Nextdoor, June 3, 2026
“Ema, I don’t do anything “frantically” and neither do any of my colleagues at Starwood. However, you appear to be unhinged.”James Raved’s reply, Nextdoor, June 3, 2026
“No, I never stalked anyone at the courthouse. I’m sure I introduced myself to a few locals who were milling in the hallway.”James Raved, Nextdoor, June 15, 2026
Ema replied that night that this was “part of the reason” she didn’t go to the hearing.
Sources: friends’ text messages of May and June 2026 (on file); Nextdoor posts of June 3 and June 15, 2026 (screenshots on file).
At the June 25, 2026 PHCA Board meeting, Raved used the open-comment time to tell the Board it was failing its duty. Right after him, Roy Shanholtz, echoing “Jamie,” warned our President she could be personally liable. Since then, a petition has been filed to remove her and our Vice President.
“… the fiduciary duty of this board is being mishandled because you … you’re essentially putting your head in the sand.”James Raved to the PHCA Board, June 25, 2026 (our transcription)
“… should we prevail, I do think you personally have opened yourself up to liability by … members of this community. So I’m just gonna let that stay out there. You know what I’m talking about.”Roy Shanholtz to PHCA President Patti Thiele, June 25, 2026 (our transcription). He said he wanted to “echo” what “Jamie” had said.
The petition. The PHCA has not said who filed the petition to remove Patti and Dale. The community believes it is Starwood’s: its 1 Hotel is the only owner with two votes per door, and the only one that could have filed it. When Patti and Dale recused themselves at the August 27, 2026 Board meeting, that was clear to members, and the online fight over the hotel’s two votes per door shows everyone knows it. Yet the PHCA sits silent. What that vote means →
Source: PHCA Board meeting of June 25, 2026 (our transcription of the recording).
Starwood has put surveillance devices on the Woods Course, the closed golf land behind many of our homes. Raved confirmed it himself, and called Ema the lawbreaker for filming them.
“… regarding the surveillance devices we installed on the Woods Course to guard against vagrants and trespassers, they are probably less sophisticated and less intrusive than the Blink and Ring cameras most homeowners in Princeville use to protect their property. A few weeks ago, you trespassed on the Woods Course, foolishly videotaped yourself trespassing, then posted about our devices in one of your rants. Ironically, you are the unwelcome lawbreaker!”James Raved to Ema Schulz, Nextdoor, September 2025
At the 2025 trial, Frances White described trying to meet with Starwood’s Jason Cruce and Raved in March 2023:
“We attempted to have a meeting with these gentlemen and basically were met with threats, cameras behind our houses, and they weren’t very nice.”Frances White, trial testimony, June 23, 2025
In the same post he said Starwood’s Zoom account once “auto-archived merely the written chats” of a Board meeting, and that the feature was then turned off.
Sources: Raved’s Nextdoor post, September 2025 (screenshot on file); trial testimony of Frances White, June 23, 2025 (afternoon session), p. 56.
Princeville residents have answered him on Nextdoor.
“James you and yours have NO CREDIBILITY HERE None of us believe anything you have to say.”Alex P., Nextdoor, May 2026
“James back talk is soo disrespectful and it makes you look weak.”JoAnne P., Nextdoor, September 2025
“James is the attorney for Starwood Capital Group (and apparently now in their marketing department as well) …”Barbara L., on his post praising the 1 Hotel, Nextdoor, August 2026
Sources: Nextdoor posts (screenshots on file).
Quotes keep the original spelling. “…” marks words we left out. Nothing here comes from private PHCA emails or Board packets.
