'Second City' concept still needs some work

It is clear that city officials learned something from the state's experience as it sought to move some of its business to the new "second city" at Kapolei.

But it is also clear that they didn't learn as much as they could.

As reported by City Hall writer Robbie Dingeman, the handsome new civic center building for the Leeward area, Kapolei Hale, remains largely empty six months after it was completed.

While this is obviously a temporary situation, it suggests both a lack of planning and a shortage of "buy-in" on the central concept of a second city.

When the state opened its new facilities in Kapolei three years ago, it had a run-in with the Hawai'i Government Employees Association. The HGEA simply blocked the move until the state agreed to consult with the union and its members about who would move to the new facility and on what schedule.

In an effort to avoid that kind of confrontation this time around, the city has been moving slowly, talking with union representatives and city employees to find out who has problems with the move.

That is compassionate and sensible, to a point. But why is the conversation taking place now? This building has been on the books for years and was completed nearly a half-year ago.

Even setting aside the question of why assignment of workplace is a negotiable issue, such conversations should long ago have been over.

The more serious issue here, however, is the underlying conceptual problem. The idea of a second city was not to create a new destination for commuters. Rather, it was a plan to reduce the need for commuting and traffic congestion by putting commercial, government and other facilities near where people live in the fast-growing Ewa/Kapolei region.

Both the city and state have bought into the concept, but as they approach it in practice, this central urban planning idea seems to have taken a back seat to other considerations.