Vacancies, indifference hit neighborhood boards
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
At least 10 of O'ahu's 32 neighborhood boards, once considered a model for civic involvement, are struggling with vacancies, absenteeism and public apathy, making them largely ineffective and raising questions about the future of the system.
Some neighborhood activists believe the system is at a crucial crossroads, with a choice between reform and attracting new members, or ending the 25-year-old experiment in civic participation.
The struggles of the McCully/Mo'ili'ili Neighborhood Board are not unusual. At this month's meeting, Chairman Brian Akana worried that for the fourth month in a row he would not have enough members to reach a quorum.
With five empty seats on the 17-member board, two members who refuse to attend and others not showing up, he had not been able to gather the nine members needed to conduct business.
Then, two hours after the Dec. 6 meeting began, number nine walked through the door.
"I went, 'Oh — nine people!' and reversed my whole agenda and started all over again," Akana said. "I got all my board business done and all the stuff passed from months back. I was very relieved."
When neighborhood boards were created in the mid-1970s, civic activists believed they would give greater voice to people on issues that sometimes seemed too insignificant for the City Council to consider.
As O'ahu's population soared to more than 850,000 people, the boards also were seen as a more direct way for city officials to stay in touch with constituents.
"There was a tremendous amount of interest and attendance, but it has steadily deteriorated," said Karen Iwamoto, chairwoman of the Neighborhood Commission, the body that oversees the boards.
"Some people just use it as a springboard for higher office. Others are tired of hearing certain people take over meetings and not accomplishing anything. I think we have kind of lost some of the luster, because it has been overshadowed by other groups."
During the most recent board election in May, 417 members were elected to two-year terms, but for 30 of the open seats no one even bothered to run. Of those elected this year, 20 percent ran uncontested. Each board is responsible for filling its own vacancies by recruiting community volunteers.
The commission office budget for fiscal year 2002 is $647,000, which includes $471,000 for staff salaries, and the remainder for operating costs. The 2001 budget was $955,000, which included money for board elections.
Of 223,000 ballots sent out by the commission, 67,000 were returned, or about 30 percent. Commission Executive Secretary Ben Kama said that has been about the average return for the past 10 years.
Kama is among those who believe the board system remains strong and is an important part of city government. But a few of the boards need help, he said.
"We are looking at all of the boards now and finding out what the problems may be and how can we rectify them," Kama said. "There is still a lot of interest in the neighborhood board system. This is still the avenue through which they can get through to government."
Vacancies on some boards are so chronic that the commission asked its office staff to conduct an investigation into the problem and suggest solutions.
"We are very concerned that each board has its required number of members," said Iwamoto. "This is not too long after the latest elections, and we are finding that some people, for one reason or another, are having to drop out or are having their seat declared vacant."
Advisory role
The decline in board participation is due partly to the fact that any resolutions or recommendations made by the board are only advisory; it has no enforcement power and cannot require even its City Council member to abide by its wishes. Developers often make presentations before boards seeking approval for new projects, but it is largely a courtesy call, with the real approval coming from City Hall.
As anyone who spends time watching public access television can see, board meetings often become a venue for a small group of people to dominate discussion on familiar topics, including park maintenance, traffic and crime.
DorothyRose Babineau helped found the Kailua Neighborhood Board and served as an elected member for more than 25 years. She said residents and board members become frustrated when their advice is ignored.
"It is hard to make people understand (the boards) have no power," Babineau said. "We tried very hard in the beginning to get a green belt around Kailua, and we were stymied all the way by developers.
"The boards were formed to have people come and tell us what they want us to do, but when people ask for (zoning) variances, the city will send us the variance and ask our opinion. We write back saying either grant it or not, but they do whatever they like anyway. It doesn't make any difference."
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the boards often influence the scope of a development when their recommendations are relayed to the City Council. They also have contact with Mayor Jeremy Harris through his representatives, who attend every meeting. Other elected officials, mostly legislators, also send representatives and respond to board requests.
The Wai'anae Coast board is the largest and one of the most successful in the system, with 25 members. The meetings usually overflow with residents. Chairwoman Cynthia Rezentes said the board's power is not necessarily in lawmaking but in making issues public.
"We can advise until we are blue in the face, but I don't think the Waimanalo Gulch is going to close," Rezentes said, referring to a long-standing dispute with city officials who want to expand a municipal dump.
"We have raised the issue to Mayor Harris, and there are a lot of people watching it. At least it brings the issue before the public and gets it talked about," she said.
Consolidation an option
Three months ago Ed Gall announced he needed to resign from his seat on the Kuli'ou'ou/Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board.
Every month since, the board chairman asks if anyone wants to be nominated to represent the Wailupe Peninsula area to fill his seat. No one has stepped forward.
Now the board wants to consolidate several of the areas represented on the board, something other boards might consider. The recommendation will go before the Neighborhood Commission, Kama said, and public hearings will be held before the commission issues a decision.
In Kane'ohe, which has a large board with 17 members representing 14 subdistricts, there had been a chronic problem with vacancies, Kama said. But once the board consolidated, all the vacant positions were filled.
Wai'anae board member Patty Teruya said each board with a vacancy problem should be reviewed closely.
"We have to ask, what is wrong with that area?" she said. "What is wrong with the lack of people coming out? Is it the chairman's leadership? Are people disappointed with what the boards are doing? Maybe the board is too big. Shall we cut down the subdistricts and do it at-large?
"When you don't have a quorum, when you can't fill up your seats, there is a problem there. You've got to come up with constructive, creative ideas."
Recent rivalry
For some people, neighborhood boards face their greatest challenge from the so-called vision teams created by Harris in 1999 to decide how the city spends some of its money. Some people see a direct relationship between the rise of the vision teams and decline in neighborhood board participation.
The 19 vision teams are each allotted $2 million annually to spend on long-range community projects, which include everything from building bike paths to sculptures and beautification measures.
Anyone can sit on a vision team without taking on the commitment of serving a specific term. The teams aren't required to post an agenda, they don't need a quorum to vote, and they don't have to abide by the state's open-government law.
Neighborhood boards are each given $1 million a year for community projects, but they are asked to spend it on repair and maintenance of city facilities in their communities.
"Some board members feel sort of cheated, because while they are elected and have to abide by the sunshine laws, the vision teams have a greater purview, a greater budget and staff to help them," Iwamoto said. "There is sort of a dilemma there."
Costa said the two groups have very different missions, with the vision teams looking into long-range projects that normally would not be board business.
Babineau said the boards and vision teams are getting money from the same source to spend money in the same community without even talking to each other.
"A lot of people on our board are (mad) at the vision teams," Babineau said. "They are bumping heads. I think they should either disband the board or the vision team."
Iwamoto, who was an early chairwoman of the Palolo board, said the future of the boards is up to the residents of each community.
"If we go back to the premise of why the neighborhood boards were formed, I think we will be reminded that the mission is to represent the people in your area," she said. "Then I think we will be a lot better off."
Advertiser staff writer Suzanne Roig contributed to this story.
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
