City struggles to keep up with park maintenance
By Robbie Dingeman and Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writers
Build it and they will come. But who will cut the grass?
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Mayor Jeremy Harris has cut ribbons at an array of popular new recreation facilities in recent years — including parks, playgrounds and even a swimming pool — but the city is now straining to pay for their upkeep and operation amid budget constraints.
Erin Samson, left, and her children, Fil, 13, center, and Michelle, 12, relax after jogging at the Waipi'o park.
And as officials wrestle with calls to slash spending, delay debt repayment, or raid special funds, some question whether the city will be able to support a variety of additional projects that are planned.
"If you build new parks, you have to maintain them," said City Council member Gary Okino, who is running for re-election in November and worries about future bills the city will face. "We're trying to do only what's necessary."
Harris plans to spend more than $110 million on park improvements over the next year. But experiences with some completed projects have underscored the operating costs that come with those improvements.
The city is spending $750,000 a year to operate the $11 million Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Complex, which opened in 2000 amid assurances by Harris that a private group would manage and maintain the stadium and 19 soccer fields at no cost to taxpayers.
Several groups submitted proposals to run the soccer complex, but none was chosen because all called for public subsidies. The city will review additional offers and hopes to select an operator soon, officials say.
Four more soccer fields are under construction. Meanwhile, 31 groundskeeper positions in the Parks Department have been left vacant to save money. The new budget proposed by Harris would provide money to fill 22 of those slots.
City Council members have increasingly expressed concern about such situations. The panel is now considering a three-year moratorium on building swimming pools while an islandwide master plan is created to map out their hours of operation and associated costs.
A $2.3 million pool opened in Makiki in May, and the city plans to spend about $9 million to build several more pools in neighborhood parks.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
"It's silly to build a pool and not be able to keep it open for appropriate hours," council budget chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said.
Despite problems maintaining current soccer fields, the city is building four more fields, with parking, at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park.
She has proposed trimming Harris' $1.1 billion operating budget by $19.2 million, and cutting his $475 million construction budget by $175 million.
City Managing Director Ben Lee said the city would be able to maintain all its facilities under Harris' operating budget, but that Kobayashi's proposals would trigger staff cuts and make it hard to continue.
"Yes, we can maintain what we've built through the next year," Lee said. "But there's no fat. We're down to the gristle."
The administration sees taking care of parks as a vital function, like building roads, he said. "We believe the recreational facility is just as important."
And Harris complained that park maintenance would "plummet" if Kobayashi's cuts are approved, and that they would mean the end of the popular "Brunch on the Beach" and "Sunset on the Beach" events in Waikiki. The city has spent about $1 million on those programs during the past year.
Government watchdog and Hawai'i Tax Foundation President Lowell Kalapa said the city is faced with more difficult choices after years of declining property tax revenues. Kalapa, who is serving on a city budget advisory task force, sees his role as urging lawmakers to concentrate on the core health and safety issues.
"We're there to tell them 'pay attention to these things first.' These are the bread and butter," Kalapa said. "That's like telling the heart surgeon, 'You better do the heart transplant before you do the manicure.' "
Councilman Duke Bainum, who is running for mayor, said the council's move to cut the budget shows how concerned its members are about costs that result from increased city construction.
The council tried "to not stop, but at least start putting on the brakes" on projects that require an extended commitment of city money, Bainum said.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Kobayashi said it makes little sense to continue spending money on new projects when the city can barely pay for what it already has. She said Harris' proposals have merit, but wonders if the long-term costs have been determined.
The goal-post frame is stored in the parking lot at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park, where four more fields will be added.
"It's not that we don't like these other services," she said. "We don't have enough money to operate the city."
On Friday, she saw some city workers beginning to set up for the Waipahu "Sunset in the Park" outdoor movie festivities. "They say they're so short-handed and they already have people working Friday," Kobayashi said. "Is that taking away from their normal job?"
Projects that could be cut or postponed include the $6 million first phase of a swimming pool complex planned for Central O'ahu Regional Park, and a $3 million ballroom dance center there.
Costs for additional projects backed by Harris include:
- $3 million to build a new tennis complex;
- $1 million to design and build an amphitheater at Kalaeloa Regional Park;
- $1 million for a Native Hawaiian Garden and other improvements at Kapolei Regional Park;
- $990,000 to design and rebuild volleyball and basketball courts and a lighting system at Waipi'o District Park;
- $270,000 to design and build an archery range in Hawai'i Kai;
- $2 million to build new pools at the Koko Head and Lanakila District Parks, $425,000 to design another pool at Kahuku District Park, and $650,000 to design a pool and additional parking at Wai'anae District Park.
Bainum said he is concerned that the Waipi'o soccer partnership failed to materialize, and that similar deals will fall through on other projects.
"It unfortunately calls into question the other ones, the tennis complex, the aquatic center," he said.
Instead of cutting his operating budget, Harris wants to tap $60 million from the city's sewer fund and $18 million from the solid waste fund, and to defer some debt repayment. He has characterized the use of money from the special funds as "reimbursements" to the general fund for money spent before the special funds were created.
Kobayashi said she is alarmed that city spending has reached a point where such fund transfers are required to avoid cuts in services.
But Lee disagrees with the reluctance to tap a special fund, and argues that the money isn't immediately needed for its designated purpose.
"I don't understand why she would want to keep all that money in surplus," he said.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070. Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
