Cuts won't lead to layoffs, city's budget chief says

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

City Council Budget Committee Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi promised last night that there will be no layoffs as a result of cuts she is recommending to the Harris administration's proposed operating and construction budgets.

Kobayashi told an overflow crowd in the City Council chambers that the city is on the "edge of a financial disaster" and tough cuts need to be made. Despite fears expressed by city officials that the proposed cuts may lead to layoffs, she assured the crowd that no one will lose a job and there will be no reduction in emergency services to the public.

Kobayashi also said she will honor all money earmarked for city neighborhood board and Vision Team projects.

More than 350 people signed up to testify on the city's proposed operating and construction budgets. The crowd, described by Councilman Steve Holmes as the largest to attend a public hearing in years, crammed into the chambers.

There were so many people that Honolulu Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi, who was there to testify, asked City Council Chairman John DeSoto to delay the hearing until aisles could be cleared in case of emergency.

Public testimony ran well into the night and most of the people who spoke asked that the council not make any cuts to the budget. The budget bills will go back to Kobayashi's committee and a final draft is expected to be voted on by the full council in late May.

Mayor Jeremy Harris submitted a $1.1 billion operating budget request for 2002-03 and a $475 million construction budget. The money would allow the city to continue popular activities, such as the Brunch and Sunset on the Beach programs.

But Kobayashi has recommended a 5 percent across-the-board cut to most city departments. She also has suggested no more than 1 percent cuts in areas that address public safety, including police, fire, emergency services, civil defense and the medical examiner's office.

The Harris administration called the proposed cuts irresponsible. The mayor said the cuts could result in 146 city employees being laid off and lead to the city having problems purchasing basic supplies.

Last night Kobayashi said her proposal was a just a first draft and was made before she received important budget information from the administration. For example, Kobayashi said, she was unaware of $30 million for vacant city positions that can be tapped for other uses.

Regardless, she said, cuts will have to be made or the city would have to raid other areas of the budget, such as the sewer fund.

City Managing Director Ben Lee said Kobayashi is suggesting a 90 percent cut from his office's budget that he said will lead to layoffs. The cuts also would eliminate the city's Office of Economic Development, he said.

Lee said the city has operated on bare-bones budgets for seven years, but has still managed to provide the needed services.

"It is just as important to provide our kids the needed positive recreation facilities and have our kids learn how to swim, as it is to repair roads and sewer lines," Lee said. "And we have been able to do both."

He added that the Sunset on the Beach program has not a "frill," as was suggested by Kobayashi.

"These are programs that help the community businesses, support our visitor industry and foster community pride," Lee said. "It's our jobs."

Others who testified last night ranged from elected officials and business executives to private individuals who supported community projects.

Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue testified that his department already is dealing with a streamlined budget and he opposed even a 1 percent cut. He said negotiated raises with police officers will cost nearly $7 million in 2003, but the department has been allocated only $3 million.

"This essentially causes us to begin fiscal year 2003 in the red by $4 million to $5 million," Donohue said.

Leonardi echoed Donohue's concerns and said the cuts would force his department to postpone its January 2003 recruit class. Leonardi said the department already has agreed not to fill 36 vacant positions at a savings of $1.2 million.

Kobayashi, however, told the two chiefs that there will be enough money budgeted so that no recruit classes would have to be eliminated.