By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer

Q. I waited in line last week on my lunch hour at the Ala Moana Satellite City Hall for one hour and 10 minutes and the city had ONE person behind the counter to process transactions with at least 30 people in line. Then another person appeared and a collective gasp went up in the line — at last, help! But, no — this person began processing mail-in transactions! Why?

A. City Customer Services Director Carol Costa said the long lines that day happened because two deadlines running close to one another brought in the crowds: The property tax deadline on Aug. 20 and voter registration primary deadline Aug. 22. The Ala Moana satellite had six people on duty that day. The satellite has eight staff members but since it's a six-day operation, there is always one person off and that day another person was on leave.

Costa said the staff staggers their lunch breaks so that one person is working in the back, one at the cashier station, one on the counter, and one person screening the line. She said the manager checked the paperwork of people in line and opened a second cashier station but since she did not have a staff person available full-time, she took her customers' transactions over to the cash register to save them the time of waiting in the other line.

Lunch hour at the satellites tends to be very busy, but Costa said that the manager was short-staffed and doing everything she could to handle the crowd. Our suggestion? Try first thing in the morning or late afternoon.

Q. What do I do about a tree in front of my house? Can I cut it down if I don't like it? Or can I get the city to plant one for me on the setback?

A. If you want a tree planted in the four-foot setback in front of your house, call the Honolulu Division of Urban Forestry, Department of Parks and Recreation, at 971-7151.

Costa said the division will send someone out to see if there's room to plant. In many cases, the reason there's no tree is that the area is too narrow, there are low power lines, or it's too close to an intersection or a fire hydrant. You're not allowed to remove trees from the city setback, but the city will come out and prune a tree. You can also call the urban forestry office if you think a tree is diseased. A caution: even the Bureaucracy Buster had trouble busting the bureaucracy in the forestry office, so hang tough and let us know if you don't get satisfaction.

Do you ever get frustrated or confused trying to navigate the various layers of government? If you have a question or a problem and need help getting to the right person:

• e-mail: buster@honoluluadvertiser.com

• Phone: 535-2454 and leave a message.

Be sure to give us your name and daytime telephone number.