Mayor Harris confident he made right decision

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By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer

Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris pored carefully over the polls and the predictions and consulted his closest advisers before concluding he would not win a campaign for governor because "the race was all about me."

"You have to do what you think is the right thing," he said. "As long as you do that, then you can be at peace with the world and at peace with yourself and you can look yourself in the mirror every morning and be happy with what you see. And that's what I did. I did what I thought was the right thing. I recognized that it was not a race that I could win."

Yesterday, in his first extended interview since withdrawing from the race for governor, Harris talked enthusiastically about returning his focus to the city and setting an ambitious agenda for civic improvement during the remaining 2 1/2 years of his term. He pictures a still-greener Waikiki, more programs and events designed to attract visitors and residents and spur the local economy and improved transportation options for commuters.

And he doesn't believe people will hold his decision against him.

"I've been inundated with positive e-mails and faxes and letters and phone calls," he said.

With less than four months to the primary election, Harris rocked Hawai'i's political world Thursday when he abruptly withdrew from the race. He had been the Democrats' best hope for governor: a smart, detail-oriented administrator ready to take on the formidable Republican front-runner, former Maui Mayor Linda Lingle.

But Harris said yesterday he grew increasingly concerned that the race was not developing into the issue-oriented debate he had envisioned.

"The race was no longer about issues," he said. "In fact, not one gubernatorial issue had even been raised."

Instead, Harris found himself defending the way he balanced the city budget, defending the cost of such popular public initiatives as "Sunset on the Beach" and his neighborhood "vision teams," defending the way his campaign raised money.

In an hourlong telephone interview, Harris sounded relaxed and confident, more at ease than he had sounded in months. He seemed genuinely confounded by the attacks on his city initiatives, as well as what he saw as an inordinate focus on himself rather than the problems confronting Hawai'i.

Harris shrugged off criticism of his decision to quit, saying it has prompted far more support than second-guessing.

"I didn't have a chance to win in November," Harris said, repeating his statement from Thursday. "If that means I have to step aside for awhile and let my personal ambition take second place, then that's what I'll do."

He said he doesn't believe that changing political course has hurt his credibility.

"Ultimately, you have to just get past it and get on with the job that needs to be done and that's what we're doing," he said.

In recent months, Harris had removed himself from the political fray, leaving his appointees to defend the budget and handle such embarrassing episodes as the indictment of city liquor inspectors accused of taking bribes. The man who had prided himself on being ubiquitous was suddenly hard to find.

Yesterday morning, Harris was back on the radio, talking to KZOO listeners as he does two Tuesdays a month from 8:15 to 8:45 a.m. He worked in a courtesy visit with Albert del Rosario, the new Philippine ambassador to the United States

Today, his schedule puts him meeting with department heads, then heading out to check on construction projects or "site inspections" in Waikiki and Hanauma Bay in the afternoon.

During the next week, expect to see him in Saturday's King Kamehameha parade in Waikiki, meeting Sunday on the Norwegian Star with community volunteers, appearing in the Matsuri festival parade that afternoon and then heading back to "Sunset on the Beach."

Although some called him a quitter, Harris said, "In general, the regular folks have been absolutely wonderful."

He said much of the good feedback involves people who are excited about a neighborhood project or transportation idea. Those are the people who got more involved in their communities because of the "vision" process that allows residents to help decide how some construction money is spent each year in their neighborhoods.

"They've got an emotional interest in making sure that it gets done," Harris said. "They recognize that we're going to get it done."

Harris also said he's gearing up for another year of balancing the budget despite council criticism that some of his short-term financial fixes — debt restructuring, land sales, shifting money from special funds — would haunt the next mayor.

He said it bewildered him when people criticized the budget because the one-time financial fixes implied taxes would have to rise in the future.

"Well, of course, didn't they realize this?" he said. "You can't continue to run the city indefinitely with less taxes and less fees. One criticism was we should have been raising taxes slowly throughout those years. I just philosophically disagree."

He said the money ought to stay in taxpayers' pockets as long as possible, even if that means larger, more abrupt tax increases in the future.

"We're going to try to balance every budget as creatively as we possibly can without raising taxes and fees," Harris said.

Harris acknowledged that he and his wife, Ramona, had wrestled with the emotional decision to quit the race.

"It's been a rough year from a lot of standpoints," Harris said. "It is especially hard for your family."

He said it was hard to see how upset she became when he began wearing a bulletproof vest earlier this year because he had received death threats.

"That just was traumatic every morning for Ramona to see me put on a bulletproof vest," he said. "I quit wearing it."

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.