City restores $12 million to budget

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer

The City Council Budget Committee has restored more than $12 million of the $19.2 million it earlier trimmed from the proposed $1.2 billion city operating budget, despite some obvious irritation about the Harris administration spending thousands of dollars to lobby the community against the cuts.

Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi held an informational meeting yesterday to go over the latest draft of the city's operating budget. She emphasized that more money may be restored as the Harris administration answers questions about the spending plan.

Kobayashi said she had received hundreds of calls from people complaining about receiving lobbying letters from city department directors, arguing that the letters were an inappropriate use of taxpayer money.

Councilman Duke Bainum, who is running for mayor, said he received a few calls and letters but was bothered by the tone of the administration letters.

"The result of these letters is to polarize folks," Bainum said. "Is it the best use of city money? I'm not so sure."

City Managing Director Ben Lee defended the letters.

"I think the city is in sound financial condition," he said. "We'll use every resource that we have to communicate with the public."

Lee estimated that more than 10,000 letters went out with 34 cents postage each, meaning that it cost taxpayers at least $3,400 to have one branch of government urge citizens to disagree with another branch of government.

"What a waste of taxpayers' money," Kobayashi said.

Mayor Jeremy Harris has been battling the cuts, with administration officials phoning members of the community, speaking out at neighborhood meetings and mass-mailing letters.

For example, Randall Fujiki, city director of planning and permitting, sent a letter to people who have gone to community vision team meetings that warned the budget cuts proposed by the council "threaten to undermine the progress that has been made."

The City Ethics Commission has received a complaint questioning whether the Fujiki letter was appropriate.

In another budget dispute, Kobayashi had earlier trimmed $74 million from the $475 million city construction budget. However, about half of the cuts — $38 million — has been restored, according to budget worksheets. The construction budget is separate from the city operating budget.

Former City Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura said restoring money to the budget will leave the Council approving a budget not that different from the one Harris submitted.

After a bitter budget battle, Yoshimura wonders what the Council has to show for it.

"There has been a lot of hemming and hawing and not much in the way of coming through on their promises," Yoshimura said. "It shows an alarming lack of experience."

Kobayashi, who has criticized Yoshimura's tenure as Council leader as being too much of a Harris rubber stamp, said the Council would have done more but felt unable to do so because of the financial situation of the city.

Kobayashi objects to the administration tapping special funds such as the sewer and garbage funds to balance the budget. She has said that the short-term fixes postpone the problems until next year when Harris, who is running for governor, will be out of office.

Kobayashi's restoration of the cuts is an acknowledgment that those special funds must be tapped to balance the budget.

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