City allows construction of new pools to continue
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer
The city can continue with plans to build new swimming pools and skate parks, as the council yesterday shelved proposals to place construction moratoriums on the popular recreational facilities.
Advertiser library photo
The proposed moratoriums had been approved by the Budget Committee but failed to gain final passage by the full nine-member council.
Councilman John Henry Felix's swing vote saved new pool construction.
Council members did approve the $1.1 billion city operating budget for 2002-2003 after restoring most of the cuts the council had originally made to the spending plan submitted by Mayor Jeremy Harris.
By a 5-4 vote, the council rejected a proposed three-year moratorium on new swimming pools, a plan earlier hailed by a majority of the council as a way to cut spending in tough economic times.
Voting to kill the measure were John DeSoto, Jon Yoshimura, Darrlyn Bunda, Steve Holmes and John Henry Felix.
Felix had earlier supported a moratorium but said he had second thoughts because, he said, it's hard to teach children under age 6 to swim in the ocean and East Honolulu residents have been waiting 30 years for a municipal pool.
East Honolulu resident Kelly Washino was among those arguing against the pool ban. As a parent active in the schools and community, Washino is supporting a pool in the Koko Head District Park.
Without a controlled environment to learn, "our children cannot swim. That is just insane for Hawai'i," Washino said. City human resources deputy director Cynthia Bond volunteers as a community facilitator in the East Honolulu vision process. She said the community has waited 30 years for the pool and has installed lockers, showers and restrooms at the park in preparation for the pool.
To now have the pool postponed for years, Bond said, would be "a big disappointment for the community." Council budget chairwoman Ann Kobayashi, who backed the moratorium, assured Bond that she would work with residents on the project.
City Councilman Gary Okino had proposed the pool moratorium as a way to reduce a rapidly escalating operating budget and construction budgets because pools are expensive to build and to maintain.
City officials have said it costs between $7 million and $10 million to build a 50-meter pool, and Kobayashi said it costs about $250,000 a year to staff and maintain one.
Okino said he's worried about how to balance future budgets. "The city is in big financial trouble," he said.
But Councilman Jon Yoshimura asked why the council needs to pass a ban on new pools. "Why do we need a moratorium?" he said. "These pools are needed in our community."
Councilman Duke Bainum disagreed, saying a ban would send the message that in tough budgetary times "we can't have a pool on every block or in every neighborhood."
The Council also voted 6-3 to reject a proposal to put a moratorium on building new skate parks until December 2003. Councilman Romy Cachola had proposed the limit as a way to protect the city from liability likely to be associated with creating the popular skateboard parks.
Cachola questioned whether it's wise for the city to continue rapidly building skate parks.
"How many skate parks are needed to satisfy the needs of the vision teams and neighborhood boards?" Honolulu has seven skate parks now, two more are under construction, five are being planned or designed and eight are in the current year's budget, Cachola said.
But council chairman DeSoto said he did not think the liability issue was a good enough reason to stop building the popular recreational parks. Cachola, Okino and Kobayashi voted in the minority.
The council approved the budget by an 8-1 vote. After the most contentious budget battle in recent years, only 11 people signed up to testify on the bill's final approval. No one from the Harris administration spoke on the budget or was present during the lengthy debate until it neared the end and Bainum specifically requested that the city budget director appear.
Mayor Jeremy Harris drew criticism this year for his budget along with his $475 million construction budget from council members who complained that he is using short-term financial fixes which leave the city likely to raise taxes and fees after he leaves office and facing other uncertain budget woes.
When the budget won final approval yesterday, the budget committee restored most of its original trims to the spending plan sent down by Harris, taking only $5 million out of the $1.1 billion operating budget and trimming about $20 million from the $475 million construction budget.
Councilman Steve Holmes voted against the budget, saying the council cuts were small when compared to the overall budget.
Harris later issued a written statement in which he continued to complain about the cuts. "While the changes the council made represent less than one-half of 1 percent of the budget, many of these changes do appear to be regrettable, such as cutting back funds for emptying the trash cans at bus stops, cleaning city streets and filling potholes," Harris said.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
