Hawai'i Kai gets new 'City Hall'
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
HAWAI'I KAI — The city is poised to open its final satellite city hall Saturday — completing an effort begun three decades ago to bring city services to O'ahu's communities.
What: The city will hold grand opening ceremonies for its Hawai'i Kai satellite office. When: 10 a.m. Saturday Where: Hawai'i Kai Corporate Plaza, corner of Kalaniana'ole Highway and Keahole Street. For more information: Call the city at 523-4834.
The new office — the city's 11th — will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. At the office, residents will be able to do much more city business than they could at the three-times-a-week mobile satellite city hall that has been visiting the area and parking at the Koko Marina Shopping Center parking lot. As of Saturday, that mobile service will be discontinued. Eventually, residents may even be able to renew their driver's licenses, said Carol Costa, city spokeswoman.
At a glance
"This has been four years in the making," Costa said. "The mayor had always wanted an East Honolulu facility. This now completes our network of 11 satellite offices around O'ahu."
The new office is 1,800 square feet on the ground floor of the Hawai'i Kai Corporate Plaza, on the corner of Kalaniana'ole Highway and Keahole Street. The city spent $200,000 remodeling and equipping the satellite office, Costa said.
The office will process motor vehicle transactions, picnic and camping permits, bus passes, spay/neuter certificates, permits for disabled parking, loading zone permits, fireworks permits and licenses for dogs, bicycles and mopeds.
The city began establishing satellite city halls in 1973 as a way to provide outreach to the community, said Doug Woo, city spokesman.
The East Honolulu office was to have opened last fall, but the recent West Coast dock workers dispute delayed the delivery of the furnishings and a lag was created when the entire board of trustees at Kamehameha Schools had to approve the terms of the lease. Kamehameha Schools owns the corporate plaza.
The satellite service bus used for East Honolulu will be used as a backup. Currently only the communities of La'ie and Hale'iwa are served with a mobile satellite city hall, Costa said.
The manager for the East Honolulu center will be Elizabeth Lee.
Correction: The communities of La'ie and Hale'iwa are served with a mobile satellite city hall. Information in a previous version of this story was incorrect.
