Posted on: Sunday, August 1, 2004

COMMENTARY

By Duke Bainum

The Bainum administration plan for the first 100 days is a plan that will positively affect the lives of each and every citizen in the City and County of Honolulu.

It lays a strong foundation for the future of Honolulu, starting with bringing honest change to the way the city does business, getting back to basics by focusing on the city's core services, and making government more transparent to the public and the press.

Inclusive, honest administration

• Establish a blue-ribbon committee to help identify the most-qualified applicants for appointed positions: I will select members of the Cabinet, boards and commissions who reflect Honolulu's diversity, with a particular focus on gender equity. Ultimately, 50 percent of these appointments will be qualified women.

• We will seek Cabinet members with both public and private-sector experience and the highest ethical standards.

• For the first six months, Cabinet members will be required to spend one morning a month working in a private business relative to their department's activities. They will also be required to spend time on the front line. For example, the director of planning and permitting will process building permits, in order to understand the level of customer service we are providing and how it can be improved.

Honest change

• Freeze all pending contracts of more than $250,000 to review whether they were properly administered and provide the city with needed work at a fair price.

• Establish an independent review board to conduct the contract reviews.

• Add ethics language to all city contracts, and require contractors to take an oath of honesty and fair practice.

• Notify appointees that a breach of ethics will lead to dismissal. Clarify and impose strict restrictions against campaigning on city time.

• Propose charter amendments to strengthen the impeachment process.

• Propose charter amendments to strengthen the city's ethics laws, and create a dedicated source of funding for the ethics commission.

• Propose charter amendments to create a dedicated source of funds for the office of city auditor.

• Work with the state Legislature to give counties more oversight over their liquor commissions.

• Set up a confidential fraud and whistleblower hot line for employees.

• Open city government to the people of Honolulu.

• Once a month, open up City Hall for "Talk Story With the Mayor" nights, allowing the general public to engage in dialogue with the mayor on issues that are important to them.

• Initiate "Talk Story With the Mayor" nights for city employees, allowing dialogue with the mayor on city operations, public service and new ideas.

• Meet with employees of each city department to hear concerns and talk about ways to improve service to the public.

• Discuss improving media relations and access to city offices with members of the Honolulu news media.

The "Bainum Basics"

• Develop road maps on the city's most pressing problems — traffic, sewers and road maintenance — to put us on the road to implementing long-needed and long-neglected projects in these areas.

• Public safety: Work with the new police chief and the Police Department to tackle issues such as officer retention and the police communication system.

• Meet with the Honolulu Fire Department to resolve fire station maintenance and staffing issues.

• Waste management: Work on expanding recycling to the entire island, in phases.

• Re-evaluate recent decisions concerning landfills and H-Power, and consider other waste-management options, with the goal of diminishing our dependence on the landfills.

• Re-evaluate the bulky-item pickup program for the entire island, and address the causes of illegal dumping of trash and abandoned vehicles.

• Parks: Initiate the development of a realistic and effective park master plan, which will include the acquisition of new parks, facilities development and maintenance.

• Department of Planning and Permitting efficiency: Identify backlog areas and utilize emergency hires to temporarily fill positions such as inspectors and plan checkers.

• Address the shortage of drivers license testers to cut down the wait time.

• Work with the city's Elderly Affairs Division to initiate programs on critical services such as support for family caregivers and transportation and housing options for seniors.

Fiscal responsibility

• Review all city lease agreements and all personal-services contracts to identify areas for cost reduction.

• Initiate conversion to an e-procurement system.

• Establish a "dumb project" hotline.

Coordination and Cooperation

• Begin discussions with Gov. Linda Lingle and the state administration to reduce duplication of services between the city and the state on parks, roads and streams maintenance. Work together on a transit system for O'ahu. Coordinate the scheduling of construction projects. Work toward home rule on areas such as the transient accommodations tax.

• Review areas for greater public/private partnerships, such as the zoo, permitting, transit, refuse, and parks and recreation projects.

The Bainum administration will have the depth of knowledge and city experience needed to hit the ground running and to get Honolulu moving in a new direction. We will live by our commitment to bring honest change to city government, and to always put the people's interests before the special interests.

Duke Bainum is a candidate for mayor of Honolulu. His Web site is at www.dukebainum.com.