ANALYSIS
Council heads into 2004 bruised by tough first year
With more tough issues on the horizon, continued lack of direction and leadership could hinder the council's effectiveness
By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hampered by inexperience, weak leadership and ever-shifting political alliances, the nine-member City Council enters its second year faced with new challenges in once again balancing the budget, picking a new O'ahu landfill site and coping with an islandwide recycling plan.
The nine members, all elected in 2002 to staggered terms, spent the past year complaining about the policies of Mayor Jeremy Harris, but were unable to agree on competing initiatives of their own.
Politically unpopular choices such as the budget, the bus strike and police pay raises often left the council paralyzed with indecision — unable to say no to spending, yet not inclined to raise revenue — until the last moment.
With five members up for re-election in a Sept. 18 primary — the terms of the others expire in 2006 — many wonder if the council will be able to put aside politics as it faces an $87 million budget shortfall, the selection of a landfill site that no one wants in their neighborhood and Harris' proposal to expand the Mililani pilot recycling program to the entire island.
Lowell Kalapa, president of Tax Foundation of Hawai'i, doubts it.
"This council is unwilling to take political heat," he said.
But Donovan Dela Cruz, named council chairman in October, disagrees.
"The perception may have been that we weren't able to take the heat, but I think it's important to note that as a body we always try to look at alternatives before we even consider a tax increase," he said.
The nine council members all won their seats in the nonpartisan 2002 elections, the result of new term limits that saw the departure of five longtime council members. The nine included six first-time members: Dela Cruz, Mike Gabbard, Barbara Marshall, Charles Djou, Rod Tam and Nestor Garcia. Carry-over members Romy Cachola and Gary Okino each had two years experience on the council and Ann Kobayashi had one year.
Four of the nine were elected to four-year terms, but five received two-year terms, to avoid a wholesale election of all members in the future. The result is that the five — Gabbard, Marshall, Kobayashi, Cachola and Garcia — will have to run for re-election this year.
One downside of the term limits is that the veterans left at the same time.
"It's unfortunate there is no institutional memory. There is no opportunity to learn from their seniors — people who have been there before — and it shows," Kalapa said.
With the new members forging shifting alliances, the council had two chairmen. Dela Cruz replaced Okino in October, but Budget Chairwoman Kobayashi was seen as the driving force behind the council.
With no strong leader to articulate the council's philosophy, the council appeared to lack direction.
"You can't figure out what their guiding philosophy is," said Ira Rohter, a University of Hawai'i political science professor and chairman of the Hawai'i Green Party.
Okino was willing to speak out for what he thought was right, regardless of ramifications but could not find enough support among other members and was removed as chairman after challenging Kobayashi's handling of the budget.
Dela Cruz denies any member holds more influence than another, or that some members are isolated for going against the majority. "There is no Siberia on the City Council. There's only nine of you and every member can make as much impact as they want to," he said. "Everyone has something to offer."
The one constant
If there is one theme to the council's actions the past year, it was money.
Despite misgivings, the council approved increases in real property tax rates, the motor vehicle weight tax, building permit fees, the costs to connect to the city's sewer system, and the price for the city's spay and neuter certificates, as well as raising bus fares twice.
Even with contentious hearings last spring, the council ultimately gave unanimous approval to a budget that led to two financial fiascos in the latter half of the year.
In August, the council committed itself to raising bus fares to cover a $6.8 million deficit in the bus fund to settle contract negotiations with bus drivers who ultimately went out on a monthlong strike. But the council balked when trying to decide which riders would bear the greatest burden.
Before the buses were back on the street, the city was hit with another bill, this time for $5.8 million for the first year of an arbitrated contract for police officers. The council approved the contract, but tried to avoid the motor vehicle weight tax increase the administration proposed to pay for it.
In both instances the council had to concede at the 11th hour it had no choice but to approve the increases.
Kalapa suggested the council could have anticipated both situations and provided for them during the last budget cycle when there were more options.
"They constantly seem to be scrambling," he said. "They went from fire to fire to fire."
Take, for instance, the battle over paying the police raises. While saying they were committed to paying the raises, the council adjourned for the year Dec. 3 without finding money for them, only to have Harris drag them back in for a special session on Christmas Eve to pass the motor vehicle weight tax increase as originally proposed.
"It made them look like such dolts," said Neal Milner, a political science professor at UH.
Dela Cruz optimistic
Milner had expected the council to be more assertive, especially on financial issues. He also pointed to the council's lack of experience and an inability to reach consensus as the greater problem.
"There wasn't agreement," he said. "The council never really got its act together about how to exert this kind of initiative."
After the beating the council took last year, Kalapa is not terribly optimistic that things will be better as the council gears up for a second round. "They may be licking their wounds, but I don't know if they know how to avoid getting them this year," he said.
But Dela Cruz called the 2003 a transitional year, not just for the new members, but a new city clerk and auditor, as well. He offered as an example an unscientific survey posted on the council's Web site at www.co.honolulu.hi.us/council that will help the council set priorities for the upcoming year, as well as help the council members establish a long-range plan.
He also noted the council is making a stronger push at the legislature for taxing authority and a share of the uncontested traffic fines.
Also, he said, the council was able to accomplish certain things during 2003, such as sparing low-income bus riders from the second bus fare increase last year, banning replica guns and tightening restrictions on alcohol in public places.
"I think we're really going to go into 2004 very, very strong. I think we're also going into 2004 very, very proactive," he said. "We're really trying to get ahead of the curve and keep our eye on the ball."
Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
