City's lawyer says it's too late to overturn mayor's vetoes

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

A new dispute over the city's $1.5 billion budget makes it unclear whether Mayor Jeremy Harris' vetoes of 11 budget items will stand or be overturned.

A written opinion issued late yesterday by the city corporation counsel's office says it's too late for the council to overturn the vetoes, because the new fiscal year covered by the budget began yesterday.

But council leaders say they have until July 21 to take action, because the City Charter says vetoes may be overturned up to 30 days after the mayor makes them official.

Harris said that merely requires that the council vote to overturn a veto within 30 days, but does not give them the full 30 days if the fiscal year begins before then.

The question of which deadline supersedes the other has never been decided in court. But it's not certain the dispute will get that far. It takes six of the council's nine votes to overturn a veto, and support for such a move is not certain.

Harris trimmed $703,000 from the council's budget and vetoed various spending restrictions he said were problematic and in some cases illegal.

The restrictions would prevent the city from awarding a key recycling contract to a company that's been cited for various code violations, and would require the city to subsidize the operation of a popular private trolley that runs from Kaimuki to Waikiki.

The restrictions would also ensure that several cultural and arts groups receive city money.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.