Harris vetoes parts of budget
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
The $1.5 billion annual spending plan the City Council approved this month was unbalanced and parts of it were illegal, according to Mayor Jeremy Harris, who vetoed several portions yesterday.
"I'm sorry to say that for the second year in a row, the corporation counsel for the city is unable to sign either the operating budget or the capital budget because of violations of the law," Harris said.
But council leaders maintain the budget for the year starting July 1 is legal, that they will seek to overturn the veto of a $11.9 million part that covers the council and city clerk, and will consider overturning other vetoed portions.
Council budget chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said allowing the $11.9 million veto to stand would require the city to fire 119 employees covered by that section.
Council chairman Donovan Dela Cruz said it would also prevent the city from holding fall elections, which are handled by the city clerk.
Harris said that's "nonsense," and that the result would simply be a $2.5 million cut to council spending for travel to Neighbor Island conferences, cell phones and other expenses that aren't vital.
"I don't think there's any reason to be a panic-monger and distort the facts," he said.
Harris said the council's overall spending plan didn't include enough money to finance pay raises for some city workers, wouldn't cover the cost of retrofitting parking meters for higher rates the council approved, and overestimated parking meter revenue. The result is a $1.4 million gap, he said.
Kobayashi said the council relied on numbers supplied by Harris' administration to put the plan together, and shouldn't be blamed for any shortfalls.
She criticized Harris for being out of town during the week the council passed the budget. Harris had gone to Chile and Chicago for speaking engagements on sustainable development and architecture.
Harris also vetoed a restriction that would bar the city from awarding a key contract to the lowest bidder in his plan for islandwide curbside recycling. The provision barred Island Recycling because it has been cited for various health, safety and building permit violations.
Harris said it appeared the council was attempting to illegally steer the contract to another firm that bid higher, Honolulu Recovery Systems. The difference in the bids would be nearly $1 million per year, he said.
Kobayashi said the restriction hadn't been made to help the second bidder, but resulted from concern about Island Recycling's history of problems.
Councilman Rod Tam said the reason budget deliberations had grown so contentious this year is that "councils in the past had been a puppet of the mayor," and that this group was more independent.
"Unfortunately, this has become sometimes a game of personalities," Tam said.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
