Posted on: Friday, February 25, 2005

EDITORIAL
Ambitious plan; ball is in Hannemann's court

Taking perhaps a page from John. F. Kennedy's book, Honolulu's new mayor used his first State of the City address to call on O'ahu's citizens to contribute more, do more and, yes, pay more to help their city succeed.

Mufi Hannemann's speech pulled no punches on the challenges facing Honolulu in the years ahead: major sewer improvements, rebuilding our roads and finding ways to make our parks and recreational facilities more self-sustaining.

Clearly Hannemann expects a measure of sacrifice from his fellow citizens as he works to reshape city government.

And that's a fair request, given the list of challenges ahead.

Harris blamed

Hannemann also made it clear, in unvarnished terms, that he sees former mayor Jeremy Harris as primarily responsible for the headaches the city faces today.

Harris, he said, put off critical spending and borrowing for basic needs, overextended on glamour projects such as the massive new sports complexes in Central O'ahu and used temporary fixes to deal with underlying financial problems.

"A clever game of budgetary obfuscation and misdirection was clearly perpetrated on the people of the City and County of Honolulu by my predecessor to delay raising taxes or cutting services," he said.

Strong words.

But the fact is Harris' approach was popular and responsive to voters and taxpayers who consistently want more but wish to pay less. That approach can only go so far.

Hannemann will now have to set aside his disappointment with the previous administration and move ahead with his own set of solutions and dreams.

It can be done

And Hannemann's outline for those solutions are down-to-earth, straightforward and — with the right cooperation from the City Council — more than possible to accomplish.

Despite soaring property values, Hannemann said, the city cannot afford general property tax rate reductions this year. That means the average homeowner or property owner will pay more. For what?

Well, for starters, your higher property taxes (and remember, even renters pay property taxes, at least indirectly, to their landlords and through their purchases of goods and services) will pay for:

• A rapidly escalating program of sewer repairs and upgrades around the island, funded in part by a 25 percent boost in monthly sewer fees during the first year, with smaller subsequent increases to follow.

And we'll hold Hannemann to his promise to use the sewer money for nothing but sewers — no borrowing to fund other services, as had been the practice in the past.

• A "war on potholes" that will be the first stage in what Hannemann says is a necessary program of getting the city's road repair and resurfacing program on a sensible schedule. It's about time.

• Substantial infusions of new cash into upgrading public safety, including our communications systems, fire trucks and police equipment. Indeed, public saftey is a vital city service that must not be compromised.

• A comprehensive program of park maintenance. Hannemann suggested strongly that park users and others who make use of the city's recreational amenities will soon be facing new user fees to get on the courts and playing fields.

• Streamlining and speeding up the delivery of basic city "counter" services such as building permits, adding night hours at Satellite City Halls and more.

Cooperation needed

Hannemann is right in pointing out that his ambitious goals will not be reached without the cooperation of everyone in City Hall, from long-term city workers to the council, which often finds itself at cross purposes with the mayor, whoever he or she happens to be.

Taxpayers do not want, nor should they be forced to pay for, political paralysis and endless debate. And Hannemann's heart, enthusiasm and commitment to the job are encouraging signs that things will improve.

The new mayor made it clear he will ask all of us to pay, in time and taxes, for what he hopes to deliver. That's a reasonable request — but the primary responsibility for making it work rests squarely on the new Hannemann administration and its team at City Hall.