Mayor Hannemann cuts vision teams' cash
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Mayor Mufi Hannemann will recommend a budget that does not include money for the controversial vision teams that once received as much as $38 million per year to pay for projects in O'ahu communities.
Advertiser library photo
The mayor stopped short yesterday of saying he was killing the teams, which have brought their communities dozens of projects such as traffic-calming measures, new sidewalks and streetlights, and skateboard parks. But he said no separate budget item would be included for vision team spending.
Nu'uanu community signs were among the projects seen through by vision teams.
Hannemann said he doesn't see a need for the "additional layer" of the vision teams when the neighborhood boards are available, and stressed that some of the vision team projects already under way may still be funded.
Engineer and downtown Honolulu resident Stanford Yuen praised Hannemann's decision. Yuen has been neighborhood board member and a vision team member, and he believes that the process has helped improve Chinatown tremendously.
But Yuen also has seen a disconnect between people in some communities about which projects should be the top priority. "I think there will be less confusion in getting the projects approved; I think it will be more focused," he said.
Among the more prominent city projects that resulted from the vision teams were: • Canoe halau for the Maunalua Bay beach park in Hawai'i Kai; cost: $830,000. • Nu'uanu community signs, consisting of a monument at either end of the valley with stone walls, sprinkler systems and landscaping; cost: $576,000. • Hawai'i Kai community sign; cost: $117,623. • Repairs to Ha'iku Stairs, Kane'ohe; cost: $875,000. • North King Street beautification, including streetlights, wider sidewalks and improved landscaping; cost: $1 million. • Improvements to Waimanalo District Park, including a new open pavilion and multi-sports complex; and Waimanalo Beach Park, including renovations to the comfort station, arts and crafts room, new roof for the pavilion and renovated kitchen; total cost for both parks: $2.4 million. Source: Advertiser records
Former Mayor Jeremy Harris created the vision teams in 1998 as a way to get more people involved in the community, but they were criticized by those who felt that a small number of individuals could steer pet projects through without widespread support.
Critics said the teams sometimes circumvented the neighborhood boards, which were created by City Charter to give citizens a more direct voice in their government.
Backers praised the process as one that allowed people in the community to have more direct power over improvements in their neighborhoods.
At their peak, 19 vision teams across O'ahu determined how best to spend $2 million each, or $38 million a year, on city construction projects. But by late 2002, with more than 305 projects under way and the city facing a lean budget, the Harris administration told the teams to finish what they had started before tackling anything new. Ultimately, the allocation for each team was halved and interest in some teams waned as completion dates lagged.
Today, some vision teams still meet because they have projects that are active, said city spokesman Bill Brennan. But no new teams are being formed, he said.
While some vision teams are very organized and democratic in the process, Yuen said having various agencies approving projects can raise questions about whom officials should listen to first.
He said the downtown board had several members who served on both panels, which helped coordinate the plans.
In Chinatown, Yuen said, the vision teams helped target sidewalk improvements, security cameras, new street signs and street repaving.
Jeffrey Tyau, a La'ie resident who has been a member of the Ko'olaupoko vision team, said the teams offered a good way of providing more community input about priorities and needs within a community. "It was nice to have a more direct say," he said.
But Tyau said the neighborhood boards may be able to accomplish some of the same functions with improved communication and some changes to reach out to more people.
He noted that sometimes it seemed that separate entities within the community were competing when "they should have been one."
In other developments, Hannemann announced the appointment of Baybee Hufana-Ablan as executive secretary of the Neighborhood Commission. Hufana-Ablan is a certified pharmacy technician and a mortgage broker who is active in community groups.
Hannemann said he is discussing how to best use city-owned office space at Honolulu Hale and at Kapolei Hale, so he is considering shifting some Neighborhood Commission offices to Kapolei.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
