Posted on: Tuesday, March 22, 2005

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

OK, pau already. We get the picture.

We've heard all the stories about how Jeremy Harris fancied himself a Modern Merrie Monarch, hosting movies, putting up plaques, publishing his memoir on the city dime and generally putting a happy face on Honolulu while the sewers leaked and the roads caved; the blatant self-promoter, eager to attach his name to anything positive that happened in town and avoiding Bob Watada at cocktail parties.

We got it loud and clear.

But he's gone now, off giving speeches in far away places like Belize, impressing folks with stories about what a great mayor he was and how he made Honolulu a sustainable city.

(Even though it is not a sustainable city.)

Harris has moved on. Time for Mayor Hannemann to move on.

We're near the end of March now and still most of the news coming out of City Hall is about Jeremy Harris.

It's like starting a new relationship with someone who only wants to talk about how rotten the ex was. He's gone. Let it go. Make a new life. Fresh start.

Hannemann needs to make his mark as mayor doing Hannemann things, not undoing Harris things.

The "need to have versus nice to have" credo is a great thing for a city that has been left neck-deep in debt over pretty projects. However, more emphasis should be put on obtaining the "need" side of the equation rather than pointing out all the wasteful "nice" stuff that went down. Fix the sewers, fill the potholes. Leave the trees and the expensive trash cans alone for now.

Poho, yes, but more poho throwing good money after bad.

Putting the brakes on city spending for Sunset on the Beach is one thing. Yanking out trees is another. Undoing construction is still spending on construction.

If Hannemann is going to pick through every stitch and knot Harris made, he had better be sure that his own actions can stand up to the same inspection by the next mayor that comes along. One false move, one overly lavish party or curly koa desk, could make him look like the biggest hypocrite ever to ascend the stairs at Honolulu Hale.

The City Council should be careful about pointing fingers and casting aspersions as well. Members seem all too delighted to be waving papers and clucking tongues over the way Harris spent money and moved money around. However, many of them were right there in office when Harris was doing all the questionable spending they're only now questioning. It may be a matter of degrees, but there is the smell of complicity.

If something criminal went down under the former administration, by all means, dig that up and let's have a good look. But if it's more driving by looking at the rear-view mirror, we'll never get anywhere. Move on already. There's more work to do than there is work to un-do.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.