The recent commentary by Ken Harding ("Chronically broken elevators inexcusable," May 24) did not tell the whole story, and left an unfair and inaccurate impression of the Legislature's attention to the condition of elevators in Hawai'i's public housing projects.

No one questions that our state has an obligation to maintain our public housing projects. To imply that any public servant callously disregards the safety and comfort of anyone in our community is political posturing of the most cynical kind. Mr. Harding does not have a monopoly on compassion, and he was not the first to notice the challenges we face in maintaining public housing.

Hard experience has shown us that public housing projects bear more wear and tear than most residential developments. Acknowledging that truth is not "blaming the victim;" it is facing reality. Add to that the fact that most of Hawai'i's public housing projects are more than 25 years old, and the magnitude of the maintenance challenge becomes clear.

These are not issues that we can leave until we need to earn some political points with the voters. Instead, as concerned public officials, we have taken the lead in providing the planning and funding to address these serious, but complex, concerns.

Problems with our public housing elevators in particular have been a concern for years now, and to say that the Lingle administration is the only one addressing the problem is far from the truth. Since as far back as 2005, the administration has not requested an appropriation specifically for the modernization and repair of public housing elevators statewide. By contrast, the Legislature has for some time been concerned about the backlog of repairs needed in our public housing system, and has been proactive in revamping the Hawai'i Public Housing Authority, assessing, prioritizing and funding the agency to address this backlog.

In this past legislative session, we appropriated $5 million for the 2008 fiscal year to begin the process of upgrading and modernizing public housing elevators. Part of that $5 million will go to hiring a design consultant to provide the state with an assessment of all of the repair and replacement projects needed for public housing elevators statewide, while an additional significant portion of the appropriation will go toward the modernization of all six elevators in the Kuhio Park Terrace public housing project.

According to the HPHA's interim director, the design consultant will begin work in late June and provide the final plans for the elevator modernization project by Oct. 1. The construction contract will be awarded by mid-January with construction commencing on Feb. 1. The elevators will be modernized two at a time, with the worst being modernized first. This modernization project for Kuhio Park Terrace will significantly reduce the frequency of breakdowns, and help the elevators withstand the rigors of heavy use and vandalism.

In addition, we appropriated $20 million for non-routine repair and maintenance to the HPHA; the agency has the discretion to use this money for elevator repairs. The Legislature did not earmark these funds for specific projects to avoid micro-managing the public housing authority, which should be able to best evaluate and assess what issues should be of highest priority for the entire state's public housing projects. In other words, we have provided funding to do what is necessary to serve residents' needs in the short term, as well as invest in long-term solutions to help prevent a recurrence of the situation they have found themselves in for the past few months.

We expect that the HPHA will provide the Legislature with a complete assessment for public housing elevator modernization in time for the 2008 Legislature, and that we will make an additional appropriation for fiscal year 2009.

In short, the area legislators are aware of the problem, and we have been taking action to address it. Mr. Harding's observation that "there's never a shortage of finger-pointing" applies to his letter as well. I hope that in the future, he will research the facts before trying to place blame. We all have a hand in making our community a better place to live for every resident, and the legislators serving the Kalihi area will continue to work hard to support those efforts.

Sen. Donna Kim, D-14th (Halawa, Moanalua, Kamehameha Heights), is vice president of the state Senate.