ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ

Welcome to Inside Honolulu! The Honolulu City Council has recessed until 2011, but there’s still work to be done. There’s also a council vacancy to be filled, with two weeks until the special election. Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.

4:15 p.m. Real Property Value Dips, City Finds
City property assessors find real property is worth $40 million less in 2011 than the previous year. The change — from $178.35 billion to $178.31 billion — represents a .02 percent decrease.

In a statement released by the mayor’s office, city officials stress that new developments partially offset the decrease. Residential property is actually worth more — its value increased 0.4 percent from $143.41 billion to $143.98 billion — while commercial and industrial properties dropped in value by 2.9 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.

News of the decrease coincides with word that a federal judge approved a multibillion-dollar consent decree to upgrade Oahu’s sewer infrastructure. The city will have to pay for the upgrades largely with property tax revenue. Mayor Peter Carlisle has said he wants more flexibility with regards to property taxes in order to balance the budget.

The City Council will finalize a tax rate in June 2011. That’s when people will learn whether their taxes will go up.

1:10 p.m. Tam’s Troubles Not Over
Outgoing City Council member Rod Tam pleaded guilty to 26 counts of theft last month, but new charges may be coming his way. The Campaign Spending Commission this morning voted to refer a slew of new allegations against Tam to the city’s prosecuting attorney.

At issue is whether Tam may have improperly used campaign funds, falsely reported expenditures and left two contributions unreported. Tam did not attend this morning’s meeting. He’s set to be sentenced for the crimes to which he pleaded guilty in January.

12:05 p.m. Mufi Mum on New Job
There’s just one thing former Mayor Mufi Hannemann will confirm about his next professional move: He’s going to the private sector. The mayor acknowledged “a lot of speculation” that he’s heading to the Hawaii Hotel & Lodging Association, but said he hasn’t made a decision.

“It’s been discussed recently by many people,” Hannemann said. “All I can say at this point, I’m mulling several options that are before me. No decision has been made.”

Hannemann said he is looking forward to returning to the private sector, and community service projects after a post-election period that he said was difficult.

“You put your heart and soul into an election … but I’ve always believed to respect the democratic process. The people have spoken.”

As for a future in government, Hannemann said he’ll consider elective politics. As soon as 2012? “Never say never,” Hannemann said.

11:47 a.m. Official Portrait Unveiling, Unofficial Hale Reunion
The unveiling of former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann‘s official portrait today drew past and present city leadership. Hannemann said many thanks — from former colleagues, his family, voters and the photographer who took his portrait, to Mayor Carlisle for inviting him back — before unveiling the photo and greeting attendees.

The portrait features Hannemann in a suit and tie, perched on the edge of his mayor’s desk, one hand in his pocket and the other resting on his knee.

“I’m always most comfortable sitting at the edge of my seat,” Hannemann said with a laugh. “I didn’t want to sit behind the desk. I wanted to come out front because that’s the way I tried to lead, not behind my desk but out in the public.”

Dozens turned out to greet the former mayor, who turned down requests that he sing, with a joke that he is “on sabbatical.”

“Now I’m part of a great tradition of mayors that have served through the years, beginning with Joseph Fern,” Hannemann said. “The school that bears his name, I went to as a child in Kalihi. I’m very humbled and grateful.”

Among those who stopped by was former Honolulu managing director and failed mayoral candidate Kirk Caldwell. Hannemann and Caldwell greeted one another with a big hug. Caldwell and Mayor Peter Carlisle barely acknowledged one another.

Even Hannemann and Carlisle failed to interact much. They exchanged a nod of recognition, and a handshake after Carlisle gave his predecessor a congratulatory lei.

11:35 a.m. Judge Approves Sewage Consent Decree
U.S. District Court Judge David Alan Ezra told Civil Beat he signed off today on the city’s multi-billion dollar sewage consent decree. Ezra said he’s unable to talk about the specifics on the record, but the move represents a significant step forward.

“It’s an important first step,” local Sierra Club Director Robert Harris told Civil Beat. “We have to be committed to pursuing the plan that all the parties agreed to.”

9:55 a.m. Campaign Spending Commission Considers Latest Rod Tam Money Scandal
The Campaign Spending Commission’s new executive director, Kristin Izumi-Nitao said she isn’t sure what the commission will decide to do about that outgoing City Council member Rod Tam improperly used campaign funds, falsely reported expenditures and left two contributions unreported.

The issue is on the commission’s agenda this morning.

“They could ask staff to continue the investigation, they could ask us to refer it to the prosecutor’s offices or the attorney general,” Izumi-Nitao told Civil Beat. “We just want to keep on top of investigations that have been initiated.”

Izumi-Nitao, who started her job as executive director last month, says the investigation represents a critical part of the commission’s mission.

“We’ve tried to really work with candidates and non-candidate committees to achieve compliance without punitive measures, and that is what we’d like to continue,” Izumi-Nitao said. “But there are situations we need to examine to be able to enforce our laws when they’re not being complied with. We’re not trying to drop the hammer on anyone. It’s really about integrity and transparency.”

9:30 a.m. City Delays Rolling Out New Website
The city is putting off its plan to unveil a new Honolulu website by the end of the year.

“We’re still in debug mode,” Director of Information Technology Gordon Bruce said. “I won’t roll it out without these being solved.”

Bruce said he has a meeting to discuss the site’s progress this week, and will soon have a realistic new target date for the new site to go live.

8:36 a.m. Welcome Back Mufi
Former Mayor Mufi Hannemann and his successor, Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle, will meet at Honolulu Hale later this morning for the unveiling of Hannemann’s official portrait. The portrait — by photographer Dana Edmunds — will assume its place on the wall of the first-floor Honolulu Hale hallway featuring a long line of mayoral portraiture. Edmunds donated the labor costs associated with producing the portrait.

Star-Advertiser Opinions Editor Explains Decision to Run Candidate Commentary

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s decision to run a commentary on rail by one of the District 1 City Council candidates on Monday caught Civil Beat’s attention.

On the day polls opened at Honolulu Hale, the newspaper gave Kioni Dudley about 700 words to explain why he believes the city’s rail plan is Beneath his commentary, the Star-Advertiser included the names of 37 others who signed their support for Dudley’s position.

Opinion editor Lucy Young-Oda said, in retrospect, she might have instead presented all of the names together instead of featuring Dudley’s name more prominently.

“If anything, it might have been a practical, logistical thing that I should have put an editor’s note instead,” Young-Oda said. “(Dudley) is the one who submitted it, and in the rush of layout, we defaulted to standard style when perhaps the wiser thing to do, knowing what the political climate is, an editor’s note. Perhaps that would have been less inflammatory, less noticeable.”

Young-Oda said, ultimately, the timeliness of the rail issue is what drove her decision to publish Dudley’s piece.

“This might be a cusp time, a critical time to make some of these objections or perspectives known before the (final environmental impact statement) gets signed,” Young-Oda told Civil Beat. “Probably if the governor goes and signs it, it goes forward.”

Young-Oda said the paper receives a phone call from one other candidate who complained about the paper’s decision to give one candidate a significant platform for a viewpoint that matters to voters.

“I’d rather not say who,” Young-Oda said. “He apparently asked how did we come to this decision.”

It appears obvious who that candidate could have been. A commenter using the name “Matthew LoPresti, Ph.D.” posted this beneath the article:

“Wow! On the same day the paper runs candidate profiles where strides are taken to ensure a fair presentation of the candidates, they run a special commentary… by one of the candidates. Is the paper endorsing someone who doesn’t really live in the district and is possibly going to be disqualified, or was this just poor timing on their part?

Everyone else was given only 100 measly words to attempt to answer some of these complicated issues, but this carpetbagger gets 700% more time and space to talk about mass transit.”

LoPresti has repeatedly complained about Dudley — and formally challenged his residency, and thus the legitimacy of his candidacy — in this race.