Inside Honolulu: March 3
It’s another busy week at City Hall: Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle’s first budget was unveiled Wednesday, while Honolulu City Council members continue to propose legislation on everything from rail to tackling homelessness. Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.
If Can Do, Can Do
2:25 p.m.
When Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle announced his budget yesterday, he stood next to a table where Managing Director Doug Chin and Budget Director Mike Hansen sat. They helped the mayor answer questions after the briefing. Sitting with them was Information Technology Director Gordon Bruce who was there to explain details a budget-related website. The Carlisle administration will be the first to upload a line-by-line budget for public review.
Bruce and his team even created a special website — and a cheesy acronym — for the massive document: candohonolulu.com, “can do” being short for “Citizens Accessing Numbers Discover Opportunities,” the mayor said.
Officials said the site goes live in about a week, after the City Council has had a chance to review their copies of the administration’s spending plan. Carlisle said he wants the budget to “be looked at by as many human eyes as possible.”
Five Honolulu Council Members Travel to D.C.
10:51 a.m.
The majority of the Honolulu City Council is off-island for the next week or so. City Council members Nestor Garcia, Breene Harimoto, Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, Stanley Chang and Romy Cachola are heading to Washington, D.C., for the 2011 Legislative Conference.
Also on the agenda for those who are D.C. bound: Meetings with Hawaii’s congressional delegation, and maybe some conversations with Federal Transit Administration officials on the city’s rail project.
Chairman Garcia told Civil Beat he’s encouraging council newcomers — all of those traveling except for him and Cachola — to introduce themselves to folks in Washington who do business with Honolulu.
A spokesman for Gabbard Tamayo said the council members will head back to Oahu around March 10.
Different Strokes for Different Counties
9:01 a.m.
Honolulu City Council members have said they’ll take up legislation to crack down on Oahu’s illegal vacation rentals after they get through budget hearings.
Maui County may be moving the other direction. Officials are considering legislation that would establish a process to approve short-term rental permits, according to the . But it may be out of Maui County Council memmbers hands.
The Maui County Planning Committee is recommending moving the proposed regulations to the Maui, Molokai and Lanai planning commissions.
from the Maui News.
Landfill to Open to Public on Sundays
Honolulu officials announced Waimanalo Gulch will reopen to the public on Sundays only. The announcement comes seven weeks after a record, heavy rainstorm caused near-catastrophic damage at the landfill. Environmental Service Department officials wrote in a statement the landfill would also open to commercial loads (except on Sundays).
Waimanalo Gulch is working to meet a series of deadlines to comply with a federal clean-up and repair order. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials say, so far, the landfill operator has met all of its deadlines. A final report about the clean-up process is due later this month. Hours of operations are 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Catch Up on This Month’s Inside Honolulu
March 2, 2011: Mayor Peter Carlisle raises taxes, fees in first budget; More money for autopsies; Liquor commish nominee Wesley Fong talks commission image issues; TheBus turns 40; Ides of March deadline for City Council’s HART nominees.
March 1, 2011: City Council member Breene Harimoto worries about bandaid approach to homelessness; Planning Committee advances North Shore communities plan; Parks and Rec eyes new dog park; Tom Berg pitches Matson containers as possible living space.
