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The City Council enters a busy week of committee meetings. Council members have been briefed on departmental budgets, but it remains to be seen how they’ll try to alter the mayor’s spending plan. Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.

Council Advances Measure to End Subsidy

1:18 p.m.
City Council members advanced an amended version of Bill 47 to get a second reading before the full City Council. At the same time, City Council members Stanley Chang and Ann Kobayashi say they’re working on legislation that explores a new, smaller discount than the one already in place for recycling companies.

Companies that recycle at least 2,000 pounds per month are eligible for an 80 percent discount on post-recycling residue that goes into the landfill. Kobayashi says it might be reasonable to reduce that amount to 60 percent.

Supporters of Bill 47, which would eliminate the discount, argue private companies should eliminate the discount.

“Any business model that is dependent upon government handouts ought not to succeed in the free market,” said Matthew LoPresti, a lobbyist for Paragon Metals advocating for Bill 47. “I’m strongly in favor of getting rid of that tipping fee (discount).”

Chang Outlines New Version of Bill 47 to End Recycling Subsidy

11:40 a.m.
The Public Works and Sustainability Committee is discussing at this hour. The measure would eliminate a major subsidy for recycling companies that costs the city about $2 million annually.

“This is a revenue issue for the department,” Environmental Services Director Tim Steinberger said.

In a new version of the bill, committee Chairman Stanley Chang says waste from one-day community recycling events — like Aloha Aina days, which have been at the center of debate over the measure — would be exempt from paying any fees.

City Council member Stanley Chang says he sees “a reversal of roles” as the city struggles economically while the recycling industry thrives.

“We simply cannot afford a subsidy of a very large magnitude,” Chang said.

Chang said he’s also working on drafting a new bill that would provide “a limited discount for recyclers that makes more sense for the city and for our taxpayers.”

Cachola to Roads Chief Nominee: “We’ll Be Watching You” For Conflict

10:57 a.m.
City Council member Romy Cachola cautioned the mayor’s nominee to lead the , Westley Chun, about conflicts of interest.

Chun’s to the city shows he owns tens of thousands of dollars worth of stock in a CH2M Hill, an engineering firm that does business with the city.

“Officially, my status is that I’m still officially an employee… on a leave of absence,” Chun said during a Public Works and Sustainability Committee meeting this morning. “We worked out together that upon confirmation I will officially resign from the company and sell my stocks.”

Cachola indicated he’s still uneasy about the link.

“Your former employer has a lot of contracts with the city,” Cachola said. “Financially, there lies the conflict… We’ll be watching you.”

Chun says he understands the concerns, and will take steps to remove even perceptions of conflict. Friends, family members and a former colleague turned out to testify in support of Chun.

City Council members Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, Stanley Chang and Ann Kobayashi also spoke in strong support for Chun, citing his leadership and commitment to public service. Council member Tom Berg called him “a revolutionary.” After the committee unanimously advanced his nomination for approval by the full City Council, Cachola offered some words of support as well.

“I know I asked pointed questions, and he passed with flying colors,” Cachola said.

Read more of Civil Beat’s coverage on the department Chun is set to lead:

• Road to Riches: Overtime at City Road Division, November 15, 2010

Honolulu Officials Say Tsunami Response Needs Improvement

10:29 a.m.
Leaders from the city’s Emergency Management Department briefed City Council members on the response to the tsunami warning earlier this month. Areas they identified that need improvement include:

• Insufficient number of refuge areas
• More evacuation options for coastal residents with only one road away from their homes
• Better use of the web for informing citizens

“Having the public actually use that information and not panic, that continues to be our challenge,” said Peter Hirai, the city’s Emergency Management deputy director. “People need to be personally prepared, and not think of the government as the panacea of being taken care of… That message continues to elude a large portion of the population.”

City Council member Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo said she hoped to see the city make better use of tools like the city website and Twitter.

“Having something on the city’s (homepage),” Gabbard Tamayo said. “Using things like Twitter and all these other free things that are available and we can put in at relatively little to no cost.”

Ikaika Anderson: “We’re Simply Getting Robbed” by the State

10:14 a.m.
Some City Council members say it’s not enough to tell state lawmakers to keep their hands off the money the city raised for rail through an Oahu tax surcharge.

City Council member Tom Berg is introducing a that urges the state to revisit how much of the GET surcharge it keeps as a processing fee. Berg said the state is keeping 10 percent, which he says is more than it needs for processing.

“This skimming off the top is unjust and unwarranted,” Berg said. “They are acting in bad faith … The state’s profiteering off the rail tax.”

Berg said he feels so passionately about the issue that there are certain adjectives he wouldn’t use in the formal council setting. City Council member Ikaika Anderson calls it theft on the part of the state.

“It’s my firm belief that we are actually getting robbed by the Legislature,” Anderson said. “We’re simply getting robbed and our taxpayers are getting robbed. … I’m hopeful we can find folks across the street who agree with us.”

Resolution 11-91 reads: “The Council finds it unconscionable that the State annually keeps millions of dollars of county surcharge proceeds to reimburse itself for costs related to administering the surcharge which are far less than the ten percent retained by the State.”

It calls for an audit to show the amount it costs for the state to process the GET surcharge.

Read the .

Council Committee Advances Reso Making Chengdu as “Sister City”

9:36 a.m.
City Council members on the Committee on Safety, Economic Development and Government Affairs advanced that would make Chengdu, in China’s Sichuan Province, a “sister city” to Honolulu.

Committee Chair Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo says she hopes to find ways to make the partnership more than merely “ceremonial.”

Discussion Resumes on Bill to End Recycling Subsidy

The City Council’s Public Works and Sustainability Committee is this morning taking up , the 2010 measure that would end a hefty city subsidy for major recycling companies.

The company that benefits the most from the subsidy is Schnitzer Steel, which has fought hard against the bill. At stake is about $1.9 million per year that could either stay with Schnitzer or go to the cash-strapped city.

It’s likely Shnitzer spokeswoman (and former City Council member) Rene Mansho will turn out for this morning’s meeting. She has been the smiling face of Schnitzer’s Aloha Aina community recycling program, which Schnitzer was using as a bargaining chip in the fight to keep its subsidy until that approach “backfired,” according to the company’s former general manager.

To read more about Bill 47, check out our earlier coverage:

• Former GM: Scrap Yard Doesn’t Need Subsidy, March 24, 2011

• Should Private Scrap Yard Get $1.9 Million Subsidy From Honolulu, March 21, 2011

Read the for this morning’s committee meeting.

Catch Up on This Month’s Inside Honolulu

March 23, 2011: Gov. Neil Abercrombie makes a quick exit; Federal, state, city officials cheer rail project.

March 22, 2011: TAT grab deferred; Third boiler one year from completion; Furloughs still possible.

March 21, 2011: Honolulu awards two new rail contracts; All four mayors talk labor; Firefighters get boisterous at City Hall; City Council continues budget briefings.

March 17, 2011: City Council questions necessity of long-planned bond float for rail; Lengthy executive sessions moves rail talks behind closed doors; Aging bus fleet, city workers.

March 16, 2011: City Council tables transit resolution; City Council members slam administration’s proposed fuel hike.

March 15, 2011: City Council member Ann Kobayashi tips off rail opponents to try to change City Council member Ikaika Anderson‘s mind; Rail arguments to continue in court next week; City Council members get an extension on HART nominations.

March 15, 2011: Honolulu spends $900 million on booze; Santa Claus moves to Pearl City; Mayor Peter Carlisle takes a 15 percent pay cut.

March 10, 2011: Landfill site-selection committee meets for third time, loses two members; HECO provides generators to family center; Like Honolulu, other cities and state grapple with spending on rail.

March 9, 2011: City’s rail groundbreaking ceremony costs about $30,000, consistent with Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle‘s estimate.

March 8, 2011: HART seeks $21 million in first budgetl; City IT Director Gordon Bruce works out kinks on new budget website; City gives HPD 9,000 hours in legal defense in two years; City moves forward with compost facility in Waialua; Could Honolulu ask residents to pay-to-play?

March 7, 2011: Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle says he doesn’t want a raise; Salary Commission recommends bump in pay for vacant medical examiner job; Tom Berg‘s chief of staff blasts HECO.

March 4, 2011: Landfill channel not designed to handle rainfall equivalent to storm that caused near-catastrophe; Six City Council members out of town.

March 3, 2011: Line-by-line budget to go online in about a week; Five City Council members are D.C.-bound.

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.