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This is our kind of news week at City Hall. There is tons going on, and serious debate about everything from rail to the budget and the city’s commitment to the arts. That’s just the beginning. Beyond press releases and the items of meeting agendas, Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.

City Transportation Chairman Heads to Copenhagen

6:01 p.m.
City Council Transportation Chairman Breene Harimoto leaves on Sunday for a weeklong fact-finding trip to San Francisco and Copenhagen, Denmark, to check out rail systems built by Ansaldo.

Though the company has been criticized for its record in some cities, Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle announced the city plans to award Ansaldo a $1.1 billion core systems contract.

City Council member Ernie Martin will join Harimoto in San Francisco, then travel to Los Angeles to speak to officials there about their experience with Ansaldo while Harimoto goes to Copenhagen.

The trip comes days after the city released an updated financial plan for rail. Harimoto said he scheduled a special Transportation Committee meeting for May 12 to fully vet that plan.

Some Overlap Between Corporation Counsel, HART for Okinaga

4:54 p.m.
Honolulu’s top lawyer, Carrie Okinaga is sticking around until July 30, when her newly announced replacement, Bob Godbey, takes over.

Okinaga said she’ll take another job (but didn’t say what), but she also just accepted a post as one of the volunteer board members for the city’s new transit agency.

Given that a HART timeline from the City’s Rapid Transit Division shows the board will begin meetings with an orientation this month, Inside Honolulu asked Okinaga how her two critical roles will intersect.

Here’s what she told us in a press conference in the mayor’s office Thursday afternoon:

Thanks to Civil Beat’s Michael Levine for capturing her response on his iPhone.

Gas Tax Drives Hate Mail to City Council

4:04 p.m.
City Council member Breene Harimoto says in his job, he gets hate mail “all the time.”

“Right now it’s about the gas tax,” Harimoto said. “People are angry they have to pay so much for gas to begin with, and then we’re adding the tax.”

Council members yesterday advanced a proposal from Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle to increase the fuel tax one cent per gallon in 2012, two cents in 2013 and three cents in 2014. Here’s how council member’s voted:

Ikaika Anderson: No
Tom Berg: No
Romy Cachola: Aye with reservations
Stanley Chang: Aye
Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo: Aye with reservations
Nestor Garcia: Aye
Breene Harimoto: Aye
Ann Kobayashi: Aye
Ernie Martin: Aye

Harimoto’s prediction on the next trend in angry letters: property taxes.

“I think pretty soon it’s going to turn to the property tax when people realize that (the mayor’s) proposal is to raise the property tax.”

Carlisle proposed raising the property tax to $3.50 per $1,000 of property value, up from $3.42 for resident homeowners and down from $3.58 for non-occupant homeowners.

Godbey Said Mayor Twisted His Arm To Take Job

3:37 p.m.
The city’s incoming top lawyer, Robert Godbey, said he wasn’t going to take the job at first. But he and Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle have been “acquaintances for years,” and Godbey said the mayor ultimately convinced him.

“There was a little bit of arm-twisting, yes,” Godbey told Civil Beat Thursday afternoon. “The opportunity to work for the mayor was very important to me. I have great confidence in him and great respect for his integrity, he’s a remarkable fellow. It’s an excellent opportunity to go back into public service. I spent seven years at the Department of Justice and thought that I had done my share then, but Peter talked me into this and I am very excited.”

Asked about his approach to making public records readily available for inspection, Godbey said he would follow the law.

“It seems to me it’s all defined by statutes, so I’m not sure I have a policy decision to make on that,” Godbey said. “I think, in general, I don’t have many policy decisions to make. I think the job of the Corporation Counsel is to implement the policy that the City Council and the mayor and the administration think is appropriate.”

Robert Godbey To Be City’s Next Top Lawyer

2:05 p.m.
Honolulu attorney Robert Carson Godbey, partner in the law firm of Godbey Griffiths is Mayor Peter Carlisle‘s nominee to be the city’s corporation counsel. Godbey’s firm specializes in technology and intellectual property matters and general commercial litigation. He has a degree in in electrical engineering and math from SMU in Dallas, Texas and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1980.

Here’s a snippet from his :

Bob spent the next seven years with the United States Department of Justice, most recently as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii, where he concentrated on white collar fraud and computer fraud. He prosecuted the “Coconut Connection” case, which Forbes magazine identified as one of the largest telecommunications fraud cases on record.

He also wrote the report on Kauai Ka Loko dam disaster.

—Sara Lin

Why are Handi-Van Costs in the Rail Financial Plan Anyway?

12:05 p.m.
We were surprised when Civil Beat reporter Michael Levine told us about one of the more surprising numbers in the city’s new rail financial plan, which was released Wednesday. He reported projected 20-year operating and maintenance costs for TheHandi-Van jumped $468 million compared to the projection in the city’s previous financial plan.

Transportation Services Department Director Wayne Yoshioka explained the city is just being “conservative” about projected growth, and that number may come down in the future. But why does the city include Handi-Van costs in its rail plan anyway?

“It’s in the financial plan, not because it’s part of the rail financial plan package,” Yoshioka told Civil Beat Wednesday. “What it is, is that FTA wants to see all the costs. They don’t want to see a snapshot of what we’re doing in Hawaii. They want to say, ‘OK, if rail’s taking that much, what’s happening here?’ They want to see the total picture of what their federal commitment is in Hawaii over the years. Not only the rail but TheBus as well.”

Read Levine’s story: Honolulu’s Billion-Dollar Door-to-Door Service

Read more about the new financial plan: Honolulu Lowers Projected Rail Cost To $5.3 Billion

Mayor to Announce City’s New Top Lawyer

11:04 a.m.
Honolulu Corporation Counsel Carrie Okinaga is set to become one of 10 of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit’s board members on July 1, and Mayor Peter Carlisle has already found her replacement.

Carlisle, who served as city prosecutor for 14 years, definitely knows his fair share of talented attorneys. But the majority of his Cabinet appointees thus far have been carry-overs from a previous administration. Will Carlisle bring someone from the outside into the role?

We’ll find during a press conference scheduled for 2 p.m.

Toss Junk Computers, Phones at UH today

10:41 a.m.
Need to get rid of old electronics? Drop off your old laptops, cell phones and other electronics at the “e-waste station” at the top of East-West Road as part of today’s Earth Day fair at the University of Hawaii. You have until 5 p.m. to get there.

Berg’s Office Defends Letterhead Use, Slams Ethics Director and Civil Beat

8:39 a.m
City Council member Tom Berg‘s chief of staff wrote a lengthy email to Inside Honoulu this morning, calling our inquiry about Berg’s use of city letterhead “highly provocative… sensationalism.”

“This was not a promotion to boost public attendance,” wrote Berg Chief of Staff Eric Ryan. “This was not about advocacy during an election year. There was no fundraising appeal … Chuck Totto’s explanation to you of ‘public purpose’ in the use of City resources is very, very interesting. When Mufi Hannemann used City letterhead and City staff and City resources to send and organize a press conference about his many ‘accomplishments’ as mayor and his candidacy for governor less than a year ago, Civil Beat and Chuck Totto were remarkably silent.”

Ryan included links to several examples of “use of City resources to attack the quality of news reporting and to attack opponents of (the) rail project.”

“A tea partier is now on the job at City Hall,” Ryan wrote. “And stopping the looting of taxpayers is indeed a ‘public purpose.’ If Mayors Carlisle, Caldwell, and Hannemann can send press releases announcing an appearance at a friendly event to say ‘look at the money I’ve spent’ on some City project, it stands to reason that it’s perfectly okay for Councilman Berg to send a press release which exclaims the opposite virtue.”

Ryan went on to slam Ethics Commission Executive Director Chuck Totto.

“It’s astonishing how quickly he can weigh in on this matter or, before this, come to Chair Garcia’s defense regarding the Kapolei Chamber, when years can go by without a whimper about anyone else’s press releases or even the use of City funds to advance poltical objectives,” Ryan wrote.

He also suggested “sensationalism” on the part of Civil Beat, which he said he assumed “was having a bad day.”

Did Council Member Tom Berg Misuse City Letterhead?

When Honolulu City Council member Tom Berg‘s office last week emailed a press release about his planned appearance at a Tea Party rally, he used City Council letterhead. It featured the City and County seal and the words “City Council, City and County of Honolulu” in big letters.

Are city council members allowed to conduct their own political business in the name of the City Council? Inside Honolulu turned to Ethics Commission Executive Director Chuck Totto for the answer.

“Generally, city resources may only be used for city projects and purposes,” Totto wrote in an email to Civil Beat.Ìý“When councilmembers or other city officials use city email or logo, it should be done for public purposes.ÌýWithout getting into specifics, if a city official sends information to the public using city resources, the information should be related to city issues or projects that the official participates in.” ÌýÌý
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Take a look at this screenshot, showing just the top part of the press release:

What do you think?

Previous Editions of Inside Honolulu

April 20, 2011: City Council member Nestor Garcia discloses his part-time job again and again (and again); City Council advances fuel tax hike; Fireworks legislation back before council; Rail officials submit new financial plan; Kirk Caldwell mulls running for Honolulu mayor, U.S. House.

April 19, 2011: Honolulu to be nation’s first city to comply with federal-standard ID cards; Oahu hotels to get electric-car chargers; Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle launches re-election campaign.

April 18, 2011: Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle taps Don Horner, Buzzy Hong and Carrie Okinaga to new transit agency; City Council Transportation Chairman Breene Harimoto picks Ivan Lui-Kwan, Damien Kim and Keslie Hui for HART.

April 15, 2011: City Council member Tom Berg to kick off Tea Party rally; City plans to spend $248 million to acquire property for rail; Shootout in East Oahu ends in suspect death, traffic gridlock.

April 14, 2011: City Council member Stanley Chang turns to Charles Djou on “unfinished business;” City says Waimanalo Gulch back to “normal;” City Council member Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo defends possible cuts to the arts.

April 13, 2011: City Council Budget Chairman Ernie Martin calls mayor’s take on fuel tax “inaccurate;” Zoo considers sending rhino to hospice; Free parking for some city workers could end; City Council rejects move to reclaim some rail money.

April 12, 2011: City Council member Stanley Chang passionate about funds for roads; Council advances real property tax measure; Council on a roll with disclosures.

April 11, 2011: Two rail protests filed against city; Tom Berg speaks out against state money grab; U.S. Senate race could have ripple effect on City Hall.

April 8, 2011: City Council member Ernie Martin taps IBEW business manager for HART; Peter Carlisle distant from Big Island, Kauai mayors; Government leaders attend prayer breakfast.

April 7, 2011: Hawaii mayors issue joint response on tentative HGEA deal; Was Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle cut out of labor bargaining? U.S. Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood chats about Honolulu’s “light rail.”

April 6, 2011: City, state and other Hawaii counties agree to deal with HGEA; Council grows capital spending; City Council member asks for legal fees to fight administration.

April 5, 2011: Council member Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo says her deployment to Afghanistan is unlikely; HART nominees still not official; City cites $1.4 billion for Ansaldo contract.

April 4, 2011: Todd Apo and Don Horner surface as mayor’s possible picks for transit authority; Tom Berg nominates Panos Prevedouros for transit authority; State awaits results on more dengue cases; Losing rail bidders set for debriefs.

April 1, 2011: Gov. Neil Abercrombie taps former City Council candidate; GOP wants Nestor Garcia ethics investigation; Budget Chairman Ernie Martin schedules two special budget meetings.