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This week will culminate with a full City Council meeting, and — officials hope — completed versions of the operating and capital budgets for next year.

In the meantime, expect to hear increasing noise from people who don’t like some of the laws that are poised to pass. Some of the measures we’re keeping an eye on pertain to floating bonds for the rail project; a government subsidy for recycling companies; tax breaks for historic homes, and more.

Civil Beat is reporting from the inside.

Mayor Announces Poll Showing Public Support for Rail

3:07 p.m.
A new city poll on the public’s perception of rail cost $24,000, but Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle said it was the right time to check in with residents.

“Essentially, if you have heard the crescendo of things being said — everybody was talking about people losing their confidence in rail… We’ve now got HART coming on board. They need to know whether any of this stuff was true or not. If you take a look at these polls, things have not moved off,” Carlisle said in a press conference. “The Democratic process has worked, it continues to work, and it shouldn’t be made essentially something we should abandon and forget about.”

Carlisle says the new poll shows 57 percent of about 900 residents polled say the support rail, while 40 percent were opposed. The poll was conducted by QMark Research.

The city’s poll comes on the heels of a poll conducted by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that showed growing concerns over the rail project. The city’s poll also comes ahead of key City Council votes on rail-related business, including the operating and capital budgets for the new transit agency.

“It doesn’t hurt that people are hearing this now,” Carlisle acknowledged.

Asked about a lawsuit that is challenging city rail planners’ compliance with environmental laws, Carlisle scoffed that he hadn’t yet reviewed the it: “I’m told I should because it’s interesting. I think the word that was given to me was ‘entertaining,’ as well, but I wasn’t in the mood to be entertained by a lawsuit.”

Hurricane Season Starts Today

11:43 a.m.
The Honolulu Department of Emergency Management issued a notice reminding residents about today’s official start to the hurricane season. Officials are warning people to prepare for the worst, despite early forecasts that the hurricane season will be lighter than normal.

City officials emphasize the importance of developing an emergency kit containing a week’s supply of:

• Water (one gallon per day per person)
• Food (Spam or other non-perishable goods)
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio (and extra batteries!)
• Flashlight
• Basic medical supplies, prescription glasses
• Pet supplies

For more information about disaster preparedness, check out the .

Carlisle to Release Results of New Transit Poll

10:17 a.m.
City officials are this afternoon releasing the results of a transit poll they conducted, according to a spokeswoman for Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle.

It comes on the heels of two polls (one nonscientific) released by local newspapers that demonstrated public uneasiness about the $5.3 billion project.

Both and residents are worried about the cost of rail.

Carlisle Mum on Whether He Would Veto Conflicting Recycling Bill

7:01 a.m.

Although Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle this week signed into law to end a government subsidy for private recycling companies, he hasn’t said whether he will veto another bill aimed at reinstating the subsidy in part.

Carlisle signed Bill 47 on Tuesday, and City Council members will consider passing Bill 36 on Friday (the bill would then reach Carlisle for a signature before it could become law).

Bill 36 would slowly reduce the subsidy that benefits scrap yards and other recycling companies, whereas the new law ends the subsidy.

The company that benefits most from the subsidy — Schnitzer Steel, which saved $1.9 million last year — has refused to show City Council members its financial records that could demonstrate any proof of need. The company, which is based in Oregon, could not name another jurisdiction that gives it a financial break like the one Honolulu provides.

“The administration is going to wait and see what the City Council passes out on Bill 36,” wrote Carlisle’s press secretary, Louise Kim McCoy, in a statement.

In his first seven months as mayor, Carlisle has not been one to veto the legislation that reaches his desk. Then again, he is aware that he has that authority: Just last month, Carlisle threatened to veto the council’s legislative approach to the new transit agency budget.

But that’s another controversy.