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UPDATED Nov. 9, 1:30 p.m.

This is a big week for the city of Honolulu, but local officials certainly aren’t the focus.

APEC is President Barack Obama’s event. He’ll meet with leaders of 20 other economies from around the Asia-Pacific region to discuss major economic issues. CEOs of major corporations will gather, too.

So it’s easy to lose sight of Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle and the nine members of the Honolulu City Council. But many of those officials say the relationships they forge are a key long-term benefit of hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

The mayor and Council members — with the exception of Tom Berg, who asked not to be included — received , gifts valued at more than $10,000 that had to be approved by the Council.

The big social events include the president’s reception Saturday night at Hale Koa (although Ann Kobayashi is considering not going because of traffic concerns) and a two-day symposium hosted by the Pacific Basin Economic Council and the East-West Center. Local leaders are also invited to a welcome reception Thursday at the Royal Hawaiian, a trade reception Friday at Bishop Museum and a cultural reception Saturday at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Civil Beat reached out to the mayor and all the Council members to talk about their plans for APEC. Here’s what we found out.

Mayor Peter Carlisle

Carlisle included a number of APEC-related events on his public schedule, which was distributed Friday. Here’s the full list:

Tuesday, November 8th

• 9:30 a.m. — Carlisle delivers remarks at the APEC Voices Leadership Council’s “APEC Voices of the Future 2011 opening ceremony” at Kamehameha Schools’ Kapalama Campus.

Thursday, November 10th

• 6 p.m. — Carlisle is a guest at the APEC 2011 Hawaii Host Committee’s Hawaii Welcome Reception at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Friday, November 11th

• 10 a.m. — Carlisle attends the Annual Veterans Day Memorial Ceremony. National Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
• 6 p.m. — Carlisle is a guest at a U.S.-Japan Council and APEC 2011 Hawaii Host Committee International Trade Reception at Bishop Museum.

However, the press release included the following note: “The Mayor will be attending a number of private APEC-related events this week that will not be included on this schedule. Due to the requirements of APEC, the Mayor’s schedule must by necessity be flexible and subject to change on short notice.”

Some of those events are detailed in a gift from the APEC Hawaii Host Committee to the Carlisle administration totaling $5,550. The gift, detailed in adopted last week by the City Council, includes the following:

• Ticket to the ABAC/APEC 2011 Hawaii Reception on Tuesday ($100 apiece x 1 person = $100)
• Registration fees, luncheons and reception to the Asia-Pacific Business Symposium Conference on Wednesday and Thursday ($375 apiece x 2 people = $750)
• Welcome reception tickets at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Thursday ($100 apiece x 3 people = $300)
• International Trade Reception tickets at the Bishop Museum on Friday ($100 apiece x 3 people = $300)
• International Cultural Reception tickets at Honolulu Academy of Arts on Saturday ($100 apiece x 3 people = $300)
• CEO Summit registration fee, luncheons and dinner reception on Saturday and Sunday ($3,800 — no listed price per person)

The gift did not disclose if Carlisle would be attending the events personally or delegating a member of his administration instead.

Council Chair Ernie Martin

Honolulu City Council Chair Ernie Martin told Civil Beat that he expects to limit his participation in APEC’s high-security events, though he said, “I’m sure I’ll try to attend those that I feel those that will benefit my constituents.”

At first, that included just the APEC welcome reception on Thursday. But Martin said he began receiving a lot of last-minute invitations for APEC events.

“I think a lot of it is because a lot of these receptions that involve the president are being screened by the State Department,” Martin told Civil Beat in an interview. “So the ones that are involving the president where he would be participating directly, those happen to be coming by these last two days.

“I haven’t had a chance to look at it, but I was telling my staff for me, while it’s great and it’s a privilege to be invited, I’d be just one of 500 people or 1,000 people there. If there’s other more pressing matters at the Council level that I need to attend to, I would probably bypass those events.”

Council Vice Chair Ikaika Anderson

“Off the top of my head, I’m not 100 percent committed to attending any particular event other than the Saturday event that’s being hosted by the Obamas,” Council Vice Chair Ikaika Anderson told Civil Beat in a phone interview. “That’s the only event that’s on my calendar right now.”

That invitation was sent to all Council members last week, and RSVPing to the State Department required some personal information, according to Council staff.

“The reason I say I’m not 100 percent sure is that I need to see what’s going to be going on here at the Hale next week, and I want to have firm knowledge of what’s going on here before I determine whether I should be in Waikiki for APEC or here at the Hale,” Anderson said. His official work includes some Zoning and Planning Committee matters.

“I would imagine that business will carry on as usual here at the Hale, as it always has,” Anderson said. “I can’t be 100 percent certain of that though, as I’m not familiar enough with events that are as large scale as the APEC event that will be going on next week.”

District 1 — Tom Berg

Council member Berg’s answer was emphatic in his refusal to participate in APEC festivities, telling Civil Beat in an email that he has more important things to focus on for his constituents in District 1.

I am annoyed by all this from the getgo. This is a forum for presidents and leaders of foreign nations to hash things out….councilmembers do not belong in this mix and are really dead weight and in the way. We elected a president to address in his capacity the APEC realm and rub elbows with foreign leaders….in contrast, voters did not elect me to play president or pretend I am a congress person….I am way low on the totem pole and need to focus on traffic, landfills, road maintenance, sewer water bills, and park mayhem ordeals just to name a few. If I was expected to be at all the shindig events to wine and dine, then elect me president or to be in congress where I can make treaties and such…I have no power or authority or capabilities to have an impact at APEC whatsoever and for those wannabees that like to wine and dine, so be it and have fun. I will continue to work on abating flooding, the rail fiasco, and golf subsidy waste using taxpayer dollars just to name a few issues as well as finding cohesion on my Ewa Development Plan and Waianae Sustainabilty Communities Plan that is before me to resolve as a priority during the APEC hoopla. I do not have a minute to spare as I have four neighborhood board meetings a month to engage my constituency on making a difference. I declined accepting invites to all formal activities for APEC and refused to accept any gifts or registration fee waivers to rub elbows with wannabees and will not attend one single event- except I did get an invite to have dinner just the other day with the president and first lady, and that, I must attend and pay my respects and will represent district one for that occasion to pay homage and oblige the president. To make my point, I introduced three resolutions and executed a few press releases on them to stimulate actions and get the ball rolling for Hawaii to be a free trade zone and wake up congress that the Jones Act is killing us and hindering our economy. So instead of wining and dining and playing some kind of a big shot, I decided to roll up my sleeves and stay put to work on my district’s needs and write language for all of the APEC leaders to digest and improve conditions to get my constituents that are out of work a real opportunity to get employment and put food back on the table.

…

Please make note that I am grateful the other eight council members have the time to engage in the festivities and I support their participation and hope my adjectives are not misconstrued to be lessening their impact at APEC events.

Berg wrote back a short while later to ask that the word “wannabees” be replaced with “non-federal delegates” because his word choice “sounds too harsh and disrespectful.”

Berg said he’s not uninterested in APEC and pointed to three resolutions he introduced trying to make Hawaii a free trade zone: , and .

District 4 — Stanley Chang

Civil Beat did not speak with Stanley Chang directly, but a staffer in his office said the Council member planned to attend the two-day symposium Wednesday and Thursday put on by the Pacific Basin Economic Council and the East West Center.

Providing to the list of events at the symposium, the staffer said the sessions Chang was most interested in included “Food Security & Food Safety”; “Biofuels: Growth Sector with Diverse Sources, Benefits, and Impacts”; and “Investment Interests of The People’s Republic of China.”

District 5 — Ann Kobayashi

How bad is the traffic going to be during APEC? So bad one member of the City Council might turn down a dinner invitation from the president of the United States.

Council Budget Chair Kobayashi said she might go to the opening reception, and was interested in going to the business symposiums on Wednesday and Thursday.

“But the problem is how do you get into Waikiki and park?” she asked. “The traffic for me is a very limiting factor.

“For the nighttime events, I think it might be more difficult. The daytime ones, I’m not sure what the procedure is going to be,” she said. “Someone suggested for the opening reception … I should take a taxi and get off at Kalakaua and walk in.

“I really am concerned about the 20,000 people who live in Waikiki. Every month they have to put up with the parades and everything, and now this. I really feel for them.”

Kobayashi said she’d be in and out of Honolulu Hale this week, just like always. She still hopes to attend some workshops — traffic permitting.

District 6 — Tulsi Gabbard

UPDATE Tulsi Gabbard did not return phone messages or emails seeking comment in time for the original publication of this story. On Tuesday, she sent the following email to Civil Beat:

This week I am splitting my time between working on concerns and projects within my council district, preparing for our committee hearings next week, and participating in some of the APEC events (President’s Leader’s Meeting reception and the International Trade reception). I will also be spending time visiting with and honoring the service of our veterans as we head into Veterans Day on November 11.

As co-chair to the recently held Sister-City Summit here in Hawai’i where we welcomed foreign delegations from across Asia and the Pacific, and as a representative for our local Chinatown, I am keenly aware of the difficulties Chinese tourists face when trying to come to Hawai’i. During APEC, I encourage President Obama and China’s President Hu Jintao to seriously discuss including China in the United States Visa Waiver program, just as we have with other countries in Asia such as Japan and South Korea. There is a great amount of interest from Chinese visitors who want to come to Hawai’i, and who on average spend $368 every day in our local economy, but who are being held back from visiting solely due to the outdated and cumbersome visa system that currently exists. This would be a great benefit to Hawai’i’s economy. It would also help to reduce the trade imbalance that currently exists, as well as foster greater understanding and friendship between the people of the United States and China.

District 7 — Romy Cachola

Council Floor Leader Romy Cachola said in an email Monday he’ll attend the Asia-Pacific Business Symposium on Wednesday and Thursday at the Marriott.

“I plan to specifically attend the sessions focusing on sustainable energy and economic development,” Cachola wrote.

He’ll also attend the Obama reception Saturday.

District 8 — Breene Harimoto

“I’m not a socialite and I don’t like parties, but I just got this invitation and I’ll definitely be going,” Council member Breene Harimoto said in an interview at his office, proudly displaying the invitation from Obama.

Harimoto also expressed interest in the two-day PBEC/EWC symposium, which he said featured many programs he might attend.

District 9 — Nestor Garcia

Nestor Garcia‘s calendar is pretty full this week. He’ll be going to the PBEC/EWC conference, and said lunchtime presentations by Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Vice Chairman Yu Ping were high on his list.

He also had the APEC welcome reception on Thursday, the APEC trade reception Friday at Bishop Museum and the APEC cultural reception Saturday at the Academy of Arts on his calendar.