Honolulu Election: All 4 Charter Amendments Are On Track To Be Approved
The proposed measures would affect climate change funding, City Council member salaries, an ocean safety oversight commission and emergency management leaders.
Editor鈥檚 note:听These results have been updated as of 7:29 p.m. Wednesday.
Initial results showed Honolulu voters approving four City Charter amendments that would cap salary increases for City Council members, codify job requirements for the Department of Emergency Management’s director, create a climate resiliency fund and establish an ocean safety advisory commission.
Amendments to the Honolulu City Charter, which is essentially the city鈥檚 constitution, need approval from a majority of voters during a general election. This year the City Council proposed four, each representing an obscure change that purports to dampen big potential negative impacts.
Some voters didn鈥檛 know much about the proposed Honolulu City Charter amendments, saying they planned to make those decisions when they saw the written questions on the ballot.
Ocean Safety Commission
Max Tave, who put his ballot in a dropbox behind Honolulu Hale just before 6:30 p.m., said he was familiar with the Department of Ocean Safety amendment because he comes from a family that spends a lot of time in the water and has friends who are lifeguards.
He voted in favor of creating an overseeing commission for the new department, but didn鈥檛 vote on the other proposed amendments.
鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 have an informed opinion, I didn鈥檛 vote,鈥 he said.
After years of operating under the Department of Emergency Services 鈥 which also includes the city鈥檚 ambulance fleet 鈥 ocean safety advocates who wanted more autonomy got their wish this year when Mayor Rick Blangiardi created a new standalone department for city lifeguards.
Many lifeguards and supporters said they wanted to safeguard against possible political appointees leading the department with no experience, subject to the whims of a mayor. They wanted a volunteer commission to oversee the department, similar to the city鈥檚 other public safety departments like fire, police and emergency management.
The commission would submit annual reports on the head of the department, hear public complaints and make recommendations on the annual budget.
The measure had about 58.4% of the vote, with 30.7% opposed and 11% votes that were left blank or counted as overvotes, according to results updated Wednesday at 7:29 p.m.
The results from the Hawaii Office of Elections were initially delayed due to long lines of people voting in-person on Tuesday.
Climate Resiliency Fund
Voters also were supporting a measure to establish a climate resiliency fund. Money for the fund doesn’t represent a new tax but would instead come from property tax revenue, matching the half-a-percentage allocation that the Affordable Housing Fund and the Clean Water and Natural Lands Fund receive. That would equate to about $8.5 million per year.
The city already spends millions of dollars each year on climate-related expenses, Department of Budget and Fiscal Services director Andrew Kawano said last month.
But council member Matt Weyer said that commitment needs to be ingrained in the charter.
鈥淲e need to maintain this for the future generations, given that we鈥檙e only here for a moment in time in office,鈥 he said last month.
The measure received 51.6% of the vote, according to the latest tally on Wednesday, while 38% were opposed and 10.3% left the question blank or counted as overvotes.
Emergency Management Director
A measure codifying job requirements for the director of the Department of Emergency Management in the City Charter also had a favorable response.
This comes after the wildfires that killed 102 people last year on Maui. Maui County鈥檚 top emergency management official, Herman Andaya, was criticized for his handling of the situation, including for his decision to not sound emergency sirens. Civil Beat reported that Andaya had no formal education in emergency management or response, having been appointed to lead Maui Emergency Management Agency after working other top county jobs like chief of staff to the mayor.
The next month, Weyer and council chair Tommy Waters proposed an amendment that would put requirements for Honolulu鈥檚 position into the charter.
The selection of the director of the Department of Emergency Management is unique compared to other departments. Other directors are chosen directly by the mayor, then must be approved by the City Council.
鈥淏ut with the DEM director, that鈥檚 not allowed to happen. So there actually has to be a civil service process,鈥 city spokesman Ian Scheuring said.
Before the decision reaches the mayor, the Department of Human Resources conducts an initial search to find qualified people using its own job requirements.
The amendment would put job requirements into the City Charter, mandating at least five years of relevant experience, two of which must be in a supervising role. The Department of Human Resources would still be allowed to mandate additional requirements.
This amendment would also shift text around in the City Charter.
All other city departments are established within their own chapter of the City Charter. But when the Department of Emergency Management was created a little more than 15 years ago, it and its overseeing commission were technically put in a section under the managing director鈥檚 office.
The amendment would move that text to its own chapter.
Most recent results showed 67.4% percent of voters approving , 20.9% opposed and 11.7% who left the question blank or overvoted.
City Council Member Salaries
The last question would restructure how salaries are determined for top city officials like council members, the mayor and department heads. It comes after controversy last year when council members received a massive raise, appalling many residents who felt the increase was too big and the process was unfair.
That pay raise came from the Honolulu Salary Commission, a volunteer board tasked with deciding annual pay increases for top city officials.
Increases often approximate the pace of inflation. But in 2023, the commission recommended a 64% pay jump for City Council members, saying it was to compensate for the many years that the council received no raises, which left members with a middling salary relative to their duties.
To avoid future controversies like this, council members considered several options for restructuring how the salary commission works. They settled on a proposed amendment to limit pay raises to 5% each year, tether them to city union workers鈥 pay raises and remove veto power from council members for their own salaries.
, was receiving 82.6% approval while 8.8% opposed it and 8.5% left the question blank or overvoted, according to the latest tally.
