Last night's TV debate pitted Arnold Morgado
against Mayor Jeremy Harris.
Photo by Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin

But even when they touched on areas of agreement, incumbent Jeremy Harris and former City Council Chairman Arnold Morgado stressed their differences in a televised debate last night.

The pair sniped and snapped at each other, especially during a set of candidate-generated questions, in the 90-minute face-off.

Harris touted the special design district amendment for Waikiki, pending before the City Council, as a way to "turn Waikiki around ... for the first time in 20 years, a master plan."

"It is piecemeal development at its worst," said Morgado, pointing out that the Hobron Lane end of Waikiki is missing from the plan. "Plumeria trees along the Ala Wai hardly counts as major landscape planning," he said, after that beautification project was mentioned by Harris.

Harris said, "We don't want any more hotel rooms." He said during Morgado's years on the Council "he was consistently in favor of more development."

Morgado attacked Harris' claims as an environmentalist. "I would not take eight years to develop an alternative dump site to dumping into Lake Wilson" in Wahiawa, Morgado said.

Harris charged "You seem to be stepping back from your record ... backing a uniform property tax that would increase homeowners' rate by 45 percent to give hotel owners a 50 percent saving."

Said Morgado: "You have raised every service fee, you have cannibalized special funds. We face a $35 million to $70 million deficit. This is not a reflection of managerial skill."

Said Harris: "When you were chairman, the budget went up 70 percent. Look at your own record, your record is not one to be proud of."

Harris took credit for crime being down on Oahu, applauding citizen patrols and community policing projects. "Our approach is to give Honolulu Police Department enough to train and hire more officers."

Morgado scoffed, "We have over 250 vacancies in HPD. The Harris administration cut the budget."

Morgado used his last seconds of summing up time to repeat that "crime is on the rise and we have the fewest police officers ever."

As they have in previous appearances, Morgado and Harris restated their differences about the campaign spending reform bill which prohibits contributions from people doing business with the city. Morgado has challenged the law in court as unconstitutional, "an incumbency preservation act."

The question of buying Ka Iwi coast land for a park, as proposed by Gov. Ben Cayetano, came from the panel of news media representatives.

"I support the purchase ... but the city doesn't have the wherewithal to participate in it," said Morgado. "I would fight Bishop Estate in court."

Bishop Estate and other landowners filed several lawsuits claiming losses totaling $100 million because of Council down-zoning of parcels near the coastline. City attorneys have proposed ending the suits by rezoning parcels, and a process of environmental assessment is under way prior to a Council vote.

"I will veto it," said Harris.

Some questions from the public were about gambling - Morgado is against it, Harris has no problem with a lottery - and support for diversified agriculture - unanimously yes, especially in Central Oahu.

"What can you do for me in this tough economy?" asked an Aiea voter, describing himself as among "middle-income families with four jobs."

Both answered in terms of city spending. "The city can keep control ... our budget is only a little larger than 1993," said Harris. But Morgado called for "eliminating the bloated spending of this administration."