State of the City Address
"Ka Ho'omaka Hou - A New Beginning"Mayor Jeremy Harris
Courtyard, Honolulu Hale
City and County of Honolulu
January 15, 1998
1:30 p.m.Thank you for joining me for my fourth State of the City Address.
Today, I'd like to review our City's progress and share with you my vision for a renewed, refreshed and vibrant Honolulu. A Honolulu poised to capitalize on the opportunities of the next millennium. A Honolulu in charge of its own future.
On a Friday evening three years and three months ago, I stood in this spot to be inaugurated as the 11th Mayor of this great City. I realized then that to meet the challenges facing us we had to take control of our destiny. And so I pledged three crusades to re-establish Honolulu as the most livable city in the world. Our first crusade was to enhance the quality of life on our island. The second was for a smarter, more efficient and more responsive government. The third crusade was to protect and preserve our environment, my personal, life-long pursuit.
These crusades have become, and will continue to be, the foundation of my administration. During the past three years we have had hundreds of successes, large and small.
An important part of our crusade to improve our quality of life has focused on fighting crime. One reason our quality of life is vastly better than on the Mainland is the safety and security of our neighborhoods and streets. But, like Mainland cities, a few years ago we were experiencing an alarming increase in thefts, burglaries and violent crime.
Well today, I'm proud to say we are winning the battle on crime. On Oahu, crime is down again, and that's good news for everyone's quality of life. During the period from January through October of 1997, overall crime dropped by over 11%. Honolulu is now ranked as the safest city of its size in the nation.
I attribute our success to two factors. The first is the vision and leadership of Chief Mike Nakamura who led the Honolulu Police Department for over seven years. He set a high, uncompromising standard for his officers and, most importantly, he never lost touch with the communities we serve.
Chief Nakamura, thank you again for your immeasurable contributions to our City and its quality of life.
Chief, will you stand and be recognized?
The second factor in our success against crime is our community policing program and its legions of volunteers. As it's grown over the years, crime has declined. Today, there are 150 citizen patrols on Oahu with over 3,800 members in eight districts. These citizen patrols extend the reach of our police force to the back roads of Waimanalo, to school campuses in Central Oahu and to the sidewalks of Chinatown.
Well, let me tell you about two model citizens among the 3,800 men and women. These individuals became involved in citizen patrols in Kalihi, not very far from where Ramona and I live.
Lester Makolo is the captain of the Akepo Lane Ohana. Most of you know about Akepo Lane. The evening news used to feature its violence and drug dealing almost on a nightly basis. But because of Lester and others who committed
themselves to taking back their neighborhood, we rarely hear negative news about Akepo Lane anymore.
The other individual is Bill Nakamoto. Bill started the Citizens Patrol near Farrington High School. After that successful beginning, he took on more responsibility in the community policing program. Today, he's the president of the Citizens' Coalition for Neighborhood Safety. In the coming weeks, you'll see Bill testifying at the Legislature to support the passage of tougher crime laws, like truth in sentencing and mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders.
Lester and Bill are examples of how much can be accomplished when residents and the police come together for the common good. Bill and Lester, would you both stand and be recognized for your fine efforts.
And last year, we continued my policy of providing HPD with the resources that they need to ensure the public safety. By this May, for the first time in many years, we'll have more police recruits in training than vacant positions in our police force. We've replaced all of HPD's aging fleet with 141 new police cars; and this year, we'll be expanding the fleet even further.
And to serve our growing Second City, in March we start construction of our new state-of-the-art police station in Kapolei. This $13 million facility will include its own cell block to avoid having to transport prisoners to downtown. We're also planning a police station in East Honolulu. And we've opened three police facilities to serve the residents of Kapolei, Waipio and Liliha.
In Waikiki, we are proceeding with improvements to increase resident and visitor security. New lighting is being installed throughout Waikiki. We are also providing security cameras along Kalakaua Avenue and Lewers Street to detect and deter criminal activity. In a public/private partnership, the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center will soon build our first of six security "Kobans." These kiosks will serve as visitor information points and visible centers for security needs. The Aloha Patrol and hotel security have volunteered to staff the Kobans.
In the Fire Department, we've provided more resources to increase our ability to combat fires and respond to emergencies.
We're building a new fire station in Kaaawa and are about to start construction on two more in Mililani Mauka and Waikele.
During the past three years, our Fire Department has been undergoing a number of changes to improve its readiness and ability to tackle emergencies. All of this has occurred quietly with little fanfare.
During this period of change, the City has been fortunate to have a leader at the helm of the Fire Department who is cool under fire and solid as a rock. Let me just pause for a moment to recognize Chief Anthony Lopez who'll soon be retiring from HFD for the second time.
Chief, we all appreciate what you have done for the City and wish you the best in your retirement.
Chief, will you stand and be recognized?
Our second crusade has been to make government smarter and more responsive. For three years, we have been revamping City operations to give our taxpayers greater value for their hard-earned tax dollars. We've used common sense to reduce the time required to process a permit. We've stretched the dollar to expand public services. And, at the same time, we've been able to reduce the size and cost of government.
The time it takes to obtain a building permit has been cut by more than half. Many homeowners can now get a building permit in one day. We'll continue to reduce the permit processing time as we streamline our land use laws and automate the permit processing system.
In the area of transportation, we've regained control of TheBus and the Handi-Van systems. We've consolidated the two operations under one management. So far, we've already saved over a million dollars in excess costs. And, we're using these savings to improve service, particularly for our Handi-Van customers.
We've also upgraded our fleet of 525 buses. Sixty-eight new replacement buses have been delivered, all with bike racks to make this a more bicycle-friendly city. They also have the latest "smart bus technology." Each bus has an on-board satellite positioning unit which will eventually allow us to track its location at all times and help prevent the bunching-up of buses. Customer service will also be improved, because the new buses with this system can announce the location of each stop. This, of course, will be especially helpful to our visually impaired citizens.
The City's Handi-Van service has improved as well, and, like our award-winning bus system, it's going to get even better. One of our first management decisions was to enroll our drivers in customer service training so they will be more sensitive to the people they serve. We're now installing new radios to improve the dispatching of the vans and to meet the needs of our customers. Many of these improvements are a result of the tireless work of our new Handi-Van manager, Patricia Nielson, a strong advocate for the disabled and an innovative leader.
As you may have noticed, we're turning our parks around under Bill Balfour, our new Parks and Recreation Director. Bill's philosophy is "just do it" rather than hire a consultant. This is one reason we are making great progress in upkeeping and maintaining our parks. The Parks Department is offering more programs and extending its operating hours so more people, especially our youth, can use the facilities. As an example, the Friday and Saturday evening volleyball and basketball programs at Kailua District Park have been a resounding success. Our Teen Zone program has grown from five zones in 1995 to a dozen this past year. The Teen Zones provide a place for our young people to participate in healthy, recreational activities that keep them off the streets. And we were able to equip the Teen Zones thanks to a contribution from Unity House.
Our parks serve a wide variety of customers, from little keiki enrolled in our free pre-schools to over 10,000 children participating in summer fun. And don't forget that our parks serve over 5,000 seniors in our Fun After 55 Program.
Our successful Workfare Job Training program used Federal funds to help many of our struggling families. We developed the program to train people to be able to work when the State cut their financial assistance by 20 percent.
We worked with businesses and non-profit agencies to put an intensive job training and readiness program together for almost 1,000 people. The results were beyond our expectations.
The story doesn't end here. One of the driving forces behind the program was a volunteer, Mr. Kent Youel. Kent is a retired Coast Guard Officer who worked tirelessly over three months to help set up the program and get it running. He personally recruited many of the businesses and non-profit agencies for Workfare. Mr. Youel is here today, and I want to thank him publicly. Kent, will you please stand.
I also want to thank the companies that participated in this program and demonstrated their commitment to the community by hiring and training the workers. You made a difference!
For over a decade, I have had a strong commitment to the orderly development of our second city of Kapolei. It must not be a city in name, but a city in fact. Kapolei must meet the full definition of a city, a place where people live, work and recreate. I will not allow that goal to be diminished. Kapolei cannot and will not become our island's largest bedroom community and the source of commuters who move daily between home and their jobs elsewhere on Oahu. Kapolei was meant to be a solution to many of our island's problems, not an expansion of them.
During the coming months we will reaffirm this administration's commitment to Kapolei as construction begins on two major City complexes-the Kapolei Civic Center and the Kapolei Police Headquarters. We will start construction on both these complexes within the next two months. When completed, we will relocate jobs and eliminate the commute times for some City workers.
Our third crusade has been to protect and enhance our environment. As stewards of this land, we have an obligation, a sacred obligation, to preserve this island for our children. Our island ecosystem is a fragile place. It can easily be destroyed by pollution or over-development.
We've worked with community groups, especially our youth, to clean our island and protect our environment. Community groups have adopted 30 streams and removed 245 tons of rubbish.
Equally important, we've increased the recycling of our waste products. This past year, our Public Works Department recycled 45,000 tons of green waste, 10,000 tons of glass and 9,000 tons of aluminum cans.
We're also pursuing alternatives to the disposal of waste in our landfills. We intend to begin using the ash from our H-Power plant in the manufacture of asphalt for the paving of our streets.
We're moving forward in the area of wastewater recycling as well. I have just issued a conditional award to a private company to treat the effluent from our Honouliuli Wastewater Plant. The company will produce 13 million gallons of treated water per day that can be used to irrigate our golf courses and agricultural lands or be sold to industrial users in the Ewa industrial area. In the past, this effluent would be discharged in the deep ocean outfall. With water supplies dwindling, this reuse project will be a major step towards reducing the demands on our potable water supply.
Let me turn now to the City's daunting fiscal challenges. Our real property tax revenues are dropping for the fourth consecutive year, and operating costs are increasing due to recent wage settlements. Further, the State is proposing to take away $18 million of our hotel room tax revenues and to increase the amount of excise tax that we pay to the State by another $10 million.
The continuing slowdown in the economy and the stagnation of our real estate markets are having a detrimental impact on Honolulu's property assessments. The City's real property assessments have declined $5.6 billion over the past three years. Next fiscal year, assessments will decline another $5.3 billion, the greatest one year drop in the history of the City.
As a result, the City's real property tax revenues have declined about $40 million over the past four years and are expected to decline an additional $18 million in fiscal year 1999, another historic record.
During the past three years, the City has faced budget deficits of $87 million in 1996; $50 million in 1997; and $75 million in 1998. Each year we've been able to balance the budget without raising property taxes by streamlining the City's operations, eliminating unnecessary services, utilizing new technology, improving customer service, selling surplus land, and developing innovative revenue sources.
By increasing our productivity, the City now employs 498 fewer workers than we did three years ago. In fact, the City's operating budget today, in constant
1994 dollars, is almost the same size as it was way back in fiscal year 1994. You may not have heard much about our downsizing at City Hall because we've reduced our work force through attrition and controlled our hiring.
Our hard work to improve the City's productivity is already paying dividends. We've been able to inexpensively finance all of our capital expenditures because of an excellent bond rating. For our City's recent $257.6 million bond offering in October, both Moody's and Standard and Poor's reaffirmed Honolulu's AA bond rating. These rating agencies credited the City's strong fiscal management for this superior rating. In fact, the City has the best bond rating in Hawaii, higher than that of the other three counties and even that of the State.
In the coming fiscal year, the City is facing a staggering deficit of $63.5 million. This deficit is due to recent wage settlements, increasing utility costs, and the continuing decline in real property tax revenues. This deficit, on top of three years of sharply declining revenues, is the greatest fiscal challenge we have yet to face. We've already cut the cost of government to the bone, raised user fees and sold surplus City lands, so that now, we have limited options without jeopardizing essential public services.
To overcome next year's challenge, we'll need to look at radical solutions to make up this sizable deficit. I've launched a complete evaluation of our operations to redesign and consolidate City operations to be smaller, more flexible, more responsive, and less costly.
Next month, we'll unveil a plan to change the City Charter and to drastically restructure the City's operations. Although this work is still in progress, I can tell you that I'll be proposing dramatic changes to the face of City government.
Another serious challenge we are facing is the State's proposal to cut the City's share of the hotel room tax. As part of the Economic Revitalization Task Force Plan, the State is proposing to slash the City's share of the hotel room tax by about $18 million.
While the State is proposing to take away our money to balance its budget, we still have to provide the same services to our residents and visitors. We still have to put out the fires, mow the grass, patrol the streets and pick up the garbage.
Taking the City's share of these tax revenues is simply unfair and unwise.
Basically, the State is proposing to shift its budget deficit to the counties and to keep all the economic benefits of tourism. Over the past four years, the State has increased its operating budget by $811 million, or 16.3%. In comparison, the City's operating budget has only increased by $31 million, or 3.1%. We have done our job in controlling our costs and it would seem that the State should do its job before dipping into the coffers of the counties.
The State also proposes to raise the excise tax by 34%. This tax increase is regressive and will harm Hawaii's working families. Since the City is not exempt from this tax, we'll be hurt as well. The City will have to pay the State an additional $10 million a year, as a result of this tax hike, money that would come out of the pockets of our real property taxpayers.
If the State pushes through its plan to take away the City's share of the hotel room tax and to hike the excise tax, we'll be facing a skyrocketing budget deficit of about $85 million. This is a burden our taxpayers simply cannot afford.
Last year, the City's neighborhood boards rallied and convinced the Legislature that the State's proposal to take the City's hotel room tax was not fair. This year I'm again asking each neighborhood board to tell the Legislature in no uncertain terms that the State must not balance its budget on the backs of the counties.
If the Counties can reduce operating costs as tax revenues decline, the State should also operate within its own means and must learn to do so.
In a few days, I'll be urging the Legislature to take strong action in several areas that are vital to the health of our State and its counties.
First, I'll be asking the Legislature to provide clear direction on the issue of privatization of government services. We should be able to hire private companies when it lowers the cost of public services to our taxpayers.
Second, we must fix our failed criminal justice system. We need to provide consequences for criminal acts. A tough Truth in Sentencing law must be passed to close the revolving door that allows hardened criminals back on our streets after serving just a fraction of their sentences. Our Safe Streets package will also support mandatory sentences for those who chronically commit misdemeanors. We need to keep the career criminals in prison and off the streets. These vital public safety measures must be supported with more prison space.
Third, I'll submit bills to increase the efficiency of government by reducing the duplication of functions between the State and the City. Honolulu is willing to take over the responsibility and the resources for maintaining all parks and all roads on Oahu except for the interstate highway system. We have the management and skills to perform these services in an efficient and effective manner.
I'll also propose the elimination of the State Land Use and Water Commissions. These Statewide bureaucracies have helped earn Hawaii the reputation as the worst state in which to do business. Their time has passed. The City can more effectively and efficiently handle these responsibilities.
I'll also propose that the City and State work together in partnership to reorganize government functions, to put an end to government inefficiencies and waste. Our taxpayers deserve no less.
The State and the City must also work together to rebuild our economy.
You've all read the recent economic forecasts that indicate no growth in jobs, declining incomes and no increase in visitor arrivals. We've lost jobs every year from 1993 to 1996 and have about 8,000 fewer jobs than five years ago.
Our economy is adrift. We need to change our ways and attitudes if we're to regain our economic momentum and start creating jobs.
The City has been undertaking a series of initiatives to create more jobs in Honolulu. One initiative has been to promote our professional services to our Pacific Rim neighbors. As Mayor, I have led trade missions to the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and China. These missions established City to City relations in order to introduce our skills and expertise to those economies.
This past November, Honolulu hosted the Japan-American Conference of Mayors and Chamber of Commerce Presidents for the first time in history. At the conference, our leading business executives, design professionals and other community leaders had the opportunity to meet and network with mayors and business leaders from Japan. We're currently planning two more international economic conferences this year.
I believe Hawaii has the potential to become an Asia-Pacific trading center. Next month, we will be co-sponsoring the first product show and business conference with Naha City and the Okinawan Prefecture. At these conferences, Honolulu businesses will be able to identify new opportunities in the vast Asia-Pacific market.
Our second economic initiative is to get the construction industry back to work. Construction employment has fallen from a peak of over 33,500 jobs in 1991 to 21,000 jobs in 1997. We now have about 12,500 construction workers out of work. This year the City adopted a $415 million capital improvement budget, and next year our CIP budget will be over $300 million. We've also accelerated the expenditures of these funds to get more of our construction workers back to work as soon as possible. In December, we awarded bids for $80 million worth of construction projects and, in a few months, we'll be obtaining bids for another $30 million of civic improvements.
But the real solution to our economic problems is to take control of our economic destiny. In the past, our economy has been the victim or beneficiary of events outside of our control. We prospered during the Japanese bubble economy and we suffered when the bubble burst. Instead, we need to identify what type of economic future we want and go out and build it.
We need to take control of our economy and protect ourselves from the vagaries caused by economic slowdowns in other countries. As Danny Graham of Graham Builders said: "You can't wait for things to get better. You've got to go out there and do it for yourself." In Honolulu, we will start "doing it for ourselves."
Our strategy is to build upon the strengths of our City and to let the global marketplace know that Honolulu is a vital and viable City in which to conduct business in the Pacific.
In the tourism area, I am pleased to announce the formation of the Oahu Visitors Bureau and its partnership with the City. We'll be working with OVB to improve Oahu's tourism product and to market Oahu as the world's leading "island vacation" resort. Our goal is to let the travel industry know that visitors to Waikiki can also explore the natural treasures of Oahu and experience the cultural diversity of our island.
I'm excited by this partnership with OVB. It'll position Oahu as the gateway to "Aloha" and as the island with the greatest cultural diversity. OVB will work with the City to plan new tourist activities and to improve existing visitor facilities.
Last year, we initiated the development of a sports tourism industry. At the Waipio Peninsula, we are constructing a 22-field soccer complex and stadium to host international exhibitions and national and local tournaments. At Waiola in Central Oahu, engineering is under way for the development of a Baseball, Softball and Tennis Sports Center. With such a facility, Honolulu can attract Asian baseball teams to train in Hawaii and host national and regional amateur tournaments for baseball, softball, and tennis.
At Barbers Point, we're proceeding with the planning for a world class sports training facility to attract athletes and their coaches to Hawaii to develop their athletic skills and conditioning.
We've assembled a Sports Task Force to help us plan these facilities so they meet the needs of professional and amateur athletes and the needs of our residents. I want to thank the sixty-five task force members for their boundless energy and leadership.
I also believe that Oahu has the potential to attract the eco-tourist. We have a number of natural resources on which to base a viable ecotourism industry. We need to organize these resources and plan their protection from over use. The development of eco-tourist activities could help to attract more first-time and adventure-oriented visitors to our island.
We're hoping to obtain the Coast Guard's former Omega Radar Station in Haiku Valley. We would convert the "Stairway to Heaven" into a spectacular trek to the top of the Koolau Range for an awe-inspiring view of the Windward Coast and even the Central Plains.
The City also has a major opportunity in East Honolulu. Koko Head/Hanauma Bay Regional Park is one of the most precious geological and biological systems in the world. We have a responsibility to care for and manage these resources for future generations.
As a result of its tremendous popularity, Hanauma Bay's reef is slowly being destroyed. At the same time, few people get to appreciate the geology and botanical wonders of Koko Head Crater. I propose, and will include in our upcoming construction budget, that we work with the University's Sea Grant Program and the Friends of Hanauma Bay on a world class nature learning center encompassing Koko Head, the old Job Corps site and Hanauma Bay.
Visitors to the nature center would park and gather at the old Job Corps site. They would experience a world class learning center to see exhibits on volcanoes, the formation of our islands and Hawaii's natural history. A restored cable car would take them to the top of Koko Head for a panoramic view of this chain of craters. Others may wish to take a guided horseback tour or walk through a magnificent botanical garden in the crater.
Parking will be removed from Hanauma Bay and replaced with native Hawaiian landscaping. Those who choose to visit the bay will be shuttled from the Koko Head Nature Center to a new Hanauma educational facility housing a variety of exhibits and displays showing the geology and marine life in the bay. From there, small groups will be led on snorkeling, reef walking and geology tours conducted by trained guides.
By developing this nature learning center complex, we'll be able to protect and preserve one of our great natural treasures and provide unparalleled learning opportunities for our children and visitors alike.
And to fully develop our eco-tourist opportunities, we'll also be marking more of our walking and hiking tails and providing more hiking amenities to safely accommodate our visitors and residents.
Waikiki, of course, will continue to be the heart of our economy. We'll continue to revitalize Waikiki to create a fresh and more exciting and inviting environment for our visitors. This year, we've been working with a Waikiki Task Force to evaluate the narrowing of Kalakaua Avenue from Kaiulani to Kapahulu . The plan creates a more lush garden setting to enhance the Kuhio Beach experience. In July, we will start construction of a new Kapiolani Park Bandstand to accommodate expanded cultural activities in the park.
In the coming weeks, we'll also unveil an urban design and land use plan for the areas surrounding our new Convention Center. Hostess bars and topless exotic dancing are not what we want our convention visitors to see. If we do nothing, haphazard development will surely occur around the Convention Center. Our plan, therefore, will provide for orderly growth and urban design that both complements the architecture of the center and minimizes impact on the surrounding community.
In Waikiki, we have the opportunity to create a new visitor attraction by master planning and jointly developing the area bordered by Kalakaua Avenue, Lewers Street, Kuhio Avenue and Kalaimoku Street. Some of this block is currently lined with adult stores and tourist gun galleries and is crying out for revitalization. Our discussions with some of the major landowners have suggested that the block could be redeveloped through a master plan to create another visitor attraction in Waikiki.
The development could include public spaces for hula halaus to practice and perform, cultural facilities for a museum or art gallery and underground parking, as well as retail shops and theaters.
I'll shortly unveil a master plan for this block and then invite developers to work with the City to transform this underutilized parcel in Waikiki.
Our second economic initiative is to re-energize our central business district. Today, I am pleased to announce that the City will be partnering with a non-profit organization to market Honolulu as a center for business activity and trade in the Pacific. Several of the City's business leaders have agreed to form an organization called "The Honolulu Alliance" to promote the merits of Honolulu as a business center. The City will provide matching funds to market Honolulu throughout the Pacific Rim. I am excited that our business community has recognized the need to market the business potential of our City to companies that operate in the Asia-Pacific region.
Our third economic initiative is to continue to use our sister city relationships to assist local companies in doing business in Asia. I believe our economic destiny lies with Asia due to its rapid economic growth and our proximity and cultural ties. In October, I visited China and was impressed with the opportunities for our local firms to provide design and engineering services as China develops its wastewater, water quality, and other environmental systems.
Our fourth economic initiative is to further stimulate our construction industry. Although both the State and the City have increased our capital expenditures, we all know that public spending alone cannot restore the health of this critical industry.
To get our construction industry back on track, I'll be submitting a bill tomorrow to provide a seven-year property tax exemption on all construction that is completed within three years. This property tax exemption will be available to both homeowners and business owners. Every property owner will be eligible to benefit from this tax holiday when he or she improves their home, business or investment property. In the long run, everyone will benefit from the increased construction and business activity on Oahu that this bill should create.
This tax incentive should help jumpstart the construction of many stalled projects and allow many of our long standing companies to expand and improve their facilities. With this tax incentive, for example, the Hilton Hawaiian Village may finally be able to commence construction of its long delayed $88 million Kalia Tower. Coupled with State assistance, this tax package could help the Farmers Livestock Cooperative secure $2 million needed to fund the construction of a new facility in Campbell Industrial Park.
Today, I am asking you to join me in a fourth crusade. A crusade to determine our own future and to become masters of our own destiny. We should no longer just be victims of outside events. We can control our destiny by developing a vision needed to set our own course toward economic stability and enhanced quality of life.
For decades, our City has approached land use parcel by parcel. Although we have a general plan, growth has occurred without a guiding vision. Our economic future and our quality of life were never effectively considered in the process.
As evidence of this failure, our agricultural lands and open space have been overrun by urban sprawl. Our communities have grown and evolved into strip commercial development punctuated by fast food restaurants and gas stations. We lost the charm of neighborhood communities, the corner manapua stand and town square. Elements typically found in traditional neighborhood designs. Our sidewalks and tree lined streets have given way to the automobile. We have also cut off our communities from the waterfront with misplaced industrial warehouses, freeways and strip commercial centers.
In the coming weeks we'll unveil our vision for our island for fifty years and beyond. The vision we present is meant to be a starting point for community discussion. Over the coming months our goal is to involve all of our citizens in developing a shared vision for our island's future.
The vision that I'll articulate involves a re-evaluation of all our land use plans. The General Plan directs growth to the Second City at Kapolei and to the Primary Urban Center/Downtown. However, the politics of land use have compromised these plans and have allowed urban growth to spread through the Central Oahu agricultural plain. If we want to keep the country, "country" we must stop paying mere lip service to the goal of directing growth to the Second City and the PUC, and actually "do it."
This dramatic growth of residential subdivisions on our agricultural land has resulted in serious problems for our City. We have had to spread our infrastructure (sewers, drainage, water) over long distances which has resulted in higher capital and operating costs. Urban sprawl has also created enormous traffic problems for our island.
Our previous solution to the staggering traffic congestion was to propose a heavy rail system to bring Central Oahu commuters to downtown Honolulu. While our proposal would have accomplished that goal, its costs were large and found to be unacceptable to our community.
In our vision document, I propose that we rethink the basic assumptions of land use planning and go back to the original policies of the General Plan. Instead of continuing to allow urban sprawl in Central Oahu, I propose that we draw rigid and absolute urban boundaries and redirect all future urban growth to the Second City and the Primary Urban Center.
By redirecting growth to these two urban areas, we'll stem the increased traffic coming from Central Oahu. We will no longer need to develop an expensive heavy rail system to service the growing Central Oahu population. We can redirect our transportation tax dollars to provide increased mobility and quality of life for current and future residents of the Second City and the Primary Urban Center. We can then realign and expand our award-winning bus system to better service the existing needs of our Central Oahu citizens.
If people are going to move to the Primary Urban Center, we've got to make it a great place to live. Our chief transportation challenge then becomes providing our growing urban population with increased mobility.
Our vision plan will include a proposal for the development of an electric trolley system throughout the P-U-C from the Stadium to the University with easy access parking facilities serviced by the trolleys at all peripheral entrance points to downtown.
Under this plan, expanded fleets of express buses would bring residents from Central Oahu and other outlying districts to downtown on dedicated bus lanes to interface with the trolley. Motorists driving downtown would be able to park conveniently within the peripheral parking structures and then transfer to a modern, efficient electric trolley that would take them anywhere within the urban core.
In order to further remove vehicle traffic from the city and redevelop the Honolulu waterfront, our plan will re-route much of the traffic off Nimitz Highway to a new Sand Island Boulevard and a tunnel underneath the mouth of Honolulu
Harbor connecting with Ala Moana Boulevard. This proposal will unlock a generation of economic, social and recreational opportunities as we transform Honolulu into a true waterfront city. And under this plan, we will finally have an attractive landscaped boulevard from the airport directly to Waikiki.
Our plan will also call for a major parking facility on Sand Island serviced by a convenient water taxi system that will transport people across the harbor to various downtown destinations.
Many of our older neighborhoods have grown and evolved to a point where they are in danger of losing their identity and sense of community. Haphazard, strip commercial development with open surface parking lots encourage automobile use resulting in traffic problems. Our neighborhoods have lost their identities and no longer feature the traditional charm of small shops, sidewalk cafes and open air markets. Our vision for revitalizing our neighborhoods and attracting residents to live and work in their communities will be to create a pedestrian-friendly environment with parks and open space, landscaping and safe walkways and bikeways.
In the next few months I'll be asking for your input to develop neighborhood plans that create a college-town environment for the University of Hawaii; a town plan for Kalihi focused around the Honolulu Community College and Kapalama Canal; and plans with mixed use for neighborhoods such as Kaimuki, Kapahulu and Moiliili.
Together we'll create plans for towns and neighborhoods that result in a safe pedestrian environment supported by a good public transportation system, centralized parking and other measures to give us viable alternatives to our dependence on the automobile.
The preservation of our agricultural lands is critical to realizing our vision for Oahu. Agriculture is vital to achieve a balance of trade and provide employment alternatives for our people. It also helps us to preserve our precious open space and natural beauty. The development of agriculture-following the phase out of our plantations-has been thwarted by the high price of agricultural land.
These land prices are artificially high because our agricultural lands have always been susceptible to urban rezoning. The solution is for the City to freeze our important agricultural lands in perpetuity. Only then will agricultural land prices drop to realistic levels. Only then will the land be affordable for agriculture.
In the coming months, we will submit legislation that will forever preserve our important agricultural lands and support a viable agricultural industry to exist on this island.
This afternoon . . . I've shared with you a few glimpses of my vision for our great city. Within the next two months . . . I will unveil our complete plans. Not everyone will agree with every aspect. That's to be expected. But, we're confident that our vision will serve as a catalyst . . . the beginning of a community-wide dialogue from which will emerge a broad and durable consensus about the shape of Honolulu's future.
There are some who say these are difficult times . . . and they are.
There are some who say that our expectations must change in difficult times . . . and they must.
But that doesn't mean our expectations must be lowered.
I say to you today . . . now is the time to reach higher than ever before . . . to dream bigger dreams about a future that is more prosperous . . . more satisfying . . . and more vibrant than any future we've ever dreamed before.
As we have increased the safety of our streets-made government smarter and enhanced our environment.
We can also reduce traffic congestion, limit urban sprawl, return the livability to our urban neighborhoods and create a bright economic future. All of which will establish Honolulu as the world's most liveable city.
Let me close with a quote from America's greatest visionary.
"If we do the things we are capable of doing," Thomas Edison once said, "we will literally astonish ourselves."
Please join me in working together to plan our future and realize our collective dreams. Let's "astonish" ourselves, let's achieve greatness, let's chart our own destiny.
