Many dislike
mayor’s cutback
plan ideas

Harris' water plan faces
opposition from agency

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Mayor Jeremy Harris, with the approval of the City Council, can take over the powers of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, according to opinions issued by Corporation Counsel David Arakawa and the Office of Council Services.

That won't, however, stop growing opposition in the water agency to Harris' plan to combine it with the Wastewater Department and the Solid Waste Division of the Public Works Department.

Formation of the Department of Environmental Services would strip the board of its powers to manage operations and finances of Oahu's public water system.

The proposal is part of a massive reorganization of city agencies by Harris that would consolidate 26 city agencies into 15 new ones.

The opinions of Arakawa and the Office of Council Services, the research arm of the City Council, respond to queries about whether stripping the water board's powers would require approval by the state Legislature.

That's because in 1929 the territorial Legislature mandated that Hawaii's four counties create semiautonomous water boards to manage the resource.

The mandate came amid accusations of political manipulation of Oahu's water system. A 1930 challenge to the mandate by the counties was thrown out by the territorial Supreme Court.

Harris on Monday said the concerns are obsolete.

Arakawa, in his opinion, said that an amendment to the City Charter -- requiring the approval of the Council and then the voters in November's election -- is all that is required.

A Charter amendment, Arakawa said, "would be superior" to legislative provisions since the state Constitution allows the counties to construct, manage and maintain facilities dealing with water service.

Meanwhile, Council Services legislative analyst Calvin Azama pointed to Maui County, where the Hawaii Supreme Court in 1978 ruled the county had the authority to strip the Maui water board of its powers and give them to the mayor and Council.

City Water Manager Raymond Sato said that despite the 1978 ruling, Maui County voters didn't like the idea of merging water and waste-water services and reverted to a "compromise" semiautonomous panel.

Today, Maui County's Board of Water Supply is given the duty of running the waterworks.

Its decisions, however, are subject to the whims of the Council and mayor.

Sato said he was shocked over the proposed merger, which he learned about via Harris' news conference on the radio Monday afternoon. Administration officials said he was notified.

Sato said he thinks the current system has worked. He is reserving further comment and urging his 670 employees to remain calm and hear all the details before forming opinions.

Harris, however, can expect stiff opposition from rank-and-file Board of Water Supply employees who fear the move will bring less efficient operations, which could be reflected in rates.

Alex "Alika" Irvine, maintenance supervisor at the water board's downtown office, has been with the agency for 27 years. He believes in the adage, If it ain't broke, why fix it?

"To me, it's going to jam up the system, and ultimately, the people to suffer will be the people we serve," he said.

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Eliminating city reference
center termed ‘crazy’ notion

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Mayor Jeremy Harris' plan to kill off the city Municipal Reference and Records Center as part of his attempt to overhaul city government "is crazy," says a user of the agency.

It's a sentiment echoed by staffers.

"I don't quite agree (with the decision) because it's a valuable resource," outgoing Director Mila Medallon said of the center, created in 1929.

Medallon said she resigned, effective last Friday, to care for an ailing parent, not because of the center's likely demise.

Medallon, who informed the center's five staffers of the mayor's decision on Friday morning, has headed the agency since 1994 except for a six-month absence in 1996.

"It's crazy," free-lance author Tony Oliver said of the proposed closure. "To me it's the institutional memory of the city."

Oliver said the center has "a superb, valuable collection" and that the staff was itself a valuable resource in helping research his latest books, including "The Hawaii Fact and Reference Book."

The operation "is a terrific bargain for the amount the city is paying," he said.

Everything from project reports to newspaper clippings to neighborhood board minutes are collected and sorted by the staff, a center employee said. "Our jobs aside, it's a resource that cannot be re-created if it's let go."

Under Harris' plan, one staffer would be kept and transferred to the new Budget and Fiscal Services Department. That employee is charged with records management functions such as developing records management systems for city agencies.

City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the records and duties of the repository would be transferred to the Budget and Financial Services Department. The public will continue to be allowed to get the information but will need to make written requests.

Costa said the service has been designed for and used primarily by city employees, not the public.

The center has a $346,929 budget in the current fiscal year, $245,164 of it in salaries and wages.

The city's annual report for fiscal 1997 says the center processed 1,870 reference requests and 5,670 book and magazine loans during the year.