Council rejects
Harris' budget

Holmes calls it a protest vote for the
Council's being kept in the dark

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

In a rare move, the City Council killed Mayor Jeremy Harris' proposed budget on first reading yesterday, saying it is based on the mayor's reorganization plan they have yet to see, which involves about 185 city and county layoffs. The Council has until May's end to pass the budget.

"This was a protest vote," said Councilman Steve Holmes following the 5-3 vote. "We are dissatisfied with being kept in the dark about the reorganization. It's put us in a real bad spot. So we're kicking it back until we hear more details."

Managing Director Bob Fishman said: "They definitely sent a political message. They want changes. That's what the political process is all about."

The mayor's office said it will deliver the reorganization plan next week and wants to work with the Council to refine the work.

"We're going down a bumpy road with no compass," Fishman said. But he added, "We're not going to be deterred. We're going to downsize this government."

The budget and reorganizationmr6 Bob

Fishman seem a top-down inspired plan likely to cause more problems than it will solve, Councilman Jon Yoshimura said. He added, as did most of the Council members, that he favors streamlining the city. The issue comes back to how it will happen.

"It's not about making the politically correct decision. It's about making the correct decision," Yoshimura said, receiving applause from the audience.

Rejecting the mayor's budget on the first reading "buys us more time to work with the administration," said Council Chair John DeSoto.

The Council will revisit the proposed budget at its next meeting April 8, or at a prior specially called meeting.

The Council can change the budget through amendments, which is not the problem, Holmes said.

The budget is tied to the mayor's reorganization plan, which the Council has been told it cannot change.

"That's the do-or-die of this," he said.

The mayor says he wants to work with Council members on their concerns and has already adopted a change to keep the Fire Department a separate entity, an idea originally suggested by Councilman Mufi Hannemann.

Hannemann raised 10 concerns to the mayor's reorganization, which he issued in a news release earlier in the week, including his opposition to the dismembermentmr6 Jon

Yoshimuraof the Board of Water Supply.

As a good faith show of compromise with the mayor, Hannemann voted for the budget's passing yesterday, along with Council members Rene Mansho and John Henry Felix. Hannemann hopes the mayor will act further on his suggestions in the final reorganization.

"My vote for the budget doesn't mean I'll support it," Hannemann said. "We'll see on Monday. If the mayor's office hasn't addressed my concerns, it's a sham. Then I cannot support the budget and whatever we vote on in the end will be drastically different from today. But I don't want the mayor to spin this around and say he made the tough decisions while we're griping."

Hannemann said he urged the other Council members to let the mayor know what their alternatives are to the reorganization plan in writing.

"Then the mayor's office has no excuse when it comes down on Monday with the plan," he said. "We as a body cannot just continue to complain about the process."

Councilwoman Donna Mercado Kim also rebuked the mayor for taking a vacation, leaving his city unsettled.

"He's on vacation when his own people don't know if they're going to work," Kim said, raising her voice and shaking her head.