[ OUR OPINION ]
City fumbles numbers
on Hanauma costsIT is fortunate that the new Hanauma Bay marine center opened to generally good reviews last month because the city may need a steady stream of customers to keep the operation in the black. The center, which the Harris administration promised would pay for itself, appears to be headed toward red ink, although the muddled figures city officials provided last week leave the situation unclear.
THE ISSUE The new marine center appears to be facing a financial shortfall.
The project has been plagued by cost overruns and disputes with the City Council over expenses. The money budgeted for construction was exceeded by $2.1 million because of design changes. Amendments to a consultant contract for design and planning more than quadrupled from $450,000 to $2.05 million. In the end, the city paid out more than $16 million for the center.
The Council had for months sought a detailed accounting for the center. However, when city officials opened the ledger, the numbers were confused enough for the mayor's spokeswoman to call news organizations a few hours later to revise them. Calculations given to the Council showed that bay revenues would fall $300,000 short of operational costs. Officials said the balance would be paid with $1.4 million in a bay preserve fund, money unaccountably left unused from previous years.
Acting Budget Director Chris Diebling told the Council the city was spending $4 million this year on the bay, including $1.4 million in debt service -- or interest -- on the construction costs and $2.6 million for operations and maintenance. The spokeswoman later explained that the $1.4 million should be assigned not only to the bay project, but to construction at Koko Head District Park and other facilities. Work at those sites, however, has been minimal and it remains uncertain how the debt service can be attributed there, especially since the administration late last year shifted funds from those park projects to cover expenses for the bay.
The murky computations and revised figures may be a result of a change in leadership at the city budget office with director Carol Takahashi having resigned in July. Nevertheless, someone at City Hall should have the books in order and the Council -- and city taxpayers -- should be able to get straight numbers on a timely basis.
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City gains flexibility
in animal abuse lawsNO dogfight ensued from the City Council's decision to remove the Hawaiian Humane Society as the city's designated enforcer of animal control ordinances. The Humane Society has other priorities and is more than willing to allow someone else to perform some of the functions that have been assigned to it for 87 years.
THE ISSUE The City Council changed an ordinance on enforcement of animal control laws.
The Humane Society's $1.64 million yearly contract with the city expires at the end of June. The society decided last month to opt out of enforcing the ordinance against incessant dog-barking and rooster-crowing after failing to get an $80,000 funding increase from the Council. Police will take over that role on Aug. 15.
The Council now has voted to change animal control ordinances to provide that they be enforced by an "animal control contractor," defined as "a duly incorporated humane society or organization formed for the prevention of cruelty to animals," instead of specifically the Humane Society. Pamela Burns, the Humane Society's president, didn't object to the change, agreeing that "this contract could be awarded to another entity."
City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who proposed the change, explained that placing an independent contractor's business name in a city ordinance "isn't a good way to do business." She is right, although the possibility of "another entity" underbidding the Humane Society to enforce animal-cruelty laws appears remote, considering the society's $1-a-year lease from the city for the land where the society's building sits.
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