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Mayor Jeremy Harris and his new Cabinet gathered for a retreat during the weekend at the Turtle Bay Hilton, and a nonprofit group chipped in about $6,000 to cover much of the tab. City Cabinet interacts,
sets goals at retreatMembers visit major projects;
a nonprofit group paid $6,000 of
the cost of the Turtle Bay retreatBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-BulletinThe Friends of the City and County of Honolulu, set up by Harris campaign supporters, paid for the hotel rooms and an open-air trolley that shuttled the staff to the resort and back to Honolulu Hale.
Cabinet members and their families picked up the tab for their own meals, said Ben Lee, managing director.
The retreat allowed about 50 Harris directors, deputies and other Cabinet appointees to interact, Lee said.
"It was a great opportunity for the Cabinet to get together and set direction and goals for the next four years, and for the Cabinet's families to get to know one another," he said.
About 50 family members joined the group for "a kind of luau" on Saturday night, Lee said, and then stayed overnight with Cabinet members at the hotel.
Heading to the resort, the trolley circled East Honolulu and the Windward side of the island, stopping at Hanauma Bay, Koko Head and other sites of major Harris initiatives on the way to the North Shore, Lee said.
On the way back, the trolley stopped in Haleiwa, Wahiawa, Mililani, the Central Oahu Regional Park and other project sites, he said.
"We're going to do this more often," Lee said. "We're going to get together with the Cabinet and do more site visits so they each have a good feel of every department's activities."
The Friends of the City and County of Honolulu, registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, has raised money for city-related functions such as inaugural balls and receptions for visiting dignitaries.
City & County of Honolulu
