Reapportionment City reapportionment officials will use Kaena Point and Koko Head -- almost on opposite ends of Oahu -- to start dividing lines for new City Council districts in different draft maps.
panel wants 3
maps of Oahu
The draft maps will help
determine future city
political districtsBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.comThe city Reapportionment Commission yesterday instructed its staff to come up with three maps -- one that makes its first dividing line somewhere between Waialua and the Leeward Coast, one that has a line splitting Koko Head from Waimanalo, and a third one that factors in both versions.
The nine-member commission, which has until Jan. 2 to come up with a new district plan based on the 2000 U.S. census, also voted on a time line for its decision-making process.
Commission member Kerry Ahn said he favors using Kaena Point as a divider since no road connects one side from the other. Kaena Point was where the 1991 commission began its map, running clockwise.
But commission Vice Chairwoman Annette Yamaguchi said Koko Head should also be considered a good divider. From a demographic standpoint, those living in Waimanalo and Hawaii Kai have less in common than those on the North Shore and Leeward Coast, she said.
Commission members also instructed staffers to see if they could divide the districts not just along the traditional means of natural geographic boundaries, major roadways and census tracts, but along neighborhood board lines as well.
The boundaries of neighborhood boards were formed basically by groups of people who determined on their own that they shared a common identity, said commission Chairman Kerry Komatsubara.
Staffers were asked to come up with three preliminary plans for the next meeting, on Sept. 11. The plan is to take at least one draft plan out for public hearings in the latter part of October, prepare a final draft in November and adopt a final plan in December.
Commission members also agreed that the definition of "permanent residents" would exclude about 10,700 nonresident students and 32,500 nonresident military personnel but include 41,400 military dependents. It is the same definition being used by the state commission, which felt it could not easily determine which dependents deemed themselves to be Hawaii residents.
Glen Takahashi, a commission staff aide, said that during the last 10 years, the number of permanent residents on Oahu rose to 830,172 from 722,428. The biggest growth area was the 9th Council District (Waianae-Kapolei-Ewa), which was up 34.8 percent. Also showing a substantial increase was the 1st Council District (Waipahu-Mililani-Wahiawa-North Shore), which went up 27.7 percent.
Takahashi reported several districts that saw significant drops in permanent resident population. Topping that list was the 4th District (Diamond Head-Kaimuki-Waikiki), down 19.2 percent. The 5th District (Manoa-Makiki-McCully) was down 16.6 percent, and the 6th District (Downtown-Nuuanu) was down 13.5 percent.
Districts with larger populations likely would have to shrink in size under reapportionment, while those that saw big drops would probably need to expand.
City & County of Honolulu
