Members of the City Council attempted yesterday to solve the mystery of the missing Hawaii Kai police station after the project dropped off Mayor Jeremy Harris's construction budget. Council airs concerns
on Hawaii Kai cop stationBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com
What transpired provided a glimpse of the tug-of-war that could play out during the Council's upcoming weeks of scrutiny of the mayor's proposed 2004 budget.
On the first day of Council review, funding for construction of the East Honolulu police station, which had been previously budgeted, was not included on the budget for capital improvement projects.
The city previously announced that it planned to build the 13,025-square-foot, $4.5 million station on Keahole Street on a section of the area's park-and-ride lot that was underused.
"What troubles me with what's going on with the Hawaii Kai police station is just six days ago ... the mayor's representative to the Hawaii Kai neighborhood board tells me that the Hawaii Kai police station is one of the mayor's top priority," said Councilman Charles Djou, who represents the area. "Then on Sunday, we find there's nothing in the budget for the Hawaii Kai police station."
Bids to construct the station came in nearly $1 million over the amount that was appropriated, so no contract was awarded, administration officials told the Council.
"So the administration has given up?" Djou asked.
Deputy Managing Director Malcolm Tom said the station's funding came from the 2002 budget.
"It would've been against the law to award the contract given that it had exceeded the appropriated fund, so we had no choice not to award that contract and lapse the funds," Tom said. He said if the Council wanted it, they could put it in the budget.
"The CIP budget you have before you is a bare-bones budget," he told the Budget Committee. "The mayor's cut the budget to the bare bones to reflect the current financial reality."
The answer did not sit well with Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi.
"We're the ones that are always trying to cut, and we were assured (by the administration) that the city was in great shape, that cuts didn't have to be made," she told Tom. "So we weren't even prepared to be adding because generally, we're cutting because the budgets are so inflated when we get them."
Police Chief Lee Donohue said that while the absence of a station does not jeopardize public safety, having a station could help with one of the department's toughest tasks.
"It would enhance the fighting of the fear of crime within the community," Donohue said. "That's one of our ... hardest jobs, to fight the fear and the perception of fear."
Honolulu Police Department
