Divided Council
to debate budgetIf a suitable outline is not
devised in time, the mayor's
spending plans will take effect
A split in the nine-member City Council over the budget and property tax increases may lead to a deadlock that could allow the mayor's budget to take effect without any changes.
If that happens, the administration would be able to start curbside recycling and charging an $8 monthly fee for a second day of trash pickup each week. Also, bus fares would not be raised to $1.75 from $1.50, which is being considered by the Council.
"As it stands now, the mayor can probably get what he wants," said Councilman Nestor Garcia. "There needs to be a middle ground amongst ourselves and the administration."
Mayor Jeremy Harris also suggested yesterday that he may veto the $1.2 billion budget that is expected to pass out of the City Council Budget Committee tomorrow if it is not balanced.
Council Chairman Gary Okino said, like the mayor, he believes that the budget being prepared by Budget Committee Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi is not balanced. Okino said he will propose his own version of the budget when the full Council is scheduled to decide the issue on June 4.
Right now, according to councilmembers, the Council is split five votes to four in favor of the Kobayashi budget -- one short of the six votes needed to override a veto.
"It's basically coming down to a showdown between Gary Okino and Ann Kobayashi," said Councilman Charles Djou, a Kobayashi supporter.
To complicate matters, Djou, an Army reservist, is being called up to active duty for about a month of training in Virginia and is leaving Sunday, three days before the June 4 Council meeting on the budget.
When Djou leaves, the Council could be deadlocked four votes to four and may be unable to even pass a budget by the June 15 deadline.
Djou said yesterday that Council rules could allow him to vote via teleconference.
But Okino said he does not think it is a good idea to let councilmembers vote when they are not physically present.
If the Council is unable to pass a budget, or if Harris vetoes the Council's budget and the Council cannot override the veto, then the budget the mayor proposed in March would determine how the city spends its money.
Councilmembers cautioned that current alliances could shift before the June 4 full Council meeting.
Some councilmembers are also talking about the possibility of a reorganization of City Council leadership.
"It all depends on what happens this week," Djou said. "I think the push might come to reorganize depending on how Gary Okino handles the budget."
Kobayashi said she is not pushing for a reorganization.
"I'm not going to get into any kind of contest with the administration or the Council chair. We're just trying to get our work done here," Kobayashi said.
She reiterated that the budget she is working on will be balanced.
"We're just doing the best we can to lessen the burden on our residents," she said.
Harris, however, said he is concerned that the cuts being considered by Kobayashi will not leave enough money to pay the city's utility bills for the year or to operate the city's computers and that she is overestimating how much money the city will take in.
"If they pass a budget that overstates revenue by $18 million, then we will have to veto it because it will be, de facto, out of balance by July 1," Harris said.
Okino said he is working on a budget that will be a compromise between Kobayashi's and the administration's proposals.
"If (Kobayashi's) Budget Committee bill fails, I'm hoping they (the Council) will switch over to mine," Okino said. It may come down to "my budget or the mayor's budget," he said.
At a Friday Budget Committee meeting, Kobayashi and Okino clashed over the budget cuts and the size of a proposed property tax increase. Okino had recommended raising property taxes 2 cents higher than the mayor's proposal. He said the extra revenue would help restore $1.6 million in administration cuts made to police and fire positions.
"If he (Okino) is trying to put together his own budget ... what counts (is) who has the votes," Kobayashi said yesterday.
City & County of Honolulu
