City Council votes
Dela Cruz as its new leaderHe says he wants public talks
on the Council's priorities
Thirty-year-old Donovan Dela Cruz became the youngest chairman of the Honolulu City Council yesterday.
"A priority, really, is to ... try to work with everyone in getting on board whatever the collective priorities are," Dela Cruz said.
The path to consensus was not smooth. At yesterday's 10-minute special meeting to confirm the prearranged leadership slate, two members, Nestor Garcia and Mike Gabbard, did not show up; outgoing Chairman Gary Okino voted against the new lineup that kept Ann Kobayashi as vice chairwoman and Romy Cachola as floor leader; and Barbara Marshall paused before voting "yes."
The final vote was 6-1 with two absent.
Dela Cruz said that in the coming months he would like to bring all nine members together to hold public discussions on the Council's priorities. "(Discussions will) probably include how we generate revenue, how we do our spending, but it has to be a collective effort."
Dela Cruz said the Council will be able to signal its priorities as Mayor Jeremy Harris crafts the city budget for the next fiscal year.
"We look forward to working with the new Council chairman," city administration spokeswoman Carol Costa said.
Because of such issues as county taxing authority and a rail-transit system, Dela Cruz said he would also like to strengthen the Council's relationship with the state Legislature.
A graduate of Leilehua High School, Dela Cruz received journalism and communications degrees from the University of Oregon in 1995 and has worked in public relations and publishing. He is currently director of marketing at Watermark Publishing.
Before election to the City Council, Dela Cruz was a member of the Wahiawa Neighborhood Board and its chairman.
His first 10 months on the Council saw him become chairman of the Public Safety Committee, introducing legislation that included a ban on replica guns and advertising on the exterior of city buses, and becoming part of the majority that led to yesterday's reorganization.
