Mayor calls for vote
on land bill

The special session considers
a measure that would keep
some land agricultural

The City Council will likely have a quorum for Tuesday's special session being called by Mayor Jeremy Harris to consider a bill to protect certain agricultural land from urban sprawl.

But whether the bill will be approved is still up in the air.

"I don't know what the outcome of the subjects will be, but I will be there," Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi said.

The Council's last regularly scheduled meeting of the year was Dec. 1, but the mayor called it back for a special meeting to approve the bill that would designate 84,000 acres as important agricultural land on Oahu. The mayor is also asking the Council to confirm his nominee as the 13th member of the Charter Commission.

Questions arose early on whether there would enough members in attendance to vote on anything. But at least six of the nine councilmembers have indicated that they will attend. Five are needed for a quorum.

"That's what I got elected to do, to go to the Council meetings to represent my district," said Councilman Mike Gabbard, who added that he has not decided how he will vote on the agricultural bill.

Even the bill's supporters said they are not sure of its fate. "I'm open to a 'yes' vote, but I think there's very little chance on that" from the Council, Councilman Gary Okino said.

When Harris was a delegate to the 1978 state Constitutional Convention, he co-authored an amendment that called on the state to protect identified important agricultural lands. Since then he has waited in vain for the state Legislature to implement that amendment, city Managing Director Ben Lee said.

Harris then introduced two bills to do the same at the city level, but the bills have been stalled at the Council.

The bill that the Council will vote on Tuesday is actually stuck in Councilman Charles Djou's Zoning Committee, but the mayor is yanking it from committee.

Djou said he is opposed to the bill and believes the issue is the state's jurisdiction. He also said he disagrees with the mayor using a "special session" to vote on the bill, because he does not see the emergency. "The way he's doing this is wrong and possibly illegal," Djou said.

The Council will also hold a second special meeting Tuesday to consider calling for the city auditor to investigate the mayor's travel. The Council could not place the resolution on the same agenda as the mayor's special session.