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A nuts-and-bolts mayor
also can be a dreamer

SOMETIME in the last few months, a five-block stretch of road in the neighborhood was patched up a bit. The major pukas in the blacktop were plugged so that driving over it has become less jaw-jarring.

I'd avoided that street ever since a near head-on collision with a monster SUV that swerved into my lane to bypass a series of potholes, particularly one that measured about a foot wide and about three inches deep. That the driver was talking on a cell phone at the time may have had something to do with his not noticing my trusty Toyota a mere 10 feet in front of him, but that's another matter.

The point is that the road is now in better condition than it was before Mufi Hannemann became mayor. Chinks and fissures remain, the uneven asphalt crumbles easily and soon repairs will be needed again. Meanwhile, the section that continues on the other side of Waialae Avenue has yet to receive any first aid, much less the complete repaving job it really needs.

Still, like many city drivers, I appreciate that the mayor has made good on his word -- at least as good as he can in four short months -- to refocus energy on basic city services.

I must admit, however, that his "State of the City" address, in which he spoke ardently about upgrading bulky item pickup and road repairs, disappointed me. After years of the lofty ventures of Jeremy Harris, my ears were tuned for Hannemann's "vision" for Honolulu.

In some ways, it was refreshing to hear the new mayor talk about down-to-earth essentials, most notably improved sewer lines and treatment facilities, while setting out modest proposals, such as those for Chinatown.

The common knock against Harris was that he had badly balanced basics with extravagant plans that the city couldn't afford during an economic slump. With an overbearing posture and a City Council petulantly disinclined to help him succeed, he often failed to win support for his projects and ideas.

Some were wonderful, like his desire for as long a string of open spaces and parks along Oahu's coastline as possible. He proposed a strategy for the city to recapture shoreline property where structures closed off view plains to the ocean by restricting what could be put up when landowners sought to rebuild or renovate, and offering land swaps or outright purchases. It was an extremely expensive proposition, one nearly unattainable, but Harris thought that over the long run, such a policy would greatly benefit the city -- and it would have.

But reality bites and he did what he could, refurbishing Waikiki, which by some accounts encouraged hotels and other businesses in the district to do some sprucing up themselves.

At times, Harris overreached in what many saw as an attempt to assemble a resume that would hurtle him to the governor's office. True or not, the ambition of an individual can tow others, even a city, in its draft.

Mayor Hannemann's concentration is to deliver what he promised during his campaign, a city that beats with the basics -- and that's fine. Residents want smooth-running services. They want the garbage to get picked up without complications, the restrooms at Ala Moana Park kept clean, beaches free of litter and roads of lumps and bumps.

Holding the second-most visible political office in the state, Hannemann can command a lot of attention. The city's biggest headache is traffic, and conventional wisdom centers solution on a rail or other mass transit system. But there are other components that ought to be linked, such as renewal of the urban core to bring housing closer to employment zones, containing sprawl outside this zone and orienting the city toward foot rather than auto traffic.

The mayor has a marvelous opportunity to invent a new Honolulu, one more vibrant and livable, one where cultural and natural assets gleam. As much as they want a mayor who deals with nuts and bolts, people also want one who can dream.

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