City Council term limits on ballot

The issue is among 12 proposals that voters will face in the general election

To help avert confusion, city officials are embarking on a public education campaign to help voters understand proposed changes to the City Charter in the November election.

"We want people to make an informed decision, and we want people to make a decision," said Charter Commission Chairman Donn Takaki. "We would hate to have a situation where 90 percent of the people leave a certain question blank. For the 10 percent that do vote, they are the ones that determine how the Charter changes."

On Nov. 7, voters will have to decide on 12 questions that ask whether changes should be made to the City Charter.

Officials are not too concerned with the clarity of most of the issues on the ballot, including a question on whether Honolulu should be a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly place.

But they are concerned that two questions addressing term limits and staggered terms for councilmembers could cause voters to scratch their heads and perhaps not even attempt an answer.

Charter Question 1 asks:

"Should City Council term limits be replaced by Alternative A or B below; and, separately, to address concerns relating to election of City Council members caused by reapportionment every 10 years, should staggered terms be replaced by Alternative A or B? Vote Yes or No."

Charter Question 2 asks:

"If Charter Question 1 is approved, which proposal relating to Councilmember terms should be adopted?

"Alternative A. Term limits for Councilmembers and the staggering of Councilmembers' terms shall be eliminated.

"Alternative B. Councilmembers shall be limited to serving a maximum of three consecutive four-year terms, and the staggering of Councilmember terms shall be eliminated. Vote A or B."

The two questions address changes made to the City Charter more than a decade ago, when voters approved term limits (two consecutive four-year terms) for the Council and the mayor. In 1998, voters again approved another change to the charter, this time staggering Council terms so that five members are up for election at one time and the rest during another election.

"SOME PEOPLE might say there is no need to make a change to term limits or staggering, so we wanted people to be able to decide that first of all," Takaki said.

If voters agree that City Council term limits should be replaced by alternatives A or B, then they are directed to answer the second question, which asks voters to choose one of the two alternatives.

"Once people decide if there should be a change, we want to know how do you want to make a change: Do you want to make a change by changing term limits to three terms or make no term limits, staggered terms?" Takaki said.

Of course, if a majority votes no on Question 1, the results of Question 2 will not matter. But Takaki said residents will be encouraged to choose an alternative no matter how they voted on the first question.

"We want people to vote on (Question 2) anyway, because at the time they're voting they don't know ... whether most people will vote yes or no on No. 1," Takaki said.

He said commissioners and commission staff welcome the opportunity to give community presentations on Charter questions. Residents who want to schedule a presentation should call 592-8622 or e-mail charter@honolulu.gov.

The questions and a digest explaining the questions are also on the commission Web site, www.honolulu.gov/chc.

TERM LIMITS for councilmembers have been an ongoing issue, which is why they are on the ballot again. Some city officials are concerned that the current Charter dealing with term limits will create problems in 2010, when Council districts are redrawn, and again two years later, when elections are held under new districts.

Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz is lobbying for the changes because he fears the redrawing of the districts could leave councilmembers representing areas where they were not elected.

"I don't know if the (commission) documents online clearly explain that there's a problem, that there's a problem that we need to fix," Dela Cruz said. "If you keep it status quo, councilmembers could be drawn out of their districts."

Dela Cruz said he will urge voters to approve Question 1 and then let them decide how to best remedy the problem through Question 2.

Staggering term limits or getting rid of them could alleviate the redrawing of district lines, some officials believe.

"Every time I go to a Lions Club meeting, a neighborhood board, a community meeting, I'm definitely going to talk about it because it needs to be fixed, because I don't think anybody would want a councilmember that they never voted for or even had the chance to vote for," Dela Cruz said.

But even Dela Cruz is ambiguous on how he feels about term limits. When asked if he supports them, he said, "I just think the public has an opportunity to vote for who they feel best represents them."

Councilmember Charles Djou said term limits "have worked for the Council."

If changes are approved to the Charter, the mayoral position will not be affected. Under the Honolulu Charter, the mayor is limited to two consecutive four-year terms.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann is opposed to eliminating or extending the current term limits, city spokesman Bill Brennan said.

"(The mayor) pointed out that 80 percent of voters voted to approve term limits for both the mayor and the Council. He believes that we shouldn't be lifting term limits," Brennan said. "The Charter Commission was also deeply divided by the issue. It shows that there is a lot of opposition to lifting term limits even among Charter Commission members themselves."

The mayor would also urge people to vote against the Charter question, Brennan said.