All Americans have been affected, directly or indirectly, by the ongoing financial crisis. Unfortunately, so has the University of Hawaii's efforts to build a much-needed campus in West Oahu. The Honolulu City Council's failure to act on the necessary zoning for the project has exacerbated the problem.

The Council has delayed the needed permitting and zoning for UH-West Oahu for too long. While the city stalled, the mainland financial markets collapsed. When UH first started discussing building the West Oahu campus several years ago, it was looking to have a private developer build its campus in exchange for residential and commercial development rights. This public-private partnership would have delivered a win-win for the school, taxpayers and the developer. This partnership is now in jeopardy. Financing for the UH-West Oahu project might have been secured had the city acted on zoning in a timely fashion, but that arrangement might now have disappeared with the meltdown on Wall Street.

Whether or not a rail system is built, whether or not Ko Olina expands, whether or not Kapolei is fully developed, there is more than enough demand for a UH campus in West Oahu. UH's Manoa campus does not have many options for significant expansion. College students who live in West Oahu and are able to stay in West Oahu for their studies will benefit from a shorter commute; and the public benefits with fewer cars on the road going to Manoa.

While there is near universal acceptance that a West Oahu campus is needed in the UH system, the lack of action by your city government to achieve this objective is stunning.

Rather than move aggressively to fast-track zoning and permitting for a West Oahu campus, the city has moved slowly. The university has had an arduous time dealing with city bureaucracy more interested in holding UH and the state hostage to get a favorable rail line easement than getting the job done. The contrast between the speed at which the administration has rushed to break ground on a rail system by 2009 and the glacial pace at which it has moved on zoning and permitting for UH-West Oahu cannot be more stark.

  Even worse, when this matter finally came before the City Council's Zoning Committee, it was greeted with indifference. The Council received the request to rezone the land needed for the UH-West Oahu campus more than six months ago. Rather than trying to bring the parties together to make it happen, the Zoning Committee sat on this request. In fact, the committee refused to even grant a hearing on the merits of UH's zone change request for a West Oahu campus for nearly four months. Only when the chairman of the Zoning Committee went on vacation to China last week and the vice chairman took over did UH-West Oahu's zone change request finally receive a hearing, but still no action.

Thus far, the only notable action by the Council's Zoning Committee toward providing the necessary rezoning for UH-West Oahu was a flippant remark by committee Chairman Rod Tam that he didn't want “;wetbacks”; working to build the campus - a remark for which Tam was censured.

  To be fair, neither the Hannemann administration nor any of my colleagues on the Council have said they oppose a West Oahu campus. The problem is not affirmative opposition at City Hall, but the inability of city government to prioritize and act on important projects.

It's time the Council actually take charge, show some initiative and make zoning for UH-West Oahu a priority. The building of UH-West Oahu is an important goal for Hawaii, and we need to do what we can to make it happen now.