Print This Article County by County, Hawaii Voters Will Decide More Than Favorite Candidates: Charter Amendments Detailed
BY GREG WILES - Hawaii voters will have more to contemplate than just gubernatorial and Congressional races when they step into voting booths next week.
They’ll also have to consider a number of questions that range from small changes to county charters to those involving who sits on the state’s Board of Education.
On the Big Island, they’ll be asked 19 questions, including whether grammatical and spelling errors should be corrected in the Hawaii County Charter.
On Oahu voters will have to determine whether language should be clarified in Oahu’s charter regarding initiative efforts – a measure that critics say would increase the number of voter signatures required to get an initiative special election to be called on Oahu.
Maui’s proposed charter amendments include one aimed at tackling affordable housing problems, while on Kauai voters will consider changing the length of terms for county council members.
All voters in Hawaii will be presented with two state charter amendments. They will be asked to cast ballots on three county charter amendments on Maui, six on Oahu, seven on Kauai and a whopping 19 measures to consider on Hawaii Island.
Whether the state’s Board of Education should be elected or appointed by the governor has gained the most notice among the charter questions. The issue has been fairly well explored and even has been a topic in gubernatorial debates -- (Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona says he’ll support whatever decision the public makes, while former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said he voted for an appointed board.
But other amendments have received less attention.
This includes another statewide measure that would give legislators a choice what to do with money when the state has a general fund surplus exceeding 5 percent of revenues for two consecutive years.
Instead of giving people a refund or tax credit as is currently the case, the legislators would have the option of either giving the money back to taxpayers or stashing away for spending during emergencies or economic downturns.
The Tax Foundation of Hawaii has come out against the measure that would give the state more flexibility to deal with budget problems. But the tax group says Hawaii’s residents are highly taxed and deserve a break when the state runs a surplus. It says legislators should look to other ways to save for unforeseen circumstances and that giving money back to people means more money flowing through the economy.
OAHU COUNTY
On Oahu there’s six charter issues for voters to consider, including:
- Creation of a public transit authority that would oversee planning, construction and operation of the city’s rail system. The mayor and city council would appoint three members each of the 10-member board, which would hire an executive director. The board would also establish fares for the system.
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle has said experts would be appointed to the body and that an independent authority would remove politics from mass transit project decisions. However, Cliff Slater, a longtime opponent of the project, is critical, saying an authority would insulate elected officials from accountability for any cost overruns and ridership shortfalls that may occur.
“What it does and its only purpose is to shield our elected officials from the consequences of their actions,” said Slater.
- Establishing an office of housing that would serve as a focus for efforts to help with affordable housing, homelessness, senior and special needs housing issues. The administrator would report to the mayor.
Proponents of the measure say Honolulu’s government has a role to play in seeing affordable housing goals are met and in helping shepherd through affordable housing building permits and coordinating programs.
Faith Action for Community Equity, a group that has supported the idea, notes about 10,000 people remain on the state’s waiting list for public housing units and that such an office can help making sure private parties, the state and city are on the same page when it comes to Oahu’s housing market.
It says the focus of the department would be on coordination rather than initiation of housing projects.
Lowell Kalapa, head of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, has come out against the idea, saying the city previously failed in its role of a developer of affordable housing and was forced to dismantle its housing department in the late 1990s because of a corruption scandal. Kalapa says government tends not to understand how to finance, construct or maintain affordable housing projects.
“Just creating a Department of Housing will not solve your homeless problem,” he said. “The measure is well intended but it will just create a greater financial drain on the city.”
- Amending the charter to clarify a section on ordinances by initiative to make it conform to other sections of the charter. The measure has been criticized by those who say it will make it more difficult to get an initiative special election.
The city says it wants to clear up confusion stemming from a 2008 lawsuit by Stop Rail Now over different interpretations of its Ordinance by Initiative provision. This includes remedying language inconsistencies and making conforming amendments to other sections of the charter.
In doing so, language would be added so that people seeking an initiative special election would be required to get signatures equal to 15 percent of total voters registered in the last mayoral election. Bob Kessler, a former chairman of a group called Let Honolulu Vote, has said that’s a change from the 15 percent of people who voted in the last mayoral election.
He says the higher threshold would doom such efforts in the future.
- Other charter amendments include changing rules to make it easier for the city to sell equipment and items it doesn’t use anymore; tightening ethics rules to prevent newly appointed city officers for participating in decisions involving a former employer; and allowing the Liquor Commission to hire and fire its Administrator and Deputy Administrator.
HAWAII COUNTY
Hawaii County voters will probably log the most time in voting booths during the Nov. 2 elections given the 19 county Charter Amendments they are being asked to appraise. Among the issues being presented to them are:
- Establishing an open space fund that would acquire land for public outdoor recreation and education. At least one percent of real property tax revenues would be set aside for the program.
- Amendments that lower the number of signatures required to recall elected officials or request a charter amendment through petitions.
- Renaming the Reapportionment Commission as the Redistricting Commission to reflect its responsibility of redrawing political district lines based on population changes.
- Correcting grammar, spelling and formatting mistakes in the charter.
- Expanding the role of the prosecuting attorney to include public education on crime prevention and research, some of which could be funded by donations and grants.
MAUI COUNTY
Maui’s ballot issues include using a minimum of 2 percent of real property tax revenues for expansion of affordable housing and requiring filing of financial statements by candidates for elective county office at the same time the file nomination papers.
It also is asking voters to consider reducing the amount of time the Maui mayor has to veto budget and capital program ordinances and extending the deadline for the mayor to submit a proposed budget to the county council
KAUAI COUNTY
On Kauai voters are being asked to decide several changes in the county’s code of ethics as well as change the term of county council members from the current two years to four years. If passed council members would only be allowed to serve two consecutive four-year terms.
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[...] Hawaii voters will have more to contemplate than just gubernatorial and Congressional races when they step into voting booths next week. Hawaii Reporter. [...]