Mayor Caldwell returns budget bills unsigned

News Release from City and County of Honolulu June 22, 2015

Honolulu – Mayor Kirk Caldwell today returned the Fiscal Year 2016 legislative, operating, and capital budget bills unsigned, allowing them to become law without his approval.

• The City Council deleted funding for the Office of Strategic Development (OSD) positions needed to address homelessness and the affordable housing crisis. Their expertise is critically needed to create more affordable and Housing First units both to address O‘ahu’s homelessness problem and to help our children, young families, and kupuna afford to live here.

The existing staff have already announced several innovative projects including Hale Mauliola, the Sand Island modular housing first transition center, and a new affordable senior housing development in Chinatown. They are in the middle of several more projects that are set to be announced in the coming months.

“This Administration will not be discouraged by the Council’s failure to fund those OSD positions,” wrote Mayor Caldwell. “We will, as the Council has asked us to, find monies elsewhere to fund the positions that are currently filled in OSD, and the OSD staff, notwithstanding its limited resources but with support from the rest of the Administration, will do its best to fulfill the mission of OSD.”

• While cutting the seven OSD positions,the Council Chair added three new positions to his growing staff including a “Housing Coordinator” and an assistant with salaries totaling $130,000 and a “rail oversight” position with a salary of$150,000.

• With no public vetting or advance notice, and over the objections of the outgoing longtime City Clerk and many of the experienced career staff members of the City Clerk’s office, the Council Chair created the new position of “Deputy City Clerk” and appointed a longtime political ally at a cost to taxpayers of $125,000.

This despite the fact that the Honolulu City Charter specifically authorizes the City Clerk to “appoint the necessary staff for which appropriations have been made by council.”  While the Clerk’s position was filled by a lawful publically transparent selection committee process and the highest scoring candidate got the job; the Council Chair created the new high salary “Deputy Clerk” position and appointed his ally with no public oversight. 

The new Deputy Clerk position “has not been needed by that office to perform its work for over 30 years and was not requested to be established by the City Clerk,” noted Mayor Caldwell.

• Again this year, the council earmarked grants to nonprofit entities by going outside of the Charter-mandated Grants in Aid (GIA) Fund review process.

• The council added an additional $75 million to the Capital Budget, going from $494.4 million to $569.1 million, despite concerns raised by the Administration regarding the need to slow down the compounding debt owed by the city. 
• The City Council does not have the legal authority to approve budgets for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART), which by Charter is a semi-autonomous agency.  Provisions relating to HART violate Article 17 of the Revised Charter of the City and County of Honolulu (2000), as amended (Charter).

• Bill 12, CD2, the Legislative Budget
• Bill 13, CD2, FD1, the Executive Operating Budget,
• Bill 14, CD2, FD1, the Executive Capital Budget
• Bill 17, CD1, HART Operating Budget,
• Bill 18, CD1, FD1, HART Capital Budget,
• Bill 19, authorization for the issuance and sale of General Obligation Bonds and Bond Anticipation Notes.

• Bill 15, authorizing the issuance and sale of General Obligation Bonds and Bond Anticipation Notes

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Mayor Caldwell signs housekeeping bills

Honolulu - Mayor Caldwell signed several housekeeping measures that added technical clarity to existing codes and regulations today: Bill 66 (2014), CD1; Bill 67 (2014), CD1; Bill 68 (2014), CD1; Bill 69 (2014), CD1; Bill 71 (2014), CD1; Bill 72 (2014), CD1; Bill 73 (2014), CD1; and Bill 41, CD1.