Community E-Newsletter & Update
   January 2008 Update
   Monthly news from Councilmember Todd K. Apo, City Council District I
   www.toddapo.org
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 Message from Todd...    

Highlights for 2007:  An end of the year recap 

Happy New Year!  As we enter 2008, I am sure it seems as if the
past year has flown by for us all.  I stop to realize that I've had
the opportunity to serve you on the City Council for three years. 
Now serving as the Council's Vice-Chair and Budget Chairman,
I hope that my leadership positions have helped to serve our
community.

2007 was a big year for City Council, as we made significant strides
on so many important city issues and projects, ranging from transit
to recycling to managing the island's waste.  As we begin 2008, I
wanted to recap some 'highlights' from 2007:

• The City Budget and Real Property Tax
• Oahu's Fixed Guideway Mass Transit System
• The Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill
• City Recycling Program
  

The City Budget   next | previous

As Chair of the Budget Committee this year, we worked to lower the
residential real property tax rate to $3.29, provided an instant $200
homeowner credit and increased the basic homeowner's exemption
to $80,000.

For long term protection, we created a City policy to allocate tax
revenues between residential and non-residential properties. 
With this policy, the City will be in a better position to adjust
tax rates annually and account for market valuation swings.
More importantly, the policy will create a focus on controlling costs,
instead of focusing on how much revenue the City has to spend.

We also strengthened the "circuit breaker" rules, which provide that
homeowners with incomes of $50,000 and below will not pay more
than 4% of their income for real property taxes (which drops to 3%
for those over 75 years old).

Approximately $71.0 million total was appropriated in the budget for
Capital Improvement Program Projects within the Leeward Coast,
Kapolei and Ewa areas.  Within this total, approximately $6.7 million
in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money was awarded
to Leeward organizations.  Finally, as Budget Chair and with the
support of the Council, I was able to increase the Leeward
Community Benefits Package to $2.5 million.

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Mass Transit   next | previous

As our island continues to grow, we feel the brunt of it while driving
on the roads and highways.  No community feels this more than the
Leeward Coast.

In December 2006, the City Council achieved a monumental task by
approving the eventual development of a full mass transit route from
West Oahu to Honolulu.  This past February, the Council approved
the Minimum Operable Segment (MOS), which is the first 20-mile
phase of the entire route line. 

The approved MOS will start in East Kapolei, at the site of the
future UH West Oahu campus, and extend to Ala Moana Shopping
Center.  The City has started the Environmental Impact Statement
process, with a goal to have construction start at the end of 2009.

In July, the City held a Transit-Oriented Development Conference
bringing together landowners, residents, developers and community
groups to discuss how the new transit system and stations will impact
the surrounding neighborhoods.  This was also a great opportunity for
local stakeholders to see and hear presentations from other cities with
successful Transit-Oriented Development communities.

For more detailed information and updates on mass transit, visit
the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project on the web at
http://www.honolulutransit.org.

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Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill   next | previous

My public position to close the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill
continued to gain momentum this year.  Despite claims that the
landfill operations must be expanded, the Council demonstrated its
opposition to landfill dependency through legislation.  The Council
pushed on this by setting City policy that prefers waste-to-energy,
recycling and trans-shipment of waste over and above contaminating
our limited land resource anywhere on this island. 

Discussions with the City's Department of Environmental Services
about options to divert the waste stream away from the landfill
were frustrating at times, but in the end, further advanced
our progress with the issue.  In July, Council passed a resolution
encouraging the Department of Environmental Services to use
off-island shipment and disposal of solid waste in a concerted
effort to reduce the amount of solid waste deposited in the
Waimanalo Gulch landfill. 

Approximately $5 million was appropriated in the City's Operational
Budget for off-island waste shipping.  Shipping waste, in
conjunction with recycling and waste-to-energy programs can
ultimately eliminate waste that is otherwise landfilled.

Currently, a city application to extend the use of Waimanalo Gulch
Landfill operations has been challenged in a contested case before
the City Planning Commission.  Although these extensions directly
oppose our attempts to close the landfill, we are confident that
progress is underway.

Should the Planning Commission approve the City's extension request,
the issue will be taken up before the State Land Use Commission
for further review and action.  I reiterate the commitment to fight
any attempt to relocate the landfill anywhere along the Leeward
Coast.  We must work to handle our solid waste in a better way.

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City Recycling Program   next | previous

The real solution to waste is not to move it somewhere else on the
island, but instead use better ways to dispose of it.

Oahu, as an island with limited land-space resources, must exercise
smart waste disposal practices.  As sustainable policies become
more prevalent in our modern society, policy makers must actively
combine these principals.

It is with this mindset that we, as a Council, initiated the first phases
of a curbside recycling effort.  The continuation of this project and
its increased publication and education have hopefully solidified
this program as one of island-wide permanence. 

For further information regarding recycling, waste disposal
and/or any pending legislation related to Honolulu's waste, please
visit http://www.opala.org.

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Waianae Emergency Access    next | previous

The December storms, followed by a major Farrington Highway water
main break, once again renewed the much needed attention to our
infrastructure needs.  With winds knocking down power poles for the
second time in approximately a year, no one can claim this to be a
remote or uncommon occurrence. 

Even with the City's Waianae Emergency Access Road construction
nearing completion, these events showed the need to coordinate
efforts with the State, the Board of Water Supply, Hawaiian Electric
and other utilities. 

This past storm was a critical test to our island's emergency
readiness level.  All agencies at the state and city level are
diligently working together to make sure all residents are safe and
can mobilize in emergency situations.

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For 2008, I will continue to work hard to ensure that we have tangible
progress on emergency readiness, real property tax, development 
plans, transit, recycling and waste management.  Obviously, there
are a number of additional issues we will tackle in the upcoming year. 

I also continue to keep the lines of communication open with you in the
community.  I want to know what you would like to see happen this
year.  Council hearings had a consistent and encouraging showing of
citizens testifying.  Please continue to do so, either in person or
via email -- your voice is listened to and taken into consideration. 

I am always open to hearing your thoughts and questions.  You can
call my office directly at 547-7001 or email me at tapo@honolulu.gov. 
Once again, here's wishing you a happy and prosperous 2008.


Aloha,

Todd K. Apo
Councilmember, District I


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