The 1973 Revised Charter of
the City and County of Honolulu (“RCH”) authorized the council to establish the
office of council services (OCS) to assist it in the exercise of its
legislative power (Sec. 3-107.7 RCH).
The 1971-72 Charter Commission cited this as one of the most important
changes affecting the legislative branch of city government. In this regard, OCS was viewed as “a
necessary adjunct to and is supportive of the policy-formulation or legislative
role of the city council” and “a tool for decision making -- to assist it in
analyzing the city’s policies and financial programs for their effectiveness
and adequacy and in identifying alternative programs and policies and major
problems which endanger the public interest and welfare.”
OCS was created on March 19,
1973 by enactment of Ordinance 4116 (Article 3, Chapter 4, ROH). It is charged with providing comprehensive
research and reference services for the council, conducting research for the
enactment or consideration of legislation, and serving in an advisory or
consultative capacity to the council and its committees.
With a staff of 19 -- a
director, an assistant director, five attorneys, seven analysts, one paralegal,
and four support staff -- OCS services performed the following services:
* Conducted
independent research necessary for the enactment of legislation upon the
request of the council;
* Provided
assistance to the council’s standing committees by conducting background
research, gathering pertinent data, and serving as resource persons to the
committees;
* Analyzed
executive branch proposals, programs, bills, and reports at the request of the
council;
* Provided
legal research and advice at the request of the council;
* Prepared
bills and resolutions requested by councilmembers;
* Analyzed,
prepared amendments for, and monitored the execution of the city’s operating
and capital budgets;
* Provided
information to individual councilmembers by letter, memorandum, personal or
telephone conferences, or electronic communication;
* Provided
liaison service to the council regarding access to the city’s geographic
information system (GIS);
* Served
as revisor of ordinances and supervised the revision, codification, and
printing of the revised ordinances of Honolulu and maintained the city’s
computerized databases for the revised ordinances and city policy resolutions;
* Assisted
the council in fulfilling its responsibilities as a member of the Hawaii State
Association of Counties;
* Assisted
the councilmembers when they functioned as trustees of Kapiolani Park; and
* Maintained
on-line communication with other municipalities through “CounciLink” as a means
of sharing information relevant to cities and counties across the United
States.
MAJOR ACTIVITIES FOR FY
2007-08
Research Activities
As the research arm of the
council, OCS prepared approximately 771 written responses to requests for
service in fiscal year 2007-08. These
responses included 222 bills, 386 resolutions, and 163 letters, legal
memoranda, and statistical and research reports. OCS also provided research and staff assistance to the council’s
standing committees and legal staff services for the executive sessions of the
committee on executive matters and committee of the whole. In these executive sessions, councilmembers
considered matters permitted by chapter 92, HRS, to be discussed in meetings
closed to the public and discussed claims against the city where the premature
disclosure of information would adversely affect the interests of the city and
the public.
OCS issued another of its
“Issue Profile, Status of the City’s Finances” reports in March 2008. Published annually since 2002, the report
provides an overview of certain fiscal trends of the city, reviews the prior
year’s revenues and expenditures for the operating budget, checks on the
mid-year status of the current year’s major revenue assumptions and major
operating budget expenditures, and reports on the status of the prior year’s
capital budget appropriations. The
report is intended to provide the council with a historical and comparative
context to review the upcoming city budget.
For more than a decade, OCS
has provided the only volunteer reviewers in the state of Hawaii for the
nationwide Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) distinguished
budget presentation awards program. The
reviews are based on how well an applicant local government’s annual budget
documents meet GFOA criteria relating to the budget as a policy document,
financial plan, operations guide, and communications device. During fiscal year 2007-08, two analysts
served as GFOA budget reviewers. The
budget reviewed in the fiscal year included those of the following jurisdictions
and entities:
Town of Gilbert, Arizona
City of Burbank, California
City of Irvine, California
City of Detroit, Michigan
City of Novi, Michigan
City of Cincinnati, Ohio
City of Clayton, Ohio
Salt Lake City, Utah
Alexandria, Virginia