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New authority needs own powers to run transit | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper
Posted on: Sunday, June 8, 2008

New authority needs own powers to run transit

GET INVOLVED

The City Council Executive Matters Committee will hear public comments on resolution 07-90, the council's proposal to create a transit authority, at 1 p.m. June 25.

Register to testify in person or at www.honolulu.gov/council/attnspkem.htm; send a fax to 768-3827; or call 768-3819.

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This, as they say, is where the rubber hits the road.

Or, in the case of the planned transit system, where the steel wheel hits the rail.

The City Council soon will continue discussions about creating an agency that would have authority over the fixed-guideway system, as well as TheBus and TheBoat. It's critical that O'ahu residents weigh in on the process.

It makes perfect sense to create, as it's called in two versions of the proposal, a "semi-autonomous public transit authority" to oversee the development and operation of the system. Making the elements of the city's transit system mesh well together will take expertise, and leaving decisions to the council, with some members up for re-election every two years, will add needless disruptions.

The aim now, though, is to define "semi-autonomous." In other words: How much authority should the authority have?

The city must settle on a structure for the new transit agency and put the proposed City Charter amendment on the ballot this fall. Time is short, so the council and mayor need to arrive at some consensus quickly, avoiding power struggles in the process.

Here are some questions that must be answered:

  • How many members should sit on the board? In terms of the board's size, the mayor's proposal for a nine-member panel sounds more workable than the 13-member board proposed by the council.

    Elsewhere, 13 board members for a city of this size would be seen as unwieldy. The Denver Rapid Transit District board, which supervises a multimodal system, numbers 15, but that's for an eight-county district with a population of 3 million.

  • Who should choose the board members? On this point, the council has a better strategy for constituting a politically balanced board, with city and state lawmakers and administrations sharing rights to name members. The administration's bill gives most of the appointment authority to the mayor.

    The Denver board is one of only three elected transit boards in the nation. While those concerned about accountability should raise this possibility, Honolulu should hesitate before creating another elected entity, particularly one in which it's preferable to have members selected on the basis of expertise, not vote-getting skill.

  • Should the authority have taxation powers? Some people might insist that unelected boards shouldn't be able to levy a tax. There are certainly examples in other cities, but there is no government body in the state quite like this.

    The real question is: How can the authority be accountable for its financial management? Giving the council budgetary oversight would be one strategy.

  • Should the authority be able to condemn property needed along the right-of-way? Some on the council are uneasy about that, but there are state and federal laws governing the eminent domain process. There's ample precedent for unelected agencies taking the lead in securing land for highways and other transportation projects.

    Too much time has already lapsed between the initial council approval of the alignment and this crucial step in developing a transit system.

    But rather than point the fingers of blame on that score, let's move off the dime. Voters need answers to key questions so they can confidently approve a charter change creating the new transit authority.
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