February, 1979 |
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March, 1979 | Apr, 1979 |
League of Women Voters DayWas it a carry-over from Valentine's Day or was it because we had a large turnout of Leaguers who seemed to find the program stimulating that our hearts were glowing? About 35 attended, and Joyce, Jean, Helen and Nancy did a superb job of putting together an exciting general meeting. The day was a study in contrasts. It started with coffee and donuts in the lovely open patio of Honolulu Hale (which we won't use again for meetings). Eileen Lota, knowledgeable, intelligible, and prepared, gave a most informative talk on the functions of the Office of Information and Complaints. The OIC acts as ombudsman, provides information, tours, operates the print shop, and has the Satellite City Halls under its jurisdiction. Mrs. Lota's personal feelings included: making representative government work, serve the public, strive to keep the electorate informed. At the last minute Albert Jeremiah, Director of Council Services, could not show, and David Lum, Assistant Director, stepped in to give it a go. Despite high noise levels and terrible acoustics, we were able to get a very clear idea of what the OCS does, its purpose - to provide independent research to Council members - and its philosophy - to make sure the public is not being cheated. The meeting then moved to the quiet, formal Council Chambers where the acoustics were superb. Managing Director Ed Hirata led off the second half with a lucid talk on how he sees the city administration's views on the future of Downtown. He touched on low and moderate income housing, hotels, transportation, park development. He stressed the need for cooperation on all three levels of government, without encroachment by the state. He sees the downtown area as on the upswing, alive and growing. In contrast, Council Chairman Rudy Pacarro's talk was on a more personal, informal level. He assured us "Honolulu is moving right along." His main theme seemed to be the Council's image according to the media, and he also described the new "strong committee" structure of the Council where the chairman is only an administrator. Inclosing, he invited all to the inner sanctum (council offices). There was a question and answer period and Astrid Monson broke up the meeting with her question: "Everything went so well for a while on planning and zoning. But watching what the council has done in the last few months, like Michele Marvin, we can only ask, 'Rudy, why did you leave us?'" Nancy Guille, as moderator, maintained her admirable poise throughout.
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