2026-07-08 - Regular Council

Summary

Built from the official journal (minutes) of the 23rd session, adopted August 12, 2026. No video page or captions are on file.

Called to order 10:10 a.m. by Chair Waters; eight members present, Tulba excused. Recess 12:59 to 1:12 p.m.; adjourned 2:20 p.m. with six members present.
Passed the operating budget (Bill 22, CD2, FD1) over the Mayor's line-item veto, 6-2.
First reading, all 8-0: Bills 42 to 50 (2026), including the homeowner exemption bills, the vehicle weight tax cut and the parks funding bills.
Second reading: Bills 29, 40 (CD1), 18 (CD1, 6-2), 30, 31, 32, 33, 35 and 41. Third reading: Bill 20 (2025), CD1, down payment assistance.
Public hearings, with the items referred to committee: Resolutions 26-129 (Managing Director), 26-130, 26-154 and 26-155 (appointments).
Adopted two bond authorizations, conservation easement purchases, a Kahe Point cable easement and a Mauna Lahilahi preservation resolution.

Tupola moved final passage over the veto, Okimoto seconded; 6-2 (no: Dos Santos-Tam, Weyer). Debate centered on the Office of Economic Revitalization and separation of powers.

Bills 45 and 46 passed first reading 8-0; Waters said they raise the homeowner and kūpuna homeowner exemptions.

Bill 47 passed first reading 8-0; Waters said it cuts annual registration fees 20 percent.

Bills 44 and 49 (TAT reallocation) passed first reading 8-0. Bills 32 (CD1, 7-0) and 33 (CD1, 8-0) passed second reading.

Bill 30 (CD1) and Bill 31 (CD1) passed second reading 7-0. Resolution 26-65 (Mauna Lahilahi Cultural Garden) adopted 8-0 as amended to a handcarried FD1 after Rule 19.G was waived.

Passed second reading as CD1, 8-0. Bill 29 (2026), also on real property taxation, passed second reading 8-0 (committee report 162(26)); the journal gives no discussion.

Bill 41 passed second reading 8-0. Bill 35 (streets, sidewalks and public places) passed second reading 7-0 (Tulba, Weyer absent).

Resolution 26-129 referred to International & Legal Affairs after a public hearing with eight speakers. Resolution 26-130 (climate commission reappointment), 26-154 (Board of Review) and 26-155 (Grants in Aid Advisory Commission) were also referred.

Resolutions 26-145 ($205 million) and 26-146 ($11 million for rail) adopted 8-0.

Resolution 26-149, perpetual subsurface easements to Hawaiki Submarine Cable USA LLC in Kahe Point Beach Park, adopted 8-0.

Council approved 120-day extensions requested by the Department of Planning and Permitting for Bills 38 (D-445(26), 7-0) and 39 (D-446(26), 8-0).

Bills 42 and 43 passed first reading 8-0: see Laie Base Yard Boundary Change and Paʻalaʻa Kai Rezoning. Bill 48 (condemnation) passed first reading 8-0.
Resolution 26-143, CD1 (Rate Commission appointment of a young transit advocate) adopted 7-1; Tupola voted no, worried about the appointee's college plans. Cordero, Weyer and Waters spoke in favor.
Gift resolutions adopted: 26-147 (NASPO conference travel, $5,600, CD1), 26-139 ($5,000 Kahala Community Park), 26-141 ($5,000 senior Valentines dance), 26-148 ($6,750.67 Ala Moana Regional Park), 26-133 (Trust for Public Land travel, $4,060.98), 26-140 (Hawaiʻi County planning travel, $659.60), 26-142 (3,700 culls from Asagi Hatchery for animal consumption), 26-132 (AAMVA conference tuition and travel, $3,000). See Park Gift Acceptance Resolutions.
Special counsel retained: 26-152 (a defendant in Fepuleai v. City and County of Honolulu), 26-153 (Liquor Commission in the Scarlet Honolulu case). Resolution 26-156 authorized legal action against owners advertising an unpermitted bed-and-breakfast or transient vacation unit. All adopted 7-0 (Cordero, Tulba absent).
Balance of committee reports adopted 7-0: a Villages of Kapolei sewer easement and four lawsuit settlement authorizations.

City Council journal (minutes), regular meeting of July 8, 2026 (adopted August 12, 2026): https://hnldoc.ehawaii.gov/hnldoc/document-download?id=28796