So, the City Council has deferred action on Bill 69, a proposed mandate for fire sprinkler systems to be retrofitted in some 350 older residential buildings on Oahu within five years.

Council Chairman Ron Menor said this doesn’t mean members are giving up on the idea; they just want more information now being gathered by the Honolulu Fire Department, as well as feedback to come through community meetings. Let’s hope the Council keeps its focus. The more time passes since the tragic Marco Polo building fire that took three lives, the easier it will be to drop the whole notion.

Exercising a little political muscle at the gym

Political change happens where the politicians gather. At the Nuuanu YMCA, for example. That’s where a fellow gym rat persuaded City Councilman Ernie Martin to support a proposed city ordinance to ban smoking in vehicles with children present. Martin was prepared to vote against it, but the man mentioned that his two grandkids were stuck in a smoke-filled car on their way to preschool. So Martin changed his mind.

Right or wrong, it’s good to know that grassroots activism still works.