Question: Why are select satellite city halls no longer open on Saturdays for working people? This doesn’t seem like a very customer-friendly thing to do.
Answer: None of the city’s 10 satellite city halls is open on Saturdays anymore because of budget cuts.
In 2005 then-Mayor Mufi Hannemann extended the satellite office hours to include service on Saturdays and, for the Ala Moana, Pearlridge and Windward City mall sites, service until 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.
However, “budgetary constraints” led the city to institute mandatory furlough days in 2010, resulting in the discontinuation of extended Wednesday and Saturday service, said Gail Haraguchi, director of the Department of Customer Services.
She also noted that the ability of customer services staff to complete transactions often depends on receiving data from other government agencies that also have been subject to mandatory furloughs.
“Transactions for motor vehicles and real property taxes, for example, require validation with offices from which we could not obtain timely information because the offices were closed or understaffed due to furloughs and budget reductions,” Haraguchi said.
To provide “timely and efficient transactions for our customers” and to ensure they do not have to return to complete a transaction, she said the schedules of satellite city halls were realigned to be consistent with state, Judiciary and other government offices.
In lieu of the extended walk-in hours, Haraguchi said Customer Services has expanded the online service menu for customers who otherwise would have to visit a satellite city hall.
Go to www.honolulu.gov/onlineservices for a listing of the expanded online service options. For more information, call Customer Services at 768-9311.
Go to www1.honolulu.gov/csd/satellite for hours of operation at the satellite city halls.
Free Shredding
You can fight both fraud and hunger at one event from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the state Capitol.
AARP Hawaii and Access Information Management are sponsoring a free drive-thru shredding event, where you can bring up to four file boxes or bags of documents per vehicle to the drive-thru area on Beretania Street.
Those who do are encouraged to bring a bag of brown rice for Lanakila Meals on Wheels to meet the growing demand for food among homebound kupuna.
Other food donations will go to the Hawaii Foodbank.
Mobile shredders will destroy all documents on site.
According to the AARP, identity theft was the top consumer complaint in the United States in 2011, with Hawaii ranking 21st filing 5,695 fraud reports.
Mahalo
To all those who helped rescue us on Thursday, May 3. My wife, Carol, and I were rescued by helicopter from the top of the hills above Sunset Beach after we became lost, dehydrated, and I suffered a painful knee injury. We called 911, and a rescue helicopter was able to spot us in a clearing through the trees. Needless to say, the rescue crews from the Sunset Beach, Mililani Mauka and Moanalua fire stations are our heroes. We are especially grateful to the helicopter crew and to Greg and John, who personally risked their lives to rescue us. Mahalo also to Gib and Ann Hatter of Sunset Beach, who picked us up and drove us back to our car. The people of Oahu and the tourists who visit your beautiful island are very fortunate to have such a professional, well-trained and top-notch fire and rescue service. They will remain forever in our hearts. — Dennis Scialli, Fairfax, Calif.
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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
