Paradise doesn’t preclude business

Members of national organizations that plan meetings in Hawaii often are criticized back home, but Gov. Neil Abercrombie told those attending the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems that they have no reason to apologize.

"This is serious business, and Hawaii is a place where serious business is being done, will be done and has been done," he told NCPERS delegates Monday at Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Pension administrators from Los Angeles and Ohio stayed away from the meeting, even though the cost was less than what delegates spent at last year’s New York conference.

The backlash will continue, but those attending realizes the value of gathering information important to their jobs, even in paradise.

City Council finds balance in budget

It’ll all come out in the wash, of course, but we’re itching to find out how the City Council has managed to balance its $2 billion budget without raising taxes or cutting services.

The mayor had said one of those two escape hatches was necessary to cover the $67.5 million shortfall that arose when the Council declined his proposed tax hike.

There was one bit of budgetary wiggle room provided by the decision to borrow $20 million for capital improvements instead of squirreling away the cash for the projects.

Still, that’s not nearly enough to cover the gap. Where did the Council find the needed money?

The answer’s got to be in there someplace. There’s no such thing as mystery math.