Council picks committee leaders

Incoming Honolulu City Councilman Trevor Ozawa will head the Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee, and fellow freshman Councilman Brandon Elefante will lead the remixed Business, Economic Development and Tourism Committee under new committee leadership assignments announced in a memorandum this week by Council Chairman Ernie Martin.

Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi and Zoning Chairman Ikaika Anderson will continue to head the two most powerful Council committees, while Joey Manahan will lead the Transportation Committee.

There are four reconstituted committees in all.

Ron Menor, who previously led the Executive Matters Committee, will head the Public Health, Safety and Welfare Committee. Carol Fukunaga will lead the Public Works, Infrastructure and Sustainability Committee; and Kymberly Pine will handle the Parks, Community and Customer Services Committee.

Martin will head a nine-member Legislative Matters Committee that will meet as needed.

In related news, Martin has apparently gained enough support to continue as chairman of the nine-member Council, a job he has held since June 2011, when he replaced then-Council Chairman Nestor Garcia. Anderson will continue as vice chairman, while Menor takes over as floor leader.

The three leadership positions must be approved via Resolution 14-297, one of only two items on the agenda for the Council’s meeting on Friday.

The other item is the swearing-in of four Council members who won either election or re-election in 2014. Fukunaga and Martin are the returnees.

To see the leadership resolution online, visit here.

To see the memo with the full slate of committee assignments, visit here.