The ill feelings between several members of the Honolulu City Council reached new heights Wednesday as Councilwoman Kymberly Pine reasserted that she and the other two female Council members have not received proper credit for their work under the leadership of Chairman Ron Menor and Vice Chairman Ikaika Anderson.
Pine, during a telephone interview Wednesday, said she is not accusing Menor and Anderson of discrimination based on gender. However, “I saw a pattern of women being disrespected and where their work was being taken credit for by others, and that is not acceptable to me,” she said.
Menor and Anderson vehemently denied that they had treated their female counterparts unfairly. Neither Carol Fukunaga nor Ann Kobayashi, the other two women on the Council, could be reached for comment.
Pine is at the center of a major leadership shuffle at the Council. She and four other members are expected to replace Menor as the Council’s gavel-holder with Ernie Martin, whom Menor unseated in January 2017. The new majority members are Fukunaga and Kobayashi, and Trevor Ozawa.
Under Martin’s new team, in which she is to replace Anderson as vice chairman and Fukunaga is to replace her as floor leader, “the hard work and successes of the female leaders of the Council will be recognized,” she said.
A vote on the new slate of Council leaders is scheduled for Monday.
Both Anderson and Pine have announced plans to run for mayor in 2020. Until a few months ago, the two were close allies, and they were instrumental in helping Menor oust Martin.
On Tuesday, Pine joined Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Anderson at the signing of Bill 110 (2017), creating a temporary moratorium on large-scale or “monster” houses. Anderson introduced the bill.
But Pine pointedly told reporters that Fukunaga and Kobayashi had earlier introduced a similar bill and said they were never given credit for their contributions to a moratorium.
“I want to make sure none of you leave here today (without) recognizing that Bill 110 was not the original version of the monster solution,” she said. Bill 94 (2017), introduced by Fukunaga and Kobayashi, was nearly identical, she said.
Bill 94 was heard in November by Pine’s Zoning and Housing Committee, where it was deferred by Pine, who said a temporary delay was needed to address legal concerns raised by city attorneys and other issues.
Bill 110 was sent by Menor to Anderson’s Planning Committee, Pine noted.
A comparison of the original draft of the two bills, both five pages, shows they are nearly identical, with the exception of the bill descriptions, and one refers to the city Land Use Ordinance, the other to the city General Plan.
Anderson said Wednesday that he, like Fukunaga and Kobayashi, felt an urgency to move the resolution through quickly and said they “gave me their blessing” to introduce a new bill.
The bill signed by Caldwell on Tuesday was vastly different from the original draft because it included key language sought not only by Fukunaga and Kobayashi, but Joey Manahan and Ozawa. He gave credit to all of them, he said.
But Pine said there were other instances in recent months of female Council members not getting their due.
When a controversy erupted in her committee in November because the planned ProsPac condominium tower on Keeaumoku Street was to have a separate entrance for those living in affordable housing units, Anderson jumped into the issue and tried to take credit even though Pine and her staff ultimately solved the problem through shared entries, Pine said.
Last month, Menor’s Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee gutted a bill he introduced aimed at requiring sprinklers in older residential high-rises and replaced it with language from another sprinkler bill authored by Fukunaga, Pine said.
Menor, in an email, said Pine’s criticism was puzzling and that he had not heard it before Tuesday.
“I feel confident my record as Council chair clearly demonstrates that I have the utmost respect and appreciation for the significant contributions that women have made at the Council,” he said, adding that he enjoys a good relationship with Fukunaga and Kobayashi. “I would not tolerate workplace discrimination on the Council or anywhere else.”
Anderson noted that not only he, but also his grandfather Whitney and grand-uncle D.G. “Andy” Anderson, both former state lawmakers, have long been friends with Fukunaga and Kobayashi.
Martin said Pine told him that she felt she was not being treated fairly by the leadership of Menor and Anderson. As chairman, Menor should have been more proactive in addressing Pine’s concerns, he said.
Correction: Ron Menor unseated Ernie Martin as chairman of the Honolulu City Council in January 2017. An earlier version of this story said the change took place this January.
