Honolulu voters approve term limits for prosecuting attorney, support 3 other charter amendments

Honolulu voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a charter amendment implementing term limits for the prosecuting attorney as well as support three others on the ballot.

In the first printout released late Tuesday night, 285,139 voted yes compared to 57,167 that voted no to a charter amendment imposing the term limits. The yes votes represent about 83% of the initial votes counted.

“I am grateful that the amendment has passed,” said City Councilman Ron Menor, who supported the term limits, in a statement. “I am hopeful that the imposition of term limits on the City Prosecutor’s Office will help to preserve the integrity of, and reinforce public trust and confidence in that important law enforcement agency.”

The votes on two amendments impacting the Honolulu Ethics Commission were much closer, but still passed, with the 178,864 yes votes representing about 54% of the votes counted for allowing it to set its own budget. Another 192,372 yes votes representing about 60% of the initial votes counted were in favor of allowing it to hire and determine pay for its own staff.

Voters also approved establishing a Honolulu Youth Commission, with 201,420 voting yes, representing about 60% of the initial votes counted.

The first printout included all ballots collected as of Monday, and all voter service centers except Kapolei Hale.

A total of four charter amendments were on the ballot for Oahu voters to consider this year. The amendments pass if a simple majority, or more than 50% of voters, vote “yes” on them.

The most pivotal one, Charter Question 1, asked voters whether the rules should be amended so that Honolulu’s prosecuting attorney would be limited to two, consecutive four-year terms, which currently apply to the mayor and City Council members.

Under charter amendments approved in 1992, the elected mayor and City Council members are subject to term limits of two four-year terms. At the time, voters were not asked to place term limits on the prosecuting attorney.

The charter amendment resulted from Honolulu City Council’s adoption of Resolution 19-35, introduced by Menor, to help prevent city officials from becoming “entrenched in power.”

Charter Question 2 would establish a 15-member Honolulu Youth Commission made up of volunteers between the ages of 14 and 24 to advise the council and mayor on the effects of policies on youth. The members would be appointed by the mayor and council members, and serve staggered two-year terms.

The City Council resolution, also introduced by Waters, noted that Honolulu’s youth have actively been involved in a wide range of issues impacting the environment, such as the ban on single-use plastics, and tobacco control.

The commission would be able to employ staff as necessary to perform its duties, although no funding has been established to do so.

Two other charter amendments, Questions 3 and 4, give the seven-member Honolulu Ethics Commission more flexibility and independence from the city administration by allowing it to determine its own budget, hire its own staff and decide how much they are paid next year.

The panel and its staff are currently under the auspices of the Department of Corporation Counsel.

The commission currently has five full-time staff who are not considered civil service employees, but who must adhere to the city’s civil service position classification guidelines.