Public weighs in on potential Honolulu City Council districts

The community had the chance this month to weigh in on the proposed City Council district maps that determine who votes for each of the nine Honolulu City Council members.

However, concerns were raised about the plans breaking up neighborhoods and possibly excluding people from voting in the next City Council election in 2022. Those people who would be able to vote under the current district map would not be able to due to potential changes to the district populations.

Every 10 years, using U.S. census data, the city Reapportionment Commission is tasked with redrawing the Council district lines to address fluctuations in population.

The commission voted to present three maps to the public: the Modified Existing District plan, which maintains the current districts, and two drafts of a Kaena/Makapuu plan that would heavily modify certain districts and allow each to extend from the mountains to the ocean in an ahupuaa style, or subdivision of land, that commissioners thought could be a more natural way of map-drawing.

The Kaena/Makapuu draft plans are the same except that Draft 1 breaks up a portion of Ahuimanu that is currently fully in District 3 and moves some of it into District 2, which includes the North Shore.

Sherry Pollock, who lives in Ahuimanu, expressed her support for the Modified Existing District Plan and the Kaena/Makapuu Draft 2, which keeps the neighborhood together.

“I see that keeps my community together,” she said at one of the two public hearings in October.

However, none of the plans join Mililani town and Mililani Mauka together. Several testifiers wanted to see a map proposal that did that.

Trish La Chica, who is on the Mililani/Waipio/Melemanu Neighborhood Board, emphasized the need for Mililani town and Mililani Mauka to be in the same Council district.

“While H-2 (freeway) geographically splits both communities, we are one single community,” she said.

“We share the same resources. Mililani Mauka residents drive to Mililani town for their shopping, to drop off their kids at Mili­lani High School.”

MILILANI TOWN is currently in District 9 with portions of Ewa Beach and Waikele, while Mililani Mauka is in District 8 with Pearl City and Moanalua. La Chica also noted that Mililani town and Mililani Mauka are represented by three different state House representatives, which made navigating resources difficult during the pandemic.

Commissioners asked La Chica if they were to put Mililani Mauka and Mililani town into the same district, whether it belonged with the Ewa Beach or Pearl City area.

“I believe that our communities are greatly aligned with Waipio, south of Kam Highway all the way up to Pearl City,” she said.

“Our Mililani High School shares facilities with Pearl City. I feel like we’re much closer in terms of identity and similar community.”

Commissioner Daniel Douglass was concerned that if the commission chose either draft of the Kaena/Makapuu plan that it would leave out populations of people who would have otherwise voted in the 2022 City Council election under the current district map.

“Is it a fair trade-off to, in essence, disenfranchise whole communities from voting for the next next cycle?” he asked.

City Council members have four-year terms. Elections alternate, with the even-numbered districts having elections in even years and the odd-numbered districts having elections in the odd years. The last even-numbered City Council election happened in 2018, which means 2022 is an election year. However, because the Kaena/Makapuu draft would move areas such as Moanalua Valley, Moanalua Gardens, Red Hill, Fort Shafter, Pearlridge, Makiki Heights, Tantalus and portions of the Kakaako block from an even district to an odd district, people who live in those communities will have to wait until 2025 to vote again for a Council seat.

Reapportionment Commissioner Natalia Hussey­-Burdick asked Commission Chairman James “Duke” Aiona whether there could be amendments made to the proposed plans that would include suggestions made by testifiers about the Mililani town and Mili­lani Mauka split before what is scheduled as the final meeting of the commission on Oct. 26.

Aiona said that before an amendment could be presented and evaluated, the commission would need to vote at the next meeting on whether an amendment to the proposed plans would be necessary.

“If it’s approved and we have to make an adjustment, we’ll have another meeting,” he said.

Hussey-Burdick and Commissioner Chace Shige­masa both pressed Aiona on having a prepared amended map for the next meeting so that the commission would have the needed information to make a decision about adjustments to the maps.

ONE OF the pieces of information that commissioners need to consider when making amendments to the maps is complying with a one-person, one-vote rule that requires each district to have the same number of people. Given that full compliance can be problematic, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a deviation under 10% is acceptable.

The updated numbers that the commission is working with show that Oahu has 1,016,508 residents. That means each of the nine districts should have 112,945 residents.

In adhering to the high court ruling, no district should have more than 124,239 people or fewer than 101,650.

All three plans have less than a 10% deviation. However, the Modified Existing District Map has a 6.82% deviation, while the Kaena/Makapuu Draft 1 Plan has a 4.36% deviation and Draft 2 has a 3.75% deviation.

Hawaii is one of only 10 states that use reapportionment committees instead of lawmakers to draw district maps. The commission cannot have more members of one political party than the other. The idea is that it would decrease the opportunities for gerrymandering.

Commissioners must make a decision on the map by Jan. 2.