In what looks like buying votes, Jeremy offered $2 million each to 19 communities that would
participate in his organized "Vision Teams." Teams were told they could advise on how to spend
the $2 million in the form of "Vision Projects." Unlike the city council or neighborhood boards,
the vision teams are of unknown membership, are not elected, are not required to post an agenda,
don't need a quorum to vote, aren't required to record the minutes of meetings and don't have to
abide by the state's open government law. Some neighborhood boards were outraged at this end-run
and many residents also felt left out.
Finally, contractors working on vision projects quit after not being paid by the city in what one state official called, "bad
administration of the procurement process." Honolulu Weekly cartoon 4-5-2000 |