It was very distressing to see a television news report in the last couple of days that the stone horses at the entrance to the Honolulu Academy of Art were vandalized and damaged. They apparently can be repaired and have now been temporarily removed. I just went looking for more information on the incident and Google doesn’t turn up any news reports. We were at the Academy for lunch last month, and I took this photo while we waited for our friends to arrive. That’s one of the horses in the lower left.

Dave Shapiro blasted the City Council on his Volcanic Ash blog this week after the council approved hiring a legislative liason.

His message was short and sweet: They’re smart people who should just do the job themselves and save us all a bit of pocket change.

Honolulu council members Djou, Romy Cachola, Nestor Garcia, Ann Kobayashi and Rod Tam all served in the Legislature and presumably know how to spot bills of interest to the city and monitor their progress.

Several council staff members also have experience working in the Legislature, and the council has access to the legislative tracking services of the city administration.

Finally, council members serve the same constituents as O’ahu senators and representatives , and it’s reasonable to expect them all to keep in touch on matters of concern to their districts.

If Santiago picks up anything important that’s missed by council members and existing staff, it’ll only be because somebody at City Hall was asleep at the wheel.

I’ll sidestep the separate question of whether the council’s particular choice was the correct one, whether the rate of pay is appropriate, or whether the contract should have been considered in a more open process. Those are legitimate issues for discussion.

But the problem with Dave’s viewpoint is that every member of the council already has a job that takes more time than they have in their days. The demands on any elected official’s time are overwhelming and unending. You may not like the outcomes, but there’s no arguing that council members put in long hours. I can vividly recall my days on the staff of then council member Neil Abercrombie. Late each day, our secretary would type up his 3×5 card with the next day’s schedule of appointments, and those of us on his staff would try to figure out how to possibly get him through it all without getting hopelessly behind.

If anybody’s asleep at the wheel, it’s because they’re already exhausted by their day jobs and just aren’t able to take on the added responsibilities that Dave would saddle them with.

So get real. The council is right on this one. It isn’t fair to taxpayers to operate without good representation at the Capitol. Even though the two buildings are a stone’s throw away from each other, in every day terms they’re a world apart.

Okay, it wasn’t your traditional 4th of July dinner, but it was good nonetheless. A few chicken thighs cooked in lime juice, garlic, white wine and hot red peppers. Green pepper and apple bananas added in the last few minutes of cooking. Served with tomatoes and capers, and an artichoke. Red wine. More collectible dishes. Red wine, although perhaps white might have fit better. Ahhhhh.