Got questions for Mayor Mufi Hannemann? Join us Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. for our first-ever live video stream version of the Hot Seat – with Mayor Hannemann answering your questions live during the hour.

There’s plenty to talk about: The City Council just approved property tax hikes and increases in a wide range of user fees for city services. The mayor, who had proposed some relief through property tax credits, opted not to sign the budget, but to let it become law without his signature.

The mayor also announced recently that he would set up an exploratory committee to weigh a run for the governor’s seat in 2010; he has also been mentioned as a strong potential candidate for the Congressional race.

You can post your questions for the mayor here in advance, then watch him answer your questions via live video stream on our Website Wednesday. I’ll moderate the session, as usual, and you can also post questions live during Wednesday’s chat.

Post your questions now — we’re expecting lots of questions Wednesday and the mayor will get to only as many as he can during the hour, so best to post early.

While the Hot Seat will continue to run weekly with your favorite newsmakers online and in Sunday’s Focus section, we’ll also do a live video stream version on the first Wednesday of each month. So be sure to tune in.

See you Wednesday.

Update: Watch live and submit your questions now: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/thehotseatlive

Welcome to the Hot Seat. As the budget picture gets worse, the state and all of Hawaii’s counties are grappling with cuts, labor reductions and charting a lean course ahead.

For the counties — charged with fundamental issues such as roads, sewers, police and fire services — cutting back has posed some touch choices. In Honolulu, that means higher property tax rates as well as higher fees for a variety of services.

What about the Neighbor islands? Joining us Wednesday will be Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi. And judging from our early postings, there’s much to talk about happening at the Council level, Mauna Kea and more.

Please remember our Hot Seat ground rules: Keep your questions concise — we want to be able to get through as many of them as possible.And keep it civil — no personal attacks please.

Ready, join in with your questions, and let’s chat with Mayor Kenoi.

As the budget picture gets worse, the state and all of Hawaii’s counties are grappling with cuts, labor reductions and charting a lean course ahead.

For the counties — charged with fundamental issues such as roads, sewers, police and fire services — cutting back has posed some tough choices. In Honolulu, that means higher property tax rates as well as higher fees for a variety of services.

What about the Neighbor Islands? Joining us Wednesday will be Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi. To join the conversation, log on at noon and post your questions for Mayor Kenoi live during the hour.

If you can't make the live session, you can e-mail your questions to me in advance at jmbelding@honoluluadvertiser.com and I'll try to post it for you during the live session.  Or you can post your questions here, and I'll move them over once the live sessions starts on Wednesday.

See you Wednesday at noon, with Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi.

These are indeed tough times for the state budget. That dire situation has state public school officials worried about making staffing cuts — including furloughs — that could impact our public school classrooms. What should be done to balance the education budget and deal with the large budget shortfall? With Wailupe Elementary closed, should the BOE return the site to the City or create another education facility, or is there a way to generate much-needed revenue?

Joining us live today from noon to 1 p.m. to answer your questions on these topics and public education in general will be Karen Knudsen, vice chairwoman of the state Board of Education. To join the conversation, log on at noon and post your questions for Karen live during the hour.

Just a quick reminder of our Hot Seat ground rules: Please keep your questions and comments civil — no personal attacks please.
And please keep questions on point, so that we can get through as many of them as possible — no more than two questions per person please. (If you have questions on how to participate, contact Stacy Berry, our editorial page assistant at 535-2414).

Got questions — let’s chat.

The dire budget situation has state public school officials worried about making staffing cuts, including furloughs, that could impact our public school classrooms. What must be done to balance the education budget and deal with the large budget shortfall?  That decision will ultimately rest with the state Board of Education.

Joining us live Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. to answer your questions on this topic will be Karen Knudsen, vice chairwoman of the state Board of  Education. To join the conversation, log on at noon and post your questions for Karen live during the hour.

If you can't make the live session, you can e-mail your questions to me in advance at jmbelding@honoluluadvertiser.com and I'll try to post it for you during the live session.  Or you can post your questions here, and I'll move them over once the live sessions starts on Wednesday.

See you Wednesday at noon, with Karen Knudsen.