After eight years of trying, the Neighborhood Plan Committee has developed an amended plan that sets rules and regulations for the neighborhood board system and the Neighborhood Commission that governs it.

The city plans a series of public hearings on the amendments to the Neighborhood Plan beginning this weekend.

The amendments cover an array of changes including possibly electing board members online, allowing members to vote for an agenda change, reducing the number of required meetings, making it easier and quicker to settle complaints, and solving quorum problems faced by some boards, said Michelle Kidani, executive assistant for the Neighborhood Commission.

"We're trying to take care of a lot of gliches," Kidani said, adding that the changes should help the system run more smoothly.

Several attempts have been made to amend the plan and solve the problems since 1999, but this is the first time the commission was able to complete the process and go to public hearing, she said.

"The whole purpose of neighborhood boards is to encourage community participation," Kidani said. "We'd really like community input at this point."

The 32 community neighborhood boards serve as advisory panels to all levels of government and have no decision-making power, but they are the first sounding board for residents with gripes and have regularly initiated changes in the community.

The neighborhood board system was created in 1972 under former Mayor Frank Fasi to increase community participation in government. At first, the boards were limited to advising on city land-use issues, but by 1984, their role was expanded to include all levels of government.

The commission last changed the Neighborhood Plan in 2001, allowing for uncontested elections and making adjustments to the shared boundaries of the Manoa and McCully-Mo'ili'ili areas.

In 1999, the commission asked the three-member plan committee to review and revise the Revised Neighborhood Plan, 1998 edition.

The public can attend the hearings to submit testimony or provide written statements to the Neighborhood Commission Office, 530 S. King St., Room 406, Honolulu HI, 96813 until noon Dec. 7.

A draft of the amended plan is posted on the commission's Web site, www.honolulu.gov/nco. Copies also are available at the Neighborhood Commission Office, Room 406, City Hall and at Kapolei Hale, 1000 Ululohia St., Room 312.

For more information, call the commission at 527-5749. After Monday, its telephone number will be 768-3710.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.