Ordinarily, postponing an audit of an agency with clear troubles would be unfortunate, the delay meaning a wait to discover the flaws that need fixing.

Except, in the case of the city Department of Planning and Permitting, many flaws already have been discovered, and the troubles with timely permit issuance are clear. So it made sense that the Honolulu City Council agreed to put the audit off.

The focus now must be on DPP improvements. Later, once some of the planned solutions are in place and running, an auditor’s visit could be productive.