Laserfiche WebLink
CHRISTOPHER J. YUEN AILO LAGOON CENTRE, SUITE 108 <br /> 101 AUPUNI STREET <br /> ATTORNEY AT LAW H[LO, HAWAII %710 <br /> TEL. (808)935-4429 <br /> FAX (80835-1844 <br /> e-mail: chrityuenz8hotmaiLcom <br /> December 18, 2000 - <br /> 0 <br /> 7 ~ <br /> Councilman James Y. Arakaki " ~ r <br /> Hawazt County Council T <br /> 25 Aupum Street = ~ <br /> Hilo, Hawaii 96720 _ <br /> _a <br /> co <br /> Dear Councilman Arakaki and members of the County Council: - _ ~ " <br /> o <br /> It was a great honor to have been appointed planning director by Mayor Harry Kim. I am <br /> looking forward to my confirmation hearing on Dec 19~' to respond to your questions about me, <br /> my background, and my perspectives on this important job. <br /> I am writing rn advance to discuss an issue that has been razsed about my qualifications <br /> under the County Charter. I wanted to put my thoughts about this in writing, not because I hunk <br /> it is a problem in the final analysis, but because it has received some publicity, and I can answer <br /> rt more completely rn written form. <br /> The Charter now states: <br /> The planning director shall have had a minimum of five years' training and <br /> expenence in a responsible planning position, or a degree in planning, <br /> engineering, azchitecture, geography, or another planning-related field and three <br /> years' expenence in a responsible planning position. No less than three years' <br /> experience shall have been in an administrative capacity <br /> The 1999-2000 Charter Commission added the last sentence about administrative <br /> experience. I was the attorney for the Charter Commission. The amendment originated in a <br /> memo from the chairperson, John Ray, and I put it in final form using his words almost exactly. <br /> There was almost no discussion by the Charter Commission about the meaning of <br /> "administrative capacity " The basic legal Wile for interpreting a charter or any other law is that <br /> words aze to be construed according to their ordinary meanings unless that would lead to an <br /> absurd result The public can only vote on the words presented to them, and the public can only <br /> assume that words in a document like the charter have their ordinary meanings <br /> Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines administrative as "of or relating to <br /> <br /> administration, or of an administration," which is not very helpful, but the synonym is <br /> <br /> "executive " <br /> Comm. No. . iZ <br /> File No. <br /> Prk~nted~ <br /> Ref. To: <br /> Ref. Date__ 1`9 20()0 <br /> <br />