REP PC 100 07/18/2006 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Communication 963 Bill No. 308 Page 2 of 3 deadlines could be met. Mr. Higa said he is not totally opposed to this, but this measure did seem to give him an impression that the Planning Commission wasn't doing a good job. Director Yuen stated he would like to hear what the Planning Commission has to say regazding this and that there may be a way to make this work. He noted that the biggest structural problem in the County is the EasUWest split and feels the Council needs to discuss and resolve these issues before the proposal is put to the voters. Committee Chair Pilago stated his desire to work with Director Yuen and the Planning Commission and will follow up with Chairman Higa on how to get this measure on the ballot to the voters. Deputy County Clerk Bill Smith explained requests for a special meeting and that the Sunshine Law, publication deadlines and HRS requirements for public notice must be followed. Deputy Smith stated the process still has to go through adoption of a Resolution authorizing Corporation Counsel to draft appropriate language for the ballot question and concluded there are time considerations involved that must be considered. Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida could not provide comments regarding any possible legal implications towards this effort because he had not looked at the ordinance. Council Member Dr. Holschuh stated he doesn't like this bill and the rushing of it. He said he believes the Planning Commission members are doing a great job serving on the Commission and decision- making. Director Yuen disagreed with public testimony implying there is an East side block voting one way and a West side block voting another way and stated this certainly has not been the case with the Planning Commission. Mr. Yuen concluded that despite the fact that the Planning Commission's workload has become unreasonable, decision-making has been balanced and fair. Council Member Jacobson stated he can not support this measure because districts of Ka`u and Puna are not part of West Hawaii. In fact, he stated his constituents feel they themselves should have their own Planning Commission and the idea of splitting the county's Planning Commission is not sustainable. Council Member Safarik stated that his District 5 doesn't want to be pazt of either East or West Hawaii because they feel they have been underserved the most. Mr. Safarik said he's always tried to look at the unity aspect of the island as it was his sentiment when he was chair in 2005, is still his sentiment today and will work towards that. Council Vice Chair Isbell said it would be quite interesting to have this happen and that she would be supporting this measure because there is a need to discuss this even more, and also because she feels the people should have the opportunity to decide. Ms. Isbell noted that she agrees this is one island and has difficulty understanding the West side sense of an "us or them" feeling. Ms. Isbell stated if this could be ready for the November election, she would support this. Council Chair Higa stated plans to call one or two special meetings either before the end of tomorrow's agenda however, he said it would depend on the vote, but noted that these were options. Council Member Ikeda stated he won't be supporting the measure because council members do not select Commission members, the mayor does, and he believes that the Planning Commission is fairly represented and not broken. PC REPORT NO. 100