COM 0964.035 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Margaret Wille Attorney at Law 65-1316 Lihipali Road Kamuela, Hawaii 96743 August 22, 2006 To: Chairman Stacy Higa, and Members of the County Council Re: Bill 309 Interim Amendments to the General Plan: Suggestion: Do not delete the critically important General Plan section 15.3 "Annual Report" from the Plan Implementation section of the General Plan despite Director Yuen's complaints that his Department is overworked. Summary of My Position: The purpose of the "annual report" is to provide the up blic with a meaningful method of evaluating progress and problem areas in implementation of the General Plan and provides a reference point for the Community Development Planning process. Deletion of this requirement would be an insult to the public and a violation of the public trust. The Planning Director's suggestion that he instead prepare a summary that would be helpful to the County Council and the Planning Department would not be the functional equivalent and would misrepresent the purpose of this document, and the up blic audience for which it is primarily intended. If the County Council does delete this section of the General Plan, I suggest that the Planning Director contact all of the Community Development Planning Groups and advise them that their efforts are a likely waste of time in that there is not even going to be an annual assessment of the General Plan's Courses of Action. Frankly,the Planning Director's proposed deletion of this annual report requirement undermines the credibility of the Planning Department. Concerns: 1. As stated in the Plan Implementation section of the General Plan (pages 331-334) the key elements to implementing the General Plan are: translating the broad objectives into specific actions (i.e. the "Courses of Action" provisions in the Plan); systematic evaluation (i.e. the annual report); and active community participation (i.e. in the follow up Community Development process). See page 331 of the General Plan. 2. The Planning Director has lost sight of his agency's accountability to the public and providing useful information to the public to allow for meaningful public participation in the implementation of the General Plan. Accountability to the public is a theme central to the Hawaii Constitution and statutes, and perhaps most clearly stated in the Statement of "Purpose" in Hawaii's Uniform Information Practices Act, Haw. R.S. 92-F-2: In a democracy, the people are vested with the ultimate decision-making power. Government agencies exist to aid •3 t Comm. No. • Ref. To r Ref. Date •AUG 2 & QM