COM 0964.035 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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the people in the formation and conduct of public policy. 3. The key to a meaningful plan is routine evaluation of that plan. Anyone who has been involved with long range planning would agree that plan assessment is a critically important component. Earlier this year, Gianni Longo the Planning Consultant for the Kona Development Planning Process stressed this point at the April 1, 2006 "Smart Growth workshop held in W aikoloa` There he stated that a key element to the planning process is setting up predetermined meaningful criteria by which to evaluate and assess progress towards the planning goals. [These statements were paraphrased in the West Hawaii Today article on April 2, 2006 "Learning to Grow Smartly in Waikoloa"]. I expect that if Gianni Longo were asked his opinion of Director Yuen's proposal to delete the annual assessment provision of the General Plan, his response might well be that this is consistent with Dumb Growth, not Smart Growth. 4. Compliance with this accountability provision of the General Plan is a mandatory requirement that the Director Yuen is neglecting. As occurred in the case of the recent amendments to the Subdivision Code, Director Yuen is ignoring legal mandates that require accountability to the public. Here again, instead of seeking to modify his actions to comply with the public accountability requirements of the laws, he seeks instead to delete those legal requirements. Yet, in June 2006, County Corporation Council Lincoln Ashida stressed the importance of improving public access to government processes. 5. Director Yuen's rationale for deleting the General Plan's "annual report" requirement is that his Department is overworked. That rationale does not hold up under scrutiny. At least one County Council member has offered to cover the cost of having a consultant carry out this annual report task, and yet Director Yuen would still prefer to delete this Plan requirement. Likewise I have suggested that the Department of Planning simply raise the meager amounts charged to developers when they submit subdivision and PUD plans, to cover the cost of carrying out this annual assessment. Community volunteers and the current community planning groups could also be utilized in this process. For example the "Courses of Action" section for each section of the General Plan could be sent to various community members and groups in each of the Plan's designated areas for their assessment. 6. Don't overstate the complexity of the annual evaluation. During the first few years, the annual report could be a statement of the various "Courses of Action" for each section of the Plan, and a statement of obstacles and suggestions as to what could be done to better carry out the mandate of that Course of Action. Periodically, or at least every five years, the statements of policies and goals could also be evaluated, to see if these can be further refined into stated and specific "Courses of Action". This evaluation could easily be part of the Community Development Planning Process.