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KENNETH G. GOODENOW County Clerk RODNEY OSHIRO Depuly County Clerk County of Hawai 'i Office of the County Clerk 25 Aupuni Street Hila, Hawai 'j 96720 Telephone: (808) 961-8255 Facsimile. (808) 961-8912 January 19, 2010 o 00 Co Z,- --I:::;; -<' ,;. ..... ~ 5"- z ::n ....... m CD (") r I', J Yoshimoto, Chair and Members of the Hawai'i County Council County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 11(') ~.rh,; ):;c~l ~>< >. --0 ~. :::3 .t::...~. ...... ITl t::J C' "-> ....... Re: Resolution 283-09 Dear Chair Yoshimoto and Members: Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments in support of Resolution 283-09, which, if adopted, would amend Rule 14 of the Council Rules to include a procedure for the referral of council- initiated amendments to Chapters 23 and 25 of the County Code. The process of referring council-initiated amendments to Code Chapters 23 and 25 has been problematic. This matter first came to my attention when I was deputy clerk in April 2007, Please review the attached portion of minutes (Exhibit "A") regarding Bill 79 (2006-2008). The procedural problems evidenced by the discussion found in these minutes, such as the making of a second motion after the motion to close file had already passed, an interpretation that the term "Council" did not include the actions of a committee, together with the Code requirement that amendments to Chapters 23 and 25 must be referred prior to first reading, resulted in the creation of a new procedure: I) a resolution would pass the Council requesting comments from the Planning Director and Commission on a proposed bill which was attached to the resolution; 2) once comments were received, those comments were placed on an agenda as a communication for discussion purposes; and 3) a Council member would, if desired, introduce a bill identical to, or similar to, the proposed bill, i.e" the exhibit to the original resolution. This rather complex and lengthy process, however, was not incorporated into our rules and was not always followed. For example, Resolution 158-07 requested recommendations from the Planning Director and Commission of two bills attached as an exhibit. The title, however, was to request the Planning director to initiate amendments. Despite the fact that Resolution I 58-07 stated "BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the council shall consider said draft bills for ordinances following said Comm. No. ~ t{.-I ./ Ref. TOl pc.- Ref. Pats ,JAN 2 0 2a111 . - Serving the Interests afthe People afOur Island Hawai'i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer