BIL 229 Draft 02 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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moo: •. '•`�;. COUNT'S OF HAWA[ = . STATE ORDINANCE NO. 98 78 0 OF HAWAII BILL NO. 2 2 9 Draft 2 AN ORDINANCE TO INITIATE A CHARTER AMENDMENT TO SECTION 3-2, ARTICLE III OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER RELATING TO COMPOSITION AND TERMS OF THE HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII: SECTION 1. Purpose. Section 3-1, Article III of the Hawaii County Charter states, the legislative powers of the county shall be vested in the county council. Its primary function shall be legislation and public policy formulation. These responsibilities include dedicated research, continual public input, institutional knowledge of county government and its budget, and careful policy determination; as a result, the decision-making process or legislative oversight for certain measures may take months and, sometimes, years. During election years, measures may be neglected or deferred and only subsequently resurface among newly elected council members. To ensure continuity and stability in the legislative branch, terms of council members should be longer. Therefore, the Hawaii County Council finds it necessary to change the current limit of four consecutive two-year terms to two consecutive four-year terms. In the 1996 general election, the voters of Hawaii County enacted an amendment to the Hawaii County Charter establishing term limitations of council members not to exceed four consecutive two-year terms. The effective date of the 1996 Hawaii County Charter amendment establishing term limitations not to exceed eight consecutive years in county council office is twelve o'clock meridian on the first Monday of December, 1996. A provision for incorporating existing term limitations within a conversion to four-year terms of office is provided in Section 3 below. SECTION 2. Section 3-2, Article III of the Hawaii County Charter relating to the composition and terms of the County Council is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 3-2. Composition and Terms. There shall be a county council composed of nine members. One member shall be elected from each of nine districts. The terms of the council members shall be [two] fours years and shall begin at twelve o'clock meridian on the first Monday of December after the election. The terms of the council members shall not exceed [four] two consecutive [two] fQmr year terms. Candidates shall be nominated and elected in accordance with the election laws of the State."