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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0010.009 2012-2014 • •' YYOi h��'. DENNIS "FRESH"ONISHI `. PHONE: (808)961-8396 1 �d�� FAX: (808)961-8912 Council Member , �' : ( ) EMAIL:donishi co.hawaii.hi.us District 3 @ HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL 25 Aupuni Street,Hilo,Hawaii 96720 a MEMORANDUM .--� V — DATE: September 17, 2013 r TO: J Yoshimoto, Chair o '"� And members of the Hawai`i County Council _. �kfo/ FROM: Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Council Member SUBJECT: Minutes of the Hawaii State Association of Counties Executive Committee Meeting for August 23, 2013. Attached for your review are the minutes of the meeting of the Hawai`i State Association of Counties Executive Committee that was held on August 23, 2013, in Honolulu. Please place this item on the next available Governmental Relations and Economic Development Committee agenda. DO/ps Att. Comm. No. /0' 9 Ref. Hawai`i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Ref. Da Z!�a1 Date $5EE Hawaii State Ass ciao;.ion o= 4" oun i --:'s Counties of Kauai,Maui and Hawaii,City &County of Honolulu te rw •0 :r r N M��`. r,�aa. MINUTES HSAC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING 1 August 23, 2013 Honolulu Hale, Council Committee Room Honolulu, Hawaii 1 to I , I. CALL TO ORDER The HSAC Executive Committee was called to order by President Mel Rapozo at 10:01 a.m. The following members comprising a quorum were present: County of Kauai: President Mel Rapozo County of Hawaii: Vice President Dennis "Fresh" Onishi City and County of Honolulu: Secretary Stanley Chang County of Maui: Treasurer Michael Victorino Others Present: Maui County Council Chair Gladys Baisa Honolulu staff Kimberly Ribellia t Honolulu staff Steve Uyeno r Honolulu staff Denisse Gee Kauai staff Ashley Bunda l Maui staff Kirsten Hamman Maui staff Danny Mateo II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The Committee approved the agenda III. MINUTES The Committee approved the minutes of the July 26 2013, Executive Committee meeting. OCS/091 01 3/08:1 3/CT IV. REPORTS A. Treasurer's Report The following item was approved by the Executive Committee: 1. Treasurer's Report for July 2013 as submitted by the HSAC Treasurer. B. County Reports 1. Maui County Report. Maui County Council Chair Baisa summarized the recent County Council Chairs meeting hosted by Honolulu City Council Chair Martin that all four Council Chairs attended. She informed the Committee that it was very interesting to compare the rules of each County at the recent meeting. She reported that the four Council Chairs committed to meet quarterly to foster greater collaboration and communication between the four counties. She further informed the Committee that she and Maui County staffer Danny Mateo recently met with several state legislators to discuss Maui County's share of the general excise tax (GET) and transient accommodation tax (TAT), and other Maui County state legislative initiatives. She stated that Senator Donna Mercado-Kim opined that the next legislative session would be the ideal time for the counties to request a higher portion of the GET as Senator Kim believes that the county has a legitimate and reasonable argument justifying a higher share of the GET. In contrast, House Speaker Souki informed her that he does not view the GET as an inherent county fiscal resource. She concluded by distributing a chart outlining the history of the GET and TAT that Senator David Ige prepared and distributed at their meeting. 2. Hawaii County Report. Vice President Onishi reported that the Council recently held a public hearing on Bill 79, which bans the propagation, cultivation, raising, growing, sale or distribution of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in the entire County that lasted two days because of the number of testifiers on both sides of the issue. He informed the Committee that another hearing on Bill 79 is expected to be scheduled next Monday. He concluded by reporting that the Council passed six legislative proposals to be included in the 2014 HSAC legislative package for consideration by the Committee, 3. City and County of Honolulu Report. Secretary Chang reported that the Mayor signed Bill 65 (2012) into ordinance approving the Ewa Development Plan thereby clearing any remaining hurdles for the D.R. Horton -- Schuler Division's "Hoopili" development. He 2 further reported that the Council first read Bill 48 (2013) which rezones lands situated at Waipio in the Central Oahu Region and explained that Bill 48 (2013) affects Castle & Cooke's "Koa Ridge" development. He concluded by reporting that the Intergovernmental Affairs and Human Services Committee passed out several legislative proposals for inclusion in the 2014 HSAC legislative package. He provided an overview of his proposal to create an "HSAC List of Priorities"to work in tandem with the individual legislative proposals that comprise the 2014 HSAC legislative package. 4. Kauai County Report. President Rapozo reported that the Council deferred a decision on Bill 2491 relating to GMOs until September 9. He explained that Bill 2491 requires agricultural operations to disclose if they are growing genetically modified crops or using pesticides, and creates GMO-free buffer zones around large farm operations. He further reported that the large amount of public testimony prior to the Council voting unanimously to defer Bill 2491 underscored the divisiveness of the bill. He added that he is introducing a resolution requesting the Federal Aviation Administration (commonly known as the FAA)to investigate Hawaiian Airlines for price fixing. He opined that Hawaiian Airlines' exorbitant inter-island flight fares when compared to its domestic and international fares may indicate that the airline is artificially inflating their inter-island fares. He opined that local residents are the most heavily penalized if the airline is artificially inflating inter- island fares. He further opined that local residents traveling between the islands are the backbone of Hawaiian Airlines' business and emphasized that the airline should be more sensitive to the financial needs of local residents. He informed the Committee that state statute requires Kauai County to contract specifically with the"Kauai Humane Society" as its animal control contractor. In response to a query, he clarified that Kauai County is the only county in the state that is required by state statute to contract with a particular organization. He requested information from Committee members regarding their respective county's animal control contract prices and details. He queried Committee members regarding the "Animal Haven" organization. He concluded by reporting that he is including in Kauai County's contribution to the 2014 HSAC legislative package, a proposal that will provide the counties with liability protection for natural conditions on or near public beach parks by repealing the sunset dates in Acts 82 (2003) and 170 (2002). C. NACo Report. There was no NACo report. 3 D. WIR Report. Vice President Onishi reported that Tillamook County Commissioner Tim Josie was elected to serve as the WIR representative on the NACo Executive Committee. President Rapozo reported that he will be attending the October 2—4, 2013 WIR Board of Directors meeting to be held in Grand Junction, Garfield County, Colorado. V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Discussion relating to the policy for the use of estimated funds derived from the "NACo Prescription Drug Marketing Fee" line item in FY 2014. This item was deferred. B. Discussion relating to the HSAC Lobbying Plan for the 2014 state legislative session, which was approved by the Executive Committee on May 6, 2013. This item was deferred. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Communication from Hawaii County Clerk Stewart Maeda transmitting Resolution 116-13 regarding the HSAC slate of officers for FY 2013-2014, as adopted by the Hawaii County Council on June 5, 2013. This item was received and filed. B. Communication from HSAC Secretary Stanley Chang transmitting for the Executive Committee's consideration, proposed amendments to the HSAC bylaws. This item was deferred. C. Communication from HSAC Secretary Stanley Chang transmitting for the Executive Committee's consideration a proposal to create an "HSAC List of Priorities"to be included in the 2014 HSAC Legislative Package to better assist and provide guidance for HSAC lobbying efforts, as discussed at the July 26, 2013, Executive Committee meeting. President Rapozo expressed his support of the format of the"HSAC List of Priorities" suggested by Secretary Chang. Secretary Chang explained that the format that he chose was based on NACo's annual legislative priorities. President Rapozo agreed that NACo's format would provide HSAC with flexibility needed when lobbying at the state Legislature. This item was deferred. 4 D. Discussion regarding the proposed General Membership Meeting to be held in October 2013. President Rapozo proposed that the General Membership meeting be held at Honolulu Hale and thanked Maui County Council Chair Baisa and Treasurer Victorino for offering to host the General Membership meeting in Maui County. Treasurer Victorino agreed that the General Membership meeting should be held in Honolulu because of its proximity to the State Capitol. This item was received and filed. E. Discussion regarding the 2015 Western Interstate Region (WIR) annual conference. Vice President Onishi informed the Committee that he expects attendance to be extremely high at the 2015 WIR annual conference to be held in Kauai County based on feedback that he received from fellow WIR board members. He estimates that 500 to 700 conference participants are expected to attend and as such preparation should commence immediately. President Rapozo and Treasurer Victorino commented that when the NACo annual conference was held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in 2005, attendees were heavily scrutinized by the media. Treasurer Victorino opined that memories of harsh media attention in 2005 may inhibit potential attendees from registering for the WIR annual conference in 2015. Secretary Chang stated that when the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting (commonly known as APEC) was held in Honolulu in 2011, APEC staff prepared talking points for participants to use when encountering media criticism. He opined that one potential WIR talking counterpoint could be that the state of Hawaii has the highest percentage of military veterans in the nation per capita. President Rapozo requested that each county submit the name of one representative to sit on the 2015 WIR annual conference planning committee. He emphasized the importance of the three remaining counties to assist Kauai County in the planning and execution of the 2015 WIR annual conference. President Rapozo further stated that given the nationwide scope of a WIR annual conference and the relative small number of Kauai County Council staff, it is crucial that the remaining three counties assist Kauai County to ensure a successful WIR annual conference. He concluded by stating a successful WIR annual conference benefits the entire state of Hawaii not just the particular county hosting the conference. 5 This item was received and filed. VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Schedule next meeting. The next Executive Committee meeting was scheduled to be held on September 13, 2013 at Honolulu Hale. B. Other announcements. There were no other announcements. VIII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:28 a.m. Very truly yours, STANLEY CHANG Secretary Hawaii State Association of Counties 6