REP GREDC 001 2019/10/15 2018-2020

Home

GREDC-1 Page 2 October 15,2019 Council Member Karen Eoff recalled that she had seen a similar resolution while researching Maui County's HSAC legislative package on the Maui County website. To her recollection, part of that resolution read that Council Member Richards was "willingly" giving up his seat for Kauai Council Member Chock. She expressed her confusion in that she believed that the slate of representatives would have already been discussed and agreed upon at the HSAC Executive Committee meeting before a resolution would be introduced and voted on by the county councils. She wondered what the next steps would be for HSAC and the WIR board position if the measure was not approved. Council Member Kierkiewicz said she was both present and took minutes at the HSAC Executive Meeting when this measure was discussed and could not surmise how Maui County understood that Council Member Richards offered to give up his seat, as reflected in the resolution described by Council Member Eoff. She reported that Kauai Council Member Chock was at the most recent HSAC Executive Committee meeting on October 10, 2019, where he stated he would respect the will of Hawaii County if the seat was not relinquished. Council Member Kierkiewicz also clarified that if the measure was voted down,the current slate of officers would remain `as is.' Committee Chair Lee Loy asked for clarification from Council Member Poindexter to further clarify HSAC process if the measure before your Committee failed to pass. Council Member Poindexter stated that if Council Member Richards relinquished his seat to another Council Member from Hawaii County, the current process that transpired to replace Council Member Richards with Kauai Council Member Chock would be repeated. Council Member Maile David expressed her confusion about the measure before your Committee after hearing the discussion. She noted that procedurally, your Committee had not been informed of the measure until today and that she was now tasked to make a decision on the measure. She expressed her uncomfortableness in voting against the resolution, but noted that another discussion could ensue at the Council meeting with Council Member Richards present. Council Chair Aaron Chung stated that he believed this decision came down to two philosophies. He explained Council Member Poindexter's position was that experience with HSAC and NACo were an asset to the WIR Board of Directors position, regardless of which county the council member who assumed the role came from. The other school of thought was what he had learned from former Hawaii County Council Member Fresh Onishi, who felt it was beneficial for each county to occupy one of the Board of Director seats, and that Hawaii County was essentially being penalized for its good works to obtain presidential appointments. He expressed concern that, "once you take something away, it's hard to get it back," and would be voting against the measure. He also made clear that this decision had nothing to do with Kauai Council Member Chock. More discussion ensued about the desire to have Council Member Richards present for the discussion and to postpone the measure. It was ultimately decided that there was no need to delay the measure and that the slate of representatives needed to be established in order to GREDC Report No. 1