Laserfiche WebLink
7. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE – (Deferred) <br />Chair Adams said we did not receive any report from DEM, and from previous communication <br />from the Secretary, the Department would like to go to a quarterly report with interim monthly <br />updates. She was all in favor of cutting down the amount of paper we need to look through, but <br />there may be a balance, and what we want to see in terms of updates every month versus <br />tracking all the stats and the deadlines and whatnot. Do people have a comment or an opinion <br />about whether we want that full report every month, or some compromise? <br />Commissioner Cardwellsaid she felt the same way the Chair did about reducing paperwork, but <br />9 <br />her concern is similar to Mr. Warren’s about transparency. And the longer we go without <br />hearing what’s going on, there’s something suspicious about that in her mind. It’s better to <br />have a regular report. The fact that we aren’t getting a regular report until October, that <br />doesn’t seem right. So her suggestion would be to have regular reports. Monthly would be <br />great. She doesn’t know what the reasoning is for the quarterly report. <br />Commissioner Olson said he concurred with that. <br />Commissioner Fulton also concurred with Commissioner Cardwell. The Director’s Report is very <br />important. She does understand that our Director has inherited a lot of work, probably twice as <br />much as he figured on. But it’s a valuable function and, as perhaps as a compromise position <br />she suggests the Commission gets a written report every month, but the Director can appear <br />with us every other month to take care of our questions. She also pointed out that she had <br />asked for a very simplerequest for the chlorides from the well pumps on Ali‘i Drive, and she has <br />just been stonewalled in that request. The latest was a couple months back, when she received <br />an email from Director Mansour that because of personnel loss thedata were not available. <br />And she is sorry that the Director is not on this meeting right now because previously she had <br />got that data from Alika DeMello at the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant, and he had <br />that information at his fingertips. So it’s just a little frustrating when you ask for something very <br />simple, and she doesn’t want to have to go through a Freedom of Information Act request, to <br />get something that we the consumers and the taxpayers are entitled to. Because we are paying <br />our employees to get this information. Just circling back, she would like to have that data that <br />she had asked for. Our Director should show up at least every other month, and in the <br />meantime every month is appropriate. <br /> <br />Commissioner McIntosh said that from what he saw it looked like the report didn’t change that <br />much between each month, and he didn’t notice that when we had specific questions for the <br />Director that they were answered in the report, and that rather we would have to wait for him <br />to answer it himself. He could see why DEM would want to space it out every three to four <br />months, but maybe if it could be changed, at least the format could be in the beginning, put <br />specific questions that the Commission has asked in the forefront. And for the rest, you can just <br />throw on the bottom. And then you don’t have to sift through 18 pages of information that we <br /> <br />9 <br /> Agenda item 4, Public Testimony. <br />21 <br /> <br /> <br />