2022 Report of the Cost of Government Commission

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ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS Adding Public Information Resources in Hawaii County RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. In addition to the existing Public Information Officer position with Hawaii County Police Department, a Public Information Officer position should be added to both Civil Defense and Hawaii County Fire department to facilitate communications in any incident, emergency, or disaster between each agency, between HI-EMA, between the military on -island, between members of the public, and members of the press. 2. If it is not possible to add Public Information Officer posts within the Civil Defense and Hawaii County Fire Department, the County should consider creating an Office of Public Information that "owns" and elevates efficient communication between incident and emergency resources on the island as well as news, health, and safety information from the County to the press and public. Within the Office of Public Information, the Mayor's Office, the County Council, Hawaii Police Department, Hawaii Fire Department, and Civil Defense would each have a member to create dialog between each entity, members of the press, and members of the public through community meetings, special broadcasts, social media, and traditional media. These resources would also interface with state and federal resources in a state of emergency or disaster to streamline communication to meet the needs of the community. EVALUATION AND FINDINGS: In addition to interacting with members of the Mayor's Office, County Council, and members of the public at large, one Commissioner attended a meeting with Civil Defense, Hawaii County Police, Hawaii County Fire, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and the Public Information Officer (PIO) for the P6hakuloa Training Area (PTA). Through this interaction, it was clear the County was lacking appropriate resources to communicate to the public effectively and efficiently about pressing safety issues. While Civil Defense appreciated having a PIO during a portion of the 2018 Lower East Rift Zone eruption event in Puna, as did the press, there is no full-time communication -savvy resource there at this time nor budget to have such a resource. As such, communication is left to incident leaders that are busy tackling the incident on hand. In a review of the 2022 Leilani Fire that was generally contained to PTA land, Civil Defense was not even aware of the fire due to lack of inter -agency communication with PTA and HFD for many hours, even as residents in Waimea, Kohala, and Waikoloa reported the fire to other agencies. By not having communication resources and plans within the agencies, Civil Defense was unable to communicate to the public. As with Civil Defense, Hawaii County Fire Department also lacks a PIO resource. Social media pages are not maintained in real-time and there's little to no communication with the press and 26 2022 Cost of Govemment Commission —County of Hawai'i - Final Report