2006-12-19 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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review every program. He would rather see an independent auditor do the audit, not the County Council, although the four -year cycle is all right. Ms. Nicholson said they should tighten up the recommendation to clarify what type of audit they feel is needed. It says "management and program audit," which is not clear. Motion: Ms. Nicholson proposed rewording the recommendation to say: "Every four years, contract with an independent source to conduct a management and program audit which would include evaluating the management structure, the program needs, and impacts of all County departments to identify new practices or procedures which should be in place for efficiency and cost savings." Discussion: Mr. Joseph asked Ms. Noda if they could add, or whether it was necessary, that the audit will be made available to the Council and to the public for review. Ms. Noda said that if that was their intention, it would not hurt to specify that. Ms. Nicholson said that would be a good addition to the motion. Ms. Noda suggested the wording "and the report forwarded to the County Council and made available for public review." The Chair called for a vote on the recommendation as amended. Vote: All commissioners present voted aye on the motion as amended. All boards and commissions: Recommend scheduling meetings in both West Hawaii and East Hawaii based on representation. Mr. Joseph said he is in favor of this recommendation but wanted a short discussion. He said that after he had thought about it, he realized that it could be costly to have meetings in West Hawaii due to the need to send the assigned secretary, attorney, and possibly speakers, to those meetings as well. However, in the interest of fairness, they should look at having more meetings in West Hawaii. Ms. Nicholson said that it may be more appropriate for certain boards and commissions to travel to the west, if they will be discussing issues related to West Hawaii. However, for some issues it would not make much difference where the meeting is held. So where a meeting is held should also depend on the content or topics on the agenda. Ms. Provalenko said having more meetings in West Hawaii would provide more options for members, as they would not always have to travel two and a half hours to get to Hilo. Ms. Nicholson suggested adding "based on representation and need" to the recommendation. However, if there is a need to have a hearing in West Hawaii, it would be there anyway. Ms. Provalenko agreed and said that "need" is not the right word. Motion: Ms. Nicholson said "topic" is the needed word and moved to adopt the recommendation with the addition of the words "and topic" at the end of the sentence. Ms. Provalenko seconded the motion. 31