2007-01-09 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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Ms. Nicholson said the report may have more clout with Ms. Kaetsu's name there, even though she did not participate. (Corporation Counsel Lincoln S. T. Ashida entered the room) Ms. Stremski said she had no problem with Ms. Kaetsu's name in the report. Motion: Mr. Joseph moved to eliminate Dixie Kaetsu's name from page 1 of the final report. There was no second to the motion. The Chair asked Mr. Ashida if he wanted to speak. Mr. Ashida said he wanted to personally thank all the commissioners for their service to the County. They were asked to take on a responsibility within an eleven -month term, per the Charter. Because they were time - driven, they really had to work hard. This is only the second Cost of Government Commission, which was created in 2000, to be empaneled. Mr. Ashida said the prior Commission was concerned about whether any of its recommendations would be implemented by the County. He said he wanted to share that Mayor Kim takes the Commission seriously. He wanted to personally assure the commissioners that their report was not going to find its way to the back of somebody's filing cabinet. He said that Mayor Kim charged him with assuring the commissioners that the recommendations would be looked at seriously. Mr. Ashida said part of his job is recruiting members for all the County boards and commissions. He said if any of them were interested in serving on other boards or commissions, to let him know. He thanked the commissioners again. (Mr. Ashida left the meeting at 10:15 a.m.) The Chair directed the commissioners to page 2 of Draft 2 of the final report. Motion and Vote: Ms. Nicholson moved to accept the suggested change for Recommendation IA. Ms. Provalenko seconded the motion, and all commissioners present voted aye. Motion: Ms. Nicholson moved to reword the background /explanation for Recommendation IA, where it said "there is no comprehensive program to train new department heads to run their actual departments." She moved to reword it to say that "there is no comprehensive program to train new department heads on regulations relevant to their departments." Ms. Provalenko seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, all commissioners present voted aye. Ms. Nicholson pointed out that grammatically, the wording on page 2, for Recommendation IB, under the background /explanation, should say "Though many departments budget for" rather than "Though many departments are budgeted for." Mr. Joseph said that was recommended and approved at the last meeting. 3 = NOTE: These minutes are unapproved, as no further meetings of this Commis- - sion are scheduled.