2006-08-17 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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A zoning decision could be made on one side of the boundary that would affect people on the other side. From his overall philosophy and perspective, he is against splitting the County. Ms. Nicholson asked Mr. Yuen whether he has a deputy or employee in Kona who handles issues there, or whether he needs to go to Kona himself. Mr. Yuen said he had to admit that he lets too many issues get sent up to his level. The high level decisions are made mostly by him or his deputy. The West Hawaii office mostly does administrative work with permits, as well as work on the Kailua Village Design. When he started, he wanted Kona to be able to handle rezoning applications and make recommendations. However, when they fell too far behind on the building permits, he had to pull them out of the other functions. Ms. Nicholson asked whether there are recommendations Mr. Yuen would like to see the COGC put forth in regard to West Hawaii. Mr. Yuen said some of the necessary things are already in the works, such as the County Civic Center project in Kealakehe, which will be a central building to house all the County functions. Just having the space for people to work is a big issue. He said he does not have County -level suggestions, but as for his Department, he would like more functions to be able to be handled out of West Hawaii. Mr. Sakaguchi said the issue of the construction of office buildings frequently comes up and asked Mr. Yuen whether he is a planner. Mr. Yuen said he is an attorney and was always involved in land use planning before he became Director of Planning. Mr. Sakaguchi asked Mr. Yuen for his opinion on whether the County should lease office facilities or build. Mr. Yuen felt that government buildings should not simply be space for people to have their desks. They should be designed so that people can come together and interact, which would be easier if the County were to design and own the building. He said that the old County Building at 25 Aupuni Street, as well as the State Capitol Building in Honolulu, are terrific buildings for fostering action among people because of the central walk areas and railing areas. In the new County Building at Aupuni Center, there are separate entrances and he rarely runs into his peers passing by. He agreed that leasing would give some flexibility, but it is not good to wind up with County offices in different locations, as the people and departments need to interact with each other. Mr. Sakaguchi said that the island has terrible cell phone coverage and that many people blame the Planning Department for not approving towers. Since the Public Safety Department has communication coverage over the whole island, he asked Mr. Yuen whether commercial cable companies could lease or utilize whatever the Police Department uses. Mr. Yuen said that as background on this issue, his Department originally allowed cell phone towers without a special permit. The Supreme Court said this was wrong, so now special permits are required. People have issues with the aesthetics, but it would be unusual for the Department to deny a permit for that reason. He would have to look at the Police Department's special permit to see if companies could lease space on the tower. Mr. Sakaguchi commented that the County has a problem with decisions being made by departments which are narrowly focused on their own special functions and do not take into consideration the public's interest. Mr. Yuen said that his Department takes a broad look at issues. Because it has regulatory functions, it is involved with cell towers, which need permits to use agricultural land. The Mayor's Office has supervision over all departments, and he does not know how the Police Department feels about leasing its tower.