2006-07-06 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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I 1. DISCUSSION /ACTION ON DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION RESPONSE TO THE COMMISSION'S LETTER DATED APRIL 10, 2006 Ms. Nicholson said it seemed like Parks & Rec could become more entrepreneurial. Mr. Sakaguchi asked what the Elderly Activities Division is, and Ms. Stremski said it is Kamana, the Elderly Services Division. The Chair said this is where the seniors gather to go on field trips and shopping trips. Mr. Sakaguchi asked whether this Division would be more appropriately placed under the Office of Aging, or within the Transportation Agency, and the Chair said he believed it was under Parks & Rec because it uses County facilities for planning, events, and volunteer services. Ms. Nicholson asked what the relationship is between Parks & Rec and the Office of Aging, and Ms. Garson said there is an explanation on page 91 of the Annual Report. Shifting things to another division, however, may not save money. Mr. Sakaguchi said, however, that shifting may make for more efficient management of services and that Parks & Rec always seemed stretched out and spread too thin. The Chair stated he feels it makes more efficient use of a community center manager's time to have the elderly use the facilities. Otherwise, the manager sits in his office for most of the day, or until kids come in after school. Ms. Garson asked whether the they wanted her to e -mail Alan Parker and Pat Engelhard, that the COGC wanted to know why the Elderly Activities Division could not be under Aging. They agreed, and she is to make their responses communications. Mr. Sakaguchi said that Parks & Rec recommended their Aquatics Division not host activities which do not interest Big Islanders. He questioned whether the focus is to serve the local population or be part of a tourism plan. If Parks & Rec is saying their hands are full, this needs to be tagged. Ms. Nicholson said that Research & Development manages the Hawaii tourism funds, which funds events like this to bring visitors to the island. Ms. Nicholson said they will want to look at Parks & Rec in some detail, and it would be good to get a response about the senior activities. The Chair mentioned that they tried to add the open space issue recently to the ballot. However, Parks & Rec seems to have a hard time taking care of what open space it does have, even with the Friends of the Park helping. Does Parks & Rec really want more open space to manage? There is a question on who would accept the responsibility of managing more land, and the County cannot just acquire land and let it get overgrown. Ms. Nicholson said there are two issues: the one they just looked at under Finance, the commission which is identifying prioritizing land for the County to purchase. One would assume those properties would fall under the purview of Parks & Rec. The other issue is the new initiative they are trying to put on the ballot. It is not clear if this would fall under Parks & Rec, 13