2006-05-18 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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Mr. Sumada asked Mr. Sakaguchi to repeat his comment about their being frustrated, and Mr. Sakaguchi said that the division heads cannot hire. They have good ideas and don't have the staff. Everything is embroiled in red tape. A situation has been created where good people get recruited and then leave and recruitment has to begin again. Mr. Joseph interj ected to point out that time was limited and they needed to move on in the agenda. Mr. Sumada told Mr. Sakaguchi that he would answer his questions later, as he does have an opinion on that one specific question. Ms. Cushnie referred to section "d" on Mr. Sumada's handout and asked whether Highway Maintenance received funding other than from fuel tax. Mr. Sumada said this suggestion deals with their in -house paving program. The Division is funded primarily with fuel tax, which comes when you pay at the pump. It is also funded by weight tax, when you register your car, and then from franchise fees from utility companies. The in- house paving program was done over ten years ago. If people are willing to pay a penny more per liter, that money could be reserved just for resurfacing roads. If the fuel tax were increased so many cents per gallon and dedicated towards road maintenance, they could do more in -house paving. Ms. Cushnie clarified that he was also recommending that the County contract out the repairing of potholes, and Mr. Sumada said yes, just the pothole repair. Ms. Nicholson questioned him regarding item 5, sending division chiefs on a tour of mainland government agencies. She asked if the issue is that it doesn't come down to the division chief level, or whether there is a lack of funding. Mr. Sumada said it is a lack of funding. Each division chief has the opportunity or authorization to go on mainland trips, but it is just not common. They have seen low or no budget increases the last several years. Travel is the first thing to get cut. However, it is when you don't have money that you need to expose people to different ways of getting the job done, and if the only place you can go to is Oahu, that is a poor way of expanding our vision. So when there is no money, that is when training and travel should be increased, so it can be seen how things are done elsewhere. His suggestion relates to helping some division chiefs who are long- time engineers who get stuck in figuring out the best way of doing things with the limited resources they have. The Highway Maintenance chief went to an equipment show on the mainland and found a new type of equipment that cuts the brush on the side of the highways better than what the County was using and reduces liability, damage, and vandalism to the equipment. It also can drive like a truck, so can be driven back to the baseyard for safekeeping rather than parked on the side of the highway, leaving it vulnerable to vandalism. This chief, Stanley Nakasone, and his operation is probably the best in the State. They are having visitors from the other islands come to see what he does, as an example. If he had not gone to the mainland, he would not have gotten that idea. This type of thing should be done in other divisions. A mission can be achieved, if people get to see a different view. It does relate to money. Ms. Cushnie referred to item 6b in Mr. Sumada's hand -out, regarding ideas on making operations more efficient. She asked if traffic and flood mitigation were the areas with the most frequent complaints and concerns, and Mr. Sumada said yes. Ms. Cushnie 14