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function of the County. It was felt that trying to sell the lands was the best thing to do, <br />and she said the County is moving towards a more efficient way of handling this by <br />creating a Property Management Division within the Department of Finance. She said <br />this Division has been needed for years and will be able to follow up on these lands and <br />get the inventory down more quickly. <br />Ms. Cushnie said she is concerned that the County is generating jobs here, and questioned <br />what happens to the jobs if the tax relief ends. She asked Ms. Crawford about her list, <br />how much land moved through sales to generate income, and Ms. Crawford answered <br />none. Ms. Kaetsu said there is an exception with little remnants that come up to sell, but <br />those would not be on the short list of properties, but should be on the complete list. <br />Mr. Sakaguchi questioned, to clarify, whether the County owns any land other than what <br />is on the short list and the full list and whether the County is like the State, which owns a <br />lot of land. Ms. Kaetsu answered that the County is not like the State at all in that <br />respect. <br />Mr. Sakaguchi said he was confused that the County did not want to get into property <br />management, yet was looking for a property manager. Ms. Kaetsu said a property <br />manager has been needed for years, and even more so now because of the newly created <br />Public Access, Open Space, Natural Resources Preservation Commission. That <br />Commission is supposed to identify and prioritize important lands that should be <br />preserved for public access to shorelines and mountains and other resources, such as open <br />spaces and beaches. The County is concerned that as time goes on and development <br />occurs, there will be less open space and land available to the public. The County's <br />administration will be keeping track of the properties on the Public Access Commission's <br />list and watching to see whether the lands come up on the market or get noticed for <br />condemnation, etc. The County has been putting money in the budget for this, and it is a <br />brand new program which will take a lot of resources to be done right. She said they are <br />not creating a huge bureaucracy —there will be one manager and one support staff, and <br />they will be following up on what the County is supposed to do for the Public Access <br />Commission. She said the County always has issues where it needs to acquire lands for <br />roads, or has to do a condemnation, and that there are always land issues coming up. <br />Mr. Sakaguchi asked that, since in the future the County might acquire land for future <br />use, whether that is a function of the State government. Ms. Kaetsu said the functions <br />overlap and that the County acquires property for County purposes and the State for State <br />purposes. <br />Mr. Sakaguchi asked why the County can't just go out and buy, why it needs to fund two <br />positions. Ms. Kaetsu replied that the County cannot buy as easily as a private company, <br />due to possible environmental issues, hazardous materials, etc. <br />Mr. Sakaguchi said that if he were to buy a piece of property, he would expect it to come <br />clear of those problems. He wouldn't need to hire someone to do those things, as the <br />seller should guarantee the property. Ms. Crawford said that Mr. Sakaguchi would be <br />representing himself, but the County needs someone to take the responsibility of buying <br />that property. So far, the Director of Finance and sometimes other employees take that <br />101 <br />