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- They wanted as much public testimony as possible, since the proposals are <br />important and somewhat controversial. <br />- To hold the meeting in the Hilo Council Chambers and to arrange, if possible, <br />for videoconferencing with West Hawaii. <br />- To advertise the meeting in the newspapers and to encourage people who <br />cannot attend to submit written testimony. The notice of meeting should state <br />that the Board will accept written and oral testimony. <br />- To emphasize that there is a short timeline on this, as the terms of two of the <br />Board members will be expiring. <br />- That they will be receiving and reviewing input on the proposals and will not <br />necessarily be making recommendations to the Council, unless they feel <br />strongly about a proposal. <br />Ms. Lum said she is concerned about Proposal 1, as it was far - reaching and could be <br />tromping on individual rights. It also bothered her if police officers could not be hired for <br />special duty. Ms. Schoen explained that contracts for special duty police officers are with the <br />Police Department and not the individual police officers, so the proposal should not affect that <br />situation. <br />Ms. Nicholson said that the County of Hawaii is small and that it seemed the Mayor was <br />trying to parallel the code of the City and County of Honolulu, which is large and has very <br />different demographics. The Code should not set artificial limitations, and she wanted to hear <br />public testimony from people as to how the proposed changes would personally impact them. <br />The testimony and statistics presented earlier by Mr. DeLima were troubling. It was not a good <br />situation to have only two bidders for a project with one bidder being awarded by default <br />because the other had a connection with the County. Big city regulations just may not work for a <br />small county. <br />The Chair pointed out that the proposal would also limit the pool of people eligible to <br />serve on boards and commissions and to work for the County. For example, if he owned a <br />company and it had a contract with the County, he would have to choose between working with <br />the County or being on the Board, even though there would be no relationship between his board <br />duty and the contract. <br />Ms. Nicholson said she had also had real concerns about the third proposal, if she were <br />reading it correctly. It appeared to propose that anyone who is a County employee could not <br />appear before the council or a board or commission to testify regarding his own private interests. <br />Ms. Schoen said private interest usually refers to a business or economic interest, but agreed that <br />Proposal 3 could be construed as just plain interest. <br />The Chair said the members should take the next few weeks to review the proposals <br />again and jot down their thoughts, so as to be prepared for the public meeting. The Mayor is <br />looking for the Board to give him guidance. What the Board eventually provides or recommends <br />IV <br />