2004-04 Council Term Limits Article III, Section 3-2, Hawaii County Charter

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OJ�tV OF H,k1 JOHN RAY v s--_ V ;' Hilo Phone:(808)%1-8265 Councilman *; ;} Fax:(808)%9-3291 Waimea Phone:(808)885-5875 �7TF OFrN��' Fax:(808)885-7184 COUNTY COUNCIL County of Hawaii Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo,Hawaii 96720 April 8, 1998 Mr.Richard Wurdeman,Corporation Counsel Office of the Corporation Counsel,County of Hawaii Hilo Lagoon Centre 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 325 Hilo,Hawaii 96720 Dear Mr. Wurdeman: I am writing to request that your office provide an opinion regarding the effective date of the 1996 amendment to the Hawaii County Charter which established term limits of four consecutive two-year terms for council members. That amendment was approved by an overwhelming 3-1 margin of Hawaii County voters in the 1996 general election. Upon review of enabling legislation and documentation which placed this measure on the ballot in 1996,there appears to be no apparent designation of an effective date when the eight years of consecutive council services commences. Attached please find copies of(1)Ordinance No. 95-20 effective January 25, 1995; (2)Finance Committee Report 258 dated May 14, 1996; (3)Resolution No. 298-96 dated June 3, 1996;(4)a facsimile of the proposed amendment as it appeared on the general election ballot of November 5, 1996; (5)the"Certification of Results" by the Office of the County Clerk indicating that the measure was duly adopted by a majority of the votes cast on November 5, 1996; (5)copies of council minutes of December 21, 1994 {I st reading),January 4, 1995 {2nd reading), and January 20, 1995 (final reading and passage of Ordinance to amend Section 3-2,Article III of the Hawaii County Charter). All of these documents are silent on the question of the effective starting date for council member term limits. Chief Elections Officer Dwayne Yoshina, contacted by telephone yesterday,offered a preliminary opinion that, in the absence of a declared effective date,a county charter would observe state statutes,which he believed to become effective immediately upon adoption by the voters and certification of election results.