2004-03 Council Member Term Limits Article III, Section 3-2, Hawaii County Charter

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newspapers of general circulation in the County (the Hawaii Tribune Herald and the West Hawaii Today. ) The resolution and the resulting notice (see attached Exhibits referred to below) did not provide any information to prospective voters relating to the issues which are the subject of this review. D. No Hawaii case law on point. Another source of potential guidance does not exists . As of the 2002 elections, no Hawaii courts have ruled on term limit issues. IV. Previous County Council Recognition of Problem Somewhat telling evidence that the 1996 amendment is deficient, is the 1996-1998 County Council' s attempt to clarify the effective date issue in 1998 . 19 The attempt reveals that the problem with the 1996 amendment was apparent almost immediately after it was approved. As a follow-up to the only discussion the 1994-1996 Council had on the term limit issue, an amendment was proposed by the 1996-1998 Council to lengthen the term of members from two to four years. The amendment was rejected. ls The attempted amendment did three things . First it recognized the omission of key provisions in the 1996 amendment; second, it tried to retroactively fill that void; and third, it included in the proposed 1998 amendment a complete and very thorough explanation of the effective date and how terms should be computed. The recognition of the problem is stated, not in words, but by omission. SECTION 3 of Ordinance 98-78 (see attached Exhibit "L") , which contains a detailed explanation of the effect of the proposed amendment, begins with the sentence: To honor the spirit and intent of the 1996 term limitation Charter amendment... (underlining added) The 1996-1998 Council apparently could not also honor the letter of the Charter provision, which was quite evidently, missing. The best evidence of this is the great length that the Council took in drafting SECTION 3. 16 SECTION 1 of the bill, entitled , "Purpose" is also revealing, especially when it is read together with SECTION 7 of the Ordinance. SECTION 1 stated: R 4