State of Hawai'i County 2005 Year in Review/2006 Looking Forward

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State of the County 2005 - The Year in Review 2006 - Looking Forward: Projects and Issues Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida, Corporation Counsel The Office focused on training for our County clients during calendar year 2005. Attorneys from the Counseling and Drafting Division participated as panelists, presenters and facilitators for the 3rd Annual Statewide Municipal Attorneys Training Conference sponsored by our office, the Hawaii Water Works Association annual conference in October, and the Statewide Liquor Conference. For our own County employees, training sessions for the fire captains on HIPPA were held, recall training for the MICTS, police recruit training, training on ethics and gift rules for liquor investigators and administrators (in the wake of the problems experienced in the City and County of Honolulu), training on conducting contested case hearings and Sunshine Law for our board and commission members and numerous in-house trainings for our own legal clerks. The Division also focused on collections. The County has always actively and consistently pursued collection of delinquent real property taxes. In 2005, the Division stepped up collection efforts on delinquent solid waste, waste water and water bills. Last year, over$50,000 in lump sum payments on these delinquent bills was collected. This does not include all payment arrangements negotiated with homeowners and businesses. There are many other"daily" but important things our attorneys assist with . . . from facilitating the acquisition of beaches and parks across the island to assisting the police with the new telecommunications system. The Litigation Division also spearheaded training for our County clients. Examples include training for the Police recruits (Civil Rights and Liabilities) and supervisors (recall trainings), and the Prosecutor's Office. The Division also presented a Flood Litigation Workshop. Litigators continued open communication with County agents, employees, officials, heads, the Mayor and his staff, and the Hawaii County Council and their staff, who were involved in claims (including workers' compensation), arbitrations (grievances and interest arbitration concerning wages and non-cost items for collective bargaining agreements) and lawsuits. The County's total settlements and judgments in litigation for 2005 were far below both the total claims made against the County in the year and the amount budgeted by the County for the year.