2014-04-03 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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proposed calendar of the deadlines for submission of the subcommittee reports and recommendations. Ms. Kierkiewicz is envisioning that after the meetings are held with the departments, the subcommittees would come to the group and discuss everything, then as a group decide what the recommendations would be, write it down and be done with that piece while it is still fresh instead of waiting for months to re-write something. Ms. Maddox agreed. Mr. Matsuda stated the Commission should wait for all the responses to come in and then take a more meaningful direction on what it should do or what steps needs to be taken to get the departments who haven’t responded to respond. Mr. Mitchell agreed and said that some departments are going to take longer than others. Ms. Maddox commented that it will be a matter of coordinating schedules according to when the department heads are available and if they will be in West Hawai‘i or East Hawai‘i. She asked if everyone is comfortable with the process set so far. All Commissioners agreed. Ms. Maddox said everyone has two weeks to prepare what their questions and thoughts will be for their meeting with the departments. Mr. Perry asked if everyone had each other’s email addresses. Ms. Maddox replied no. Ms. Stebbins cautioned the Commissioners regarding email communication as it could violate the Sunshine Law if there is mass email communication, group communication or serial communication. Ms. Maddox asked Ms. Stebbins to describe what serial email communication would be. Ms. Stebbins replied that if two commissioners were communicating via email and forwarded that email to another commissioner, then the third commissioner becomes part of the conversation. Mr. Matsuda stated that the emails should be kept strictly between the subcommittee members. Ms. Stebbins replied yes. Mr. Mitchell said they should avoid thread emails and reply to all. Ms. Stebbins replied yes. Ms. Maddox stated she would like to go back to agenda item #6. Part of her process is to always thank people who respond. She would like to respond on behalf of the Commission to those who have already submitted their responses to say their response is appreciated and the Commission looks forward to being able to schedule a meeting at some point to talk with them further. Mr. Mitchell agreed. Ms. Maddox asked Ms. Stebbins if this would require an action item. Ms. Stebbins replied that if it is just to send an acknowledgment and thank you letter, it does not need a separate action item; it comes under the discussion on responses received from departments. Ms. Maddox asked all Commissioners if they are in agreement to send out thank you letters on behalf of the Commission. All Commissioners agreed. 9. ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA Ms. Maddox would be interested in having Mr. Wally Lau be present at the next meeting if he is available. Mr. Perry would still like to have a presentation by the energy coordinator. Ms. Maddox said the Correspondence will be a standing agenda item, Mr. Matsuda requested a standing agenda item to make adjustments to the subcommittee structure if needed.