2017-07-19 KCDP Minutes Final - Laserfiche WebLink

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2. Consideration of establishing additional investigatory subcommittees. Chair DeFranco asked Committee members if there was a desire to form additional investigatory subcommittees. Discussion on a potential Community Outreach Subcommittee ensued. Mr. Childs informed Action Committee members about the limitation of Sunshine Law on the viability of hosting a Facebook page. The concern was raised about the difficulty involved with keeping up with community comments while doing outreach. It was the general consensus that the Action Committee lacks the manpower to appropriately respond to too many public participants in an online forum. The Action Committee explored the idea of seeking outside help to take on such a project. A discussion followed about the possibility to having outside, unaffiliated groups do videography of Action Committee members for use as an outreach tool. The Action Committee was reminded about the idea of individual members liaising with other community groups rather than forming a subcommittee for the sake of convenience and efficiency, as liaising is not subject to the strictures of the Sunshine Law if no more than two Committee Members are interacting with any one community group and each other in such respect. It was suggested to ask the Planning Department to present to the Action Committee about the ways to liaise without conflicting with the Sunshine Law. A discussion took place regarding the formation of a subcommittee or liaison group in order to do more community outreach and in particular manage a Facebook page. Planning staff reminded those present that Sunshine Laws prohibit any Action Committee member from representing the rest of the Action Committee, especially on Social Media platforms. The Action Committee was informed that other CDPs have had their own Facebook pages which have previously been administered by the Planning Department. It was further discussed that although the Facebook pages existed in the past, the feasibility of continuing a presence on social media is something that must be looked into by the Planning Department. Committee Member Rabin moved for the County to create a Facebook page for the Kona Action Committee that would solicit input from the general public. Second by Committee Member Palma-Glennie. The Action Committee was reminded that public input is already considered through the process of vetting the Kona CDP. The Action Committee discussed the possibility of using Facebook as a means to just broadcast meeting reminders instead of a forum for discussion. A Committee Member expressed his concern that in responding to social media discussion, the Action Committee may be setting itself up to spend too much time vetting public input and will not have the time to focus on important issues concerning the district. He was also concerned about potential conflicts of interest when gaining input from large pools of individuals. A Committee Member expressed her opinion that a website, if it is formatted properly, provides an adequate way for community members to be informed. She went on to say that connecting with other community groups through liaison group reporting would be a much more effective way of pooling together and understanding public opinion. www. cohplannin,-dept- com kona(dhawadcounty.zov Page 5