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HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER COMMISSIONPage 25 of 41
<br />rightly so, you know, for them obtaining that license and that recognition was a significant
<br />accomplishment for them, and that someone like me, that is not licensed, that is their boss, they feel may
<br />be inappropriate. So in that respect, you know, to get beyond the personalities or any -, I think it makes
<br />the Chief’s job easier because you do have somewhat of this parochial thought process that I’m a
<br />licensed engineer so my boss better be one or else I’m not going to listen to him. And that thought does
<br />occur.
<br />KUROZAWA: Do you think at a bare minimum the -, you’re an engineer by training?
<br />SUMADA: Yes.
<br />KUROZAWA: So at a bare minimum -.
<br />SUMADA: I have an engineering degree.
<br />KUROZAWA: They should at least have an engineering background?
<br />SUMADA: Oh, yes. That’s -, I would say that’s a minimum requirement. And it doesn’t necessarily
<br />have to be within the design field of engineering but construction. Basically, understanding the nature of
<br />what a public works type of operation, I think is more essential than the actual licensing part. Because
<br />even within the license -, engineering career field, there’s specialties that you can get into that actually
<br />limit your experience base so -.
<br />RAY: George.
<br />MARTIN: Yeah, Jiro, making reference to the Charter, 6-2.2, last paragraph, last sentence, it says "shall
<br />be a registered professional engineer." How would you have us word it to not actually take that out but
<br />to allow somebody like yourself to be in this position with the indication that you just made that some
<br />people may be under you with that qualification? How would you have us address that?
<br />SUMADA: I think you -, I don’t know how seriously you folks are considering this, but you could
<br />possibly do it by changing the word "shall" to "may" or adding a phrase after that, "registered
<br />professional engineer or equivalent experience."
<br />I give you an example. My background, I was in the military in a base, at a base which basically fulfilled
<br />this same function, the public works, and, in fact, at our base, which was fairly large, we had a HELCO,
<br />Department of Water Supply, and the Fire Department all under this base civil engineer, in addition to
<br />all the divisions that I have. So it’s just a difference in organization, but I think having a person with that
<br />type of experience is, in actuality, a benefit as opposed to having a licensed engineer that comes straight,
<br />strictly from a design consultant firm where, I think, so many of the other or past chief engineers have
<br />come from.
<br />MARTIN: At some point in time, if, let’s say, it were to be that somebody were to undertake this as you,
<br />without having a license, would it be possible for you to take the license and then fulfill it even further,
<br />if, in fact, it were to be changed? Would that be acceptable?
<br />SUMADA: As far as me getting my own license? Because I can do that now.
<br />MARTIN: Or whoever that -. Yeah.
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