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HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER COMMISSIONPage 26 of 41
<br />SUMADA: I’m sure that’s a possibility, too.
<br />KUROZAWA: Maybe if you could just explain to us, because I don’t think everybody really
<br />understands, what exactly, for an engineer to be registered, what does that involve in finishing -, what’s
<br />the bare minimum as far as is it a test you take?
<br />SUMADA: Basically, you first have to graduate from an accredited engineering university. Then you
<br />have to have a certain number of years experience working directly under a licensed professional
<br />engineer. Once you’ve established that experience, and applied to the licensing board, you have to pass
<br />two exams. One is the engineering and training exam, and then also the professional engineer exam
<br />within the specific specialty of whatever engineering field you’re in, be it civil, electrical, mechanical, or
<br />architectural even, and structural.
<br />KUROZAWA: Once they pass that, then it’s good for life or do they have to re-cert every 10 years or -?
<br />SUMADA: No, it’s good for life under the current program, you just keep paying your, I think, fees or
<br />dues to maintain your license.
<br />RAY: Kevin, you had a question?
<br />BALOG: I get about three questions. The first one, just on this engineering, more so of the way I see the
<br />department run is when you need to do certain "big jobs" like construction of a landfill, you put a job out
<br />to bid, you go out for design first, to a firm, if I’m not mistaken, that has an engineer in their firm, right?
<br />SUMADA: Yes.
<br />BALOG: Okay. So, actually, the engineer’s job, just to -, the Chief Engineer’s job is more of a
<br />management person who has, in my opinion, people skills and someone who can manage money or
<br />projects, not necessarily somebody with "a license." Just so -. Because you’ve brought out you may have
<br />four people on staff already. The owner of any company out in Joe Blow Public could hire somebody
<br />who’s a civil engineer and not be an engineer themself and still run their company, same like the County
<br />could, right? Okay. So I just agreeing with you; it’s more of a doing the job, like you’re saying,
<br />managing people.
<br />SUMADA: That’s correct.
<br />BALOG: Okay. That’s the first. The second thing is you mentioned wastewater, right, sewage.
<br />SUMADA: Yes.
<br />BALOG: Are you guys thinking, just looking at one of the biggest things in your department is the
<br />landfill, of creating a separate department for that?
<br />SUMADA: Initially, my suggestion to the Mayor was to spin off the Wastewater and Solid Waste
<br />Division together to create what’s called a Environmental Management -, Department of Environmental
<br />Management. Basically, I think both divisions, there’s a lot of attention drawn to both of them at this
<br />particular point in time and to elevate the need and the importance of that to a department level I think
<br />would be very appropriate. The Mayor, on his part, has selected to just pursue that wastewater, spinning
<br />that off, which I think that’s viable, too. Under that scenario then, it may be appropriate to create a
<br />Department of Solid Waste. So I think it can work either way. But I must inform you that Solid Waste
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