1999-06-23 Charter Commission Minutes

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Page 9 of 12 RAY: We’re talking about the issue of program audits, program reviews and that language in the Charter. IRVINE: Yes, I just didn’t understand. I thought she was the Humane Society. TOWLE: I am, West Hawaii Humane Society. RAY: Well, but we’re not talking about specifically the Humane Society. Daryl, do you have a question? KUROZAWA: Well, then I won’t ask my question. RAY: Good, thank you. TOWLE: I’ll see you later. RAY: Okay. The issue of political subdivisions I had a feeling would probably come up this evening and I do have a legal opinion here from our staff and basically in a nutshell it states that "Thus, the County Charter cannot establish local subgovernments which have actual powers, and the County cannot split itself into multiple counties, unless the State Legislature chooses to allow it." Now I know there is a difference of opinion, especially Mr. Reynolds advocates tactically what it would mean if the County went ahead and did something anyway and that’s I guess, a separate argument but I do have copies of this that you’re welcome to take a look at this evening. Okay? All right, thank you. Our next and final speaker is Jeff Turner. If anyone else wants to speak, they have to sign up. TURNER: Aloha. Welcome to Kona for you out-of-towners. Thanks for coming and letting us speak to you. I want to speak mostly to the process. I haven’t formed by opinion on a lot of things that we’re going to be talking about in the coming months and I hope a lot of other people haven’t but I’ve an opinion on several things that have come up. But my first concern is the process of how fast we do this and how open the process is. I’ve heard rumors that maybe there was going to be a special election before the 2000 General Election and I think that’s much too fast. I think there’s quite a process we have to go through which you are starting now to collect some information. We have a lot of issues. They aren’t clear. There will always be differences of opinion about what’s right. Then you’ve got to draft something. Then it has to go through a process and that takes quite a while. Did I hear you, Chairman Ray, say that this will go to the General Election 2000? RAY: No, what I said was it will be voted in the year 2000 election which theoretically could be a special election and I think what Mr. Martin was talking about. The question he framed was the question that we framed purely in sort of a "what if" scenario. I mean what if there were suggested amendments that we thought were so substantial and would have such an impact on changing the structure of the government, is there a scenario where we think that would be better acted on in special election and if you wanted to have a special election, when would it have to take place to effect the year 2000 elections and kind of working yourself back from there. So we just suggested in sort of a "what if " scenario, file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 6-23-99.html7/1/2011