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HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER COMMISSIONPage 4 of 45 <br />TANAKA: Well, I am. I’m glad you brought that up. I have a residence over there and when people tell <br />me, you have a residence here but you’re really not from Kona. Yes, I was born and raised in Hilo but I <br />think my personal investments, as well as my business investments, in Kona are a lot higher than they <br />are in Hilo, so I have a lot at stake, from a personal standpoint as well as a business standpoint, in Kona. <br />Again, it comes to representation. Yes, we’re kind of lacking in that we don’t have a second <br />Commissioner from Kona, although I could fill in that position easily. I have a home up on the slopes of <br />Holualoa. So it really comes down to the review process. I think maybe the public needs to be involved <br />in knowing who the Mayor is appointing, and if there are any concerns, that they should bring it up with <br />their Council representatives. And I hate to bring up Mr. Balog again, but we witnessed that, the power <br />of the County Council. The mechanism is there. It’s unfortunate that it happened that way because I <br />thought he would have been a good servant to the Board of Appeals, but be lucky that you have him on <br />your Commission. <br />RAY: Other questions? Mr. Martin. <br />MARTIN: You made mention of the Mayor, per se, the existing system he appoints Council, then <br />approves, or in some cases, disapproves. You made a comment that you thought it would be politically <br />incorrect, is what you were saying, I thought, if the Council were to make the appointment. Where’s the <br />political boundary that would make it different from the Mayor appointing as to the Council appointing, <br />in your eyes? <br />TANAKA: I just need to look at who he’s selected to serve with us on the Commission and I think that <br />he has put together a broad based group of people. I know that not all the Commissioners come from his <br />party, politically, and we witnessed that. We have diverse backgrounds and diverse opinions on planning <br />issues. We do not always agree, even if it’s the Hilo members against the Hilo members. <br />RAY: Mr. Bess. <br />BESS: I take it the Planning Commission voted on this recommendation about having one Planning <br />Commission. Is that right? <br />TANAKA: Yes. Well, voted, no. I don’t think we voted but we are in concurrence. There was a <br />discussion on that. <br />BESS: Was there any opposition? <br />TANAKA: No. <br />RAY: Mr. Balog. <br />BALOG: Not to get hung up over this word ‘appointed’, but just for clarification for our own <br />Commissioners and the public. A Mayor does not appoint <br />any Commissioner. He nominates people to serve on Boards and Commissions. The Council either <br />approves sometimes, or disapproves sometimes, of those people he nominates. So I think the distinction <br />that was trying to be made that Mr. Tanaka brought up, is that someone sent him a letter saying that they <br />believe the Council should nominate and approve or disapprove of that nomination vs. having separate <br />branch of government sending a name up, and another branch saying we approve or not approve of this <br />nomination. I just wanted to remind us all of that. It’s not one person doing the appointing or <br />nominating. <br />file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 9-8-99.html7/1/2011 <br /> <br />