1999-09-29 Charter Commission Minutes

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HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER COMMISSIONPage 3 of 51 the expiration of two years, provided that members of any board or commission initially appointed for a term of one year and two years shall be eligible to succeed themselves for an additional term." So, Mr. Yuen, in the case of Mr. Green and Mr. Edie, each one would have been eligible to succeed himself? YUEN: Yes. FUJIOKA: But, what is the process for doing that? YUEN: They must be reappointed by the Mayor. FUJIOKA: So again, we fall into this cycle of maybe not having action taken immediately, and so rather than have the person succeed himself, I would like to think that it makes better sense to have the term be a full five-year term from the beginning, instead of having an unexpired term be filled. RAY: Questions? Ms. Irvine. IRVINE: Well, I guess I was just wondering, I mean, we’ve come up with a draft format and it’s like "let the member continue to serve for 90 days or until a successor is appointed and confirmed, whichever comes first." That wouldn’t really solve your problem? FUJIOKA: Unless the Administration takes action immediately, and - IRVINE: So somebody would need to, maybe, give the Mayor and the County Council - The County Council has a 45-day time frame; the Mayor does not, for appointing, as far as I can tell on 13.4(b). FUJIOKA: If there is a time frame given, that would be helpful. That would be an alternative. RAY: Marni. HERKES: Rather than changing the Charter to fit the Administration’s appointment schedule, one of our problems here is finding people to be on Boards and Commissions. We don’t find a huge volume of volunteers. Can you help us in any way that we could make it more amenable, to be on a Board or a Commission? Make it easier for people to volunteer? Is there anything that you see that would make it more fun to be a volunteer? Can we do teleconferencing? You know, there’s a whole bunch of different ways. FUJIOKA: I don’t know about the fun but, you know, five years is a very long commitment. HERKES: So you think shorter is better? FUJIOKA: It may be helpful. I’m not sure, and yet, like I said earlier, it takes a long time to learn the process, and to really be comfortable. HERKES: And one of the reasons you have staggered terms, is it so that you have people - FUJIOKA: Yes. HERKES: Who know the process that can bring the people along, and if you subvert that process by appointing for five years, you get out of that schedule? file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 9-29-99.html7/1/2011