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HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER COMMISSIONPage 7 of 51
<br />chance to bring their applications before us on a monthly basis, as opposed to every other month, the
<br />way it used to be. So if you think about a holdover period of 90 days, you’re talking about three months.
<br />You’re talking about six additional meetings after a person has already served for five years. You talk
<br />about finding people who are capable, who have the knowledge to serve, and the willingness to serve.
<br />Five years is a long time, so most of us felt that a 30 day holdover would be appropriate. Now, the other
<br />side of that is getting to fill those vacancies in that time period, and the last sentence of that paragraph
<br />referring to this item, or the latter part of the sentence, we don’t give you a time period, and we couldn’t
<br />agree on something, but one that was prevalent was, maybe, following the Maui County Charter. And I
<br />think they say that they give you something like 70 days prior to the vacancy, not more than 70 and not
<br />less than 60, that the nominations will go in before the Council. I think something similar to that would
<br />be appropriate for our County, and here’s the reason why. This will be my fifth year so I’ve gone
<br />through the five years almost, and as Ms. Fujioka has said, it’s a long period to serve, but then,
<br />especially on the Planning Commission, it takes you a couple of years to get up to speed with Land Use
<br />laws and all the regulations that we have, the Zoning Code, and so forth. So if Administration were able
<br />to make their nominations in the fourth quarter prior to the vacancy, from September to December, or
<br />October to December, that would give the Administration enough time to find the people that are willing
<br />to serve, to confirm the people, but also, just as important, a suggestion that came up very strongly was,
<br />it gives those perspective Commissioners, and the staff, a chance to orient and train them.
<br />Now, the question by Ms. Herkes was, how can we make it so that it’s receptive with the community. I
<br />think there’s this feeling that it’s very burdensome; we don’t know enough about Land Use laws and
<br />planning to serve on the Commission, and this might be a way -- orientation and training for people in
<br />our community so that they are receptive. So, we would recommend that the Charter look at that in
<br />trying to impose these dates, or deadlines, in the fourth quarter of that year prior to the vacancy, so that
<br />we can accomplish those things.
<br />RAY: So, we all have somewhere in your files and stacks, that language that Mr. Tanaka is alluding to.
<br />In fact, I just found mine here. Questions? Marni.
<br />HERKES: Leonard, do you feel that there are people out there that want to serve on the Planning
<br />Commission but feel that maybe this is a little over their head, a little too burdensome for them, and
<br />training will help?
<br />TANAKA: I think yes, there are people out there that have heard rumors and we’ve been trying to
<br />change and improve so that it is a little more easy for existing Commissioners and new Commissioners
<br />to serve because the agendas have been heavy, and part of it has been changing the schedule so we meet
<br />twice a month now. I think the orientation to let them know exactly what’s going on, and maybe invite
<br />them to some of the meetings, to come in and take a look at what happens. It’s not all that bad. You can
<br />survive. The question that was posed to Ms. Fujioka, if the Commissioners and Board Members are
<br />going out in the community and trying to recruit or recommend people, yes we have.
<br />HERKES: Good, thank you.
<br />TANAKA: So there are people out there.
<br />RAY: George.
<br />MARTIN: I believe I heard you say that the person would get some sort of training, and it sounds good
<br />to me. If this training were to be added into the scheme of things, the person would have to be appointed
<br />first, is the way I understood it, prior to, in the aspect that you’re talking about. Our concern, and the
<br />reason we play with some of the numbers in some of the other meetings that we’ve been holding here,
<br />file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 9-29-99.html7/1/2011
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