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minutes 10-13-99Page 9 of 31
<br />think, for those reasons, if it came before the Council, I would not vote to give you folks the funding. I
<br />know what your counsel has said, but I believe that your charge does not preempt the Council’s
<br />authority. Nevertheless, you have your counsel.
<br />RAY: Roland, are you finished? Let’s just go on around the room. Daryl? No? Kevin.
<br />BALOG: Two questions. The first one is just to follow up with Roland’s. You said that the County
<br />didn’t have the money to pay for a Special Election, but earlier you said that if you switch to a
<br />management, CEO type of Executive Branch, you’d save possibly three to four million, so if you’re
<br />looking at saving three to four million vs. spending a quarter of a million, I mean, what’s it worth to
<br />people who believe in that concept? I mean, if I’m a person looking at money, which you guys do now,
<br />wouldn’t it be worth your while to look at saving three to four million if that’s what you really believe
<br />in?
<br />RAY: That’s three or four million per year times four.
<br />BALOG: Yes.
<br />TYLER: I don’t believe I said three or four million. I said two or three, or something like that. I don’t
<br />know. I said some millions of dollars.
<br />BALOG: Well, I’m a million off, but let’s say two and a half times four is what, ten million?
<br />TYLER: I think we’d have to look at an analysis to say whether or not my figures are correct. It’s my
<br />gut feeling. I know that it would give some of us a great deal more peace of mind than we currently
<br />have, if we could change it in the next election, but from a fiscal responsibility standpoint, in terms of
<br />what our budget currently is, I have some very strong reservations. But I think the most important
<br />reservation is the one that I wouldn’t want you to rush your work because what I heard from the
<br />Elections people is you’ve got to have things done by a certain date, and you all asked some really key
<br />questions which you need to know, and I’m sitting back here going ‘no way’, and you probably saw me
<br />saying ‘I’m not going to approve that if it comes before the Council’, but I go back to Kona after that
<br />and I said, my God, there’s just no way that this thing can be pulled off, and address all the other
<br />important considerations that you have before you, so maybe that’s a lame answer but -
<br />BALOG: Okay. I got one more question, not to cut your line there, but the other one was, you talk about
<br />the managing form of government. If the current Council’s elected for two years, what kind of term, and
<br />you say you want to pay someone a hundred thousand, and Marni kind of quietly chirps in, a couple of
<br />hundred thousand - They pay the football coach, I think, at the UH three hundred thousand and he has a
<br />longer contract than two years, so are you thinking of binding another elected body to keep the CEO,
<br />possibly if people are not elected back into office under the current two-year term?
<br />TYLER: With the two year term, it does create some interesting situations, to say the least. I think Mr.
<br />Ray knows that I haven’t supported a four-year term, even though it certainly would make life simpler
<br />for those of us. My reasons have been quite simply because I think there needs to be real accountability.
<br />What I would certainly entertain, and I hope you will consider, and this has apparently worked quite
<br />well in other venues, other counties, is after the term, which would be two years, you then go to a four-
<br />year term. In other words, you’ve proven yourself. The people aren’t up in arms because, let’s face it,
<br />four years is, as you well know, is twice as long as two years, but if people were happy after two years,
<br />then you would run for a four-year term.
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