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minutes 01-15-00Page 23 of 59
<br />RECONVENED The meeting reconvened at 11:00 a.m.
<br />RAY: Can we get started again? First, I want to continue this discussion, and hopefully get some resolution on the idea of a
<br />Department of Public Safety. Marni had been following up on this, and so let’s see if we can get that out of the way, as far as
<br />whether we’re going to pursue that further or not, because we also want to talk about the Fire Commission today. So, before
<br />we do that, let’s go on to this Department of Public Safety. Marni.
<br />HERKES: And I took this right out of Lexington, so you all have this. It’s in the Lexington Charter. The Police, the Fire, the
<br />Civil Defense, the Building Department, the Detention, Animal Control, EMS, Industrial Safety is all - well, Industrial Safety
<br />is not, that’s in ours, but that would be under Public Safety. All of those are under Public Safety Department. I made a
<br />comment at breakfast this morning that if we had a Senior Administrative Officer that we probably wouldn’t need all the
<br />Commissions that we have, because we’d have departments that were run professionally. And I read the Annual Report for
<br />the County. I read the description of every Commission, and I wasn’t impressed. But, it is a perception of the public that they
<br />can have input into the process by the Commissions. So I’m not, at this time, saying Commissions are bad, and when you talk
<br />about the Public Safety Department, then you have a Police Commission, a Fire Commission, and all of those things that
<br />would be difficult under one department, to have a lot of Commissions. But we do it now, so we probably could do it later.
<br />The Police Department is now under the Mayor. I’m suggesting a Department of Public Safety with Police, Fire, Civil
<br />Defense, and even the Building Department. Lexington put Building under there.
<br />I think you, probably, in the past, have heard some testimony, or some discussion, on the fact that engineers and architects
<br />should be able to just stamp plans, and inspections should be spot inspections. That we don’t quite need so many inspections.
<br />In my reading the Annual Report, I found that we have 17,000 to 18,000 permits that are issued every year. I can’t imagine.
<br />That’s 1,400, 1,500 a month. I can’t imagine how you count that, or what you do with it, but we do building inspections for
<br />public safety. We do building inspections to make sure that buildings are safe. Now, there are some jurisdictions that do
<br />building inspections for energy efficiency. There are some electric companies that grant building permits. There’s a lot of
<br />different ways to do this, but I think, when you’re talking about Public Safety, that’s what they do, is to make sure that
<br />they’re safe. They’re not a planning issue. They are a safety issue. So, under the Department of Public Safety, I would
<br />suggest that we also put buildings. This is a suggestion. It’s a different way of looking at public safety. As I’ve said before, I
<br />look at it from my viewpoint, from a personal viewpoint. It’s my safety that the government is in charge of, not necessarily a
<br />lot of different entities that give people opportunities to build power structures.
<br />IRVINE: So, Marni, in essence, in this whole business of building, we kind of do away with having to get permits for
<br />building something?
<br />HERKES: The architects and engineers testified very strongly against that. We have not been able to get that passed yet, but
<br />it is, basically, a goal to have spot inspections done, and big fines if you get caught not doing things according to plan. Like
<br />when an engineer stamps a plan, it’s supposed to be according to County Code. And then, when the contractors build it, it’s
<br />supposed to be according to the architects, which is supposed to be according to County Code. When I was trying to think,
<br />why would they put Building under Public Safety, that’s what I came up with, that we do give permits because of public
<br />safety. In some instances, we have permits because of amenities, like sign permits in Kailua Village and those kinds of
<br />things, but for the most part, permits are public safety.
<br />RAY: The Division of Building Inspection, under the Department of Public Safety, performs all the duties and functions
<br />pertaining to the inspection and safety of buildings, and they administer and enforce all zoning ordinances, so they’re the
<br />inspection group. They’re not the permitting group.
<br />HERKES: Right.
<br />RAY: So, it’s not moving the Building Department, no?
<br />HERKES: Well -
<br />RAY: The Building Department’s not under the Department of Public Safety. The zoning enforcement and inspection
<br />function is under the Department of Public Safety.
<br />HERKES: Okay, the inspection function, building inspection. Okay.
<br />RAY: John. This is under the Lexington Charter that Marni’s talking about.
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