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minutes 01-15-00Page 7 of 59
<br />department? How it’s handled, we don’t dictate that. I don’t see how the Charter - and if it does, why don’t we go into Public
<br />Works and demand that be private? And mind you, I’m into privatization, but not here. This is something that’s so
<br />interwoven in the State that it’s got to be handled the way it is. So, are we interested in a department to handle
<br />environmentals, or are we going to do it from -
<br />RAY: Sue.
<br />IRVINE: I must say I’m not ready to make a recommendation at this point. I hesitate to develop new departments, myself. On
<br />the other hand, I think we really need something to be done, and whether we have to mandate it under Public Works, as one
<br />of their focuses, or whether you can say you must hire somebody that has some experience in refuse management and
<br />recycling, I don’t know.
<br />HERKES: Are you looking for a commitment from us to elevate the issue of public waste in the County Charter?
<br />IRVINE: Sure. Okay.
<br />HERKES: Okay, you’ve got the commitment.
<br />IRVINE: I’ll keep looking into this. Can we just take it up again on February 5th. Roland said that maybe we should contact
<br />the people that are in Waste Management here. John’s been in contact with Environment Hawaii. I’ve been to some of their
<br />meetings too, and I know they have an agenda that they’re going to the County Council with, which is quite separate from
<br />this as far as I’m concerned.
<br />SANTANGELO: Right, and we don’t need to deal with that either. This is something that deals with all of that later on. To
<br />me, it’s real simple.
<br />RAY: Go ahead, Roland.
<br />HIGASHI: My whole idea on this initiative was at least to have it in the Charter so that, as we move along in the future, we
<br />have an opportunity to either plan for that department - Maybe we’re not ready to do it now, but if it’s in the Charter, and we
<br />need to have language to allow it to happen, and if our legal counsel can, kind of, put some language in there that would
<br />reflect that, because if it’s not in the Charter, we’ll be faced with the same problem we have now.
<br />YUEN: You can authorize a separate department, which would then have an implementing ordinance, at some point down
<br />the road, when the people who are a little closer to how the thing is actually going to be run, have a better idea of what
<br />they’re going to do. We’ve talked a little bit about the operations of a department like this, whether it would handle recycling
<br />and solid waste, and naturally, the operations and the structure need to go together. And I don’t know that the Charter
<br />Commission is going to be able to get their hands on how something like this is actually going to work in practice. So,
<br />without too much trouble, we could authorize a department. We could say something about recycling being a function of the
<br />new department, or if they don’t create the new department, that Public Works is supposed to pay a little more attention to it.
<br />Because I think that that’s where a lot of the groups that have been involved in recycling are more concerned about, rather
<br />than is there a separate department. It’s that they feel that it hasn’t worked for them with the people that they have to work
<br />through in the County, rather than how the organization chart works. It’s just that the operation hasn’t happened right. As far
<br />as your question, can I do that? Yes, that’s something that can be done without a great deal of detail and additional kinds of
<br />research and decision making, because we’re not going to be spelling out organizational structure that moves over.
<br />HIGASHI: And I think the Charter should be broad, but we should define a responsibility if we can. And, Mr. Chair, I’d like
<br />to ask legal counsel, with the consent of everybody, to, kind of, formalize some parameters to begin with, because right now,
<br />we’re getting into the detailed things of operational, and this and that.
<br />RAY: Okay. Chris, are you comfortable going ahead on that basis?
<br />YUEN: Yes, I can do that. I’ve heard enough of what people are trying to get toward to put up something.
<br />IRVINE: I have a lot of papers here with descriptions of these various departments.
<br />RAY: So, do we want to take any sort of preliminary vote on this, or wait till we get some language, and see where it’s
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