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minutes 03-18-00Page 18 of 27
<br />RAY: Are you speaking on behalf of the Chief Engineer?
<br />BOUCHER: No, I’m speaking on behalf of the Division Chief of the Wastewater Division.
<br />RAY: Okay, because we haven’t had any input on this issue, and you might bring that to Mr. Yanabu’s attention.
<br />BOUCHER: I haven’t spoken to him about this, but I strongly oppose this amendment. I think it was very well spoken, the
<br />arguments that have been placed before you very well by the two speakers before me, and I don’t think I can add anything to
<br />that other than these are very responsible positions and you need somebody with the technical background and the credentials
<br />to put their name on the front of these plans, and to be responsible to supervise licensed engineers under you. You have to
<br />have -
<br />RAY: But as you mentioned, the size of the Public Works Department and the additional duties they’ve had to take on,
<br />especially with the regulatory framework, I guess where we’re coming from, with all six divisions, that it really is more of an
<br />administrative position than an engineering position, and they certainly need to be well versed in that background. And
<br />maybe this is just a misunderstanding, but that a major function of the Chief Engineer is actually being the person to review
<br />and sign plans, maybe to be a person that could sign off on plans, but in terms of that person’s responsibilities and duties, and
<br />the time they’d have, I just can’t imagine that you could administer that whole department and have time to sit around and
<br />review and stamp plans.
<br />BOUCHER: No, as a Manager, even myself -
<br />RAY: Anyway, that’s where we were coming from on this.
<br />BOUCHER: How many times I sign these plans, I don’t review them, but I delegate the reviewing, as does Milton, to people
<br />who he knows are responsible, and who he trusts to review them properly, who are also licensed engineers.
<br />RAY: Right, and you have plenty of licensed engineers in the department.
<br />BOUCHER: Right, but you are taking the responsibility at that point, and it really runs contrary to the whole ethic of
<br />professionalism that you can supervise. Basically you’re overseeing a licensed professional engineer, if you’re signing over
<br />their name. I’m strongly opposed to it.
<br />RAY: I think that kind of runs contrary to the way most businesses run. How many heads of substantial businesses or
<br />corporations, or whatever, are technical vs. administrative people? I think you’d find that, almost universally, they’re people
<br />with business and law degrees vs. engineering degrees that supervise -
<br />BOUCHER: I don’t know if I necessarily agree with that. I think if you look at some -
<br />RAY: I don’t want to get into that. I really appreciate what you’re saying and it’s definitely made an impact on my thinking.
<br />IRVINE: Yes.
<br />RAY: This is something we’re going to take a good look at, and like I say, we really wanted to get this stuff out here to get
<br />you and everybody else to engage it, so it’s very much in progress, our thinking on this.
<br />IRVINE: I think we had no engineers on our Commission. I was just thinking of that, which is kind of unusual, probably, in
<br />the County of Hawaii, to set up a Commission that doesn’t have one engineer on it.
<br />BOUCHER: So, I would urge you to delete this amendment. And while you’re at it, perhaps the Head of the Department of
<br />Environmental Management should also be a licensed engineer.
<br />SANTANGELO: Environmental Engineer.
<br />BOUCHER: Not necessarily. Just a licensed engineer, I think would be adequate because a Civil Engineer is also trained.
<br />Environmental sort of followed through Civil Engineering. It sort of evolved into it’s own little area, but it’s basically Civil
<br />Engineer.
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