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minutes 03-25-00Page 10 of 34
<br />FORD: It seems to me, for uniformity, that these four Commissions should be set up the same way, one representative from
<br />each district. And I don’t particularly like the idea of the Mayor appointing because he’s an elected official. I would like to
<br />see that the Council member nominate somebody subject to the entire Council’s vote of approval. But I do think each one of
<br />these Commissions, in fact, all of our Commissions, no matter what they are involved with, should be one representative
<br />from each one of our elected districts.
<br />RAY: Let me give you a scenario. You got two year Council terms. In a three-way race, you can get elected with 34, 35% of
<br />the vote. As a Council person, if you appointed a Commissioner to a five-year term, I’ve got a problem with that, that that’s
<br />really reflective, so that’s a big dilemma. These two-years terms really, kind of, queer that whole dynamic, or they do in my
<br />mind, and I think they do in other Commissioners’ minds.
<br />FORD: You have the exact same problem if you have the Mayor appoint them, so it’s a choice of whether you think the
<br />Mayor’s going to make the better choice, or Council member, representing a small district, is going to be making a better
<br />nomination choice.
<br />RAY: Well, but the Mayor’s for a four-year term, and generally serves -
<br />FORD: That’s our problem here.
<br />RAY: Okay. But, I hear what you’re saying. Yes ma’am.
<br />LAROS: Hi. I’m Gail Laros, and I’m thinking that if the Commission members recommended a panel, kind of, the way
<br />nominees for the Supreme Court are made to the President, if the Council members from districts made recommendations to
<br />the Mayor for the Commissions, and then the Mayor made approval, made his list, or her list, and then the Council approved
<br />what the Mayor suggested. I would think that that mechanism would get away from a lot of the partisan finagling.
<br />RAY: That’s the way it should work now, and that’s the way it does work in some instances, and doesn’t work in others.
<br />Obviously, politics plays a big part of that. But the solicitation for applicants for all the Boards and Commissions is a very
<br />open process, and the Council members can, and should, get very much involved in that. There’s no impediment to that at
<br />this time. Few of them take advantage of that, and politically, it might be a waste of time for some of them, but anyway, that
<br />is something there’s no reason that can’t work today. In other words, the community, through their Council person, through
<br />community associations, through whatever, can make those recommendations and, in fact, in Waimea I can think of at least
<br />several instances regarding the Planning Commissioner for the Kohala District and the Water Commissioner, that the
<br />Waimea Community Association has made strong recommendations to the Mayor. I don’t think he took them but anyway.
<br />I’m just saying. Yes, George.
<br />G. MARTIN: Point of clarification. I think with what your concern is, and it’s being heard up here, for example, this
<br />Commission was suggested by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council. So I think if that were to be done with all of the
<br />Commissions, I think it would alleviate your concern that one power is doing all of that, and I think it could be done, and I
<br />see no problem with that.
<br />RAY: It is done.
<br />G. MARTIN: I don’t know.
<br />RAY: That’s the way all these Commissions work. They’re all appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council. But,
<br />the political reality is that it’s pretty difficult to overrule the Mayor. It is done. There was an instance last year where one
<br />Commissioner for a Board was turned down by the County Council. But it’s something that certainly can be done. But this is
<br />an issue that we’re very much aware of and we’ve gotten quite a bit of input on. Like I say, these two-year terms for these
<br />longer Commissions really are a dilemma.
<br />IRVINE: John, we could always shorten the terms of the Commissioners.
<br />RAY: We could. I think in terms of some of the major Commissions, especially like the Planning Commission or the Water
<br />Commission, I don’t think it’s realistic to have a term much shorter than four years. I think it takes a year or two just to really
<br />understand the issues. So I don’t think you’d want to make it a whole lot shorter than five years, but that’s always a
<br />possibility.
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