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SANTANGELO: That's right. Sue, we have this solid waste management plan and <br />there's nobody that's held accountable or holds anybody accountable with that, or to <br />implement, or to update it, or any of that things and this Commission could do that, <br />and we already have fees. The pay -as -you -throw thing is something that's out there <br />that has to go through the political process, and that's a whole other matter. I wouldn't <br />hold this one hostage to that, but in terms of sewer fees, we already have that. The <br />only thing with the fee structure was with John and I both seeing problems in that <br />politically, and where do we start focusing public attention on the environmental issues, <br />and as long as Public Works deals with this, then if they have, at least, that <br />responsibility, and it's my political opinion that they do a better job, this Commission, <br />than what the process is now, and then it would also focus the attention on <br />accountability with Public Works, and have a liaison between the public and Public <br />Works. But, keep that aside from pay -as -you -throw because that shouldn't be the <br />issue here. That's going to be way down the line. <br />RAY: Marni. <br />HERKES: I attended three of those sessions in three different neighborhoods <br />and I found that they were way off base from where I thought we should go. They were <br />into garbage pick up, which, in Kona, is ridiculous. They were into charging fees, which <br />is, to me, not the way to go. The fact is, we pay for waste disposal. We pay with our <br />taxes. I would love to have a line on your property tax bill that says this part of your <br />property tax goes for waste disposal. I think that everybody would know that they are <br />paying a big chunk of money for waste disposal, and also the County would know how <br />much they're paying for waste disposal, because they are paying for it now, and there's <br />no reason to charge a fee. There's no reason to charge a commercial hauler. They are <br />picking up our garbage and disposing of it. We pay for our taxes in order to have that <br />done. Now, I like your Environmental Department because I think that does the same <br />thing that Public Safety Department, and the Department of Permitting, is that it's a <br />management tool. We're managing our waste through environment safety. We're <br />managing our wastewater. We can manage our garbage. We can recycle. We can <br />look at alternatives. You might even want to put the electric company under there. <br />That's an environmental. <br />MARTIN: Private entity? <br />HERKES: Yes. I'm on their integrated resource planning. That's different. <br />We use less fossil fuel. There's a bunch of stuff that could be managed in that, and I <br />like the Commission idea because the Commission brings the private sector into <br />management. If you put the right people on the Commission, they are people that are <br />in business to do this kind of waste disposal. So, I like some of the things. I don't like <br />your reasons for doing it. <br />SANTANGELO: Which are? <br />• <br />31 <br />