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• PUBLIC TESTIMONY RAY: First, Gretchen Lawson. So please come up and we've got a chair set up over here and just state your name and who you're representing. LAVVSON: I'm happy to be here tonight. I had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Santangelo go over a couple of the suggestions that have already been made and so I'm going to do a couple of things; one is comment on the issues that Chairman Ray just mentioned have already come before you but I've got a couple of items that I'm curious about because I didn't see them in the existing Charter and I'm not sure at a Public Hearing I should be asking questions but they're just of interest to me. One is the idea of a separate Department of Human Services which of course for anyone that knows me, is an issue that is kind of right on in my field: I believe that there's pros and cons - RAY: Why don't you explain who you are and what your field is so that we understand that. LAWSON: Okay. I'm here as private citizen and I want everyone to be real clear about that but my life professionally is as a Human Service Administrator. I'm the S Director of Kona Crafts. And as Ginger said, I am a little under the weather and my ears are plugged so I can't even hear myself. I think that I would certainly welcome the specific attention to Human Services. I think that the County, although is normally involved in such activities as infrastructure -- sewers, roads -- those sorts of issues, needs to address and put on the table the idea that Human Services is in fact a very legitimate goal for the County to be involved in and that human assets are the most important assets that any of us have. They are certainly on equal with roads, certainly equal with all the other infrastructures that we go through. Con to that, playing my own devil's advocate, would say 'would that then require more administrative money to run a separate department?' and take a look at where it sits now which I believe, is with the Legislative Auditor and combined with Human Services and Economic Development and looking at Human Services as a component of Economic Development is appropriate. I really strongly present to you that non profits are private businesses. That Human Service is the third sector as articulated by such lofty folks as Peter Drucker and other economists so I think it's a good dialogue to have. I can't tell you that I would recommend one over the other except to say that I think the dialogue needs to get out in the county; that it is worth continuing, putting County resources to developing our human potential. The other thing that my heart is really in to, so that I won't take too much of the time, there's two more issues. One is the idea of nonpartisan elections. We elect nine County Council people. The Mayor is also a public elected official. I haven't been in