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<br />coming from the general feeling, if you can follow what I'm saying. I think it's important
<br />to have a strong Mayor, and just the tone of this seems to sound like we're trying to
<br />move to a more Managing Director form of government which, in the mainland, is often
<br />RAY: We are very much trying to move towards that in terms of more the
<br />day-to-day administration. As you're well aware, basically anybody can be elected for
<br />Mayor with virtually no qualifications whatsoever, and I think that opens up a lot of
<br />concern in people's minds that that person is the day-to-day administrative head of the
<br />County government vs. more of a City Manager type that would fulfill that role. So
<br />that's the model we're looking at, but like I say, still very much retaining the ultimate
<br />authority under the Mayor. We looked long and hard at lots of models and lots of
<br />information on Council/Manager forms of government, which are a total shift in terms of
<br />the authority. In other words, the Council hires the Managing Director, so that's a total
<br />shift, but that's not where we're going with this. We're going, hopefully, to a stronger
<br />administrative and professional model, but still having the authority there with the
<br />Mayor.
<br />SANTANGELO: The reason I brought that up, Peter, is because I'm finding that,
<br />with other Chambers and stuff that got this, that are looking at it, are totally opposed to
<br />this, and I think that the problem, and the mistake we made, was putting in the word
<br />`authority', because in no way were we increasing the authority of that Managing
<br />Director. As our Chairman said, we were trying to set a line of command in which
<br />people could look at government and see how it was structured. But, also try to help, at
<br />least imply that we'd like the Mayor to get a fairly professional person to help him, but
<br />leave it to the Mayor, because we've seen this Managing Director under Council have a
<br />lot of problems too, and we got that. But when we put in here `strengthen authority',
<br />I've gotten many inputs already that are totally opposed to something, if I explain it to
<br />them. So I hope we haven't shot ourselves in the foot, and that's why I asked if you'd
<br />read the other part. Because they hadn't either, and we put this out and we're going to
<br />have to take responsibility for it.
<br />BOUCHER: I apologize for not doing all my homework.
<br />RAY: No, no. Just take a look at it and see. And basically where this
<br />came from was it's the Maui County Charter and the way they have their Executive
<br />Branch arranged, and it's just.a different organizational chart which we liked, the way
<br />that sets up and, hopefully, where it would go.
<br />IRVINE: Yes, I agree with what these folks have been saying. I had the
<br />same experience that John Santangelo had, that people said, oh, you're creating
<br />another Department because we're actually calling it the Department of Management in
<br />here, as Maui did. And we're not doing that at all, and we aren't really increasing the
<br />authority, strengthening the authority, the way we stated we were so it's kind of our
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