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BRENDA FORD <br />(At this time Councilmember, Brenda Ford came forward to address members of the Commission.) <br />MS. FORD: Yes sir, thank you. Are you covering Articles III and IV today? Is that all? <br />CHR. HAITSUKA: We are covering portions of Article III that we have not covered <br />previously in our previous meeting, all of Article IV and then in our New Business, we are <br />covering Articles V and VI, hopefully. <br />MS. FORD: I would like to testify on a few things, I don't know what your time limits are. <br />In Chapter III, Section 3 -8 (e), there is a section that reads, "A motion to reconsider made at <br />the time any bill fails to pass final reading shall not be voted upon until after 24 hours." I <br />would ask that this be stricken in its entirety. I personally have been part of a vote after 11 <br />hours and 45 minutes when we were all totally exhausted with fatigue and unanimously made <br />the wrong vote because of tiredness. We suspended the rules and went back and voted again <br />and made the correct vote as each person chose to make that vote. This disallows for human <br />error, when human error is just based on a misstatement or exhaustion, or whatever else is <br />going on. There is no reason not to have reconsideration the same day if the Council or the <br />Council Committees choose to do so. So I ask that this section be stricken. <br />Then in Section 3 -11, Emergency Ordinances, the second paragraph, the middle of my page <br />four, hope it's yours. It says, "The affirmative vote of all council members present or by <br />two - thirds of the entire membership shall be necessary for adoption of such ordinances." <br />Now this has to do with emergency ordinances. I understand what this is trying to say, but <br />it's very clumsily worded. It's trying to say that if we are in an emergency situation, and <br />perhaps all nine council members cannot be present because of the emergency, then whoever <br />can get together requires a unanimous vote. But, if we can get a quorum, a regular quorum, <br />then it requires - - -and in this case it would require a super quorum of six people; if we can get <br />at least six people then they can vote. I understand what it is trying to say, but it is not <br />worded very well, and I hope you can clean up this language to express it more clearly. <br />Farther down, two paragraphs down, it starts out "Every emergency ordinance, including any <br />amendments made after adoption, shall automatically stand repealed as of the sixty -first <br />day..." I would like to ask that you do some investigation on this. It is my opinion that 61 <br />days maybe too short a period of time. We're still dealing with issues two years later. I <br />realize that the 61 days has to do with an immediate emergency to life, property or health, but <br />sometimes 61 days just doesn't do it when we sit out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean <br />and we have to rely on other islands and other states on the mainland. I would ask you to <br />investigate 61 days, if that is sufficient. <br />Of course, Section 3 -17 which is titled County Reapportionment Commission. I've sent a <br />voluminous amount of information to you, and I am prepared to discuss that or answer <br />questions, whatever you would like as you go through it. <br />5 <br />