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Kona. It should also be posted on the internet at the same time. This is not an onerous thing <br />to do. In our Council Rules, which unfortunately aren't followed very well, we are supposed <br />to have this notification out seven days before the meeting, and we don't seem to do that very <br />often. It is hard on the staff, I admit that; but it's not about whether it's hard on the staff and <br />hard on the Council Members, it's about the public's right to know and the public's need to <br />be able to access this information in a reasonable amount of time and the State said six <br />calendar days. I'm saying it is six calendar days with a 4:30 p.m. deadline. <br />I'm going on to Communication 44, regarding standing committees, including the public <br />notice requirements. There is nothing in our Charter at all on Standing Committees of the <br />Council, so I added a section to add Standing Committees, that all Standing Committees shall <br />have all members of the Council on every committee and have voting privileges. Several <br />terms ago, before I ever got on to the Council, there was an attempt to consolidate control of <br />legislation by giving the Chairman of the Standing Committee the right to determine if a <br />particular piece of legislation would ever see the light of day. This goes on at the State right <br />now. A Chairman can legally bury something in the committee and it will never come <br />forward, even if it's a great piece of legislation, would have massive benefits for the public, it <br />can be killed in a committee. That attempt, many terms ago, is something we should not <br />allow. Every single council person should have the right to bring forward legislation, and all <br />legislation has to start through committee process unless it is waived by the committee <br />chairman to the council. We should not be constraining our council members from <br />producing legislation. If we do not pass this law, I think we are going to face this dilemma <br />again in the future. I explain how it would go about happening; I explain about the minimum <br />six calendar days, I explain about the 4:30 p.m. deadline which is exactly the same as it is on <br />the council amendment that I proposed. <br />On Communication 45, I support this exactly the way it is written. I think the ceasing of <br />funding for at least two years is a terrible miscarriage of the public trust. I cannot even begin <br />to describe how terribly hard it is to do an initiative and get something on the ballot, have the <br />people vote in a great majority, and then have the county -- whether it is the administration or <br />the legislative branch--just say, "We're going to change that." That is not the intent that the <br />public went forward with when they did this process. It should be put into the Charter, and it <br />should be funded at all times. <br />On Communication 46 regarding vacancies in office, I like what Ms. Hecht actually wrote. I <br />think it is important that you guys really discuss this one. I think it is unfortunate that the <br />current law says that within the first 30 days, the Council can appoint a person to fill the <br />vacancy, because the Council majority will always put in somebody aligned with them. And, <br />after the 30th day, on the 31st day, then the Council Chairman can assign somebody. Again, <br />that doesn't necessarily give the best representation to the district. I do like Ms. Lively's <br />suggestion that if you are going to choose the second person from the last election -- whether <br />it was the general or the primary- -they should have at least 25% of the vote. That would <br />occur only if there is six months or less left in the term, because the most important thing we <br />do as Americans is vote. We need to have the people of the district choose their elected <br />officials when it is at all possible; but, I've got to tell you frankly, that to pull off an election <br />in two to three months, and then there is only three months left in the term, and to have that <br />21 <br />