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negating the House Bill. I also think that if we are going to move to implementing four -year <br />terms, that the ballot question should be phrased in such a way that people understand that <br />they cannot then make Charter amendments, or they cannot bring initiatives forward for four <br />years. <br />I also wanted to comment on Communication 45. I believe that is a communication that has <br />been proposed by Debbie Hecht. I support the idea of moving the 2% ordinance into the <br />Charter. I believe that we owe it to the voters who voted for it to move it into a situation <br />where it would guarantee deposits and it would protect the fund itself, and the purpose of the <br />fund. So, I do like that idea, and also I think the ballot question should also be easily <br />understandable. <br />The last one is that I support Communication 46, also proposed by Ms. Hecht, giving the <br />public a say in filling Council vacancies. If a vacancy comes up on the County Council, right <br />now, I think it is up to the Chair, or the rest of the Council members to go ahead and try to <br />fill that vacancy, but I can see a benefit in letting the public have a say in that process. <br />Debbie, I believe, has proposed to let the second highest placing vote earner take the office. I <br />think that's a good idea, but I would just like to add a caveat, that that second place person <br />should have gotten at least 25% of the total votes cast. That second place person isn't just <br />the only other person that there was. I don't think that would truly represent the people, <br />unless they had at least 25% of the overall votes cast. I think that's it. Thank you very <br />much. <br />CHR. HAITSUKA: Are there any questions for Ms. Lively? Thank you very much. Next <br />we have Bett Bidleman. Good afternoon, Ms. Bidleman. <br />BETT BIDLEMAN <br />(At this time Bett Bidleman came forward to address members of the Charter Commission.) <br />MS. BIDLEMAN: Aloha. I thought that actually Rob was going to speak first and I was <br />going to follow up on his testimony, so I guess I'm going to just start talking about <br />Communication 48, which came from Friends of Puna's Future. This testimony was brought <br />to your attention on including Community Development Plans (CDP's) and their Action <br />Committees in the County Charter, by Margaret Wille. She brought this up first. When I <br />was reading her testimony, actually I was able to watch it, because it was the one time we <br />had a video recording and it was on the internet. I followed up by reading the written <br />testimony. One of you, I believe it was Commissioner Fuertes, asked about what the Charter <br />could do, what the Commissioners could do, that would put teeth into the CDP's. Our <br />written testimony is really about some of the things that we would like to see if you decide to <br />put this on the ballot. We would want to see the language fall under the General Plan, so it is <br />an integral part of planning for our County. We would like it to state clearly that every ten <br />years, there will be public meetings every ten years to address it; and until that CDP is <br />replaced by another one that CDP will remain in place. We are really concerned about the <br />amount of time - -in the Puna district, we were the first group that started this process, and we <br />were the ones that got our ordinance passed first, and here we are, it's over a year, and we <br />still don't have our Action Committee. So, to us, these delays are important to change. We <br />0 <br />