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CHR. HAITSUKA: Our first public testifier is Ms. Cory Hardin. <br />CORY HARDIN <br />(At this time Cory Hardin came forward to address members of the Charter Commission.) <br />CHR. HAITSUKA: Good evening, Ms. Hardin. <br />MS. HARDIN: Thank you for your many hours spent today and other days working on this. <br />We appreciate you putting the time in. I support most of the amendments proposed by <br />Debbie Hecht of Kona, Councilmember Brenda Ford, and Margaret Wille, who is sitting <br />behind me. I've given them in writing, so I will just briefly summarize some of them. For <br />the Legislative Auditor, the way it is now, they kind of have to bite the hand that feeds them, <br />because the County Council holds the purse strings for their office. This year the Council <br />tried to severely cut the Legislative Auditor's funding. So, the proposed amendment would <br />follow what many states and counties do. It would set aside a percentage of the operations <br />and special funds budget and then auditors are freer to investigate fraud, abuse, <br />mismanagement, and the many other things we need to stay on top of. <br />For redistricting, there are many changes proposed to make it fairer. I remember there was a <br />lawsuit on the last redistricting effort. Many people felt it was totally unfair the way it came <br />out. One fellow was so upset that he took a second mortgage out on his house to file a <br />lawsuit. Then he lost, so I know this has been going on for some time. Of course, if you <br />want to get a fair vote of the people, the districts need to be set fairly. <br />I support having standing council committees with all nine members on each committee, with <br />proposals that are not delayed for more than one meeting, and with adequate public notice. <br />This would restrict some of the power plays, like some of the stuff that has gone on just <br />recently in the Council. The re -do, the un -do, and then yesterday's re -do of all the <br />committees, and concentrating all the power in the hands of a few council members. I would <br />say that when people are in a minority they need to keep what voice they have. To this <br />amendment I would add that each council member should get one position as committee <br />chair and one as committee vice chair, so that everybody would have some position, and one <br />lucky person would get full council chair and another lucky person would get council vice <br />chair. <br />I support the four -year council terms, so council members have time to learn the complexities <br />of government. I remember Guy Enriques went to Dominic Yagong about a month into the <br />term and said, "Can you explain the budget to me, I don't understand it at all." Of course, <br />there is a lot more than that. However, I think there need to be strong recall and <br />impeachment options if this passes. <br />I support writing the 2% for the Land Fund into the Charter. I came, along with scores of <br />people, a few months ago, testifying to keep putting money into the fund following up on <br />having signed petitions and stuff a year before. But, the Council and Mayor chose otherwise. <br />If this was in the Charter, it would set it so it cannot be taken away, it attracts matching funds <br />2 <br />