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Hawaii County Council August 2 , 1989 CHR. KOKUBUN: Thank you. Mrs . Hale, followed by Mrs . Inouye . MRS. HALE : I look at it a little bit differently, Mr . Chairman. I 'm glad to get this report from the Legislative Auditor about the different things but, frankly, I feel that we cannot tie the Administration' s hands too tightly. If we ' re going to have the Mayor system--and I 'm advocating another system--but if we ' re going to have the Mayor ' s system, I think the Mayor should be allowed to use money within a department. I prefer the language in the City and County of Honolulu, whereby we at least would know what ' s going on but the Mayor could make transfers within a department and then notify, and a report of such transfers shall be made to the Council . I prefer that language to the Maui County language. But I do also agree with Mr . Yamashiro, we aren' t clearing up the matter of when an appropriation is an appropriation. But I think, within departments, the Mayor should have some flexibility, but that ' s assuming that we have a Salary Ordinance; and without a Salary Ordinance that makes a difference. I was always assuming that we still had a Salary Ordinance and there should be some way that the Mayor is not allowed to hire additional personnel without coming to the Council for an appropriation because that is an increase in cost all the way down the line. Just buying a FAX machine is a one-time cost and I see no harm in that; but to be able to shift personnel around, I really think the whole problem needs more study. Perhaps, you would like to refer this back to the IGR Committee and let us consult with the Legislative Auditor and see if we could go into some language clarification for Mr. Yamashiro ' s concerns but also leave some flexibility for the Mayor. CHR. KOKUBUN: Thank you. I can appreciate those comments and I think my only additional comment would be that, obviously, it ' s functioning in Maui County. 465 . 10 5