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CHRISTOPHER J. YUEN HILO LAGOON CENTRE,SUITE 108 101 AUPUNI STREET HILO,HAWAII 96720 ATTORNEY AT LAW TEL.(808)935-4429 January 15, 1990 Hawaii County Charter Commission 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 235 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Re: Police Commission Dear Commission Members: At our last meeting, the Charter Commission asked me to suggest language which would make it clear that the police commission should receive enough funds to adequately perform the task of investigating allegations of police misconduct. One way to direct that this be done would be to incorporate the following sentence (originally submitted by Mr. Greenwell in slightly different form) at the end of the draft of §7-2 .2 (d) as adopted by the Charter Commission at its last meeting. The section would then read (with the additional language underlined) : (d) Receive, consider, and investigate charges brought by the public against the conduct of the department or any of its members and submit a written report of its findings to the chief of police. A summary of the charges filed and their disposition shall be included in the annual report of the commission. There shall be budgeted sufficient funds in the annual budget of the police department for use by the police commission to fulfill the intent of this section. This additional language gives a clear direction •to the chief of police, the mayor, and the council that the police commission should be given enough money to perform investigations. If language like this is included, it becomes unimportant whether the police commission sends its own budget to the mayor, or whether its budget is part of the departmental budget. The provisions adopted by the Charter Commission at its last meeting give the police commission the power to comment on the police department budget submitted to the mayor by the police chief. If the budget did not include enough for the police commission's investigations, the police commission could comment to the mayor that it ought to get more money. This would be the functional equivalent of sending its own proposed budget to the mayor. In practical terms, it seems improbable that the police chief would fight too hard with the commission over the commission's share of the budget: after all, the police commission has the power to fire the chief. 783 EXHIBIT A (2 pages)