CHC 1979-01-16 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MR. KUNIYOSHI: Well, let me say it this way. Assuming you combine both bodies under one as previously instead of twelve members originally, I think originally under the old commission we had only five members. Right now we are only con- cerned with the appointment, the power of the liquor commission to appoint my position. On the other hand, as I stated in my presentation, I believe in primarily the separation of both powers and I listed my reasons. So in a way, there is a conflict over there. I still say, as far as I am concerned, these two bodies should be separated, not because of the question of the problem of this director, to me this is minor. I believe totally it should be a separation for the reasons I listed. MR. OMONAKA: Mr. Chairman, maybe I can enlighten the commission members. If my memory serves me correctly, under Article 7, we have three departments setup by where each depart- ment head, like the police and the liquor and the personnel services, is selected by the commission members. I believe the intent was to take politics away directly from the Mayor and have the commissioners appoint the department heads. So I believe this was the intent. Rudy, do you recall that? MR. LEGASPI: Vaguely. MR. OMONAKA: So this is how we set up these three different departments. You' ll notice that away from the parks and recreation and the other ones, these three different departments are set up differently. So each of these three departments, the commissioners select the head. This is how we set it up and I believe the thought behind it was to get away from the so-called politics where the mayor directly appoints. And so, like Mr. Kuniyoshi says , there is no way the commissioners can get involved in the day-to-day activities of the department. The Charter Commission provided that the Mayor was the general super- vising authority overall. I believe that' s the background. MR. LEGASPI: I recall that for the police com- mission, but I didn' t recall the discussion for the liquor commission. That was true for the police department, selection of the Police Chief. MR. OMONAKA: So this is where you' ll notice in Article 7 , you have three different departments set up other than compared to the other departments. So I believe this was the intent. MR. ISHIDA: Mr. Chairman, can I ask why it was limited to these three departments? Do you recall? MR. OMONAKA: Well, like the police department, you know, direct politics involved. Same with the liquor, civil service. I believe this is the intent as compared to the parks and recrea- tion or the fire department, these'_2commissioners adopt rules and regulations that have effect. Liquor can adopt rules and regulations. - 11 -