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MR, TRULSON: Mr. Bess , you stated before that <br /> it was not necessary to put it into the Charter to enable the <br /> council to have their own attorney. How would you do it? And <br /> secondly, if the council is allowed to have their own attorney <br /> for their needs in areas where it seems to me it has been more <br /> of a conflict within the administration and the council. And <br /> you also stated Water Board and Water Commission. If the <br /> council would have one what is to stop each and every depart- <br /> ment whenever they have a conflict to say well I want to hire <br /> my attorney, I want to hire. . .isn ' t this going to kind of <br /> steamroll where pretty soon you are going to have a corporation <br /> counsel an'd every department with their own private counsel? <br /> MR. BESS : Okay, to answer your first question <br /> as to how it Would be done(_other than amending the Charter. <br /> As the members of the commission are probably aware the City <br /> and County of Honolulu has this setup. This the position of <br /> counsel attorney is not reflected in the Charter so that I had <br /> not researched this area as to how they actually did it but I <br /> would assume that they passed an ordinance that would provide <br /> for this . Certainly under the existing administration there <br /> would be no difficulty in their being a veto of that ordinance. <br /> Of course, I guess you could envision the situation where you <br /> might have a mayor that would like to veto it and there may <br /> not be enough votes on the council to override. But I would <br /> think that the way to do it would be by ordinance. If you <br /> feel that a Charter amendment would be profitable to do away <br /> with the problem I suggest about there being a mayor having <br /> a=veto andthere<<.noti<<being enough votes to override and that <br /> the public inherently feels that they've got to have a staff <br /> attorney, then by all means , put it in. I don ' t have any <br /> objection to putting it into the Charter. If it is inserted <br /> into the Charter I want to make it clear as to what are the <br /> duties and functions of the staff attorney and how the <br /> corporation counsel relates to him. <br /> As to the second point, I donut know, but <br /> I think it is highly unlikely that you are going to have a <br /> steamrolling effect. Realistically, from a very practical <br /> standpoint, the big beefs come =,between the council and the <br /> mayor so that in my experience with the county, I have never <br /> heard any of the other commissions or departments feel that <br /> they ought to have their own attorney. Of course, I can think <br /> back in the past where because the corporation counsel is <br /> appointed by the mayor there is an assumption that I would <br /> like to think , unwarranted, that the corporation counsel is <br /> in the`'hip pocket of the mayor and so that when there is a <br /> dispute involving. .let' s take for instance the Arthur Hoke <br /> matter where we have a duty to represent the Police Department. <br /> Mr. Keppler happened to be sitting as the hearing officer. <br /> You know,Chief Paul is too muchof a gentleman to say so, I <br /> think it certainly crossed his mind that, hey, who' s side <br /> are you on? But they have never have gone so far as to suggest <br /> that they ought to have a separate attorney assigned to their <br /> department or their commission. <br /> -30- <br />