CHC 1979-04-10 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

The first article that we would like you to review and revise is Article III , Legislative Branch, County Council. Presently, there is a nine member council and the present language in the charter which gives every district representation we believe is a fair and sound one. We disagree with the provision where it states that even though you run from a district every voter in the county has an opportunity to_ vote for each and every council seat. We see a great need to` " encourage much more qualified candidates to run from every district. In order to accomplish this, we need to revise the present language. As it is now, even though you may lose in your own district, where district residency is a requirement, you can still win. In essence, by having to campaign island wide, we are discouraging many candidates from running because of the campaign costs involved. A Kona resident offering testimony last week stated that Kona was not fairly represented. Based on its present population this may be true. Under the one man, one vote concept Kona may be under represented but under the present breakdown of districts, Kona does have a councilman. Like any other district, Kona has access to the three council members who run at-large. Maybe there is a need to make it similar to how we elect our house members, but we have not taken a firm position on that issue of numbers. We are primarily concerned with fair representation. We propose a two-year term for council members representing a district and a four-year term for the at-large members. On Chapter 2, Corporation Counsel , we believe that the county council needs to retain its .own legal counsel. It is quite evident that where legal counsel is involved it is difficult for them to serve two masters. Being appointed by the mayor, the corporation counsel has a moral obligation to the mayor and it is difficult to perceive him having to also be the chief legal advisor to the council. If the charter is revised enabling the council to appoint its own legal counsel then the corporation counsel should not be subject to approval by the council. Mr. Chairman and members, our union is also aware that with the creation of a separate office of legal counsel for the county council it might create additional costs and we are suggesting that to possibly keep the costs down that the legal counsel for the county council could utilize the present services existing of the clerical staff of the corporation counsel and the prosecutor ' s office. The UPW has always been a strong proponent of changing the status of the department of water supply from the present semi-autonomous status to making it a part of the county. The mayor, in his proposal , stated that the reason for the semi- autonomous status was solely because it was thought that the water department would have a better credit rating in selling bonds. However, as some of you are aware it has not happened the way it was intended. Instead, you either have the legislature appro- priating funds or the county council authorizing the sale of bonds. - 2 -