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I would like also to mention that all <br /> departments should be confirmed by the council. The mayor <br /> is not the only one that runs the county government. The <br /> councilmen play a very big part in the running of this county. <br /> If you have no jurisdiction over the particular department <br /> head, you are going to have a hard time getting cooperation. <br /> They don ' t have to listen to you. They only listen to the <br /> mayor. He is the one who can hire and fire. I ,think some <br /> area of authority should be given to the council. I really <br /> don ' t know how to put it, but I think some consideration <br /> should be given to give that authority to the council so that <br /> they can be more effective. <br /> Another area I want to speak on tonight is that <br /> the county has too many commissions. Everything is commissions. <br /> Advisory or otherwise and all these commissions are non-compen- <br /> sated members. However, the county has to pick up their <br /> travelling, their per diem and I think it is senseless. Why <br /> elect the people to the council , pay them a salary and then get <br /> all these people to advise how to run the county? Don ' t you <br /> think that the council and whoever is mayor, or the chairman, <br /> should run the county council and if they can ' t do a job kick <br /> them out the next election. I really feel today, the council <br /> and the mayor arezelected and how many, maybe three dozen <br /> commissions from the police to the recreation to the parks and <br /> water and all of the commissions. . .what are the elected officials <br /> doing? It really doesn ' t make sense to me. <br /> Another thing, too, I would like to bring to you. <br /> I have always found that the economic and development department <br /> is really a useless department. I think that area there should <br /> be combined with the planning commission. I really believe in <br /> that because you probably read in the paper, in the past, T got <br /> in hot water because I brought that up before the council . But <br /> I am still saying that I was right. <br /> You can also consider--and this:.may be very <br /> drastic -but you can amalgamate even the police and the fire <br /> department. More so out in the rural area. The rural area in <br /> order that the people where we have only two or three'l,hundred <br /> people are demanding a 24 hour service. How are you going to <br /> give a 24 hour service of the police department to all areas. <br /> Every -station at _least has to have seven officers. The fire <br /> department also needs four or five people or else it is not <br /> effective. <br /> I want to call to your attention , as I have <br /> mentioned many times, to the county building and the employees <br /> of the county. That this building here in the County of Hawaii <br /> is not a big welfare tank but that is what it is today. We <br /> really have too many employees in this county. There are ,many <br /> areas that are not needed. Of course, there are certain areas <br /> where the county is responsible for their having the job but <br /> I don ' t know whether that area can be considered, especially <br /> where our county when we are in the austerity program. As you <br /> probably know, we hardly have anything for public improvement. <br /> Hardly anything. A very small item. Recently they floated a <br /> $6 million dollar bond for capital improvements. Unless we get <br /> -23- <br />