CHC 1979-05-01 PH - Laserfiche WebLink

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MR. ROBERT YAMADA: That is what I said. I said some commissions are necessary. As I said , earlier, I just decided last night that I would appear before you. I probably will write a letter that if it is possible some of the commissions should be eliminated. MR. ISHIDA: There are only a few commissions as far as the charter is concerned. As I understand it , you feel the police commission is unnecessary. Is that correct? MR. ROBERT YAMADA: I don ' t know, they may need one but what category, advisory or executive committee, I really am not in a position at the present time to make any statement. However, some authority should be given to the mayor who has the right to appoint a chief. MR. ISHIDA: As i understand it, the rationale of having created this police commission was an effort to separate the politics as far as appointing a police chief is concerned. Mainly because the police department is a public service department and using that rationale, that was the basis upon whichwthey created the police commission and why the commission was the one that would appoint the chief. Now, as I am trying to understand your feeling , this evening, it is you feel that even in spite of something like that, for a more efficient administration that the police should come directly under the umbrella of the mayor, whereby the police chief would be appointed by the mayor. And as police chief would be directly accountable to the mayor. In that event, it would appear to me that you feel the commission , under those circumstances, would be unnecessary, as far as the police department is concerned. MR. ROBERT YAMADA: No, I wouldn ' t say unnecessary. It could_be an advisory but not an executive committee like they are today. MR. ISHIDA: But they are, in fact, because they are the ones who govern policies. . . . MR. ROBERT YAMADA: When we talk about strong mayor type and running a corporation of $37 million dollars, the charter says you can do this .but you can' t do that. Then it is not the strong mayor type of - government. The police department, if somebody else is going to appoint him, I don ' t know how much politics he can play to get the right people in but it is very difficult at times. And, yet, he controls the public works , the corporation counsel , parks and recreation. He doesn ' t control the water board. He doesn 't control the police, directly, although he appoints the members of the commission. But I don ' t think the mayor can be in a position to say, look , I am going to appoint you, you do what I tell you to do. I don ' t think the mayor will do that. Everybody has their choice. I don' t think that should be right. The county is spending the most money for the police department and yet it is not directly under the mayor. Then we shouldn ' t call it the strong mayor type of government. That is why I suggested other alternates. -28-