CHC 1979-05-15 PH - Laserfiche WebLink

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MR. TRULSON: . Then you feel that there would be better representation of North and South Kohala, West Hawaii with nine members? It seems that to me at the present time that it is well distributed. There are representatives from the Kohala area, from the Kona area, from Ka' u, from Puna, and from Hilo. Where do you see the inconsistency? MR. HALEMANN : I think they could get-together and have board meetings together and hold the main board meeting in Hilo or some place so they all can get-together. If, like I say, a drastic problem comes up at that time all the nine members from the commission have to meet. MR. TRULSON: But you were "look ing for more representation from outlying areas than is presently, is that correct? MR. HALEP!IANN:: Yes. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: Thank you, Mr. Halemann. Next we would like to call on Councilman Sameshima. Mr. Sameshima, MR. SAMESHIMA: Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to testify before the members of the Charter Commission© Mr. Chairman Sakata, and members. My main reason I am here to testify and I have distributed my "rushed into" proposals. . .I feel that the people have had it right up tb their throats , in fact, it has gone up their heads already, and elected officials and a lot of the appointed officials , department heads, they are not responsive to the people, so I put Initiative as number one, Initiative and Referendum, as number one on my proposals. We have provided Initiative and Referendum in our charter but there are too many restrictions. I feel that since the people are the employers of government and government should be working for thepeople, the people have the right to make changes or have a say in how much pay anyone that works for government can have. Today, I know that everybody feels that salaries, fringes and benefits have gone way beyond the expectation of the people. The people who work in a public industry don ' t get such luxury benefits , fringes and benefits which are considered one of the best in the world, and I can prove it. So, I would ask the members of this Charter Commission to really consider and have Initiative and Referendum and remove the restriction. I support the West Hawaii Committee, the Kona Chamber of Commerce and the three other organizations who proposed the amendments. MR. CADINHA: Mr. Sameshima, have you given any consideration to adding recall to the Initiative and Referendum? MR. SAMESHIMA:. Yes, I have recall as number seven on my list. Two--the charter to provide a satellite county office--field •office- =in West Hawaii. I feel that Kona should be considered as an area where the West Hawaii people can go to. -1.7-