MIN CHARTER 2018-08-10 (2018-2020)

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Hawai`i County Charter Commission -2 August 10, 2018 not—they could be criminal but not criminal with capital letters, to have them require that, I don't think is probably the best use of their time. So for that, yes, we might have people to come in, for instance, to go out and inspect the records on the restaurants to see how often their grease traps have been cleaned, where they've taken that material to. That would be enforcement, but it's really going to be one of, "Are you really doing the right thing." It's very hard to get compliance when there's no downside to violating the law, and these are things that I would like to see. These are very specific environmental rules, and people that understand them are, I think, better suited to identify when things are not done correctly. So the answer would be we'd love to have enforcement people, yes, but for very specific programs, and not as a general rule. CHR. ADAMS: Thank you, Commissioner Galimba. Commissioner Todd. MS. TODD: In terms of enforcement, actually what happened with the plastic bag ban, because I helped introduce it at the Council, or there were a number of things that I ended up having to do as an attorney. And the Corporation Counsel's Office actually followed up on complaints and did investigations with the threat of litigation, and people would comply. But I agree that if you're going to do enforcement you would one, need some rules adopted by the Director, and it would be civil. The Planning Department does levy fines against people for violations of various permits and activities, and has been able to use those fines to force compliance in some cases, then has perhaps mitigated the initial fines if people have complied and then provided proof of their compliance. So I would see something like that. Then appeals of issuing citations would go obviously to the Environmental Management Commission. But the other reason I like civil is that if you do collect penalties and fines it goes to the County. If you do something through the Police Department, it typically ends up going to the State of Hawaii and doesn't come back to the County. So I would much prefer if we're going to go down that road. I think you do need it, and you're going to have to have some people whose duties involve enforcement, probably different for Wastewater versus Solid Waste issues. But I would definitely want to see it civil, because if we're going to have the salaries and wages of the employees, plus the expenses of the investigation, and the hearings, that I would rather see the revenue than go to the County, to the department, rather than going to the State coffers. MR. KUCHARSKI: There's no argument with that statement, or any of what you said. I agree, thank you. Page 16