2018-09-26 Meeting Minutes (EMC)

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Chair Bennett said the proposals needed some tweaking before being sent to the Charter Commission. Commissioner Gaffney asked Chair Bennett if he would be given time to present, and Chair Bennett said yes, probably within a week or two. Chair Bennett said he has been advised to stress sustainability and climate change resilience. An arctic lake has thawed and is bubbling carbon dioxide. The scientists did not anticipate this. They are saying the amount of carbon trapped in the permafrost is greater than the carbon generated by burning fossil fuels. This means the catastrophic future may come a lot sooner than previously thought. Commissioner Pequeño said the first proposal, merging the Department of Water Supply and DEM, makes sense to him. The second proposal, creating an Office of Sustainable Water, should perhaps come under the umbrella of climate change and be something like the City and County of Honolulu’s Office of Climate Change. Chair Bennett said that was advice well taken. Chair Bennett said if DEM’s Wastewater Division and the Department of Water Supply are merged, then DEM’s Solid Waste Division could either be a department of its own or be incorporated into another department such as Public Works. Director Kucharski asked what would happen to the EMC if DEM ceases to exist, and Commissioner Gaffney said that was a good question because of the nature of how the EMC was created versus other commissions. It would need to be a part of the recommendation. Chair Bennett said it would require amending the Charter, because the EMC is chartered. Commissioner Pequeño said he would prefer to keep the DEM, as focus is needed on not just solid waste but waste reduction in general. He did not feel those functions would fit in the Department of Public Works. Chair Bennett said the EMC will persist unless the Charter is amended to kill it, but it may have a more limited scope of dealing with solid waste issues. Chair Bennett said it was important to have the term “wastewater” changed to “reclaimed water.” He needed the EMC’s approval to make the adjustments so he could present the proposals to the Charter Commission, and he would need a motion to do this. Ms. Mellon-Lacey said the commissioners would need to agree on what is being presented. If the wording Chair Bennett had provided them was going to be changed, how would they know what was going to be presented? Chair Bennett said it could be wordsmithed now, which will take some time, or the EMC can pass a motion that would grant him the authority to incorporate the recommended changes and communicate them. There is a short time to act. Motion and second: Chair Bennett proposed that the subcommittee, which consisted of Commissioners Fritz, Gaffney, Pequeño, and himself, make the changes to the proposed charter amendments and authorize him to communicate them to the Charter Commission. Commissioner Fritz seconded the motion.