Comm No 0018.01 - Response - R&D - CA-4 - Amend Section 6-8.3

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Harry Kim Mayor County of Hawaii DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 25 Aupuni Street, Room 1301 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720-4252. (808) 961-8366 • Fax (808) 935-1205 E-mail: chresdev@hawaiicounty.gov MEMORANDUM Date: December 3, 2018. To: Douglass Shipman Adams, Chair, Hawaii County Charter Commission From: Diane Ley, Director, Department of Research and Development Ron Whitmore, Deputy Director, Department of Research and Dev RE: Input on Proposal CA -4 — Amendments to Section 6-8.3; Powers, Duties, and Functions of the Department of Research and Development Diane L. Ley Director Ron Whitmore Deputy Director Lk) We are writing in response to your November 16, 2018 memo seeking our input on proposal CA -4, which proposes to repeal and replace subsection (c) of Section 6-8.3 of the County Charter, Powers, duties and functions for the Department of Research and Development (R&D). Specifically, you requested our general comments on this proposal as well as input on how the enactment of proposal CA -4 may affect the implementation of proposal CA -3, which seeks to establish a Climate Change and Resiliency Commission as well as greenhouse gas emissions reporting and reduction requirements for all. County offices. General Comments Proposal. CA -4 proposes the following amendment: Section 6-8.3. Powers, Duties and Functions. The director of research and development shall: (a) Collect and develop data necessary for managerial and legislative decision-making, and program and policy-making. (b) Provide staff leadership for public and private development programs, enterprises and plans, including economic, social and cultural proposals, which enhance and improve the county community. (c) [ In conjunction with federal, state, and non-governmental agencies and entities, research and coordinate county policy and action in relation to long-term, complex problems that involve a coordinated response from multiple county departments. We support the deletion of subsection (c). As we noted during our September 14, 2018.presentation to the Commission, subsection (c) is a remnant of the federal formula grant programs established in the 1960s, when the Charter was fust adopted. Today, using in-house programmatic expertise, each County agency assumes responsibility for identifying and securing grants and other funding available from the state and federal governments. This decentralization of the function described in subsection (c) is increasingly facilitated by advances in grant research and management technologies. In support, R&D subscribes to a grant research tool and makes it available at no cost to county agencies and non- profits. At the same time, we strongly oppose the alternative language proposed for subsection (c). The functions proposed are already implied in subsections (a) and (b). Accordingly, R&D focuses almost uniquely on complex problems like economic development, energy, climate change, and disaster recovery, all of which relate to the functions of multiple departments (but aren't the responsibility of any single agency) and therefore require significant collaboration. Moreover, it is unclear what is Hawaii County is an Equal! Opportunity Provider and Employer tv CD Comm. No. 18.1