Comm No 0014.02 - Testimony - CA-2 - Council Meeting locations

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Margaret Wille Attorney at Law 65-1316 Lihipali Road Kamuela, Hawaii 96743 Tel: 808-854-6931 margaretwille@mac.com December 14, 2018 To: Charter Commission Fr: Margaret Wille, on behalf of myself Re: Comm. No. 14.1 CA- 2 Re: Art. III Section 3-7 (Council Meetings) Comm. 14.1 proposes to amend Section 3.7, while I agree with the general principle in the proposed amendment, I would modify and expand that amendment as follows: Section 3-7. Meetings; Rules and Journal; Voting and Quorum. The county council shall meet regularly at least twice in every month at such times, and places as shall be established by rule of the council except that only one meeting in December is required. and mcct at least quarterly in the judicial district of North Kona or South Kona The Council shall meet an equal number of its regularly scheduled meetings in East Hawai`i and West Hawai`i, however at meetings when the budget is scheduled to be discussed with presentations by members of Departments, such meetings may be scheduled solely in Hilo in order to accommodate and increase attendance by members of Departments whose principal office is located in Hilo without an equivalent number of meetings in West Hawai`i. The council shall determine its rules and order of business and shall provide for keeping a journal of its proceedings, which shall be a public record, in which the ayes and noes shall be entered as required by this charter or at any other time upon the demand of any member. The affirmative vote of a majority of the entire membership shall be necessary for council action. A majority of the entire membership of the council shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time and may compel the attendance of absent members. Whenever the term "entire membership" appears in this charter pertaining to council voting, it means the entire membership of nine members, even if there are vacancies. (1979, Prop. 13; 1990, Prop. 13, sec. 3; 2000, Prop. 13, sec. 1.) Comment: I appreciate the proposed revision of Section 3-7 (Council meetings) in Comm. 14.1 but suggest the above modification to take into consideration the meetings where members of the Departments located in Hilo are asked to attend Council meeting during budget periods. Great loss of time when they need to travel to Kona for the day rather than be available to be called at the time of that item is addressed by the council. Requiring a second meeting in December is often a waste of money. Allow the Council Chair to determine if that meeting is needed. Comm. No. 14.2