2018-10-25 (draft) Cost of Government Commission minutes

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Cost of Government Commission October 25, 2018 meeting minutes Sanitation and Waste Removal The Subcommittee distributed the following documents:  dated October 10, 2018 – letter to the County Solid Waste Advisory Committee  dated October 10, 2018 – “Discussion Questions from the Cost of Government Sanitation Sub-Committee”  dated October 24, 2018 – communication to Commission transmitting a summary of the Subcommittees interactions on the agenda of the County Solid Waste Advisory Committee Copies of the documents are on file. The Subcommittee will contact the Department of Environmental Management and the division head of the wastewater and disposal program to review the past Commission recommendations, determine which are implementable and hopefully come up with new recommendations. It was noted that the Department is handling several daunting tasks that will make identifying cost-savings recommendations challenging. These include new wastewater facility projects in Pahala and Na’alehu while the County continues to grow. Roy Takemoto of the Mayor’s office commented that cost of government terms also finds translation to “friends of” programs, such as with the zoo, and utilizing incarcerated labor are examples of “so-called ‘free’ work”. The principle may be to find ways to optimize government service. Exploring County’s essential responsibilities for how resources are disbursed is also a factor. An example is housing for special needs groups. In the area of wastewater, we have to be mindful of unfunded mandates, such as having to expend monies due to federal Environmental Protection Agency rules on cesspools. Although it may not be directly applicable to our island’s situation, the County still needs to comply with regulations. In cases of unfunded liabilities, what is the appropriate source and amounts of funding. Community Development Block Grants could be one source. Should we prioritize funding sources towards mandates? We should consider weighing benefit and burden. The Commission continues to progress towards formulating recommendations through the subcommittee work. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chairperson Jones recognized Commissioner Allen for working on his own time as a private citizen to contact the prisons in efforts to restart the program of inmates performing maintenance work at the zoo. The Friends of the Zoo provides lunch to the inmates. 3