HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2020-07-08 2018-2020 Hawaii County Council
461h Session
Hawaii County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii
July 8, 2020
INVOCATION: Pastor Jacob Bratton of The Salvation Army Church gave the morning's
invocation.
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaii County Council was called to order at
ORDER: 9 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Chair
Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair(via videoconference from Kona)
Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member
Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member
Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member
Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member(came in later)
Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of Allegiance.
ALLEGIANCE:
(At this time, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder led the Council in
the Pledge of Allegiance.)
PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Petitions,
MEMORIALS, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence.
CERTIFICATES
OF MERIT, AND (Note: At this time, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder presented a Certificate of Merit to
EXPRESSIONS OF Chenoa Frederick, a Kamehameha School graduate, in honor of her outstanding
CONDOLENCE: athletic achievements.)
Recess: At 9:13 a.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 9:18 a.m.
Announcement: (Note: At this time, the Chair introduced Justin Kenoi, son of former Mayor
Billy Kenoi, stating that he, too, is a Kamehameha School graduate and is present
today as an intern/observer.)
Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Statements
FROM THE from the Public on Agenda Items.
PUBLIC ON
AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by
the Chair:
Lisa K. Miura: Bill 177 (Comm. 987), in support.
Nancy Sweatt: Res. 665-20 (Comm. 969); and
(representing Dolphin Res. 666-20 (Comm. 970), in support.
Journeys)
Toby S. Hazel: Res. 665-20 (Comm. 969), comment.
Allison Dupre: Res. 680-20 (Comm. 992), in support.
Tracey Wise: Comm. 993, in opposition.
(See Comm. 993.3)
Charles Cravalho: Comm. 993, in opposition.
(See Comm. 993.1)
Heather Kimball: Res. 680-20 (Comm. 992), in support.
(representing Zonta Club
of Hilo)
Joyce Alberta Folena: Res. 665-20 (Comm. 969);
Res. 666-20 (Comm. 970);
Res. 680-20 (Comm. 992); and
Bill 176 (Comm. 985), in support.
Gregory Todd Smith: Res. 665-20 (Comm. 969);
Res. 666-20 (Comm. 970);
Res. 680-20 (Comm. 992); and
Bill 176 (Comm. 985), in support.
Judi Mellon: Res. 666-20 (Comm. 970), in support.
(representing Small Business
Development Center)
Megan Isaac: Res. 666-20 (Comm. 970), in support.
(See Comm. 970.2)
Jason Ueki: Res. 666-20 (Comm. 970), comment.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval
OF MINUTES: of Minutes.
Vote on Approval of Ms. Lee Loy moved to approve the Minutes of March 20,
Minutes: March 25, and April 8, 2020. Seconded by
(Approved) Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and carried by the following
voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Eoff— 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
Comm. 993: NOMINATION OF DIANE BLANCETT-MADDOCK AND
MICHAEL OKUMOTO TO THE REAL PROPERTY TAX BOARD OF REVIEW
From Mayor Harry Kim, dated June 30, 2020, submitting for the Council's review
and confirmation the above nominations.
Waived: FC
Requires Council
Confirmation by: August 13, 2020 (Section 134(1),
Hawaii County Charter)
(Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Rose Bautista came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
CHR. CHUNG: We're going to take these separately, right? Okay. Can I have a
motion on this communication? Ah, well, how do we do this one? Are we going
to do it individually, but we have one communication?
MR. HENRICKS: It's okay. Just two separate motions to confirm the
nominations are sufficient to handle the business.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, so let's take up the nomination of Diane Blancett-
Maddock first.
MR. HENRICKS: Yeah, so, a motion to confirm that nomination is in order.
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CHR. CHUNG: Okay, is there a motion?
Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to confirm the appointment of
Ms. Diane Blancett-Maddock to the Real Property Tax
Board of Review. Seconded by Ms. Eoff.
CHR. CHUNG: We have Rose Bautista here, and is Ms. Blancett-Maddock
there?
MS. EOFF: Yes, she is.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, maybe if she could step up to the microphone. Go ahead,
Rose.
(Note: At this time, Ms. Bautista introduced Ms. Diane Blancett-
Maddock, who came forward to address the members of the Council via
videoconferencing from Kona.)
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you, Rose. Ms. Blancett-Maddock, would you like to say
a few words?
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: Absolutely. Aloha, everybody. I'm excited and
honored for the opportunity to serve our community by serving on the Tax Board
of Review. I was also happy to hear that others were concerned about the ethics
of this position because maintaining the integrity of the process includes
(inaudible) to serve on this board. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you. Rebecca, do you have anything you want to say?
MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. I just want to confirm that I've known Diane for a
couple of years now and her level of service, her commitment and her dedication
to take the experiences that she gathered serving in other municipalities and to
apply it here to ours. She has some really interesting and visionary viewpoints on
how to move this County forward, on how to incorporate different community
members in areas of service. This is not an easy position to fill, and I have the
utmost confidence in her integrity and her track record and her commitment to fill
this role with honesty and good intention. So, with that, I fully support the
nomination of Diane Blancett, and there just may be some confusion on the
Dianes. And so, we're just really grateful that this Diane is here with us today
and that she's willing to serve.
And I also want to commend Rose Bautista. It is challenging to find people that
are willing and able and have the time, the bandwidth, and the tenacity to sit on
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
these boards and commissions and serve our community. Thank you, Diane, for
your willingness to serve and your gracious heart. Yeah. Mahalo. With that, I
yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you, Rebecca. Anyone else out there in Kona?
MS. EOFF: Yes, please. I think both Maile and I would like to support this
candidate.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, go ahead.
MS. EOFF: Okay, thank you. I'm going to add to it,just add a little bit to what
Ms. Villegas said. I think I've known the Blancett-Maddock family since they
first came here. They were introduced to me by former Councilperson and State
Rep. (Representative) Virginia Isbell. They were highly recommended as
someone I might be interested in becoming acquainted with, and they'd be very
interested in how our government works, very interested in being a part of our
community.
And I completely support this nominee, and I think there's a lot of background
that we have in front of us. She's a long-time service-oriented person from the
state that she—from Pennsylvania, and they're retired here, and to just provide
their expertise to help us in our community. I think this board of review may be
somewhere that she can offer her prior experience and expertise. So, I completely
support Ms. Blancett-Maddock to this position. Thank you, Rose.
MS. DAVID: Chair Chung?
CHR. CHUNG: Yes, go ahead, Maile.
MS. DAVID: Aloha. Good morning. I want to just ditto what both Council
Members on the west side have said about Ms. Blancett-Maddock. And I really
believe that her background and her community service in the Kona community
speaks highly of her ability and her honesty in doing what's right for the
community. And I especially thank her for her role and participation in currently
the Kona Crime Prevention Committee,president and past president. We've seen
her and worked with her and with our Police force on the Kona side. She's very
honest and very community minded. So, I have no problem supporting this
nomination, and I ask that our colleagues also do the same. Mahalo.
CHR. CHUNG: Thanks, Maile. Before I call on anyone here in Hilo, yeah, I
may as well get a few things out of the way. Ms. Blancett-Maddock, you heard
the testimony that was had this morning from two individuals. And I have to
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confess it was kind of cryptic, so I don't really know what that was all about. But
do you have any idea or do you have any comments about that? We may as well
just get that—put that out front already.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: No. As I stated before, I was happy to hear
what they had to say because I want to maintain integrity
CHR. CHUNG: Could you speak up a little louder? We can't really hear you,
sorry.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: As I stated originally, I was happy to hear that
they were interested in the ethics of this position because maintaining the integrity
of the process is what drew me to this position. I don't have any idea who those
people are. I don't have any contact with them. I don't even know who they are,
what they're speaking of. As you said, it was cryptic, and I didn't have any way
to decode it myself.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Thank you. Ms. Poindexter.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, I have a question. Rose, if this was postponed to the
next meeting, it's not going to jeopardize anything, or is time of the essence right
now?
MS. BAUTISTA: Yeah, time is of the essence, and that's why we had requested
to waive Committee.
MS. POINDEXTER: And come up to Council, yeah. And with no disrespect to
any of my colleagues on the west side and with no disrespect to Ms. Blancett-
Maddock, because I don't know if—I've been receiving a lot of calls from my
constituents, in fact. My constituents came and testified. I was actually a little
shocked because I was still trying to research. I don't want to state publicly what
the calls were about, but it's concerning enough for me. And I'm hoping they
have the wrong Diane Blancett-Maddock and because definitely want to clear
that name. Definitely.
So, at this time, if time is of the essence and we cannot postpone it—because I
still was doing some research on some of the things that were said to me; so, I
don't have all of the facts yet—so, if I have to vote today, it's going to have to be
a"no"because of some concerning things that were said. And again, no
disrespect to the nominee because I don't have any facts to what was the calls
that came in. So, at this time, if I'm forced to do a vote, it's going to have to be
"no." Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Anyone else?
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MS. DAVID: Chair Chung?
CHR. CHUNG: Yes. Who is that?
MS. DAVID: This is Maile.
CHR. CHUNG: Hey, Maile, go ahead.
MS. DAVID: Hi. Okay, actually I'm just going to say what I'm feeling right
now. And I believe because there's a lot of confusion for all of us over here that
there might be something that's very ominous hanging out there, what would
beI just want to know what is the concern that has been expressed by
Ms. Poindexter's constituents. Because we have Ms. Blancett-Maddock here, and
I'd like to hear her response to any, I mean, at this point we have no time to
confirm any of those issues.
The testifiers seemed to be very adamant about their testimony and their position.
And I believe that if someone was assuming that my credibility was at stake, I'd
want to hear it now. I want to hear why we should not be considering the vote for
this lady that we have—our experience and professional and personal experience
has been extremely above board. So, you don't have to, I mean, I don't think you
need to express who said what, but I think we deserve to know at this point in
time because there's a time element with this. And that's my opinion, and that's
my request at this point. So, I'll just yield to comments from my other colleagues.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. And you're always sensible in your request. Rose, let me
ask you a question. This is actually the same question that Ms. Poindexter asked.
But why is time of the essence on this if you can explain?
MS. BAUTISTA: They need to convene to do their meetings. But I was going to
ask Deanna here if, I mean, it depends on how the other one is approved or not if
we can—whether it can be possible to hold off on this one nominee. So, I'm not
sure.
CHR. CHUNG: But how many members are on this board?
MS. BAUTISTA: There's five.
CHR. CHUNG: Five members. And how many are presently on?
MS. BAUTISTA: Three. There's three right now, so they're having quorum
issues.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. But three is enough for a quorum anyway, right, right
now? I mean, not saying
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
(Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. SAKO: Three is enough for a quorum, and they have met yesterday and
today. However, one of our members has had to recuse themselves from some of
the cases coming up, so we do need to get another person. Or if someone falls ill.
CHR. CHUNG: And when is the next scheduled meeting?
MS. SAKO: Next week.
CHR. CHUNG: Next week already, huh?
MS. SAKO: We are in our appeal season, and this is one of our—yeah.
CHR. CHUNG: Oh yeah, okay. But three would be okay.
MS. SAKO: If we could at least move one of the nominations forward, that
would
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. I just wanted to get that out of the way so at least we
know what we're dealing with. Ms. Poindexter, do you have anymore comments?
MS. POINDEXTER: I don't know if you want me to ask the nominee a question
and
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, I mean
MS. POINDEXTER: It's hard because I don't want to put us in a decision based
on
CHR. CHUNG: Well, how's about this?
MS. POINDEXTER: Because I could ask the nominee the question.
CHR. CHUNG: It might be appropriate for you to do it inasmuch as you've
already indicated that you would be voting against her nomination today. But let
me ask this of Ms. Blancett-Maddock. And I'm just hearing these things
secondhand, and I know, actually I think it would have been more responsible of
those who were speaking today to be a little bit more specific because I really
don't know what's going on. But to have people come and testify against an
individual, well, I don't know if they don't I really don't know if they know or
don't know. But it surprised me all right. And I think it surprised everybody else
on this board.
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But, Ms. Blancett-Maddock, do you have any dealings with the Real Property Tax
Division or—well, you know what, I'll let Ms. Poindexter ask the questions. Go
ahead, Ms. Poindexter.
MS. POINDEXTER: Okay. So, maybe one question that would kind of help is,
Ms. Blancett-Maddock, have you or your associates been purchasing properties
throughout Hawaii County besides just your residence?
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: No. My husband and I are retired civil servants.
My husband worked for the Prosecutor's Office here for several years. We have
one residence. We have government retirements. There's no way that we would
be able to afford anything besides our house.
MS. POINDEXTER: And that's why I said I wanted to research because I think
they, like I said, do they have the right Diane Blancett-Maddock or if there's
another Diane Maddock or whatever out there that they may be confusing
themselves with. And I just don't want your reputation to—and I guess maybe
that's what they were careful of as well because we want to protect your
reputation definitely.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: Let me—excuse me.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: Isn't the person who testified running for
County Council in District 1?
MS. POINDEXTER: No.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: That was the information that was given to me.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, no.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: You can see how information is passed that isn't
true. I'm not going to sit here and defend myself. My reputation speaks for itself.
My experience speaks for itself. I was a prosecutor for 26 years in the State of
Pennsylvania doing discrimination and civil rights law.
If the Council does not wish to put me on this board, I will not serve. I don't need
to be investigated. Those people did not present any facts, any information. I
couldn't even understand what they were saying. So, that's my position. So, if
the Council doesn't want to vote for me today, that's fine with me. I can serve in
other places. Thank you.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
MS. POINDEXTER: I'm not saying that, so I'm sorry if that upset you. But
that's not what I'm saying when I said I would have to vote "no." That's why I
was trying to ask if we could get it postponed to the next meeting because I
definitely want to clear this up and not have that in the public as some
misperceptions. So, that's why. I'm not saying that you shouldn't serve because
I do
(Note: At this time, Mr. Blancett-Maddock came forward to address the
members of the Council.)
MR. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: (Inaudible) have been affected by the
slandering, and I'm going to ask to be recognized (inaudible).
MS. POINDEXTER: Excuse me. Yeah. Can we have some order and decorum?
I mean, I'm trying to say this with a lot of aloha. Seriously. I'm saying this as a
responsible representative for my constituents, and I'm saying that I would want
to be able to vote for you because I have the utmost respect for my colleagues on
the west side, and I do trust them. However, I also have to take into consideration
what was said by my constituents, and I just need time to have that cleared up.
And that would be in your best interest as well.
And that's why I said I heard, I don't know, whoever came up to you talking
about slander and all of this stuff. This is the very reason why I didn't want to
talk more about this because the threat of slander and suing us. That is why
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: Excuse me.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yes.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: The public testifiers slandered me and my
husband, saying that we were doing something that was not appropriate. We're
not speaking about what you're saying.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, no, I'm saying that anything that even I would say,
I'm afraid that if I could be charged with slander. That's why I'm trying to be
very careful. But like I said, I have the utmost respect for my colleagues in Kona;
however, I also have to represent my constituents as well. And I just need a little
bit more time to make sure that we can move forward with your nomination. So,
I'm just asking, if we have a little bit of time, why don't I would suggest tabling
this till the next nomination and coming back to this so that we can see if we can
postpone this or not because we don't know how the next nomination is going to
go as well. I don't know. Up to you, Chair, how you want to proceed. Thank
you.
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CHR. CHUNG: Let me ask the nominee one more question. And,
Ms. Blancett-Maddock, I really doI genuinely apologize if you've been
offended by this process, but at the same time, as an attorney, you know that we
have a responsibility to follow up on concerns that have been raised. Whether
they're valid or not, that really remains to be seen.
But you talked about a person running for office in District 1. What's the
connection there? Has incorrect information been spread about you by a certain
individual? I mean, let us know what's going on so we have a better picture. I'm
inclined to vote for your nomination today, so I don't want you to get your guard
up. I just want to get information out there since things were raised.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: It's in the written testimony.
MS. VILLEGAS: Chair Chung, it's in the written testimony.
CHR. CHUNG: Oh, are you talking about Heather Kimball? Heather Kimball
was here to testify on
MS. VILLEGAS: No, Chair. Medeiros-Garcia, in a written testimony.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, I'm so sorry, but we didn't get that information. And I
think the person to whom you're referring to didn't come and give public
testimony. But I'm wondering, is there some kind of humbug between you and
him? What's going on? I'm perplexed.
MS. VILLEGAS: Chair Chung?
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, these are basically all form letters. They're the exact
same thing.
MS. VILLEGAS: Chair Chung?
CHR. CHUNG: Yes, go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: This is Rebecca. Can I interject first?
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, go ahead, please. Shed some light on this matter if you
can.
MS. VILLEGAS: Sure. In the best wading through a lot of the confusion with
some of the unfortunate false accusations, I think there's some confusion about a
Diane Maddock, and I believe the Diane here was referring to this written
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testimony as an example of—because apparently the accusations have to do with
land purchases in this District 1, and so that there may have been stories passed on
amongst people in the community there that were red flags.
And just as Diane mentioned, she complimented the people for showing up and
stating concerns because apparently there is something going on with land
purchases by somebody who happens to share, it seems, the same name as the
Diane sitting in front of us. However, it is not the same person. And so, I believe
that she was just referring to the potential. As we all know coconut wireless,
right, somebody says something and they're concerned about this, and it just
keeps going. So, that, I believe, was herI don't even think that Diane knows
Jaerick on any personal basis in any capacity. But I think that her suggestion was
that this was more about stories being passed within a district that the issue is
actually pertinent for. However, it's not pertaining to this person who is sitting in
front of us. Does that help, Chair Chung?
CHR. CHUNG: Somewhat. Well, my question is this, and again I'm coming
from the position that I am totally prepared to vote in favor of this nomination.
But I also stand for the proposition that we need to get all of the information out.
And why was a reference made to a person who's running for Council in
District 1 if she doesn't know who Jaerick Medeiros-Garcia is because he didn't
identify himself as running for Council? So, I'm just wondering if there's some
kind of
MS. VILLEGAS: This is a reflection of this candidate, once again, sitting here
being very aware of who's running for office. So, she's seen the written
testimony, which is public record, and recognizes the connection and correlation.
CHR. CHUNG: Is that true? I mean, are you speaking for her or ?
MS. VILLEGAS: (Inaudible) running for office to be paying attention to a
potential person who would
CHR. CHUNG: Wait, wait. Ms. Villegas
MS. VILLEGAS: Whoever the person is that they're very concerned about. I
mean, this is
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Villegas
MS. VILLEGAS: (Inaudible) for showing up.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Villegas, I applaud you for coming to the aid of the
nominee, but I think she should speak for herself on this one. I mean, is there
some humbug? That's all I want to know. Is there some personal ?
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MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: I don't have anything further to say. I don't
know those people. I very rarely even travel to the east side of the island to
socialize or do anything else. So, I don't know what they're speaking about. As
you noted yourself, it was very cryptic. If they had said something that I could
respond to, I would gladly respond to it because I have nothing to do with
anything they're talking about; if they're talking about land purchases, real estate.
I have no idea what they're talking about. And as a lawyer, you know you can't
respond to negatives if you don't have something to say. I don't have anything to
say because I don't understand what they were asking.
CHR. CHUNG: You cannot respond to negatives. I've seen it happen before.
So, basically, you don't know. You're just as confused as us, then.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: More confused because I'm being publicly
CHR. CHUNG: That's fair enough.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: Chastised by some people I don't even know.
CHR. CHUNG: Right. I'm confused.
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: I don't even have an idea.
MS. EOFF: Mr. Chair?
CHR. CHUNG: Sure.
MS. EOFF: Can I ask you a question?
CHR. CHUNG: Go ahead.
MS. EOFF: Okay, so the testimony was cryptic. We couldn't understand what it
was about. Ms. Poindexter a little while ago did ask a more clear question. She
asked if Ms. Blancett-Maddock has purchased property in her district or
something like that, and the answer was "no." So, it seems to me like there must
be a confusion between people, and these people don't know each other. They're
not saying
CHR. CHUNG: Right. That appears to be the situation. But I'm trying to see if
we can grab Ms. Poindexter's vote on this because I think everybody else is going
to be voting "yes." But Ms. Poindexter is looking at trying to postpone this thing.
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MS. EOFF: Ms. Poindexter, I would just like to—if I could address
Ms. Poindexter to just tell her that she asked a question, and the nominee
responded. So, I guess she would just have to weigh whether she believes the
nominee.
MS. POINDEXTER: Okay, so can I answer, Chair?
MS. EOFF: I know her. She owns one property, the house she lives in. They
don't have a lot of money. They're not wheeling and dealing, making land deals
around the island. To me, you did ask her the question. So, it's up to you how
you want to vote.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah. And with respect, Council Member Eoff, I know I
asked that question, but there's other questions that I shouldn't be putting forward
right now because I just need to go and do my research to get the answers from
certain departments. That's what I need to do. That's why I'm saying I would
love to postpone it. What it would do greatly is it would definitely clear her from
this misperception of some sort that something may not be okay. So, I'm asking
just for a postponement. I don't think that would hurt anything by doing a
postponement so that—and again, if the other Council Members would want to
move forward, that's great. I cannot persuade them to vote my way because of
me. But for me, I cannot vote today on it. And if I'm forced to vote on it, again I
have to vote "no." But I would love to see it postponed so that we could have a
unanimous nine, but that's up to the Council. And I'll yield, Chair.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Ms. Poindexter, it is your prerogative to make a request
for the postponement, but I would say this: It's highly unlikely that it's going to
get a second. I could be wrong. I applaud you for standing up for your
constituents, but at the same time, we owe some degree of fairness to the
nominee. It looks like most of the questions have been answered, whatever
questions they may have been because we don't really know what those questions
were. And for the sake of transparency, I think unless we have some concrete
things against the nominee, I think we should move on. That's my thought
anyway. But do you want to make a motion to postpone?
Motion to Ms. Poindexter moved to postpone the appointment of
Postpone: Ms. Diane Blancett-Maddock to the Real Property Tax
Board of Review to July 22, 2020. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Chair, can I comment?
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Richards, go ahead. Relating to the motion.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah. Yeah, I support what Councilwoman Poindexter's
trying to do as I'd love a public clearing this up, and I think this is the right thing.
And hearing what was said, as long as we've got one person going forward, I
think it would be good. That's why I'm supporting a postponement to make it
real clear and transparent.
CHR. CHUNG: What are your concerns? Do you have any concerns on this
thing, though? I mean, do you know something that we don't know?
MR. RICHARDS: All I know is what I don't know. That's the thing. So, I've
been trying to check. And I don't have any background. Just when there's a
question, I think we have the responsibility to try and clear it up before we go
forward.
CHR. CHUNG: Matt.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Ms. Blancett-Maddock, can I ask you a
question?
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: Yes, sir.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: How long have you lived here for?
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: I moved here in 2014 after I retired.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What is your desire to be on the Tax Board
of Review, which is why you're here?
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: I wanted to serve the community, and there was
a need for this board and that's why I wanted to be on it.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'm going to ask you one very pointed
question. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. Do you or your family
own property on the east side of the island?
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: No, sir. As has been stated several times, my
husband and I own one residence. We're retirees from government service. We
have just enough to survive on our house in Kona.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And no family members either?
MS. BLANCETT-MADDOCK: No, sir.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
MS. EOFF: Actually, Mr. Chair, I have one more comment.
CHR. CHUNG: Go ahead, Karen.
MS. EOFF: I think Rose reached out to Council Members in Kona to let us know
there were vacancies on this board. They were looking for somebody to serve,
and I think we actually vested this nominee because we knew that she's interested
in community service and has a background in county government. And so, I
think we actually approached the nominee to see if she'd be interested.
CHR. CHUNG: All right. Thank you, Karen, for that information. Rose? You
don't have any information—okay. Well, anyway, we have a motion on the floor
to postpone this matter to the next Council meeting. Let's do it by a roll call vote,
Mr. Henricks.
Vote on Motion to The motion to postpone the appointment of
Postpone: Ms. Diane Blancett-Maddock to the Real Property Tax
(Approved) Board of Review to July 22, 2020, was carried by the
following roll call vote:
Ayes: Council Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter,
and Richards –5.
Noes: Council Members David, Eoff, Villegas,
and Chair Chung–4.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, so this matter will be postponed to the next meeting. This
Council is always full of surprises. So, okay, yeah, let's go on to Mike Okumoto.
MS. BAUTISTA: Excuse me?
CHR. CHUNG: Yes?
MS. BAUTISTA: Can I ask, when you do postpone it, will the nominee still be
required to appear?
CHR. CHUNG: I would imagine so, yes.
MS. BAUTISTA: Okay.
CHR. CHUNG: We'll take up the nomination of Mike Okumoto. Can I have a
motion?
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to confirm the appointment of
Mr. Michael Okumoto to the Real Property Tax Board of
Review. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Go ahead, Rose.
(Note: At this time, Ms. Bautista introduced Mr. Michael Okumoto, who
came forward to address the members of the Council.)
Vote on The motion to confirm the appointment of Mr. Michael
Michael Okumoto: Okumoto to the Real Property Tax Board of Review was
(Approved) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
(Note: Chair Chung thanked Mr. Okumoto.)
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. Congratulations, Mike.
MR. OKUMOTO: Thank you.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions.
Res. 665-20: URGES THE ADMINISTRATION TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO KEY
SECTORS OF THE COMMUNITY AND ECONOMY UTILIZING THE
STATE-PROVIDED ALLOTMENT OF CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND
ECONOMIC SECURITY (CARES) FUNDING TO PROMOTE SAFETY,
HEALTH, AND WELL-BEING IN THE HAWAII ISLAND COMMUNITY IN
RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Requests that CARES ACT funding be utilized to support businesses, and at-risk
communities and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reference: Comm. 969
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Approve: GREDC-4
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 665-20 and
Governmental Relations and Economic Development
Committee Report No. 4. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Go ahead, Matt.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. These are two
resolutions I did back to back just pushing for the Administration for their
understanding. And from what I hear from my constituency and from what I
know from myself and what we as the Council know is that we just need to
support our community going forward. I know we're working on it, and I know
we had discussions last week about it, and it's in progress. This was just my way
of doing that. So, I appreciate your support.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you very much, Matt. Tim.
MR. RICHARDS: Real quick. Thanks, Chair. And, Matt, thanks. You and I
have discussed this stuff previously. It's the little business that's struggling. And
I know the intentions of government are to help get there but speed is or time is of
the essence with this in getting as quickly the funding to the small businesses.
Because if not, we're going to lose them. So, thanks for doing this.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. If I could, Chair, sorry, one
more thing.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, go ahead.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Sorry, I have two resolutions. I'm tracking
both.
CHR. CHUNG: Sure.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So, this one specifically was geared towards
the micro-business grants to support small businesses. Also, to support the
agricultural industry with financial support, which I believe is incredibly
important due to a supply-chain disruption and what we know needs to be done to
better our resiliency and our sustainability, which we have a committee for in
R&D (Research and Development). And then, also to help the tourism industry,
which is struggling right now. But parallel with that, making sure that the
community works to be a part of that going-forward progress with the tourism
industry because the community really wants to help guide that decision making.
So, that was three of the larger areas that I saw needed help going forward. So,
that was the purpose of this resolution. Thank you.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
CHR. CHUNG: Anyone else? And then if I could make a comment too. This is
a non-binding resolution as are the three that will follow, but they are all very
important in terms of sending strong statements out there to the public and to
others. So, thank you very much, Matt, and to the other introducers of those other
resolutions. Okay, we have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, signify by
saying "aye."
Vote on Res. 665-20: The motion to adopt Res. 665-20 and Governmental
(Adopted) Relations and Economic Development Committee Report
No. 4 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Res. 666-20: URGES THE ADMINISTRATION TO USE $5 MILLION OF THE FEDERAL
CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY (CARES) ACT
TO FUND A MICRO-GRANT PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
AFFECTED BY THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Requests the establishment of a program to provide small businesses affected by
COVID-19 to apply for micro-grants for financial relief up to $10,000.
Reference: Comm. 970
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Approve: GREDC-5
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 666-20 and
Governmental Relations and Economic Development
Committee Report No. 5. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Matt.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just have to say, again, I don't know how
we ended up with this number. I like numbers, but this is not a nice number. And
thank you for being open to discussion, Mr. Clerk, on changing the number.
Sorry, I can't help it. But seriously, what I have seen and what I know in our
community right now is that we have, as we've been told, 22,000 businesses in
our County. The UHERO (University of Hawaii Economic Research
Organization) report said about 5 percent of those businesses will not open their
doors again, and I think that may be closer to 5-10 percent. Five percent would be
1,100 businesses. For us as legislators, that is 1,100 businesses—at the State level
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
too, not just the County level that will not be paying property taxes, GE
(General Excise) taxes, TAT (Transient Accommodations Tax), you go down the
list. That's a huge amount of revenue that we lose by not supporting this section
of our economy.
I think in County it's important for us to remember that we set our budget a year
ahead, and we know what we're going to be dealing with. This year, we knew we
had a $40 million shortfall, and we made that up by being a little bit creative.
And then, we also had to raise taxes on a very select portion of the community.
Small businesses don't have that ability. When they face hard times, they get
creative. They lay people off, and they start stressing out.
It's important for us to remember because, at the County level, we don't see that
and we don't deal with economic shortfalls the same way. So, without knowing
what's in store with SBA (United States Small Business Administration) funding,
I worry about our small businesses. PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) funds
are starting to dwindle; some of the businesses are relying on to perpetuate their
business models. And we still are facing some unprecedented unemployment
numbers. That may not be exciting for some of the members on the Council, but I
do tell you that we may begin to face a reality of possible cuts to unemployment
funding.
We all need to take a really good look at what happens when we don't support the
quiet backbone of our economy. And as one of the few members on this Council
who has a small business, I'm speaking from experience and I'm speaking from a
place of frustration over what I've seen in the community. This goes for our
entire County. So, I ask for your support today, but more so, I ask for you to
really put yourself in these small businesses' position. Put yourself in their shoes,
and think about what you would do if your small business was told to be closed
and not allowed to be open for months while you continue to get bills in the mail.
And that's the reality of what they're facing now. And even in being open again,
they still can't open to full capacity. And when you're not allowed to open to full
capacity and you still have the same overhead that you had from the beginning,
then you're in an incredibly tight position.
So, I'm asking you for support. I don't think anyone's going to go against this,
but I need everyone to understand that we received about 40 public testimony by
email in regards to this from some businesses in our community that have been
here forever. And if businesses that have been around for 30, 40, 50 years are
struggling right now, then we need to be there to support them. This is our chance
as the County to back them up. And notoriously, like Jason Ueki said earlier from
HIplan (Hawai`i Island Business Plan Competition), the County has not always
been there to support business. So, this is our chance to really do that with some
Federal funding. I'm asking for $5 million. That's not a lot, but it will be
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
incredibly beneficial to the County to help rebuild jobs, economy, and make sure
we don't lose anybody else. So, I appreciate your support today and thank you
for the latitude.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, anyone else? There being none, all those in favor say
Ic aye.
Vote on Res. 666-20: The motion to adopt Res. 666-20 and Governmental
(Adopted) Relations and Economic Development Committee Report
No. 5 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 679-20: URGES YOUNG BROTHERS AND THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
TO EXPLORE ALL OPPORTUNITIES TO CONTINUE UNINTERRUPTED
CARGO SERVICE TO THE ISLANDS OF THE STATE OF HAWAII
Reference: Comm. 991
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy and Mr. Richards
Waived: GREDC
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 679-20. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Who wants to go first?
MS. LEE LOY: I'll go first. Thank you, Chair. And first of all, thank you,
Chair, for allowing this to be waived up. This emerged a few weeks ago and was
brought to our attention by a number of businesses that were struggling with our
interisland shipping with Young Brothers. They had reduced the sales. And in
light of COVID (coronavirus disease) and just some of the pressures that were
being created, there was a push at the Legislature to try and help with some
funding.
This resolution was kind of born out of the idea that there is a Maritime
Administration highways program that is available for funding that the State of
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
Hawaii has not utilized. And I'm urging my colleagues to support this
resolution. Mr. Richards has become a subject-matter expert in this marine
highway program, and I just wanted him to take the time to expand on that.
I checked at the State if the State Department of Transportation has ever tried to
tap into this money. Through all of my research and the staff's research, they
haven't. And this would be a huge opportunity for the State to utilize funding
from the Federal government to not only allow Young Brothers or any interisland
shippers to continue transporting our goods and services, but also harbor
improvements. And with that, I'm going to yield to my colleague Mr. Richards.
And just as a matter of course, Mr. Richards and I really picked this one up and
did this together because my district has the Port of Hilo and his has Kawaihae.
So, it just seemed like a natural fit for the two of us to team up and do something
that would help our harbors on the Big Island. So,with that, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. As Councilwoman Lee Loy put it, this was
an evolution of getting to where we are today. And we're not going to reiterate
and recount all the history of this, but long story short, before the COVID-19
(Coronavirus Disease 2019) hit, Young Brothers was struggling. And I got
involved, initially, speaking against a tariff increase on behalf of agriculture. That
evolved into me working on putting together in trying to get the cattle, sheep,
horse, pig, and goat people all on the same page concerning shipping equipment.
But then we had the COVID-19 episode hit, and the financial problems of Young
Brothers were amplified. They lost a third of their revenue stream with that.
And so, in trying to work on that and trying to figure out how we're going to go
forward, I tabled the livestock shipping concerns because we had to make sure we
had something we're actually going to be able to ship on. And this has evolved
as Councilwoman Lee Loy has pointed out, there were two bills in our
Legislature—Senate Bill 2475, excuse me, House Bill 2475 and Senate
Bill 1427 that were both trying to prop up and support our interisland shipping.
Both of those died in Committee, unfortunately.
Young Brothers had put forth a request for $25 million to get them through the
end of the year. PUC (Public Utilities Commission) is doing a review of the
financials as we speak, and the report is due out imminently. In working on this,
what I was very mindful of—and I think, Matt, you can support this as well—is
the fact that any of our businesses within our County, within our State, if we don't
have interisland shipping, our economy is going to disappear. We can't function
without interisland.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
And so, regardless of personal feelings, going forward for our State, for our
County, we need interisland shipping. I kept working. I kept looking. And I
came upon this marine highway program that other jurisdictions use, and I think
the number's 25 designated marine highways nationally. And they're in Virginia.
They're in New York. Alaska, that's a large one; it goes 3,000 miles. And
essentially what it is, is funding supplied to the transportation modality to help
those jurisdictions.
Conveniently for Hawaii back in—and it's almost to the day two years ago
July 9h, 2018, the waters of the State of Hawaii were designated "The
Daniel Akaka Marine Highway." As Councilwoman Lee Loy pointed out, we
have not tapped into the potential funding. There is also other funding that may
be available. There's a USDA (United States Department of Agriculture)
geographically disadvantaged ranchers and farmers program to help get
commodities to market. There's also Department of Defense money, again
potential to help fund our intrastate shipping.
So, this has all evolved to where we are today. As I mentioned, those two bills
did die in Committee. However, on Monday there was a resolution put forth by
Senator Lorraine Inouye, and it was Senate Bill, excuse me, Senate
Resolution 125, S.D. 1, Senate Draft 1, that is essentially in support of this and the
support of getting a modality, a method of finding support for Young Brothers,
but it is a resolution. And she was able to put together support throughout the
State. All four councils weighed in on this. And small business, agriculture
weighed in because we need the transportation.
The marine highway idea is being very well accepted across the board. I know
the PUC, like I said, is going to have its report back shortly. And what this
resolution is going to do is it's going to help further the conversation. Part of the
resolution that Senator Lorraine put forth calls for a taskforce to be assembled,
including all four counties and transportation committees from the Legislature.
The idea is to get together and come up with a long-term solution. I really believe
the long-term solution will be somewhere in this marine highway program, but we
have to get it there.
So, what I'm asking our Council Members, our Council—and
Councilwoman Lee Loy and I are asking—is that we have the support so we can
continue the conversation. We all know our economy's in a really bad place right
now. Without intrastate shipping, it will cease to exist. So, I ask for my
colleagues' support, and I think it's pretty self-explanatory. It is a resolution. But
with this, we have the support to go forward. And it is believed we will be able to
find funding for the short term while we seek a long-term solution, which again
I'm going to continue working on, I believe, is in this marine highway. So with
that, Chair, I yield.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, anyone else? Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. And great job, Council
Members Lee Loy and Richards. Totally onboard and supportive of this. I have
one question because I like the idea of tackling the "right now,"but also making
sure that we're working in parallel to come up with these long-term solutions.
And I like this marine highway program.
I see that there's this existing application from HDOT (Hawai`i Department of
Transportation). What can each of us on the Council do to kind of support, move
the needle on this? Do we need to be sending letters of support to Department of
Transportation? Do we need to be lobbying our congressional delegation? What
are some things that we can do to help you in this fight?
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz, for that. First and foremost, this
resolution will go a long way. Currently, as Mr. Richards spoke, there's
conversations with the PUC. And so, letters there would go a very long way
because this interisland shipping is regulated by the PUC and that tariff rate that
Mr. Richards spoke about.
The other one really is, I believe, our congressional delegation. It was named
"The Daniel Akaka Marine Highway," and just that in and of itself speaks to the
statesman that he was and how this really is looking out for us beyond him and
the legacy that carries. It took me a while, but it just became very clear. Just like
we pave our roads, this is a source of funding that would allow this interisland
transportation to happen. It's just happening over water. And just like we pave
our roads, it would allow for funding to repair our harbors, or expand our harbors
for that matter.
Those are the two areas I would suggest letters of support. I was also able to
work with a lot of farmers and businessmen and crafted a letter to help them,
along with a petition that they have sent to the PUC and the State Legislature. So,
they are at the front of minds right now.
It all became very evident too, a few weeks back,when we ended up with
containers falling off the barge. And it really began to ring the alarm on how
important interisland shipping is for us as a State and as an island. So, thank you
for that question, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, thank you. Absolutely going to be writing the
letters to PUC, to Congress. We have an HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of
Counties) meeting scheduled later this month. I'll make sure to take this issue
there to make sure we can drum up support among the rest of our counties and
really leverage HSAC to move forward on this marine highway. And I so love
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
that it is named after Senator Akaka, having interned for him in D.C. (District of
Columbia). I know the strong legacy that he left for our State and so happy that
they are looking to recognize him in this way. So,thank you. Chair, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Anybody in Kona? Let me ask you
MS. DAVID: No, Chair, thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah. Ashley mentioned the application, but hasn't it already
been designated?
MR. RICHARDS: Yes. It is "The Daniel Akaka Marine Highway."
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. So, following along the lines of what Ashley brought up
because I was reading the language of the resolution, and it says that Young
Brothers and the PUC to explore all opportunities to continue uninterrupted cargo
service. And that, of course, is the goal. And of course, this is a nonbinding
resolution, so we can do whatever we want with it. But shouldn't it be directed
to, maybe, the Federal government, our congressional delegation because we're
talking about Federal funds, right, that might be available?
MR. RICHARDS: I think I can answer that this way, Chair. When we started
crafting this, it was a different time and different pieces of legislation were still
active. And what's happened since then, it takes two-and-a-half weeks, three
weeks to get this in the queue, and by the time it got here, things have evolved a
little bit. It is, as you've pointed out, nonbinding. I think the biggest thing now
I'll speak for Councilwoman Lee Loy on this—is it's the spirit of what we're
trying to communicate right here. And Senator Lorraine championed that
resolution to take forward. This is going to help her.
Ashley, what you had mentioned, the other four councils. The other four
councils, members of the other four councils have weighed in on this because this
is truly a State issue. And I was very pleased that the City and County of
Honolulu also did support this even though the vast majority of the population is
on that island. They still weighed in because they view this as a statewide issue
as well because it's an economy for the State. So, this is a point of conversation
and, yes, this needs to go onto our D.C. delegation because that's where the
funding is that we're going to be finding.
Money is illusive right now, but there are some other buckets that I think we can
look into and very justifiably so: USDA, DOT (Department of Transportation),
and the Department of Defense. I think it is all very reasonable to tap into those.
And so, yeah, the next step is to take this stuff and go to D.C.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. And I'm assuming that you three and whoever else wants
to get involved in that will be front and center, right, to try and get those things
happening.
MR. RICHARDS: That's the next step.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, good. And I will say this: Prior to this whole situation
occurring, I only had a passing familiarity with shipping and Young Brothers. I
knew they came and went and brought stuff. I knew they were important, but I
really didn't understand how vitally important this is. This is our lifeblood.
MR. RICHARDS: It truly is.
CHR. CHUNG: Without it, we're dead. Right?
MR. RICHARDS: Truly is.
CHR. CHUNG: And thank you for educating me, the two of you, on this matter
and the importance thereof. It is something that really needs to be addressed. So,
thank you.
MR. RICHARDS: Chair, one other quick comment. I'm not one to sign up for
something and then look for someone to do the work.
CHR. CHUNG: Like me in other words, right?
MR. RICHARDS: I didn't say that, Chair. But under the working group that is
requested, I have made it known that I'm willing to volunteer to be the County of
Hawai`i's representative as I'm very close to all this shipping stuff.
CHR. CHUNG: You are?
MR. RICHARDS: And I'm willing to serve or advise, whatever the case may be.
So with that, Chair, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, I don't think anyone has a problem with that. So,just go
ahead and do what you have to do. Okay, we have a motion on the floor. Ah,
yes, I'm sorry, Matt, go ahead.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just wanted to add, again being small
business, we rely heavily on the shipping routes coming in. The containers, the
barges do not only bring in jars for our lilikoi butter but also to ship out finished
product. And we have been faced with less shipments coming in, less barges, and
then I'm pretty sure a lot of our product is floating in Hilo Bay right now. So, this
is an incredibly important issue to tackle. I thought it was ironic that the day
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
Young Brothers went in to ask for 25 million was the same day we dumped
21 containers into the ocean. But that really did set the tone for the discussion, I
guess, and how important this is. And we all know. We saw it from the
pandemic on how important shipping was to this County and to our State in
general because, without the ships coming in, we have nothing. And it really
highlights our need for sustainability but also to get in front of it and figure out
what solutions we have. So, thank you for bringing this forward. I appreciate you
guys. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: And thank you for sharing that. And if I could say one more
thing too. In life, there's several things that we really took for granted, right? We
could rely on schools being open, right, restaurants being open and all these other
things, and Young Brothers providing transportation, right, for our goods. And all
of those things changed. And the one thing I know for sure is this: We cannot
lose Young Brothers. If they ever by any way go out of business, we are, no pun
intended, sunk, right?
MR. RICHARDS: That's why we have to keep them afloat, right?
CHR. CHUNG: Right. Good one. Very good. Okay. We have a motion on the
floor. All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Res. 679-20: The motion to adopt Res. 679-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 680-20: SUPPORTS AND URGES EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND SOCIAL AND
ECONOMIC JUSTICE PRINCIPLES INTO COVID-19 RELATED RECOVERY
INITIATIVES FOR HAWAII COUNTY
Supports gender equality in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.
Reference: Comm. 992
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz and Ms. Poindexter
Waived: GREDC
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 680-20. Seconded
by Ms. Poindexter.
CHR. CHUNG: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I want to thank you and Council
Services for allowing us to waive this matter forward. It's my first term in office,
but I have to say this is probably one of the most important and personal
resolutions that I put forward. And I'm really glad that I was able to do it with
Councilwoman Poindexter who has been a champion of the status of women's
commission during her time here on the Council. And I've got to say, a sum up
of this resolution is that it represents the struggles of the working mom. I am that
working mom. My colleagues here on the Council are those working mothers.
And this pandemic has exposed the fault lines within our system. There has been
a disproportionate socio-economic impact because of the coronavirus on women
in our community. If you take a look at who is on the frontlines in terms in
healthcare, the number of women that are unemployed because of this pandemic,
it just goes to show that we need to be approaching a recovery and creating policy
decisions with a gendered lens.
Like Chair Chung was saying, we took a lot of things for granted. I love the fact
that I could send my kids to school and to childcare. And that changed for all of
us overnight. Fatigued by Zoom calls, having to take care of a toddler who still
wants to nurse and having to do that on Facebook live. Doing dishes, doing
laundry. I mean, they want to go play with the water hose? Go do it. Knock your
socks off. You want to roll in glitter? Please, give me 30 minutes of
uninterrupted time for myself, for my sanity just so that I can get the work done.
Right?
And so, I feel that my personal capacity and boundaries are really pushed with
this pandemic, that I'm emerging stronger because of it. But I know that it
shouldn't be so hard. It should not be so hard for women. The work that we do
as mothers, as caregivers, society continues to undervalue and underappreciate it.
It's not looked to as work. And so, with this resolution, we are able to bring a lot
of this suffering and these burdens to light and make them visible. And so, with
this resolution, every single word, every idea was elevated and crafted very
thoughtfully, and we leaned on some really progressive impact statements that
were made.
There was a report by the United Nations on the impact of COVID-19 on women.
Our own State Commission on the Status of Women published the first-ever
feminist economic recovery plan, `Building Bridges, Not Walking on Backs."
There is also a study done by the University of California that exposed the gender
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
differences in the impact of COVID. And then,just taking a look at the industry
analysis done by DBEDT (Department of Business, Economic Development and
Tourism) of our working population.
And so, I think passing this resolution is going to be a crucial step for our
recovery. What it really does is it says, "Women, I see you." Right? "I
recognize the additional stresses that you are facing in light of COVID. It's not
lost on us. We value your strength, your tenacity,your brilliance."
I just want to frame this under the context of some data that we're starting to get
in now. The emergency loan program that our County was able to stand up in
partnership with Hawaii Community Foundation, Hawaiian Community Assets,
some of the preliminary data that have come in that says 60 percent of the
applicants are women. Sixty-seven percent of approved borrowers that is moms
that have lost because of COVID, entrepreneurs that have been impacted by
COVID67 percent are women.
We talk about stimulating our economy, doing so with renewable energy and
agriculture and construction. Phenomenal. But when you take a look at these
industry analyses by DBEDT, women are underrepresented in those sectors. So,
COVID represents that opportunity to bring about that steep change, that seismic
shift and build additional capacity to support women in these arenas.
And so, I don't know, Steve, if you want to weigh in on ways that the
Administration can support moving some of these notions forward, but ideally we
want to be building awareness with some of the impact reports that are included in
this resolution. We've got to be incorporating these principles with equity and
social justice in our work, and we can do that by being very intentional about the
words and language that we use and then making a concerted effort to partner and
engage organizations that are focused on serving women.
And at the end of the day, we can also be doing more to engage voices that
elevate our women and girls. And I'm specifically speaking of our committee on
the status of women and engaging someone like Farrah-Marie Gomes who has
that connection to the university. I think there's a huge opportunity for us to be
partnering and collaborating.
So, asking my colleagues for their support. We've got to look at the data. We've
got to be inclusive in our engagement, intentional about how we craft policy and
make decisions. And I just think that if we are putting together a recovery
strategy that works for women and girls and youth that the broader community is
going to benefit and then we are going to be stronger and more resilient for it. So,
thank you. Chair, I appreciate the latitude. I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you. Ms. Poindexter.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, I don't think I need to repeat anything, but I just have
to say "ditto"to Ashley. And thank you for co-sponsoring this bill with me. I
really appreciate it. So, thank you. I yield, Chair.
CHR. CHUNG: All right. Anyone else? Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you. This is brilliant. We're all talking about
COVID and how we're re-emerging. And this idea of using an equity lens is just
right on point,just to start some of those guiding principles that I think we need to
start crafting real sound public policy around. And I'm getting really excited
about this resolution in particular and how it could become a building block for
just future common-shared language and just how we move public policy forward
with these justice principles. Thank you so much to the two of you,
Ms. Poindexter and Ms. Kierkiewicz. Thank you so much. I will be
wholeheartedly supporting this resolution. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: I won't again repeat everything other than the fact to say, Val,
Ashley, thank you so much. This has been a big thing. East, West Hawaii is
better taken care of than North, South Hawaii, and this helps move the whole
agenda forward to make it better. We've been seeking a shelter in Waimea for a
long time. So, thank you very much. Obviously, I support.
CHR. CHUNG: How about you three women over there? You guys got anything
to say in Kona?
MS. EOFF: No. Just weI think Rebecca does too but I'll just add that I'd just
like to thankI'm sure Val and Ashley speak for all of us and all women, but I
really appreciate that this is coming forward. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Anyone else?
MS. VILLEGAS: Yes,please.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, go ahead, Rebecca.
MS. VILLEGAS: I want to put out a heartfelt mahalo to Ashley and Val for
bringing this forward. I think there's a lot of synchronicity in this. I had been
reached out to by a number of different women in leadership in my district in
asking for this to be brought forward and taken into consideration by our County
Council as well.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
I also want to send out a huge mahalo to Maui County as they were the first
County to pass this feminist economic recovery plan and really lay the
groundwork, I believe, and created a template for us to incorporate this into our
legislative process.
The author, Khara Jabola Carolus, who's the executive director at the Komikina
Kulana Olakino o Na Wahine, the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of
Women, what a visionary perspective, which to some of us is so obvious. As
Ashley mentioned, we're carrying kids around and washing dishes while trying to
Zoom. I had my grandson screaming at the door at one point trying to be in a
Zoom meeting.
But just the relevance of the impact that this pandemic has had on women and the
role of women in keeping society, community, family, and businesses afloat is
even more evident today. And I'm grateful for that opportunity for it to be most
evident because it provides us an opportunity to really take a look at how we
govern and how we—in this opportunity to recalibrate, to revision, to revise, and
to reconnect with the different roles that we all play; some based on if you're a
woman. But just acknowledging that and incorporating this incredible piece of
work, this feminist recovery plan. I'm extremely grateful to these two women to
have brought it forward. Since it was presented to me, I just have found it
incredibly inspiring, supportive. And its passionate recognition really relatable.
And I'm just really grateful. So, with that, I yield. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Anybody else?
MS. DAVID: Chair Chung?
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, Maile, go ahead.
MS. DAVID: Aloha. I just want to say mahalo nui to Council
Members Poindexter and Kierkiewicz. I won't repeat what the two other Council
Members said here, but I believe that the women's movement, especially coming
from a junior kupuna, started along time ago. And I just would like to say that a
little note from past history, I was a woman's libber in the '60s and early '70s.
And just to prove that, when I was young and uninformed and we used to smoke
cigarettes, after I graduated, the cigarette of my choice was Virginia Slims
because their thing was "You've come a long way, baby," and that's why I chose
that. I have been smoke free for about 35 years now, but I have not given up my
women's efforts and women's liberation dedication. So, I really applaud you
guys, and you are the younger generation to move us forward to some really
spectacular things for women. I thank you very much. Aloha.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Matt, go ahead, please.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just want to start off, I am a man but—
CHR.
utCHR. CHUNG: We know what happened to you yesterday.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: But yesterday I was inducted into the female
gender. And just want toso, given that rite, I have the ability now to really
speak on behalf of women.
CHR. CHUNG: Of course.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So, nah, I'm just kidding. I appreciate this
resolution. Really, I was given birth by my mother, and I appreciate my mom and
my grandma and every other woman I've had in my life. My wife is an amazing
person. And we do need to take into account what women do for us in every way,
as men or in from the husband level, from the parental level. The old saying is,
"Behind every man, there's a very strong woman." It couldn't be farther from the
truth, and we do need to understand that in government and in everything that we
do. So, I appreciate this resolution. Good job in putting this out, you two. And
like I said, being a new member of the female species, I really can speak on behalf
now. So, mahalo.
CHR. CHUNG: I was going to bring that up earlier, but I felt, nah, maybe not in
good taste. But since you did bring it up
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I had to do it.
MR. RICHARDS: Chair?
CHR. CHUNG: Ashley, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Could I have a quick ?
CHR. CHUNG: Oh, yeah.
MR. RICHARDS: Matt, I think you meant it couldn't be "closer"to the truth
than "farther"from the truth? Having a good woman behind you couldn't be
"farther" from the truth.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What did I say?
MR. RICHARDS: "Farther from the truth."
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Oh, no, no. It couldn't be closer to the truth.
I am sorry. Thank you, Mr. Richards.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
MR. RICHARDS: For the record. Otherwise, going home, you'll get a black
eye.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'm sorry, honey. If you're watching, I am
sorry. You are going to get flowers today.
CHR. CHUNG: Ashley.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I did want to hone in on something that
Council Member Villegas pointed out. Maui County did pass a resolution; I
certainly was inspired by it. But this resolution that Val and I have put forward,
significantly different, especially where it goes with our `BE IT RESOLVES."
There is actual action we are directing the County to take. And so, I think it's
really important. I mean, everyone knows my track record. I'm not just going to
put something forward like a resolution without doing the work. No press
releases, no social media post. It's about putting in the hard work.
And so, Steve, I don't know if you want to come up and just kind of talk story
with us about how you think we can infuse the principles that have been laid out
in a couple of these reports in some of our COVID response. But as I was even
hearing as Councilwoman Lee Loy said, this is the start of some guiding
principles that we as the County can be adopting. So, this really is that
springboard to bring about that transformative change. So, thank you.
(Note: At this time, Finance Deputy Director Steven Hunt came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MR. HUNT: For the record, Steve Hunt, Deputy Director of Finance. Thank
you, Ashley. When we are exploring how to disperse the funding to small
businesses under the Hawaii economic stimulus package that we're looking at
through the COVID funds, one of the areas that I have discussed with Corporation
Counsel that can address on the applications themselves from the small businesses
to give scoring preferential treatment to is called, "Disadvantaged Business
Enterprise," DBEs, and these are socially and economically disadvantaged
individuals that own at least 51 percent or more interest in the companies that
apply. There is a uniform certification program where they can provide a
certificate accompanying that application to get those additional points.
So, as we are developing the application for these microgrants that will go out to
the businesses, then those people that do qualify under the Disadvantaged
Business Enterprise could receive preferential treatment or at least move towards
the front of the line, if you will, when we review those applications. So, that is
one way that we are looking at focusing in on this resolution and how we can
implement that in our recovery efforts.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Steve. I know you guys are working diligently
around the clock to support COVID response. So, thank you very much for
taking it into consideration. And as we move forward and kind of connect all of
the dots, let's just be really mindful of just some of the language that was included
in the reso (resolution) and these reports so that way we can help to move the
needle and support women and girls in our community. So, thank you. Chair, I
yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Anyone else? If not, yeah, I really wanted to thank Ashley, Val,
and everyone else on this Council, maybe with the exception of me and Tim. But
thank you very much, you guys, for this important measure. Okay, we have a
motion on the floor. All those in favor, say "aye."
Vote on Res. 680-20: The motion to adopt Res. 680-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. Congratulations, all of you.
BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for
ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading).
(FIRST READING):
Bill 177: DESIGNATES TAX MAP KEY: 6-7-002:063 AS THE"SPENCER KALANI
SCHUTTE DISTRICT PARK"PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 15, ARTICLE 8,
SECTION 15-67 OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS
AMENDED); AMENDS SECTION 15-68.1 TO ADD THE"SPENCER KALANI
SCHUTTE DISTRICT PARK" TO THE PARKS AND RECREATIONAL
FACILITY SCHEDULE; AND AMENDS CHAPTER 14, ARTICLE 1,
SECTION 14-1, RELATING TO PROHIBITING THE POSSESSION OR
CONSUMPTION OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS AT ALL TIMES
Formally names the area currently known as the Waimea District Park, adds to the
facility schedule, and prohibits alcoholic beverages at all times.
Reference: Comm. 987
Intr. by: Mr. Richards
Waived: PRC
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to pass Bill 177 on first reading.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. This is one of those times when you really
get to do something fun and very appropriate. In Waimea, we have the Waimea
District Park, and this is a little late in coming. COVID-19 delayed this to a
certain degree, but also, we stumbled upon something. As I went to rename the
Waimea District Park—we got through the whole legislative process; we're not
quite through it—come to find out, the park had never officially been named to
begin with. So, I had to go back and change all the paperwork to officially name
the park. So, that's why this took a little while in coming forth.
A little bit of history about Spencer Kalani Schutte, known to everybody as
"Kalani Schutte." And I knowI think Councilwoman Lee Loy is going to fill in
on that. We also did hear from Lisa Miura, as she had worked with
Kalani Schutte as well. You can read through the bill and see some of the
interesting history.
I knew Kalani Schutte back in the mid '60s when his son and I were classmates in
Kindergarten. I spent a lot of time—don't go thereso, I spent a lot of time at
that house and grew up with Kalani and Zanga. Zanga's my classmate. So—and
your classmate too. Anyway, Kalani was a Council Member here on this Council
for 14 years, back in 1980-94. Then, he went on to work in County business.
For those of you who knew Kalani as a Council Member—representing the same
district—he left some very large shoes to fill. But he was very inspirational in
some of the things he did. He started the little project that was essentially a tiny
home project near Spencer Park where he took care of a lot of people and
constructed a little homeless village that we're trying to retool today, which I find
interesting. He was way ahead of the curve. He did that back in 1990, and here
we are 30 years later trying to do what he started years ago.
He was quite a rancher, and he just represented the community well and he knew
how to get things done. One of the things he got done was getting the Waimea
District Park and getting the commitment for that. It was he that, when they were
working things and working on the Parker Ranch 2020 Plan back in 1990, he was
the one that helped craft it to get the park designated.
It's very appropriate that we name this the "Kalani Schutte Park." His legacy in
Waimea is well known. His family serves and continues to serve. This Council
confirmed Guy Schutte, his son, is on the Police Commission. It gives me the
greatest level of satisfaction to be able to do this for Kalani, to be able to do this
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
for the Schutte family as a whole. So, with that, I'm going to ask for the support
of my Council Members in doing this, and I want to hear what they also have to
say. So, Chair, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Poindexter, please.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, Tim and I basically share Waimea. I have half of
Waimea, and a lot of my constituents utilize that park. And I just want to thank
you, Council Member Richards, for recognizing Kalani Schutte and his family
and all the good work that he has done. So deserving.
And I saw the testimony earlier on the previous resolution that was before us, and
it was from Bonnie Schutte, Zanga—his kids. And I know that we got two `6`6
when we did the dedication to that park, and we talked about this before. So, you
have an `6`6 and I have an `6`6. And we have Kalani's son who is on the Police
Commission, and his wife. I'd like to I'm sure you'd be honored to give them
your `6`6 for that because we did talk about it.
And my `6`6, I'd like to give it to Bonnie Schutte them. So, then, we'd have the
two families with their father's `6`6 that really got stuck into that ground that he
advocated for the family, the keiki to have years after that, right. So, I just wanted
the public to know that we have something to give to those families in
remembrance of this wonderful man Kalani Schutte. I yield, Chair.
MR. RICHARDS: Can I make a quick response?
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Val, thank you for reminding me of that conversation. And
the plan, COVID-19 impact aside, is that we need to have the signs made and then
have a dedication celebration. That would be the appropriate time. So, hopefully
we'll get that done this summer, but again COVID-19. So, I appreciate that.
And also to your point on his visionary, 30 years ago who would have thought
we'd have a park out there, but we do. First phase, second phase, you and I talked
about having a hardened shelter in that second phase. Again, I think that's what
Kalani would want. So, thank you, Chair.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I definitely will be supporting this. I had the
privilege and honor to work for Mr. Schutte when he was the Council Chair, and
Chair Chung often refers to that time of legendary statesmen. We had
Mr. Schutte. We had Steve Yamashiro. We had Brian DeLima. We had
Jimmy Arakaki. And I remember just being a sponge in so many of those
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
conversations in which Mr. Schutte would champion affordable housing, parks,
just things for the community as a whole. And I really learned a lot just on what
type of legacy and what type of policymaking really does serve community on a
large level. And so with that, Mr. Richards, I will be wholeheartedly supporting
this.
But also to Aunty Lou and Guy,just so many wonderful memories. And one real
quick memory I have of Mr. Schutte is back in the day there were these haori boat
races in Wailoa. And we all know Mr. Schutte was a very big guy. And when he
got into that boat, I think it was maybe just an inch or two before it was maybe a
standup canoe. But it was just such wonderful times.
As policymakers, they worked really hard on the Council and really pushed each
other. But outside of the Council, they were best friends. And honoring
Mr. Schutte with that park, that was part of the 2020 plan. It's just a start on how
much he brought to that community. So with that, Mr. Richards, congratulations.
Well done.
CHR. CHUNG: Anybody in Kona?
MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha, Chair Chung.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: Well, 30 years ago I was 16. And since the time I was very
young—my maiden name is "Shute"people would always say, "Are you related
to the Schuttes in Waimea?" So, while I didn't have the honor of meeting
Mr. Schutte, his impact and influence touched my life as well. And so, I'm
honored to hear such great things. While I do have a different name, it's always
wonderful to hear a name similar to yours where the family was such an amazing
legacy. Thanks for all your hard work on this park and the renaming. And his
legacy will live on forever with this park. Mahalo.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you. Anyone else? Karen? Maile? No? All right.
Well, anyway, I thought it was very fitting that Ms. Lee Loy actually seconded
that motion because the first thing that came to my mind was that she had worked
with Kalani way back when, when she was a little girl. And during that time,
Ashley was probably only like about four years old, I think, yeah?
But I was at the Corporation Counsel's office when Kalani was working here.
And he's such a big man, and it's easy to be intimidated by a guy like that. And
my contacts with him were very infrequent at best. But I did find the first time I
had to meet with him, as I said I was still relatively young, and a very intimidating
man until you meet with him. And the man was just a gentle soul, and he made
everybody feel comfortable. This is really the definition of a gentleman. For
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
people who never met him, it's just unfortunate that they never got to meet him
because he was just something else. So, thank you, Mr. Richards, and
congratulations to the Waimea community for getting something like this in his
memory. Okay, we have a motion on the floor. All those in favor, say "aye."
Yeah, let's do it by a roll call vote.
MR. RICHARDS: Excellent.
Vote on Bill 177: The motion to pass Bill 177 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following roll call vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading).
(SECOND OR
FINAL READING):
Bill 176: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants —Coronavirus Relief—CARES Act
account($68,455,201); and appropriates the same to the Coronavirus Relief—
CARES Act account to cover unanticipated expenditures incurred due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Reference: Comm. 985
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
First Reading: July 1, 2020
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 176 on second and final
reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Anyone want to talk on this? We had a full discussion the last
time, right? We had a special meeting, actually, for this. Okay, we have a motion
on the floor. All those in favor, signify by saying "aye."
Page 38
Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
Vote on Bill 176: The motion to pass Bill 176 on second and final reading
(Adopted) was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung–9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. We've come to the end of our agenda. Any
oh, wait, hold it. Oh, yeah, we have a request to waive five-day holdovers on
those resolutions and the—is it also for the bills too? For everything? Can we
have a blanket motion?
MR. HENRICKS: There is actually just a request from Finance to waive the
holdover on this bill. There is no other request made.
CHR. CHUNG: Oh, okay, yeah. Very important. Okay. Can I have a motion?
MR. RICHARDS: Chair? Okay, I'll second but I had a question since Steve is
here. Is it okay to ask a question?
CHR. CHUNG: (Inaudible.)
MR. HENRICKS: Of the bill?
MR. RICHARDS: Well, it has nothing to do with that. It just has more to do
with metrics if going forward with the bill.
CHR. CHUNG: Talk to him later on. No?
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah,just how do we get this going, the RFP (Request for
Proposals)? What happens?
MR. HENRICKS: I think that would have been I'm sorry. It's just it would
have been better that—
MR.
hatMR. RICHARDS: Yeah, I know.
CHR. CHUNG: That's all right. Just answer the question then.
MR. RICHARDS: So, how do we get this money rolling out? We've had all
sorts of resolutions. How do we do this, Steve? Just two minutes.
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Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
MR. HUNT: Thank you for waiving the five-day hold. That's very critical.
CHR. CHUNG: It's within the context of that motion.
MR. HUNT: So, within the context of that, the timeline is very tight. We have an
ad going out for our RFP tomorrow, the 0. The RFP itself will be released on
the 12th, Sunday. We'll have a second ad on the 14th. And the closing of the RFP
to apply for this is on the 21" of July. So, a very tight schedule. We anticipate
making awards based on that RFP by July 31", going into contracts the first week
in April; that April 2nd through 7th week.
MR. RICHARDS: August.
MR. HUNT: Sorry, August, correct, yes. August 2nd through 7th week and then
August l Oh through 14th is probably when we're looking at actual funds going
into the community and to the RFPs. As you're aware, it's also a variety of mix
in that RFP. We're sort of looking at the community assistance portion as being
your larger applicants—groups like PATCH (People Attentive to Children), Food
Basket, Farm Bureau, BRIDGES (Big Island Rural Agricultural Industries,
Distribution and Growing Enterprise Strategies), YMCA (Young Men's Christian
Association), YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association), Boys and Girls
Club, HOPE Services. We all encourage multiple applicants. Also, our health
centers. This is where you would be applying for funds from the RFP.
As far as the Hawaii Island recovery initiatives, this is not where individual
businesses are applying. This is where the partners of the County those that are
going to help facilitate getting the money out into the community would be
applying. This is your credit unions, your financial institutions, other nonprofits
that can help facilitate the grant process on our behalf.
So, there will be more announcements when that application is available for
individual businesses and individuals themselves to come in and apply for these
funds. But really this RFP is focusing in on the larger chunks of the money for
our social networks under that community assistance program, as well as our
partners, to help make sure we have the ability to get all of the funding out in the
community through these grants.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, Steve, thank you very much. And I appreciate
shoutout to Finance, shoutout to the Mayor for getting this very timely, very
quickly. So, again, I appreciate that. Chair, with that, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. We have a motion to waive the five-day holdover.
MR. HENRICKS: I'm sorry, I didn't get a first or a second on that. Sorry, Chair.
I just need that for the record.
Page 40
Hawaii County Council-46 July 8,2020
Vote on Motion to Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to suspend Council Rule 15 to
Suspend Council waive the 5-day hold for reconsideration. Seconded by
Rules: Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. So, that's waived.
REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports.
(There were none.)
REFERRALS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Referrals
EXECUTIVE for Executive Session.
SESSION:
(There were none.)
OTHER The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Other
BUSINESS: Business.
(There were none.)
ANNOUNCE- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
MENTS: Announcements.
(There were none.)
CHR. CHUNG: We've come to the end of our agenda.
Page 41
Hawai`i County Council-46 July 8,2020
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:40 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the
MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. Meeting adjourned.
AUG 1 9 2020
Council Approval:
COUNTY CLERK
JH/dg
Page 42