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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GREDC 2020/10/06 2018-2020 Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic Development 28th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii October 6, 2020 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic ORDER: Development was called to order at 11:22 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Karen Eoff, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona) STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON (AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 1074: UPDATE ON THE HAWAII STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES' (HSAC) 2021 LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE AND HOSTING OF THE 2021 ANNUAL CONFERENCE From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated September 18, 2020, requesting time to provide the Council with the above and other HSAC information. Motion to Close File: Ms. Poindexter moved to close file on Comm. 1074. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, and I just wanted to thank Chair Chung, for asking me to provide the Council with an update of where we are with HSAC. I believe in our pinkie folder, the transmittal that I provided to the Council Services was GREDC-28 October 6,2020 transmitted to everyone. I do want to apologize, real quick. You are getting a massive amount of minutes, and that's because I am secretary to the body. I take the minutes myself. And when COVID sprang, you know, our team really sprang into action to provide a lot of emergency response. And so that kind of got buried, but now that I have a full staff again, I was able to play catch up. And so that's transmitted for your review. But just to provide an overview with the discussions that were happening at HSAC, it was really a space to just talk story about how each county is handling COVID, how the various councils are continuing to conduct their business. And it was time for the body to get its finances in order. There was some discrepancies that were caught by Maui, in its very thorough review of the books. I believe in the changing of hands of the treasurer position, folks weren't clear on protocols. And so there was a lot of recording of checks, when they were cashed rather than when they were actually issued as well as a number of outstanding documents that are trying to be procured right now, in order to complete an audit. I've also suggested a monthly speaker to be invited to present to the group at our monthly meetings so that council members from across the state, can actually join in if they're interested. Anyone can be joining these meetings; they're held via Zoom so anyone can participate. That leads me to a big update from HSAC. Ikaika Anderson, while he was on the City & County of Honolulu, he included in Honolulu's budget funding a position that is dedicated to supporting to HSAC. I know that Council Member Poindexter can likely provide some insight, but there is a lot of work that goes into managing the President's role, Vice President; Secretary; and Treasurer positions. And so with this additional support, there is an institutional presence for HSAC now, and this person, Lanae Cruz, who was a former member of Ikaika Anderson staff, is handling Administrative task for HSAC. Things like quick books, the minutes; website updates; event planning. And ideally there would be a cost share between the counties, but that is not being asked of us right now. And I really think it requires a broader discussion by this Council, by all councils to talk about. Is this something that not only that we want or need, but can we actually afford it at this point and time? So we are very gracious or very grateful to Honolulu, for stepping up to provide this kokua at this time. Right now, Lanae is really immersed in getting up to speed on HSAC business, creating a job description, but it's really great to be working with someone that is dedicated specifically to HSAC. I think a real bummer that we all recognize that COVID has cancelled a lot of things that we had planned. We had an outstanding legislative package we were really excited about, as well as hosting this year's conference to kick off the new decade. And so speaking of conference, because this is something that Chair Chung wanted me to get clarity from the body on, was, you know, is Page 2 GREDC-28 October 6,2020 Hawaii County hosting in 2021 or not? We are on for hosting. The group would love for us to get together in person, but we just don't know if we're going to be in a position to be able to do that. So we may need to plan for an in-person conference with the caveat to that, we may need to transition to virtual. And so at this point and time it's ideal to pick a conference date, so it doesn't conflict with other events. Such as Hawaii on the Hill. And also to determine a date as to when to pull the trigger on hosting an in-person event, or doing something virtual. There are a lot of conferences that are being hosted virtually right now. I think the real key for us though is because this is a fundraiser for HSAC, for HSAC to continue to do its business, if it's virtual, we would need to figure out a way to be raising funds. Finally an update on out legislative package, and I do want to quote our HSAC Legislative Advocate Jon Okudara, he described 2020 as being a screwed up session. There is a lot of scrambling, really a lot of hard work behind the scenes to really determine what sort of decisions are going to be made because the shift was focusing to COVID, to money, or lack thereof. And so things that were in our package related to housing, and climate change, and sea level rise, and SHPD (State Historic Preservation Division), and abandoned and derelict vehicles, and the U-drives, and preemption; all of these things, you know, took a big pause. And so in the last meeting that I was participating in of the EC (Executive Committee), it seems that everything that was in our last package is being elevated to be included in the 2021 package. You know, in consultation with Chair Chung, I wanted to take our approach to submitting anything a little differently rather than just elevating what we had identified this year. I wanted to speak to leadership, so Council Member Lee Loy and I, and I'm going to ask her to provide some insight in just a sec, we connected with Finance Committee Chair Silvia Luke, to just get a sense of what the state is tackling. I mean they are experiencing a projected $3.5 billionB, billion-dollar shortfall. And so at this point and time getting a realistic sense of what's doable, what should we as counties be prepared form so that we could really edit and focus our legislative asks appropriately. Our next meeting of the Executive Committee is on Monday, October 26. They typically are held fourth Monday's of the month at 10:30. The meeting are hosted via Zoom and anyone can attend. If you're interested, please let me know. Happy to forward on that information. And at time we are going to be entertaining any resolutions from the County Council, related to being elevated into the legislative package. And individual council members also have the ability to send resolutions or suggestions for inclusions into the HSAC package directly to their representative. So you can send that to me, and we can forward it on to Lanae Cruz for agendizing. Page 3 GREDC-28 October 6,2020 You know, ideally what we want to focus on, are things that are relevant for all counties, not necessarily what is specific to our island. And I know that our Legislative Advocate, Jon Okudara, has really done an outstanding job helping our body to craft bills and legislation and to also be the go between, between our body, as well as members of the legislature. So we are looking to find a way, to retain him again. That said, I'm happy to answer any questions, or provide any clarity to anything that I presented. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you, Chair. One thing I wanted to expand upon as Ms. Kierkiewicz mentioned, was our conversation with leadership. And really going into this legislative session, they are focused on the budget. And as Ms. Kierkiewicz mentioned, we are looking at a $3.5 billion shortfall. And so some of the ideas around furloughs, deferred payment for OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits), all of those things are on the table, because they need to look at how to close the gap, and then they don't anticipate that gap being closed for anywhere between, you know, three to five years. And I share that information because as we move to this legislative session for us, and then into our budget we need to recognize that we're not going to see a lot of money coming from the state. And following the lead of Chair Chung and as Ms. Kierkiewicz said, I think if we align our legislative package, not so much as it relates to funding but fixes legislatively as far as words on paper, I think those types of legislative actions might be better received by our larger legislative delegation just because if things cost money it's really going to be weighed heavily, and things that don't cost money really are shifts and words on paper. It was very insightful to talk to leadership, and incredibly valuable. It was also in that meeting that we learned about that$500 restaurant card that was coming up. One other thing that leadership mentioned is they are on task to spend down all of the state's CARES money. And so it did spark a conversation for me and Ms. Kierkiewicz to really take the temperature of our own county, and how we are spending our CARES money. And that will be coming up in a further discussion, at our next meeting. But with that, I just wanted to share a little bit more as Ms. Kierkiewicz said what the conversation was like with leadership, and some of the takeaways and just being focused about what we'll be asking for going forward in 2021. Chair, I yield. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Okay, so did I hear that correctly, $3.5 billion short fall on revenue? MS. LEE LOY: That's correct, on a $7.5 billion budget. So at least half of it. Page 4 GREDC-28 October 6,2020 MR. RICHARDS: So, this has been my concern. Yeah, it's kind of—initially the state had projected a 15 percent budget shortfall, and now this is sounding like 22, 23 percent budget shortfall, which brings us back concern for out county going forward. Now our state appropriations are going to be minimal at best, I believe. We know we're getting nothing for TAT (Transient Accommodations Tax). For the conversations going forward with the state, with Representative Luken, what is the sensing, as far as the direction for funding availability to the county? Is this going to be a barebones approach, and what are we going to do for our legislative package? CHR KIERKIEWICZ: That's a very good question, Mr. Richards. I think anything that has a price tag attached to it, will not even be given consideration unless we can find a way to amplify those dollars. And what I mean by that, is anything related to economic diversification I believe that is something that they would entertain. But we can't be asking them to fund CIP projects for instance. It's just—they're trying to find every possible way as Ms. Lee Loy was mentioning to just continue barebones government. What I'm really concerned about is, their funding of our ambulatory services. MR. RICHARDS: Mm-hmm. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Is that something that they are going to be able to continue to provide the county, that sort of funding. MR. RICHARDS: The lifeguards at Kua Bay and things like that, what's going to happen there? Because I know CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Absolutely. MR RICHARDS: We have the funding till the end of the year, and then what? Okay, going to have to give that some thought. Thanks Chair, I yield. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Sure, no problem. Anyone in Kona? MS. VILLEGAS: Yes,please. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Ms. Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. I guess I have some questions, thank you for catching us up on the minutes. I just wanted toI had a question when looking through here. We have the minutes for Thursday June 25h, I see April, May, and here's June. But then the next set of minutes also says, Thursday June 25h. And then the next set of minutes goes to August, so I'm wondering because at the end of that second set of June minutes it says the next meeting will be July 27h. So I'm Page 5 GREDC-28 October 6,2020 wondering if this got put in, it doesn't seem to be the same set of minutes. Or if the dates weren't changed on that, in which case we would need to change those. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Oh, no, they're actually correct. So on June 25h, we had a couple of meetings. There was an Executive Committee meeting, as well as a General Membership meeting. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. And then there aren't any minutes in here from July. It goes straight to August. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: That's because the July meeting was cancelled. MS. VILLEGAS: Great, thank you so much. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I believe it's noted on the first page, that we were hosting the August meeting and having the same agenda because July was cancelled. MS. VILLEGAS: Great, thank you. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: No worries. MS. VILLEGAS: I just was going through there looking for congruence in the months, so that makes much more sense. Thank you. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: No,problem. MS. VILLEGAS: My second question comes to that legislative package. I've had a couple of the different members of the Maui County Council reach out to me about some of the pieces of legislation that they're bringing forward and are passing, and that they're also looking to have as part of the HSAC legislative package. And so I wondered where those were at as far as being presented to us for our approval for inclusion. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Sure, that's a good question. So the way this works with HSAC and the legislative package, items are elevated to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee makes a determination if everything that all counties are submitting should be included, or if we need to prioritize and edit ourselves. And once that package has been approved by the Executive Committee, it then is transmitted to each of the councils for review and adoption. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, so as our county what have we put forward, to be then reviewed by that HSAC Executive Committee? CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I am putting something forward to the Council at the next meeting. If you take a look at the transmittal right behind the communication, Page 6 GREDC-28 October 6,2020 I've provided an update. And I also noted it earlier, that members can submit resolutions direct to the Executive Committee or if you would like for the Council to be behind that concept or proposed bill, it can go before each County Council for review and adoption. But either route is totally fine for the HSAC EC to consider. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, great. Yeah, there were concerns about the deadlines got pushed back, if I understand as well, correct? To October 26�'? CHR KIERKIEWICZ: That's our next HSAC meeting, it's a standing meeting that happens. Fourth Mondays. MS. VILLEGAS: Great. I had just asked about this last month, because there was some concerns about minutes and where we were at with our legislative package and what not. So thank you for putting this together and clarifying where we're at, and next steps to move forward. So are you going to be bringing some items to us as a Council, or are you sending something directly from our Council. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I am preparing—my staff is helping me to prepare something that I'm hoping with Chair Chung's approval can be waived directly to the Council at our next convening in October ahead of the deadline of our meeting on the 26h. But like I mentioned earlier, not every item needs to be formally adopted by the Council. There's strength in that, but individual members from various counties have submitted items directly to HSAC. For instance Tommy Waters has just sent something directly to HSAC regarding preemption. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, great, thank you. And I just want to send out a big mahalo to Ms. Poindexter for having fulfilled the position of HSAC representative for the County of Hawaii prior. And I just want to acknowledge the challenges in keeping up with the minutes that she faced and some of the scrutiny that she got put under for that fact and the circumstances that prevailed when she was managing that. So I just want to thank her for her graciousness and her hard work on that. I also want to thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz for acknowledging the challenges that still reside with keeping up with the minutes with HSAC, because you know, we had the lava recovery and now got COVID. And so I just feel it begs to be spoken that this is obviously, regardless of who's managing taking the minutes, it's a big responsibility and it takes time and focus in order to do so. And so a lag in getting HSAC minutes, I just want to make sure that Val feels appreciated that, you know, I just appreciate both of you for doing this, and that the timeframe, we all have patience and flexibility as this comes together. And with that, I yield. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. No problem. I mean I think the issue on our side is when the deadline that we face internally to get things on the agenda, so Page 7 GREDC-28 October 6,2020 there is that lag time. But going forward I am happy to just forward you the invites to our standing meetings. Ms. Villegas if you have time in your schedule, and would like to j oin us it would be great to have you. Any other questions or comments? MS. EOFF: Oh, Chair? CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, Ms. Eoff. MS. EOFF: Thank you. So if I'm understanding what you're saying though in this process, to create HSAC legislative process. You took the proposals that come to the Executive Committee whether they have been submitted directly, like you mentioned Council Member Waters did or if they come from an entire council, once the Executive Committee puts together the proposals, don't they circulate that to all the Council's in order for consensus to be built? Because I think if I'm not mistaken, every one of those proposals would have to be supported by each council. In order to make it to the final, for the same package. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, Ms. Eoff that's what I shared earlier. That the Executive Committee would officially approve the package, which then is transmitted to each of the councils. Each Council adopts, and at that point that information gets transmitted back to HSAC Executive Committee and we have an official package. MS. EOFF: Okay, that's CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I don't think it's changed, since the beginning of time. MS. EOFF: Yeah, that's how I remembered it to be. Thank you. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Any other questions or comments, Ms. Eoff? MS. EOFF: No, thank you. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. MS. EOFF: Just clarifying. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What is the deadline to get anything to you, or to the committee? CHR KIERKIEWICZ: So on the back of the communication that's in your folder, the note that I have here is by October 19''. Page 8 GREDC-28 October 6,2020 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So we have 13 days. Okay. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: That's to get it on the agenda. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Seeing no other questions or comments, thank you for the opportunity to provide an update. At this time we have a motion on the floor to close file on Communication 1074, all in favor please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 1074: The motion to close file on Comm. 1074 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you very much. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (There were none.) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of ORDINANCES: business, Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR KIERKIEWICZ: May I have a motion to adjourn. Page 9 GREDC-28 October 6,2020 ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:44 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: The Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic Development is adjourned at 11:44 a.m. Thank you. Approved: _ �6 :)- ( ,'7-O2.o Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair (if ate) Governmental Relations and Economic Development Committee AK/rk Page 10