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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2020/10/20 2018-2020 Committee on Finance 42nd Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii October 20, 2020 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 9:03 a.m. in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Karen Eoff, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member (came in later) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Absent& Excused: Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Vice Chair 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.) CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can you just start Communication 11.40, please? COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 11.40: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: JUNE 16—30 AND SEPTEMBER 1 — 15, 2020 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated September 22, 2020. FC-42 October 20,2020 Vote on Comm. 11.40: Ms. Villegas moved to close file on Comm. 11.40. Filed Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Richards —2. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, can you move on to Communication 62.9, please? Comm. 62.9: FIRST QUARTER REPORT OF PERSONS EMPLOYED UNDER A CONTRACT FOR LESS THAN 90 DAYS: JULY 1 —SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 From Human Resources Director William V. Brilhante, Jr., dated October 1, 2020, transmitting the above report pursuant to Section 2-12.5 of the Hawaii County Code. Motion to Close File: Ms. Villegas moved to close file on Comm. 62.9. Seconded by Ms. Eoff. (Note: At this time, Mass Transit Administrator Brenda Carreira came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. DAVID: Any discussion, Council Members? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Go ahead. Is that Ms. Lee Loy? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No, Ms. Kierkiewicz. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Did I understand Administrator Carreira was available? CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Aloha, Brenda. Ashley here. How are you? MS. CARREIRA: I'm good, thank you. How are you? Page 2 FC-42 October 20,2020 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Awesome, thank you. Hey, I have a question about one of the 90-day hires for Mass Transit, the Transit Federal Reporting Specialist. Can you elaborate on that position, please? MS. CARREIRA: Yes. What happened is throughout the entire year we always have to have reports to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA); because although the Department of Transportation is right above us, because we're rural, we have to follow the FTA rules. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, I understand. So you're just engaging this individual for three months out of the year. It's not something that we need for every month of the year? MS. CARREIRA: Yeah, actually it's really not for 89 days. We're asking—we have also now started asking FTA whether we could use some of our 5311 operational funds. We found somebody for the entire year. Because we're going to be going through an audit, which was supposed to happen in July, but because of the pandemic it was pushed back. So there's a lot of reports and plans and manuals that we're trying to do,to prepare for the audit. I'm not sure when it will happen, but I'm really hoping it should go beyond the 89 days. And he's been exceptional. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And did you say that we could potentially leverage admin. monies from FTA? MS. CARREIRA: We're hoping to. We're asking for a—not a waiver, but we're asking right now for DOT (Department of Transportation), because we have funds in our budget that would be able to cover the entire year, actually. But we have not received any approval yet. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And you feel one person is going to be enough to handle all of the reporting on a monthly and annual basis? MS. CARREIRA: In conjunction with the staff that we have here, yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And everything's going to be like virtual and done digitally, right? MS. CARREIRA: Yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Like we're not going to be these accounting by hand and on paper and stuff. We're going to be doing it online? MS. CARREIRA: Yeah. Well, yes. He's already—he's very proficient with the computers and stuff. So he's already come up with a lot of our plans. I'm just really happy with it , yes. Page 3 FC-42 October 20,2020 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Yeah, I justI had some questions about this one. Because a couple of years ago, during the budget cycle, we had some issues with some of the grant reporting to the federal side. So it's great to see that we're taking some action on ensuring that we are compliant and submitting all of our reports on time. MS. CARREIRA: Yes, Ma'am. Absolutely. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you so much. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of filing Communication 62.9, please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 62.9: Ms. Villegas moved to close file on Comm. 62.9. Filed Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards — 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, can you proceed now with Communication 95.10? Comm. 95.10: YEAR-END REPORTS FROM NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AWARDED COUNTY GRANTS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2020, AND SUMMARY ANALYSIS From Council Member Maile David, dated October 5, 2020,transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Code Section 2-142(c). Motion to Close File: Ms. Villegas moved to close file on Comm. 95.10. Seconded by Ms. Eoff. CHR. DAVID: Council Members, since my Vice Chair is not here, would anyone have objections if I start the discussion on this communication? No? Alright, no objections. Thank you. Alright,this Communication 95.10, if you noticed, Council Members, there are two huge binders on your desk, I mean, yes, on the dais, and this represents the Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Year End Reports from all of our nonprofit organizations on the nonprofit grant program. So in 2019-2020 Fiscal Year, 160 applicants were received and 151 were awarded. Page 4 FC-42 October 20,2020 So, I'm just going to summarize. So each of these reports from these nonprofits contain a brief narrative that describes their specifics and the measurable outcomes of the public benefits derived from these funds. It also has the summary of the income showing revenue sources and the funds that they received; and then also a summary of the grand expenditures, showing how they spent or how they used the County funds. So by the end of the fiscal year, these awardees received grant funds totaling $1,487,904.72. So if you need to refer to any of these applications or Year End reports, please refer to the binders that you were provided. I really would like to actually thank the Mayor on—during Fiscal Year 2019-2020, he added the additional $500,000 for that program. And also, thereafter, I want to mahalo Council Member Lee Loy, by adding another $1 million to the current 2020-2021 Fiscal Year grants. Mahalo, Ms. Lee Loy; which pretty much almost doubled the number of applicants that we received for this current fiscal year. So thanks really have to go out to the Budget Specialist, Lisa Tada and all of the Finance Department, Ted Schrey folks for helping our office take care of the tedious and time consuming information gathering and follow-ups for these applications. And also, thank you very much to our respective ad hoc committee members and their staff for all that they did in helping us complete this whole process without a hitch. And last but not least, I want to thank all the nonprofit organizations themselves, who actually performed a lot of the services that benefit every community on this island. So on that note, I just want to thank everyone for their assistance in getting this thing completed for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. So on that, anyone else would like to say anything? I yield. Ms. Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: I just wanted to echo that sentiment of gratitude. And I was just thinking while sitting here that was actually the first weekend, that week of our interviews and the following week was when we first started major events in not isolation, but quarantining started happening due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So just an extra special thank you to everyone in the administration and the Clerk's Office and our staff for continuing to pull this off when we were just in the beginning stages of what now feels like decades-long time frame. But that was the start. So thank you everyone for your hard work and determination to get this much needed funding out to the people in our community. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, me again. Page 5 FC-42 October 20,2020 CHR. DAVID: Oh, go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just wanted to say mahalo to everyone who is involved. Maile, you've been ayou're kind of the driver as far as getting everything done, paperwork wise and organizing. So mahalo to you for making sure this goes off, and to Dawn, who did a lot of work as well on this project. And I think this is—it's a lot of money to go into the community. So this is really, I think, an amazing thing that our County does as far as disbursing funds into nonprofits across the island to help the community. So I really enjoyed being on this Committee. This is the second year I've done it. Just appreciate what we do and how we can help the community, and the team that comes together to make that happen. So mahalo for doing this. I just appreciate it. It feels good. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo for that, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? MS. LEE LOY: Yes, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Yes, it's always a privilege and an honor to sit on the nonprofit Grant-in-Aid Committee. And we're going to see this nonprofit committee actually continue to bridge a gap. Not only this year, as Ms. Villegas mentioned, it was at the start of the pandemic, that we were actually reviewing the nonprofit grant-in-aid applications, but also going forward. And I do want to say mahalo to Peter Sur. I believe it was also at the time that Dawn fell, and so Peter stepped in. Dawn left just wonderful framework for him to help continue the good work of the committee. So I did want to say thank you to Peter Sur and everyone involved. But going forward,this nonprofit committee will actually be very critical into 2021-2022 and beyond. So thank you to everybody on the committee. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else in Hilo? Alright, seeing none, on that note I just really—before I take a vote—Ms. Lee Loy, you mentioned—you brought back some memories about Peter and how the staff of the ad hoc committee really came together as a team and made this happen. And Dawn's absence, even though she was absent, I really thank her because she's so articulate, and sometimes to a really spooky level, how accurate she is. But I really want to thank her and Davelyn also, for stepping up during her absence, too. All the staff, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder's, every staff person in the ad hoc committee worked very hard and worked very well together, and I Page 6 FC-42 October 20,2020 appreciate that. So that's why I think the ad hoc committee had such a success. So mahalo to everybody and their staff. On that note,please MR. CHUNG: Hey, Maile. Maile? CHR. DAVID: I'm sorry, who's ? Oh, Chair Chung. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, sorry. CHR. DAVID: Oh, go ahead. MR. CHUNG: I'm sorry to have to say the last word on this. But since you spent a lot of time thanking a lot of people during this matter, I think everyone on this Council appreciates what you have done. You know, you've served as the head of this committee for all the years that I've been here, and you've done such a wonderful job. So I know it's your style, you're such a humble person, you know, throwing all of the accolades all over the place, but I think it would remiss if we didn't recognize how important you are to all of this. So thank you, Maile. CHR. DAVID: That was very sweet, and thank you very much for saying that, Chair Chung. It was just my pleasure, and thank you for that. I think we all did a great job. So mahalo. On that note, all those in favor of filing Communication 95.10, please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 95.10: The motion to close file on Comm. 95.10 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards — 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Okay, moving on to Communication 10oh, no, you know what? I'm sorry, Council Members, I'm going to, if it's okay, do Communication 1098 as the last item on the agenda. So can we move to Order of Resolution, Mr. Clerk? Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, of Business: the following items were taken out of order: Page 7 FC-42 October 20,2020 Res. 749-20: CHANGES THE STATUS OF AN ACCOUNT CLERK(TEMPORARY) POSITION TO BECOME A FULL-TIME PERMANENT POSITION The position would provide additional support for the Mass Transit Agency and motivate qualified candidates to apply for this position. Reference: Comm. 1106 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to recommend adoption of Res. 749-20. Seconded by Ms. Eoff. CHR. DAVID: Discussion, Council Members? MR. CHUNG: Maile? CHR. DAVID: Oh, go ahead, Chair Chung. MR. CHUNG: You know, I do have some questions, but I think it can be reserved for when this thing hits the full Council. You know, it really has to do with our budget moving forward. I know everyone has needs. All of the positions that have been requested are very important to the requestors. But we really have to look these things over with a fine-tooth comb, yeah, is to see how much we're getting, what kind of bang we're getting for the buck, and what the cost will be moving forward. So maybe when it hits the full Council, we can have someone from Mass Transit and Finance to explain this to us. Yeah, thank you. CHR. DAVID: Okay. Is that okay with everybody? Yeah, that sounds great. Alright then, anyone else? Seeing none, alright, all those in favor of approving Resolution 749-20 and forwarding to Council with a positive recommendation, please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 749-20: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 749-20 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards — 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can we move on to Resolution 750-20? Page 8 FC-42 October 20,2020 Res. 750-20: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR MULTI-YEAR LEASES FOR FOURTEEN COPY MACHINES FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT Authorizes the Mayor to enter into five-year lease agreements with an approximate monthly cost of$200 for each copier. Reference: Comm. 1107 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Vote on Comm. 750-20: Ms. Villegas moved to recommend adoption of (Approved) Res. 750-20. Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards — 1. Excused: None. Bill 208: 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 Parks & Recreation Department of Business, Economic Development& Tourism (DBEDT) Social Transportation Program Income account($50,000); and appropriates the same to the DBEDT Social Transportation Program Income account. Funds would be used to support the Elderly Activities Division's paratransit program for seniors. Reference: Comm. 1105 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to recommend passage of Bill 208 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Eoff. CHR. DAVID: I have a memo; I believe Ms. Okamura, the Elderly Activities Director, might be in our Hilo Chambers. MR. BROWN: She's here, Madam Chair. CHR. DAVID: Perfect. Ms. Okamura, could you please come up to the table and just give us a brief explanation on how this fund is going to support that program. Thank you very much. Page 9 FC-42 October 20,2020 (Note: At this time, Elderly Activities Division Chief Roann Okamura came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. OKAMURA: Thank you, Madam Chair. Roann Okamura, Elderly Activities Division Director. I just want to give a short history how this program started. It evolved out of a need. Imagine you as a senior no longer can drive tomorrow, so this program is to take the place for social transportation, where you can continue with life even if without your license. And we really need to thank Representative Mark Nakashima and Val Poindexter for allowing us to do the pilot in Hamakua, which we did; and unfortunately, of course COVID has shut it down. This $50,000 budget line item is very essential to keep the program going after the grant funds has run out. And basically, what it's for is we are going to be collecting ridership for this program. The funds will be carried over to help replace aged fleets for the vehicles. So that's what the line item will be used for. CHR. DAVID: Thank you so much, Ms. Okamura, for everything that you do for our seniors. Anyone in Hilo have questions for Ms. Okamura? Seeing none, we have no questions in Kona. Also, thank you for making the time to be here, Ms. Okamura. MS. OKAMURA: Oh, thank you for having me, Maile. Aloha. CHR. DAVID: Alrighty. Stay safe. All those in favor of approving Bill 208, and forward to Council with a positive recommendation, please say "aye." Vote on Bill 208: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 208 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair David—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards — 1. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Alright, Mr. Clerk, I guess our last item, would be going back to Communication 1098. Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: Page 10 FC-42 October 20,2020 Comm. 1098: REQUESTS AN UPDATE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION REGARDING CARES ACT SPENDING From Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy, dated September 25, 2020. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 1098. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy. We have with us today Diane Ley and Steve Hunt. And I believe in everyone's folder we have Communication 1098.1, which is a presentation from Ms. Ley and Mr. Hunt. Thank you to Nancy Cook Lauer, who actually wrote a story,just yesterday, kind of giving us a high-level overview of the funding. But I thought this was a perfect opportunity in light of the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) funding needing to be expended by the end of the year. I actually asked Ms. Ley and Mr. Hunt to kind of give us that high-level overview, where we're at, and any assistance they may need or kinks that still need to be worked out. So with that, you know, Ms. Ley, Mr. Hunt, go ahead. (Note: At this time, Deputy Finance Director Steven Hunt, Research and Development Director Diane Ley, Deputy Research and Development Director Riley Saito, and Executive Assistant to the Mayor Sharon Hirota came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. HUNT: Aloha, Committee Chair David, Council Members. For the record, my name is Steven Hunt, Deputy Director of Finance. First, I'd like to thank you for this opportunity to come before this body to provide an update on Corona Virus Relief Fund expenditures. It is important to you as well as the public to know where we are at this juncture given there only about 10 weeks remaining to expend the remaining funds. It's also important to recognize that there is about a three-week delay in the financial information, as our Accounts Division must reconcile and prepare end of month reports, which we provide to the State and in turn get logged on the Federal Registry. Our most recent report was completed on October 9h, and is representative of the expenditures through September 30, 2020. In the next few slides, I'm going to be providing an overview of the County's Coronavirus Relief Fund expenditures, then I will turn it over to Diane Ley, Riley Saito, and Sharon Hirota to discuss how our financial award recipients have been performing, since the County only recognizes expenditures when monies are advanced to these organizations, not the subsequent spend-down by the awardees themselves. Page 11 FC-42 October 20,2020 (Note: At this time, Mr. Hunt, Ms. Ley, Mr. Saito, and Ms. Hirota provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 1098.1.) CHR. DAVID: Council Members, questions? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I have a question. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, thank you. Thank you, Riley, for the presentation and your quick work on this. I'm just curious about any changes you've made to the program since Holomua was launched, and I ask that because a number of constituents have reached out to my office. They may be self-employed, or they may be running a vacation rental, and so they have experienced a loss of income to COVID. So just wondering if any changes to the program since you've launched. MR. SAITO: Yes, and we actually have been that's where the discovery and learning of how people do their business. And with the—at first, it was—where we started, when we launched, we weren't accepting—everyone had to be registered with the DCCA (Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs). And we found out that you can do business without being registered, being a sole proprietor, and so we pulled that requirement back. And then looking at the short-term vacation rentals, and this I apologize, it took about a week to resolve. But looking at how they actually filed their tax return, on Schedule C, if there is a profit, that is then treated within the 1040 form as income, as their payroll, And so we then accepted a payroll, the reimbursement, based on a prorated basis of their 2019 profit. And that was one of the major learning experiences we had. And I just apologize that it took so long. You know, between the credit unions and Corp. Counsel, we needed to make sure that the treatment was correct there, and we moved forward with that. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Riley, no need to apologize. When you think about how government typically moves, this was incredibly fast, like lightning speed, so thank you. I'm just curious about the other eight percent. You said 92 percent approval rating, what's the reason for denying the other eight percent? MR. SAITO: I haven't looked at it recently, but initially it was duplication of expenses. They previously had applied for it and received funds for the same expenses. Page 12 FC-42 October 20,2020 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. And I wasn't sure, did you provide us with a total number of applications that came through? I saw in an earlier slide that you mentioned a number of businesses that were funded, but just curious about applications. MR. SAITO: Yeah, there was 1,541, so we add percent to that MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I see, okay. Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else in Hilo? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair? CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Riley, I just want to go out to everyone who did, and participated in this program. I just wanted to say despite some initial kind of technological setbacks that I heard from some of the community members and some frustration, this program has exceeded my expectations in the speed of grant awards to our community. This is much needed, and I very much appreciate this set of funding to business owners to get them back on their feet, as well as some of the changes that you made along the way. So just mahalo to everyone who made this happen. And the ability to get grants to businesses in less than five days, that's just amazing. There's a lot of work that goes into this; there's a lot of coordination, so I just wanted to say mahalo and thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else in Hilo? MS. LEE LOY: Yes, Chair, please. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Yes, thank you. Really, this is fantastic work. And I really do have to thank this team for working through the weekend. But I did have a question for Riley. You mentioned that this is available on the website, and if you could just share that website again. I'm asking because I'm also tracking hawaiidata.org, which is the State's platform or dashboard, and maybe Steve, you could speak to this. Because Hawaii County is showing that we're only at 32 percent of what was allocated to us, and so this is a very, you know, 180-degree kind of contrast. Because on the State's dashboard it says we're at 30, but our numbers are showing that we are exceeding expectations. MR. HUNT: And I can respond to that. Page 13 FC-42 October 20,2020 MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Steve. MR. HUNT: So every Monday at 2:00 (o'clock)we have a subcommittee on CARES. Jill Tokuda is the primary data collector that we provide information to. The reason that Hawaii County had a much lower percentage of expenditures is we were not reporting our encumbered, whereas the other Counties, they're including encumbered monies. Initially we were asking for the expenditures, and that's what we were providing, but when you included the encumbrances, that increased it, you know, to over 50 percent. And of course since then, you know, we've now moved into October, where we've had a very busy first couple of weeks couple of October, so I expect we're going to be well into our 70s, probably even closer to 80 percent by now. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Steve. And then, Riley, if you could share that website or the MR. SAITO: It's hawaiicounty.gov/cares. MS. LEE LOY: Great. Thank you. MR. SAITO: And then there's a button; how we are spending, how the money is being spent. MS. LEE LOY: Great. Thank you. And thank you for all the team too, who stood up all of this information. Yeah, go ahead. CHR. DAVID: Are you done, Ms. Lee Loy? MS. LEE LOY: Yes, Chair. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Okay, thank you. Anyone else in Hilo? Seeing none, Kona? No? Alright, Ms. Ley, are you folks going to continue or does that conclude the presentation? MS. HIROTA: Madam Chair, this is Sharon Hirota, Executive Assistant, Mayor's Office. CHR. DAVID: Oh, good morning. MS. HIROTA: Good morning. So I will continue on. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. (Note: At this time, Ms. Hirota continued with the PowerPoint presentation.) Page 14 FC-42 October 20,2020 CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much for that. In Hilo? Wait, I have a question here. Council Member Eoff, go ahead. MS. EOFF: I'm not too sure who to ask this to, but since Riley's here this seems like we're really putting forth an effort to keep our families sort of emotionally stable, of offering and making accessible these kinds of basic needs and services and maybe expanding services. But do you feel that we've kind of leveled the issue that I do hear about on the news, that there has been an emotional and psychological mental toll due to people being quarantined? MR. SAITO: I'll let Sharon handle that one. MS. EOFF: Okay. Yeah, somebody. I just wondered if we as a County with all of these efforts, have kind of helped in that regard, because I know that's been an issue in other cities, states, in the nation. CHR. DAVID: Ms. Hirota, I believe Mr. Saito deferred to you. MS. HIROTA: Team effort here. So I will tell you that based on my communications with local providers, behavior and mental health, that still is continues to be a growing issue on our island. And so we've funded several programs through this CARES act to increase our capacity in regards to individuals who can provide first aid mental health; being able to have the ability to have that tough conversation sometimes with your neighbors, your friends and/or your family. But we will continue to work with our local providers as they see an increase in number of calls into their call centers, seeking advice, guidance. And so we need to continue to provide support to those organizations at all levels. You know, the bigger question becomes what happens in January when these fundings are no longer—at least this current funding is no longer applicable and will our families be in a position to maintain and stabilize themselves? That's what we're preparing for. A lot of the community organizations and the social service providers, that's the conversation we're having now in terms of, how do we prepare for January, in 2021. So I hope I answered your question. MS. EOFF: Yes, thank you. It seems like we're at least setting up the groundwork and the framework to be able to follow up and help manage these pending issues. MS. HIROTA: Yes. And if I can just add? I think that's one of the reasons why we made changes to at least the Rent and Mortgage Program, where there were a lot of families out there who said—who have never been in this situation before, I think I've mentioned this before, and just dug deep into their savings, to their family, to their friends to get help. Because they were not—never in a position having to ask for government assistance. And when you hear those stories about them exhausting their savings, or dipping into other savings, we really wanted to help them. So we're hoping that by them coming forward and Page 15 FC-42 October 20,2020 applying and receiving these funds, they can replenish their savings. So should they need to dip again, they will have something to dip into come January. So, yes. MS. EOFF: I'm sure it's helping a lot. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Eof£ Anyone else? Here in Kona, no. In Hilo, any other questions for ? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I have a question. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So we talked about the food assistance. I just wanted to touch on the graphic. Looks like we're well under-paced to spend the funding, as far as what was projected and what has been spent so far. So whereI did have a question about that. Because 1-just in passing, I was talking to Kristin Albrecht from the Food Basket, and she reminded me that they received zero funding from the CARES funds, although they've been doing food outreach since we even knew there was going to be an issue. I mean, she was calling me in February saying, "What are we going to be doing about food?" So I just wanted to touch on that. So what are we going to do for to bridge that gap between what was expected and what's actually being spent? MR. HUNT: So if you do look at the last four weeks, you can see that we're now expending it about $285,000, $284,800 and change; where our spend-down rate is about $210,000. So it took awhile to ramp up, but now we're actually exceeding the amount per week that we need to be on. So it's just a matter of continuing to ramp up, knowing that we have some of these organizations holding aside some of their funds or spend down for the holidays, specifically Christmas and Thanksgiving. So we're in contact with them all the time, and we don't anticipate them falling short of spending down the full amount. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, so they're holding back on spending until the holidays are MR. HUNT: Well, it took awhile to ramp up was part of it; getting them all on contract and getting all their resources. Because they had to, you know, have their network built up, as well. Employees, staffing, getting their their protocols, all that,the reporting. So it's taken a little bit of time in the beginning, on the frontend, but now it's fully operational. And I believe all of the awardees are now participating. We had—you know, they've been staggered coming on. But now, when they're all on, firing on all cylinders and knowing that we have some big spend-downs anticipated by these organizations for the holidays, we just, at this point, don't anticipate falling short of the $4 million spend-down. Page 16 FC-42 October 20,2020 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then, who are some of the bigger food assistance providers right now? MS. LEY: That would be the Kohala Coast Resort Association at La`i'opua. And both of those are, if you will, West Hawai`i based. But the Kohala Coast Resort Association targets primarily their laid-off employees, who live in different districts throughout the island. So as Riley indicated earlier, I believe they have nine or ten different sites that they actually deliver to. So they deliver to like the union office in Hilo for pick-up. It's convenient; it's got a large parking lot, a place where they can be moved abut. And then people have to pre-register for that particular association's food drops. And if people don't show up or they purchase more food than is necessary, then they're delivering it to other food pantries and kitchens, so no food is going to waste. So yeah, those are the two largest ones. Those were $900,000 contracts each. And then they're supplementing with additional resources. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: They're delivering to a union office? MS. LEY: I'm sorry—well, so many of the employees of these resorts are union employees, and so they areI'm using that as an example of a target site, where they go to deliver the resource, the food bags or the meals that are cooked. MR. SAITO: Diane, the objective of that was, since 38 percent of our people have to drive more than 50 miles to get to work, now they're laid off, they actually made it convenient for the employees that are laid off on the east—you know, reside in East Hawai`i, not requiring them to drive to Waikoloa to pick up their food. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Understood, Riley. I'm just touching on the—you know, there's been a lot of discussion regarding, you know, using this for political purposes. So just touching on that really quickly. MS. LEY: Let me just say that these are employee unions. They're not—and the intent is—and shouldn't have used that as an example, but that is just where, you know, there's a convenience factor,there's a larger parking lot,there's ability to deliver food. I don't believe they're doing any political activity involved with that. So that is a good point. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And then as far as East Hawaii? MS. LEY: Well, that's a delivery to East Hawaii. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'm sorry, you touched on Kohala Coast Resort Association, La`i`opua. MS. LEY: So in East Hawaii we have another large contractor. Page 17 FC-42 October 20,2020 MR. SAITO: Diane? MS. LEY: Yes? MR. SAITO: Can I take it? MS. LEY: Sure. MR. SAITO: So as far as the particular, like Steve mentioned, it has picked up, and that's partly tied to standing up the resiliency hub. It took a little while, but they are—so Hawaii Rise, right nowa month—let's say five weeks ago, didn't have their food program going. Now they are, and they're doing about 8,000 meals a week. Which a month ago wasn't there. And La`i`opua 2020,they're feeding Monday, Wednesday, Friday, pick-ups. This is on East Hawaii, but they're using restaurants in Na`alehu, Pahala, Ka`u, to actually have food being picked up at their community. So they've contracted different diverse locations based on the data we received initially of any in-balance or places that were not being served. So you're able to actually contract different remote restaurants to actually produce the food, and have the pick-up there. So if you look at the start of the program, the heat maps that we had, it really showed where—from Ka`u, Na`alehu, and Pahala, there was less food getting there, and so we made a correction with the food providers to get food to that area. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Just watching the track, yeah. Anyone else in East Hawaii offering food assistance? MR. SAITO: I'm sorry? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is there any other entities doing food assistance programs in East Hawaii? MR. SAITO: Yeah, there's Pohaha(Pohaha I Ka Lani); huiMAU (Hui Malama i ke Ala `Ulili); Mindful Living is at Pahoa, drop-off, Waimea Homesteads alternates between Waimea and Ka`u. I think that's about it. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MR. SAITO: And there's 11 grants administered. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And what did happen with Food Basket? I was really surprised, actually. That caught me off guard that Food Basket received zero funding. Page 18 FC-42 October 20,2020 MS. LEY: Okay, so I'll respond to that. The County has been responsive to all of the applications we've received. Unfortunately, the Food Basket did not submit a timely application. But I do want to say that, and I don't have the numbers with me today, but we have—specifically for the Food Basket, since the pandemic started, we provided funding out of the County's budget,the administration's budget, for a position to assist the Executive Director there, specifically with food delivery over the coming year. So we've provided funding for that and various other initiatives. So we have been working in close partnership with the Food Basket. I think the other piece that Riley didn't touch upon is when we awarded these CARES Act contracts, particularly for food, one of the things we did was we asked all of the partners to work together to make sure that we had coverage. To work with the existing pantries and providers so that we build a stronger safety net for the long term. And we know that the Food Basket is that core fabric there. They have been here for, what, decades now? Thank you to Carol Ignacio for standing up the Food Basket in the first place. She is a champion. And, you know, it's only grown. I believe they have 160 partners throughout our communities. And some of these partners are not able to operate right now because they primarily rely on volunteers who are seniors, and they don't want to be out in the community. So with these newer groups standing up, we want to make sure that they're network and working closely together. So it was very unfortunate that the application did not get—was not submitted on a timely basis, but that's my tough job to follow the rules, to make it fair for everyone. So it's been tough. But we've been looking for ways to support them, including the double-up bucks program that was just awarded. That was something that the County has been behind and supportive of USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) funding. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Diane. MS. LEY: Sure. Thank you for MS. POINDEXTER: Maile, I have a question. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Poindexter. MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah. You know, when you talk about the Food Basket or the Food Bank, yeah, it was unfortunate. But I heard that the file was corrupt, but they did have a file. So I would ask and look into what kind of procedures or policies that we can look into that would be able to not exempt, but if something was sent and it was just so happened the file got corrupted—I don't Page 19 FC-42 October 20,2020 know how it—does it through, you know, the web or the internet, or whatever happens to it. Because I've seen that happen before, and it's just unfortunate that caused it to be untimely. But in situations like this, and when we're in a pandemic, I would think that we could put some procedures in place for situations or emergencies like that, you know, beyond their control. You know, because we, this island, will lose out. Because of the amount the skillsets and expertise they have in order to be able to feed the people. They've been doing it for years, right? And they have all the networking. We don't have to rebuild what they built. You know, they have the model. So I would say let this be a learning curve for us, and see what we can do in future situations that may come about. Especially when we're asking people that they can transmit via email internet, you know, that things can go wrong. And it's unfortunate. So thank you. MS. LEY: Thank you, Ms. Poindexter. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Poindexter. MS. LEY: So if I may, that kind of leads us our second to our last slide, where I just want to wrap up and just acknowledge that, as Ms. Poindexter just acknowledged, this is a learning lesson for us all. It's been fast-tracked. I think we had the money since about June 18. We were very strict about following state and federal procurement requirements, but we've also tried to be really nimble and flexible where we can. But your points are well- taken on ensuring there are contingencies that may be needed in the future. (Note: At this time, Ms. Ley continued with the PowerPoint presentation.) CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Ley. Council Members, any other questions for our panel here today? MS. LEE LOY: Yes, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you again. First of all, I've got to appreciate the data, because earlier in our agenda we approved our nonprofit grant-in-aid awards, and so actually the work that you folks did will now dovetail nicely into the nonprofit grant-in-aid awards. So I'm really looking forward to some of the mapping and the data that you guys provided. One thing I know, Diane, you and I talked about over the weekend, was other sources of funding, like other philanthropical organizations. Because it's my hope between the CARES money and nonprofit grant-in-aid money and then our philanthropical community that we could actually create a very nice safety net Page 20 FC-42 October 20,2020 with a multi-prong approach. And so I was wondering if you had any more of those other sources of income. Because I'm sure people will ask, and they don't fit nicely into this CARES money, but there might be others. MS. LEY: So again, on this website, hawaiicounty.gov/cares, we have multiple dropdown menus. And on the left-hand column are other additional resources, again, for businesses, nonprofits. We're starting to do some for families. But the nonprofit world, you know, it encompasses a broad range of services. And so we try to stay aware of resources that are available and concurrent, whether they are local, statewide, or national, and post those immediately. We push those out via—if they look like they're relevant to our community and they're not like maybe a $5,000 grant that's available nationwide and it doesn't look like, you know, we're going to be competitive in, we push the ones that are likely to be competitive that we are going to be competitive in, we push those out via e-News blasts, and R&D has a server list of about 80 different organizations, so we push those out, as well. Yeah, we just try to stay current. Anytime we can get information, whether it's from the news media or different folks, you know,passing off information. Trying to build that network again, yeah. MS. LEE LOY: Well, thank you. You know, I think, one nice set-out, it was about progress, accountability, and I think you folks have demonstrated that with this presentation. So thank you so much. Chair, I yield at this time. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else in Hilo? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I have a question, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Steve,just a general question. So when we track expended funds, we're talking about spending down the $80 million. Are encumbered funds counted as expended? Or do all funds have to—it's kind of been a rolling question, do all funds have to be spent by all the entities before December 30th? MR. HUNT: So the larger answer to the question is yes, it has to be expended. We can't encumber funds with a contract before December 30, and then expend them January, February. It actually has to be spent down. We did have discussion, because the federal portal that the information is entered into, called Grant Solutions, had a term called "obligated." And obligated, essentially, in a round term, is encumbered. But when we look back because there's the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and then there's the U.S. Treasury, Page 21 FC-42 October 20,2020 who are the two agencies we're dealing with, the OIG is going to be doing the audit, but the Treasury is who sets the guidelines. The guidelines from Treasury, when we had this discussion we went back the guidelines set by Treasury, and it says expenses must be incurred, and under that it means you either have to have sent out the funding or have received the goods or services, but have an invoice that could come later. So it's one of the two; you either have to have services or products before December 30 or you have to expend the funds out of your account. I wouldn't call it prepay, but you know, you've purchased them with an invoice and you're still awaiting receival. An example might be, maybe you have a vendor that has delivered their products to, say it's PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), you've delivered it to a dock in San Diego or Los Angeles, the dock has received them so the vendor no longer has control, on those rare instances, we could do. You know, it's more an exception than the rule, but we could make an advance payment to the vendor saying, "The docks now have them. They're in process of being received." Now that we've sent the money by December 30, it's considered expended. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Okay, so if there was some last-minute things or some money that needed to be spent, we could actually do some fairly last-minute purchases as long as the money was spent and the goods were incoming or service was incoming. MR. HUNT: Correct. And our thoughts were, again, you know, stockpile PPE. Because, you know,just because the expenditure deadline, December 30, comes around, doesn't mean we're in the clear and our operations aren't going to need PPE and sanitizer, right? Similarly, if we can buy some shelf-stable food, although we love the local produce and stuff, still, to be able to provide that and get it out into the community, whether it's the Food Basket or other hubs to deliver that, if we have that on stock and in control of the County before December, we can extend those programs. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Alright. Even the testing. Anything to do with testing. MR. HUNT: Right, yeah. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Because maybe we'll be opening to inter-island residents and travelers getting tested, as well. MS. LEY: And if I may,just kind of elaborate on that. You know,the CARES Act was broad, and the Coronavirus Relief Fund is one pot of resources,the $80 million. But we've also, and I believe you're all aware of, the Community Block Development Grant—Coronavirus Funds, had been made available. And Page 22 FC-42 October 20,2020 those don't have that short timeline. So as an example, and I didn't mention it earlier when we had that conversation around the Food Basket, but they've received funding through that program. So it is a County program. But those dollars have up until two years, I believe, to be spent down. So that is, again, another one of our safety nets. So when we talked with them about initiatives that they may be funding, we're like talking to them like, okay, can we spend down our resources the resources that R&D (Department of Research and Development) has been responsible for, can we spend that down first and then target the programs that—you know, Office of Housing is responsible for funding? So trying to make sure that we stretch the dollars, get them all out there. This is a huge infusion of cash into our community. We need it, every dollar we can. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We did. We needed it. MS. LEY: Yeah. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And mahalo for what you guys have done, everyone. I know there's a lot of people at work, but just mahalo to everyone for making this happen. MS. LEY: I appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else in Hilo? Any questions? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I had a question for Sharon. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I didn't get to ask it earlier, Sharon. And thank you all for your hard work. I know you guys are working 24/7 on this for our community, so thank you. Just really curious, because a significant amount of our Coronavirus Relief Funds is dedicated to RMAP (Rent Mortgage Assistance Program) and utilities assistance. I mean, about how many more families are you going to be able fund? And are you guys funding all the way back, from like March, if families were experiencing financial hardship back then? Just getting a sense of how much is left and far back you guys are helping families. Page 23 FC-42 October 20,2020 MS. HIROTA: So based on the spend-down, we spent about 50 percent thus far. Yes, we are going back to March; so date of hardship. So if they were laid off at the end of February, reduction in household income goes back to March, we're paying March forward. March until current. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And it goes direct to the landlord or property manager or that entity, correct? MS. HIROTA: Correct. A financial institution, landlord, property manager. Unless the household paid out of their own personal funds, then we will reimburse the household directly. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Oh, I see. Okay. MS. HIROTA: So it's very case-by-case, right? So if you're in arrears and we need to get you caught up, and you haven't paid or you've only paid a portion, we will pay what is owed to the landlord, right? If you paid 100 percent out of other resources that you had, then we will reimburse you. To either pay down your credit card or put it back in your savings. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, so that answers my question about what Steve was talking about earlier, about replenishing savings account or kid's college fund? MS. HIROTA: Correct. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, got it. So let meI can't remember. You funded 2,700 different families with this program? MS. HIROTA: Eight hundred twelve families. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MS. HIROTA: That comprise of 2,200 family members. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Members. Got it. MS. HIROTA: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And so all of those folks that you've funded to date, you've kind of resolved them all the way back to March, and you've projected out to helping them through the end of the year? MS. HIROTA: Correct. So we've paid based on what their need was up until the date we paid; and if they continue to have a need, have not returned back to work, continue to collect unemployment, or whatever their family situation is, then we are paying in the month that it is due. So October for October, so we're not prepaying. At the end of October, they do another round of certification; you're Page 24 FC-42 October 20,2020 still in the same situation, we will pay November. And we will do the same for December. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So they kind of have to reapply? MS. HIROTA: They don't need to resubmit an application. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Just prove they still have hardship. MS. HIROTA: Correct. The nonprofits are making the follow-up calls back to the families. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And then is thereI'm sorry, I haven't been on the CARES' website in a little while. But is there like a breakdown geographically of where this funding is going, and supporting which households? MS. HIROTA: Yeah, so if you go to the hawaii.county MS. KIERKIEWICZ: There's a heat map like the food? MS. HIROTA: There's a heat map. Actually, our map has a website of its own. So it will show you where the applicants the applicants that have applied versus—and data on the applicants that have been approved. And it breaks down for those families who are ineligible to receive fund; it tells you why. So there's a whole breakdown. Duplicate application is the number one. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Got it. Thank you. I appreciate all the data-driven approaches that we're taking with this. Steve, a question for you. Earlier in the year, when the administration presented to us, sort of like the different scenes, the buckets that they were going to be using CARES money for, there's like about$10 million contingency. MR. HUNT: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Is all of that spoken for here in the major administrative projects and expenses committed? MR. HUNT: Yeah. So $900,000 obviously went to Council. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And we're appreciative. MR. HUNT: Yes, and the $9.1 (million) that was earmarked, initially Public Safety has been slowly committed over time. The bigger projects, being additional housing for quarantining and providing the wrap around services. Department of Health decided that the County should do that instead of the State, so we've used some of our funding for that. Page 25 FC-42 October 20,2020 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Say that again, the State has put it on each of the counties or just this county to get its own quarantine housing. MR. HUNT: Yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And food support. MR. HUNT: Correct. So initially the County of Hawaii volunteered to provide some of that housing for quarantine. But as the numbers substantially increased months ago, we realized that was going to be woefully insufficient, so we started looking at additional facilities. And the State, at the time, was doing what we call the wrap-around services. Bringing food, if they needed medical supplies, doing laundry service, taking out trash, while they're in that 14-day quarantine. So logistically, they decided that the County was better adept to do that. Granted it's CARES money versus CARES money, they've just decided that the County should be doing it instead. So we've allocated from our remaining CARES money. That was a big chunk of it. More recently, about$3.5 million, through an emergency procurement, to do the testing at the airports. That was another big chunk of that. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And I want to stay on the testing for just a second, and go back to quarantine. So for the testing, the $3.5 million, that's to purchase the test and also to get it read by someone. MR. HUNT: Right now it's the full services. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. HUNT: So we have contracted with Premier Medical to do that. They're providing the antigen test kits, the machinery that runs them, the staffing. I think they're still ramping up on staffing. I myself actually was out here on Friday, and I know a lot of—R&D has been out there volunteering to help make those lines move a little better. So hopefully they'll be fully-staffed, where they don't rely on some of the County staff to do that. But it is the full gamut they provide. That the printout of the results, and then they're dismissed or quarantined at that point. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Hypothetically speaking, if there's some extra test beyond December 31", but we've paid them whatever, $3.5 million to do the testing, can we still get them to read and administer those tests beyond December 31 sty MR. HUNT: We cannot prepay for services. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I see, okay. Page 26 FC-42 October 20,2020 MR. HUNT: So the test themselves, if they are paid for, they're, you know, essentially our property I guess at that point. So if there's not a shelf life or they don't need to be refrigerated or things that we would have to make accommodations for, we could probably stockpile the test vials or whatever they are. But as far as the actual services to run the machines and the staffing, that would have to come from another source of funds. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. I think that just answered my other question, around quarantine, homes and hotels for quarantining individuals. We can't just contract somebody for a year, pay for rent to quarantine? MR. HUNT: Correct. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, got it. Last question, it's more a feel good one. You know, what are some lessons learned? What things have kind of surprised you in working with community? I mean, it's such a—it's a massive, collaborative effort in such a short span of time. Just curious about some reflections. And then maybe even going forward at the end of this project, if you could submit a report to the Council about just some ways that we can be working more closely with community. And I say that because we've got $2.5 million available to the Council next year to support nonprofit grant-in-aid. So really looking to lean on some of the lessons that you've learned on how we can better connect our community with each other. MS. HIROTA: I'll start and then I'll let Diane close out. So I think—at least over the contracts that I'm managing with the community and family resilience, the rent and mortgage as well as the utility assistance, it really has come down to allowing the community to define what their needs are, right? I mean, government can define in big picture, the end results. But ultimately, you know, the decision to go off an RFP (Request for Proposal), and then allow the community to come forward to describe their programs and then watch them actually implement it in their communities, is just amazing. I've sat on multiple calls with different groups, and how they've come together to be a team. I mean, when you look at the RMAP—and we're looking at six local organizations who meet on a weekly basis, everyone's there at 2:00 o'clock, and just hash it out, right,to ensure no duplication of assistance; to ensure a really smooth, efficient way of processing applications. It just blows my mind. I mean, you look at Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union, who stepped up to the plate and said, "We will do this." And then to subcontract with six other local credit unions, who otherwise all work in their individual silos, and have them use the same application and the same processing protocols. Using the same database to feed the data so that we can report the data to you in a timely manner. Is just amazing, I mean, it's amazing. Page 27 FC-42 October 20,2020 Okay, whenI think what Diane shared, about no food going to waste. I mean, watching and listening to different organizations, like huiMAU in Hamakua, who says, "I have extras," and giving it to the next nonprofit who's doing a delivery the next day. And then sharing it with their community, it's justI get chicken skin. It's just amazing. So we'reI mean, as much as—you know, we get the thank yous. It's actually the thank you to the community for stepping up and really delivering on the ground, the work. We're just the vehicle and the funder. But ultimately, they're the ones doing the work. So thank you for allowing me to share. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Sharon. Steve, Diane, did you want to share any reflections? MR. HUNT: Just to echo what Sharon said too, especially about the credit unions. When we did do the RFP, we allowed for up to ten percent of administrative cost, and they came in, I think it was 4.2, 4.3 percent, something like that. So the work that they're doing and the staffing that they're providing and dedicating to this is pretty phenomenal given they're only taking a very, very small percentage of the allowable, much less the actual funding. So to be able to get the funds into the community at the highest rate of efficiency, I just found phenomenal. MS. LEY: Okay, well, I'm going to jump in and close, unless Riley raises his hand. MR. SAITO: Yeah,just another point with the public funds. You know, the key point of not duplicating expenses. And so with the credit union, they work with the rent and mortgage folks, and the utility, non-governmental utility. This is all going into one database that's verifying that there's no duplication of expenses. So each day the credit union batches it at 5:00 o'clock, all the ones that are eligible for funding. And it's vetted into the same database as the rent and mortgage and utility information, and the next day they get the approved list, and off of that list, they cut the checks. So it's not only, you know, the individual programs. So yeah, with six credit unions, they're good. With the government nonprofit grants, then you have the six entities nonprofits working on rent and mortgage. But the data is being crossed over, analyzed, and verified. MS. LEY: Okay, and then I'll close out that comment. I think that, you know, again, our—for profits and nonprofits have all stepped up beyond their normal mission and their normal workload, and given once they recognize the great need in our community, the hurt that's out there, the challenges that are out there, but they gave willingly with true hearts and true service to our `ohana as a whole island. Page 28 FC-42 October 20,2020 And while we in government—and community advocates like to talk about resiliency, that's what I've seen through this whole process. That people are reaching out to each other. We can't always touch each other now, and hug each other. But we can reach out and we can make a difference. We are a strong island, and I'm really proud of our communities for that. I didn't mean to get emotional there, but You know, it's been a haul. But, you know, this community is stronger for it all, and it's united, I think. So thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, thank you much for thank you so much for sharing that, and for all of your hard work in doing this. I've always been a fan of the concept of community-driven, government supported. And we listen to community and empower them, as we've done here with the CARES Act money, I mean, some real magic happens. So thank you for helping to make that magic happen. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? I believe that was a great closing. And if no one else has anything else to say, I would just like to say mahalo nui to Diane Ley, Steve Hunt, Riley Saito, and Sharon Hirota. What you folks have done is outstanding, like we heard from you and your presentation. So I really appreciate it. The community thanks you. We thank you. And thank you for all your good work. So on that note, all those in favor of filing Communication 1098, please say Ic aye. Vote on Comm. 1098: The motion to close file on Comm. 1098 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair David–8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards – 1. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.) Page 29