HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0044.008 2020-2022 i
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ALOHA,
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My name is Diane Blancett-Maddock and I am a full-time resident of Kona.
oppose the nomination of Zendo Kern for County Planning Director due to
his lack of minimum qualifications and his current conflicts of interest.
David and I are friends of Mitch and Noriko and supported his run for
mayor. In WHT, Mitch was quoted as saying "he wants to send a message
that Kona voices matter". We are the voices of KONA. But Mitch is not
listening.
The most effective way to influence and have our voices heard during this
pandemic was through email letters. Since Zendo's nomination was first
announced to the public, you have been receiving a flood of opposition
letters from constituents across the island; Even WHT admits that it has
more opposition letters than they can print, and according to Sunday's
Paper, none supporting this Zendo.
There are many reasons not to confirm this nomination, and I urge you t6Ly-,
vote NO. But I only have 3 mins, so I will concentrate on only two of them.
— qualifications and fitness:
The County Charter in Section 6.7.2 states the minimum
QUALIFICATIONS for the appointment of Planning Director:
The County charter provides specific minimum requirements for
appointment of a planning Director . NONE OF WHICH Zendo has shown
to possess,
Section 6.7.2 of the Hawaii County Charter provides in pertinent part:
Section 6-7.2. Planning Director.
(a) The planning director shall have had a minimum of five
years of training and experience in a responsible planning
position, or a degree in planning, engineering architecture,
geography, or another planning-related field and three
years of experience in a responsible planning position. No
less than three years of experience shall have been in an
administrative capacity.
C®rr m' Q.. —0
Ref. To: MIK)
This is a two part requirement. FIRST
1) "planning director shall have had a minimum of five years of
training and experience in a responsible planning position,"
There has been no public statement that the candidate has any
training and experience in any recognized governmental planning
position. Candidate only seems to claim consulting experience in his
own company.
OR
2) 99 a degree in planning, engineering architecture, geography,
or another planning-related field and three years of experience
in a responsible planning position."
There has been no claim that this candidate possesses any
education beyond attendance in public school through the 10 grade
and home schooling.
SECOND,
(a) No less than three years of experience shall have been
in an administrative capacity.
There has been no claim that this candidate has ever served in any
administrative capacity with any agency of any local, state or federal
planning agency. In fact, there is no publicly disclosed claim that this
candidate has ever been employed in any capacity of administration with
any governmental agency.
The Charter specifically states that Council must not confirm any nominee
who does not meet these minimum requirements. Zendo does not meet
these minimum requirements, and I urge you to VOTE NO.
In any confirmation, the fitness of a nominee is at issue.
This candidate has extensive current (2020) and past conflicts because of
his representation of developers and clients (especially on the West side of
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Hawaii} whose projects are currently before the planning department or will
come before the planning department. These direct conflicts will seriously
impact this candidate's ability to perform the essential functions of this
position.
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Simply permitting Zendo to state that he doesn't think conflicts of interest
will be a problem or that simply declare that he does not have a conflict is
not sufficient. Such declarations alone will open the County and the
Taxpayers to a potential flood of litigation.
The County would have to place serious restrictions on this director TO
AVOID conflicts with current and past clients. The County would have to
develop a list of clients who pose a potential conflict and make it available
to the public.
This Director would prohibited from any involvement in the review,
recommendations or approvals of conflicted projects. The Director would
be prohibited from any direct or indirect involvement or supervision of
employees working on these projects and not have any access to the
internal files of any projects of his prior clients.
These constraints would not only severely impact Zendo's ability to carry
out his essential duties, but cripple the essential functions of the entire
planning department.
In conclusion, please VOTE NO on this nomination because Zendo lacks
even the minimum requirements and presents conflicts of interest that
impacts his ability to perform the essential function of the Planning Director
position.
Thank you