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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PWMTC 2021/01/05 2020-2022Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit l't Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii January 5, 2021 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit ORDER: was called to order at 9:55 a.m. in the Council Chambers, Hilo, Hawaii, by Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather Kimball, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona) STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Cory Harden: Riley Smith: (representing Lanihau Properties, LLC) Janice Palma-Glennie: Comm. 38, in opposition. (See Comm. 38.4.) Comm. 38, in support. (See Comm. 38.7.) Comm. 38, in opposition. Also, see the following written testimonies, which were presented at the meeting: Julia Alos: Comm. 38.1, in support. Harriet Burkholder: Comm. 38.2, in opposition. Sylvia Dolena: Comm. 38.3, comment. PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 Kimiko Knight: Comm. 38.5, in opposition. Harry Takiue: Comm. 38.8, in support. Craig S. Takamine: Comm. 38.9, in support. (representing Takamine Construction, Inc.) Deborah Ward: Comm. 38.10, in opposition. (representing Sierra Club Hawaii Island Group) CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Clerk, please, Communication 38. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 38: APPOINTMENT OF STEVEN L RODENHURST AS PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated December 8, 2020, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: February 5, 2021 (Section 13-8, Hawaii County Charter) Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend confirmation of the appointment of Mr. Steven L Rodenhurst as Public Works Director. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. (Note: At this time, Mayor Mitchell D. Roth and Acting Public Works Director Steven L Rodenhurst came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Roth, please, introduce our candidate for Public Works. MAYOR ROTH: And members of the County Council, thank you very much for this opportunity to talk about Steven Ikaika Rodenhurst as our next Public Works Director. As I've said earlier, the way went through this is we had a group of people from all over the community go out and do the interviews and go through the vetting process. I'd like to say that at the very forefront of the vetting process, to make sure that everything was in order, we had Doug Shipman Adams, who you'll be seeing as our R&D (Research and Development) Director later on, who also was the Chair of the Charter Commission, doing vetting. We went out and we reached Page 2 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 out to other people. We've talked to lawyers; we've talked to the Human Resources. In fact, we'll have Bill Brilhante, our Director of Human Resources, to come up and talk about the qualifications. And the qualifications for Public Works Director requires One of the most difficult things to find is someone who has an engineering license. That's the first and probably the most important thing that the Charter has for this division. The second one, it has five years of administrative experience. Mr. Rodenhurst has more than five years of administrative experience; he has nine years working on just the things that Mr. Smith has talked about. What I really like about Mr. Rodenhurst—first off, I didn't know Mr. Rodenhurst until this year. I met him a couple of times at a couple of community events. A sign -waving for missing children that Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder put on, and at another event out in the community. I've since learned a lot more about Mr. Rodenhurst; not only was he football player for the University of Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools, and for Oregon State, but Mr. Rodenhurst has taken a very active role in this community. He's been on his church's praise and worship team. He's been out to the community. They've helped do feedings during the lava flow, and done other things out in the community to help his community. I think what really has impressed me is getting to know Mr. Rodenhurst has been really exciting. He's a big guy, but he's a gentle giant and very soft-spoken. But he asks a lot of really good questions. And what's really important to me is watching him in action with his team, how he treats the people in Public Works and how he treats people in the community, with dignity and respect. I can think of one meeting, where I was sitting down and talking to Mr. Rodenhurst and several members from Public Works about changing and fixing the permitting process because we have serious problems in that area—and, you know, my belief is that we should be helping people thrive and succeed—and members of the department—there was some people that actually said, "Well, it's not our job to help them make their plans." So I was on one end, his team was on another end, and he kind of was in the middle trying to bring peace. I think that's going to be important as we move forward making changes, positive changes, for our community. I am excited about his ability. I have no question whatsoever in his legal—legally meeting the requirements of the Charter. His experience far exceeds what is needed. I'd like to ask, if I may, Bill Brilhante, the Director of Human Resources, who I've asked to go through their process on what they would find, as well. Page 3 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 (Note: At this time, Human Resources Director William V. Brilhante, Jr., came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mayor Roth. Go ahead, Mr. Brilhante. MR. BRILHANTE: Good morning. William Brilhante, Director, Department of Human Resources. Mayor Roth requested that I be here to testify as to some of the discussions we've had prior to today's hearing—committee meeting. You know, initially I was involved in the process, when Mayor Roth asked our department to vet couple of the proposed appointments for the various departments, and the specific question was whether or not they met the minimum qualifications that were specified in the Charter. So as it relates to Mr. Rodenhurst, generally our department doesn't get involved with vetting or qualifying appointments, mayoral appointments. We do the vetting for competitive recruitments departmental. But when it comes to the appointment of a department head, the process is clearly specified in the Charter, the mayor makes the appointment and the Council does the vetting. So with that in mind, you know, as the background, the request was made to our office to determine whether or not several of the proposed nominees met the minimum qualifications; since it wasn't our responsibility, I didn't want to you know, we didn't go through the formal process, but my office did conduct an informal vetting of this particular applicant. I sent the request to my Recruitment Examination Division, and they applied the general standards that they do to all of what would be considered an excluded management or supervisory type position. And in that regards, based on Mr. Rodenhurst's resume, he clearly exceeded the minimum requirements of the position that's identified in the Charter. He has the registered professional engineering degree, and in our determination, he exceeded the five years of administrative capacity. Our definition, generally the terms we look for when we're vetting an applicant as to whether or not they have administrative capacity, we look at: do they have the ability—or did they have the responsibility in their position to be part of a selection process, did they do the hiring and firing of employees, did they supervise employees, and did they have managerial responsibilities? And when we looked at the, again, the resume for Mr. Rodenhurst, he possessed far than, you know, greater than the five-year requirement for administrative responsibilities. Happy to answer any questions anybody may have. CHR. LEE LOY: Any of my colleagues, questions for Mayor Roth or Mr. Brilhante? Anyone in Kona? Alright, seeing none, Mr. Rodenhurst, please. Oh, I'm sorry, was that someone from Kona? MR.INABA: Yes. Page 4 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha, Mr. Brilhante. May I ask you a question? CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Villegas, is that you? MS. VILLEGAS: It's me. CHR. LEE LOY: Okay, thank you. MS. VILLEGAS: Sure. I just wanted to ask Mr. Brilhante a question. MR. BRILHANTE: Sure. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Did you—was Human Resources asked to vet the qualifications of all of the applicants for the DPW (Department of Public Works) director position? MR. BRILHANTE: We were—it was a general request, and what I did was some of the nominees, it seemed to be—wouldn't—it was determined to be not problematic, Deanna Sako and the like. So the ones I actually have my MS. VILLEGAS: I'm sorry, I'm speaking specifically about DPW. MR. BRILHANTE: In this case, we were just requested to vet this specific nominee. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. That's all I needed to know. MR. BRILHANTE: I would like to add too, if it's okay, Ms. Lee Loy? CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Mr. Brilhante. MR. BRILHANTE: You know, one of the great things about our process is that when a particular individual is nominated for all but the Office of the Corporation Counsel, they serve in an acting capacity. And I've had the pleasure of—or I have had experiences working with Mr. Rodenhurst in these past several weeks, as he served as the Acting Director. And one of the issues we had was a pretty significant employee labor relations matter. And, you know, we engaged in discussions with Mr. Rodenhurst in his official capacity, and I was really impressed with the amount of diligence, thought and steadfast, and knowledge -base that he had as it related to this employment situation. You know, even to the point where you know, I think even my staff was quite impressed as well. Comments were made following that meeting as well as, you know, comments came from the Deputy Corporation Counsel who was involved with that. Page 5 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 And I think if that's type of decision-making capacity he has, as it relates to personnel matters because more often than not in these type of departmental situations, it's the personnel matters that become really problematic in the long run. And I think if that's the type of decision-making capacity and direction he has, like I said I was very impressed, and I think he'll make a great, in my opinion, he would make a good department head. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Brilhante. I'm trusting, Ms. Villegas, you've yield the floor? Alright. Anyone else in Kona? MS. DAVID: Aloha, Chair Lee Loy. CHR. LEE LOY: Yes, go ahead, Chair David. MS. DAVID: Yeah, I have just one question. I believe this might be for Mayor Roth, if he's still in the room. MAYOR ROTH: I'm sorry, I'm here. MS. DAVID: Well, good morning, Mayor. I didn't the screen. MAYOR ROTH: Good morning, Chair David. MS. DAVID: Good morning. I have just one question. Were there any applicants that applied for this position out of the Department of Public Works that currently work in the department? Were there any applicants? MAYOR ROTH: I'm trying to think. I do not believe there were any. I know we have Mr. Smith. I don't believe we had any from the department that were applying. MS. DAVID: I see. Okay, thank you. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. David, we've kept Riley Smith, who was intimately involved in the vetting process, in our chatroom. Did you want to direct that question to him and get a deeper understanding of the candidates that they vetted? MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. Yes, maybe he can answer the question. Mr. Smith, thank you. We can't hear you. (Note: At this time, Riley Smith came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. SMITH: Sorry for that. There were no candidates from within the Department of Public Works for this position. Page 6 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MS. DAVID: I see. So aside from Mr. Rodenhurst, how many other candidates were vetted, about? MR. SMITH: Yeah, I believe we had four candidates. MS. DAVID: Four candidates, I see. Okay. Alright, I'll yield for now. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Mr. Rodenhurst, please? MR. RODENHURST: Aloha, Council. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Rodenhurst. Introduce yourself. MR. RODENHURST: Okay, I just want to say mahalo really quick to the public for their input, and mahalo to Mayor Roth for his explanation, and mahalo to Bill Brilhante for his explanation. My name is Steven Ikaika Rodenhurst. I am the Director -select for Public Works. I have been employed with Bowers + Kubota previously for nine -plus years as a civil engineer, and working primarily with construction management projects in the capacity with DOE (Department of Education), DOT (Department of Transportation), and the County. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve the public, and I welcome any questions regarding my qualifications or my approach to this. So I look forward to what has to be said. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Rodenhurst. Any members of the Council? Shall I start in Kona? I have a light here in Hilo. Go ahead, Mr. Richards, please. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Thank you, Chair. Mr. Rodenhurst, doesn't seem like anyone is questioning your credentials as far as being an engineer, but the questions of your basic management experience. Mr. Smith expanded on that; and, Riley, I may come back and ask you a question on that. But in your own words, please explain your experience as it pertains to the management, that gives you the credentials. The Mayor has supported your position, obviously; our Director of HR (Human Resources) has. And so, I want to hear on your own words. MR. RODENHURST: Thank you, Council Member Richards. My own words, I've always had some level of administrative capacity in my work, whether it be managing inspectors; managing administrative assistants; managing other engineers; managing contractors; coordinating with agencies, whether it be State or County, coordinating with utilities, coordinating with consultants and designers. Page 7 PWMTC-1 Point of Personal Information January 5, 2021 Like Riley brought up, from the beginning I've dealt with people that are years ahead of me of experience in the field that are older than my parents, and I've had to manage those skills and see how I can work with them and bring them up to speed with my knowledge as an engineer versus their experience in their field. I've gone through the process within my own company of hiring more folks on our team with Bowers+Kubota, when I was employed with them. And I've been through the process of working with people, whether it be coordinating a project, whether it be coordinating a specific task, whether it be coordinating an approval for material certs (certificates). Those kind of things are every day practice as an engineer working in construction. So some of my knowledge, I do exceed the expectations of five years in administrative experience. Is there anything else you need me to elaborate on? MR. RICHARDS: No, like I said, I wanted to hear it in your words. One of the things we have with our Mayor isor one of the comments made by our Mayor is that he is an attorney, and he is very close to the law. And I value that opinion and perspective. And so I just want to hear in your words, verbally—Mr. Smith, do you have any further comments concerning the qualification minimum being met? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, I have a point of personal information. I'm just noticing on your resume, Mr. Rodenhurst, that you have Mr. Richards labeled as a reference. So if you could just explain the connection between you and Mr. Richards, or why he's a reference on your resume so that I may understand as we begin to have questioning from one of the Council Members you have listed as a reference. CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Rodenhurst, hang on one second. I'm going to let Mr. Richards follow finish the questioning with Mr. Smith, and then we'll follow up with your question. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Actually, I prefer the answer now before we get further into this. CHR. LEE LOY: The decision of the Chair is to allow Mr. Richards, who has the floor right now, to finish and allow Mr. Smith to provide the answer to his question, and then we can follow up with yours. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: If that's the Chair's decision. CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Mr. Smith. MR. SMITH: Alright. Thank you, Chair Lee Loy. Aloha, Council Member Richards. Just to elaborate on your question, so I'll just rely back on my own personal experience. Before I was the Deputy Chief Engineer at Public Works, I Page 8 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 worked for land planning consultant. At that position, I maybe supervised one or two people, but I dealt with other consultants, contractors, clients. In my past experience working with both Parker Ranch and Lanihau Properties now, I only directly supervised two or three people, but I manage probably about 50 to 100 others that are engineers, architects, contractors, attorneys. So I don't want any of you to be misconstrued or misunderstand that administrative experience has to be from a direct report. If you manage consultants, if you manage administrative staff, if you manage your inspectors, your clients; if you follow through on federal and state funding guidelines and deal with all those administrative responsibilities, that's all part of doing your job even though you may not have that many folks that report directly to you. So for those reasons, when our interview panel looked at Mr. Rodenhurst's qualifications, we felt that he easily met all the administrative and managerial responsibilities that this job requires. And in my talking to him and getting that comfort level, I felt that he would be an excellent choice as the director for the department. Thank you. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Mr. Smith. CHR. LEE LOY: Yeah, hang on, Mr. Richards. Now at this point, I know Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder had a follow-up question. I still recognize that Mr. Richards has the floor, but if you could please elaborate because I'm just really trying to keep all of it in context. And so, Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder, you had a question regarding on his curriculum vitae there was a reference, and Mr. Richards was one of those members on his—go ahead, Mr. Rodenhurst. MR. RODENHURST: Yes. Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder, for the question. I met Council Member Richards over this previous year. In my personal endeavors in trying to serve the community, I campaigned for Council, and in that process I researched some of the current members and how they handle their responsibility as Council as well as how they handle their personal lives and professional lives. Council Member Richards came up as someone that was working as an active veterinarian. He also had background in agriculture, which as you know in our community is a big deal. So I contacted Mr. Richards and talked with him, to get a little insight on how it works as a Council Member. How you can balance those lives. And we established communications on just general conversations on how it is to balance professional and a job working and serving for the County. Is there anything else you want me to elaborate on? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: No, I was just trying to understand the reference to one of the people who is deciding on your confirmation today. Thank you for your explanation. Page 9 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MR. RICHARDS: Chair, a quick comment on that? CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Matt, one of the things is I knew his great-grandfather in Kohala. Rodenhurst is not a real common name. And so when he contacted me there was a Rodenhurst that worked for the plantation in Kohala, and so our families new each other generations ago. So that was part of our conversation. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. I see Ms. Kimball's light on. Go ahead, Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair Lee Loy. Hi, welcome, Ikaika. I will just reiterate again that I certainly appreciate the separation of powers and the responsibility of the Executive Branch to appoint a cabinet that they feel comfortable working with, and as Mr. Brilhante pointed out, it is our job to vet you. We have met before. And I will say that there have been concerns raised about what your motives are, and I find you to be bright individual who genuinely does care about the community. I'm going to be hard on you today because I think that you have probably one of the most difficult jobs in this County ahead of you, and it is important to me that you are capable of doing that job. I'd like to start by asking you, giving the opportunity to express your motivation for seeking this position, and I think that will speak to your intentions to the public. So can you share your motivations for seeking this position? MR. RODENHURST: Yes. And mahalo, Council Member Kimball, for the question. And I agree with you, it is in my eyes, it's one of the most difficult positions. There's a lot that the Department of Public Works is responsible for, and there are a lot of challenges to face. The reason I'm here the reason why I applied for this position is I want to serve my community to the best of my ability with the skillset I possess. I want to give everything I have to this community. I seeI share the same vision that Mayor Roth shares, I want to see our community thrive and succeed. I want to see our future generations have opportunities. I have three young children. I coach the youth of our community. I've helped coach some of my friends' kids, and I want to see them grow up in a place where there's opportunity to grow, opportunity to succeed in their lives, not just for us today or for us tomorrow, but for our children, our children's children. Page 10 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 We talked about, or as Mayor Roth touched on it, I do have a faith background. I am a Christian. I do believe in generational thinking and what is going to happen down the line for our generation. So I want to help do my part and take care of our community and serve in this host capacity. Is there anything else I can elaborate on? MS. KIMBALL: Yes, and that you lead nicely into my next couple of questions, which is, what skillsets do you possess that you think are most critical to this position? And secondly, you talked about success and thriving, what does that look like in your opinion? MR. RODENHURST: Thank you. The skillset I possess is I have actively been working as an engineer in the past nine years within the State on various projects, whether it be Department of Education projects. Things such as fire alarm upgrades, renovations, track and field upgrades, football fields, to roadway projects, utility improvements, and just a wide variety of projects. And each of these projects involve a different level of government and private and partnership, whether it be a private consultant, a State Highways project involving federal funds, a County project that's federally -funded that's involving State oversight, multi -layers. And I'm able—in the past, I've been able to navigate those waters and communicate effectively with everybody. Get everybody to the table, and getting us moving forward. But obviously, there's been challenges. I mean, I don't know of a single construction project that there wasn't a challenge. So I've actively been working on projects that have problems, and working on making solutions for those problems. As far as success, what I see as success is a working infrastructure, and safe regulatory procedures that take care of not just our people but our environment, and that we are conscious of those factors. Sometimes there are misconceptions of engineers just want to develop and they just want to build, build, build. That's not the case, in my perspective. We need to definitely take a look at how we impact the world around us. It's something that instill in my kids; I instill in my players. And I'm constantly harping on it, we need to see how we're affecting the world around us. And one of my overarching themes from when I was a kid, that was brought up by my teachers, my grandparents, my parents, "Leave the world a better place than you found it." We have a lot of issues, and it's easy to harp on the negatives right now. But we have a lot of good people working at the Department of Public Works and the County, in general. We just need to find our way through this and succeed, and work towards that. And I plan to give everybody in the department an opportunity to succeed. I think we all deserve that. And I think with strong leadership that supports the people in the community and in the County and in the department, we can achieve that goal. Is there anything else on that? Page 11 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MS. KIMBALL: Yeah. I don't think anybody questions your skillset from the technical angle. Could you speak more specifically to the skillset that you think is important for someone in an administrative position? What are some of the key things that you think are important in that role? MR. RODENHURST: Definitely. One of the things that I see as key, especially for the Department of Public Works, having that knowledge, that technical background engineering, so that I can achieve understanding with the different divisions; but also having that communication to explain that to the Council, to the public it's key, and having transparency and communication is key. Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages to achieve understanding. It's not necessarily just sending it, but making sure the message being sent is understandable by the second parry; and that's where I see as my responsibility to bridge that gap, to connect these folks with technical knowledge, to the public to understand what exactly is going on, how is the Department of Public Works serving the public, as well as understanding where people are coming from. Because people are people, we're all human. We cannot be just defined by our job. Everybody has purpose; everybody has value. And understanding that and respecting that, and coming together as one moving forward, that's my goal. And I think that's important in an administrative position, is to find a way to work with everybody and do what's necessary to get the job done. Is there any more? MS. KIMBALL: Now, I'll move on to the next line of questioning, which is actually more specifics about your previous experience, and Mr. Brilhante touched upon this a little bit. What is your experience? You will have a multi-million dollar budget, of course with this department. So what is your experience working with budgets of that size? And secondly, you will have several direct reports as well as folks that are working divisions that don't directly report to you, but you will have certain responsibility over. So what is your experience in supervising or having managerial responsibility over, you know, more than 20 folks in your professional experience? MR. RODENHURST: Thank you. As far as the financial side, most of the projects that I've worked on were multi-million dollar projects. I think the greatest that I worked on was a $14 million project, and that's the biggest project I've worked on personally by myself. As far as working on a budget of my immediate subordinates, it's been a lot less than that. It's been in the tens of thousands, and it's—I've been part of that process in budgeting their time, what projects they're working on. I have budgeted on one particular project; at the most, probably about 20, 25 -plus Page 12 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 individuals, whether it be from contractors to consultants, to agency representatives, as well as inspectors and admin, and engineers. Sometimes—for example, in DOE projects, we were managing multiple projects at the same time, so I could have had as many as ten projects going on at once with ten different contractors, and balancing that is a task in itself. So I do have experience in multi -tasking with variety of different tasks at once with different individuals and really balancing the books on all of those. Is there anything else you would like me to elaborate on? MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, just in terms of direct reports. I mean, I'm presuming because of what Mr. Brilhante said, that you have had direct responsibility in terms of hiring and firing. Can you elaborate any further on professional experience with regard to dealing with difficult employee situations? MR. RODENHURST: Yes, I have had the opportunity to vet employees for the hiring of an administrative assistant position, the hiring of professional engineering position. I have had to deal with difficult employees, whether it be engineers and inspectors not getting along, whether it be difficult contractors, whether it be an agency not wanting to budge, or difficulty with getting things done and getting response out of anybody. It is a task. It is a skillset. It is sometimes identified as a soft-skillset, but I think it's sometimes more important than some of the "harder skillet," because it's working with people, and people aren't as simple as an equation, aren't as simple as a written word on a notepad. It's you're working with someone with a unique background, a unique skillset, and a unique lifestyle, and it's difficult. We've had to deal with people and really handle how to interact with others if there's an issue, we've dealt with it. We've madeI haven't had the necessity to fire anybody under my watch, but we have had requests that if certain people don't meet the certain requirements, that they be asked to be removed from the project site or the project all together, based upon requirements. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for that. I'll just conclude with just I want to get a sense of your vision. One of things that has been clear through the campaign cycle is the need to improve customer service at the department, and the attitude of customer response time, and overall the permitting process. So specifically, could you five examples of things that you would do to expedite the permitting process? That's the first part of the question. The second part, is we have a lot of infrastructure that is aging and needs to be addressed and we are continually, through DPW, it seems responding in crisis mode. What are your thoughts about, in the long-term, taking a more proactive approach towards maintaining infrastructure, and what are your thoughts about how to accomplish that? Is my question clear? Page 13 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MR. RODENHURST: Yes, and thank you for your questions. If I may address the aging infrastructure question first, since it's currently on my mind? Yes, we have a lot of aging infrastructure. We have issues that span not just in this past year or from these recent natural disasters we've experienced, but long-standing issues. And everything is important, but we need to prioritize. We cannot do everything at once; and obviously, this being the year after COVID started, budgets are tight. So we need to effective with our spending, and to make sure that how we're spending our money, we're getting the most out of our dollars. I totally agree with proactive construction. You know, addressing a problem before it becomes a problem is a lot more effective and is a lot more cost-effective than reactionary. Preparing for, you know, expansion of population and preparing for known hazards that we see coming, that's definitely something we need to anticipate, we need to prepare for. I'm all about that. I think we need to address our aging infrastructure. We need to maintain our current infrastructure; and that's one of my top goals, is maintaining what we currently have, while addressing the needs throughout our community, whether it be bridges in Hamakua, whether it be lava recovery efforts in Puna, whether it be evacuation routes in Waikoloa. We have a lot of work to do, and we just need to prioritize it and get at it, honestly. So I've already met with division heads to let them know my vision moving forward for infrastructure, and we're working on it right now. As far as five examples to expedite the permitting process, whew, I mean there are a lot we could do to improve. One, is being clear and consistent with our communications to the public, and making sure that what's given in the comments for one is what's given to comments for the other. We cannot have a moving target, as you will. We need to make sure that this process is understandable to the public, and we're working on that right now. We need to make sure that there's access to the public. One of the things we're striving to is online process, and making it available for all, especially during this time of COVID. Distance access to this information is crucial. As we all know, we live on a very big island, and it's not as easy to get across, even if it's on the west side of Kona, or it's in Hilo, or it's coming from Hamakua, coming from Ka`u, coming from Puna, it's—sometimes it's a task, and it would be more convenient if we can access information in the comfort of our homes and our places of business. I'm not sure if I got all five there. I think I had at least four to five. Would you like me to elaborate more on that one? MS. KIMBALL: If Chair will indulge me with one more follow-up, thank you. I just want to go back to the other question about infrastructure and prioritization, and just get a sense of your decision-making process with respect to prioritization. Page 14 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MR. RODENHURST: Yes, when I'm looking at prioritization, I'm looking at what level of safety is being provided. Because I believe it is our responsibility at Public Works to provide safe access. So the safety of the public is my first and foremost measure. After that, we're looking at how much we have to spend on this; what's our budget like, how can we effectively use this money, and also how it's affecting the environment, how it impacts the community? Like I said, I want to get the most out of how we spend our money, and making sure that we're taking care of our people and our environment. Does that answer the question? MS. KIMBALL: Yes, thank you. And thank you for putting up with all my questions. I appreciate it. MR. RODENHURST: No problem. I appreciate it. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for being here. I look forward to hearing your responses to some of the other questions. Thank you, Chair. MR. RODENHURST: Mahalo. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Rodenhurst. You know, I have several questions of concerns, areas of concern, or interest, and in no particular order. I'm just going to start off with EnerGov. Now, I understand, Mitch, one of your campaign goalsI don't know if you call it a "promise," but a goal was to really get really get EnerGov up and running within 100 days, right? That is an ambitious goal, and I hope you succeed in whatever we can do. MAYOR ROTH: (Inaudible, Mayor not speaking in microphone.) MR. CHUNG: Okay. Okay, but something to that effect, right? You wanted to move this thing ahead. Because for the last two—I mean, we were supposed to get this thing up and running in 2018, if I'm not mistaken, right? I don't know how everyone else here feels about it, but I've just been very tired of hearing every excuse in the book thrown at us. It's almost where I just tune it out already, yeah. But my understanding is EnerGov, your department is going to be—is it you guys or IT (Information of Technology)? Who is it going to be? MR. RODENHURST: Thank you, Council Member Chung, for the question. It's actually across multiple departments. Page 15 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MR. CHUNG: Okay. MR. RODENHURST: So we have DPW we have IT. The Fire Department is involved in it because they're part of the permitting process. We're also getting input from DEM (Department of Environmental Management) and DOH (Department of Health) for—it follows the permitting process. So we're getting input from everybody on this. But if you're asking the primary pushers for this, it is Planning, DPW, and IT. MR. CHUNG: Okay. Have you identified any problems as to the sources of why we haven't been able to successfully implement this application? Two years late; we're going on three years already. I mean, have you been able to identify it? I know you've only been on the job for a little while, but— MR. ut MR. RODENHURST: To answer that question, as far as having to identify the problem of why it's been delayed, I can't give that answer. My research right now is how we're going to get it issued in the next 100 -plus days. So that's what I'm looking at right now. I can't give you an explanation of why it wasn't, because I'm trying find out how we can. MR. CHUNG: Okay. MR. RODENHURST: And right now, I'm working closely—in fact, that's the the permitting system is my number one priority right now, for myself. Definitely I have a list of priorities, but delegating that one, I'm taking personal interest in this and keeping a close -eye on how we're going through the process; making sure we meet our deadlines and seeing what we can do to achieve this goal of getting the system out as soon as possible. MR. CHUNG: But is it safe to say that it is a priority? MR. RODENHURST: Yes. MR. CHUNG: Yeah. And I will make this invitation to you both, you and Mitch, you know, whatever we can do to help, please, just ask, okay, because we want to see this thing start up. But, you know, I will beg to differ on one point, though. I know you're concentrating on succeeding on this, but because we've been stalled for many years, I think it's important to see why we were stalled too, yeah? So kind of—you know, if it's a departmental problem or what, please, just go take a look at that. I don't expect you to have any answers right now. I just wanted your thoughts. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, and if I can talk about that real quick. That is the part of the process of seeing how we can succeed, because we don't want to make the same mistakes made in the past, of course. I just want to emphasize that my priority is to make this succeed. It's not to find out why this went wrong; because Page 16 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 then when I'm going to give you are report of why this went wrong, while it's not right yet. MR. CHUNG: Right. MR. RODENHURST: So that is part of my process of making sure it's right. I have been working with them. I have—one of the biggest thing we identify that I've been bringing up is communication. DPW needs to make sure that we keep communication consistent with our plan reviewers, with other departments, and with the public, and I think we're getting input from all those various areas, and taking that and making sure the system works as well as it can. And we definitely you know, when it does come out, we're still going to be maintaining and still going to be improving on it. Of course it's not going to be nothing's perfect. MR. CHUNG: Right. MR. RODENHURST: But we're going to make sure it's the closest thing to it, and we're going to continue to improve on it as we go. MR. CHUNG: Okay. And somewhat related to that issue is, have you given any thought to inter -departmental cooperation, you know, having inter -changeable pieces. For example, assisting the Parks and Recreation. I just expressed my heartburn to Maurice (Messina), you know, over some things that were not done over the past four years, very simple task I thought. But, you know, providing assistance to that department in terms of engineering or other things like that, has there been any talk in that regard? MR. RODENHURST: Thank you for question. Yes, we have. In fact, we are in the process of having our Highway Division help out with some park issues. And we are in close communications with all of the departments on what we can do. I'm not about staying behind my desk at DPW and issuing orders from there. We need to get out and work together with the other departments, because we all interact. Just like the plan review process, it's not just DPW, it's other departments, as well. We need to work together and communicate, because if we just stay in our silos, it's not going to happen. There are no more silos. I'm working with anyone and everyone to get it done, and that's my commitment to this position, my commitment to the County. MR. CHUNG: Good. And then you mentioned Highways Division, so that's a good time to segue into a different topic. About two years ago, this body approved a GET (General Excise Tax) increase, half -percent. Of course, COVID threw a monkey -wrench into all of that, you know, lessening our revenues, the revenues that we had expected. But I don't I cannot speak for anyone else here, but I really haven't seen that money put to good use. Waianuenue Avenue, you know, where ambulances have to go up, perfect time to just do some kind of Page 17 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 simple resurfacing. No school, right? And I'm sure each of the other districts have some story to tell, too. What's your relationship with Neil Azevedo from the Highways Division? You know, he ran against your boss. What's happening? I mean, my impression was there was a disconnect between the Highways Division and the Mayor's Office last time. No offense to anyone, but I'm just throwing all the cards on the table. What's your feeling about that? It's a very important division. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, and if I may? Thank you for that question. Me and Neil get along good. As soon as we came aboard—as soon as I came aboard, I reached out to each one of the divisions. I sat and talked with them to see the current status and see what our plans are moving forward, and work through this transitional process. I have every confidence on each one of my division chiefs. I think that Neil is great where he is. I think that we're going to do a lot of good work together for the County. I'm confident we're going to start paving some roads. I think we just paved, like Hilo, just last week, and we're going to be paving more roads. So that's something we're looking at, Waianuenue is definitely something yeah, I coach at Hilo High. I know that road very well; my car knows it very well. And think we're going to have to address it, for sure. Whether in any capacity, but sooner rather than later. So I have gone with Neil to see what our paving schedules are for each of the districts and what our maintenance schedules are, because one of my top priorities is to ensure our current infrastructure is maintained, and that's high on my list. So me, and Merrick (Nishimoto), and Neil, we're working closely in getting those jobs done. MR. CHUNG: Okay. I just wanted to make sure. And, you know, of course it's important that all of your department heads you know, you have a good relationship with all of the department heads, but I just wanted to single out that division. The division headsI'm sorry, that division, because I just thought it was an under-utilized division over the last several years, something that really could do a lot for each of our districts and the County as a whole. And the last question would have to do you know, I guess Ms. Kimball asked it, but I thought you asked about customer service, you know, I could be wrong. But you answered in terms of the permitting process, right? So I wasn't prepared for your answer, right? So, I'm going to ask it again. MR. RODENHURST: Okay. MR. CHUNG: The building permit process has been highly criticized, and not only this island, you know, throughout the State. What is your plan to improve it? Page 18 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MR. RODENHURST: My part is to make sure that we are effective in how we comment on any issues with plans. If there is an issue, that we let you know what issue is, what Code, the circumstance and why. And that doesn't change from plan to plan, that is consistent across the board. We need to maintain a level of professionalism, and make sure that we talk to the community, it's not just about the technical aspect but how it really applies. Like I said earlier, one of the things about being a licensed engineer in this position, is my job is to make sure the communication goes from the technical aspect to the public. They may not have that technical experience, and so we need to make sure that these are visions, these comments, are made in a way that's understandable by the public. And then they can understand, like I said, sending and receiving communications. Also, making sure that we respond on a timely -manner, and that our process is streamlined so that we effectively review for safety, but we get them out within the deadlines. Because if we delay, I mean, that's people's livelihoods, that's people's that's food on the table; that's, you know, kids going to school. We need to make sure that gets done in an appropriate amount time, while maintaining our level of regulation of the safety protocols. MR. CHUNG: Okay. You know, about two months or so ago, Neal Tanaka from the Building Division out in Kona, came and gave a presentation with Robyn Matsumoto, and they explained that through the increase in personnel they have been able to improve the time that it takes to have things approved. Are we there yet, or is there much room or any room for improvement? MR. RODENHURST: Thank you for the question. And currently, yes there's room for improvement. I want to make sure that this process is streamlined and that we have efficient process that can be interchangeable. No matter who the plan reviewer is, that they get same level of same level of service regardless. That there's not this idea that Kona is faster than Hilo. MR. CHUNG: Right. MR. RODENHURST: But sometimes that may be so, depending on the project. I'm actively researching those, and making sure that we are giving the same level of service to Hilo and Kona, that's required of the public. MR. CHUNG: I just want to make sure that you guys are cognizant of these chronic problems; building permits, the roads, the condition of roads, and these things; and how, you know, that you guys have a program in place to get improved. Page 19 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 Finally, I know I said this the last question, but it relates to the building permit process. Mitch had mentioned a meeting that you had with the members of your building permitting team, you know. Mitch was on one side, you know, with his helping businesses succeed and thrive, and approach with which I agree with 100 percent incidentally, okay. And you had—and not to oversimplify or generalize what the employees were saying, but if I heard correctly, Mitch characterized it—and not to be unfair to them of course, that it's not their responsibility to get thingsI mean, you know, it's whoever is submitting the plans, it's their responsibility to get it correct. And then you were kind of in the middle facilitating this thing. Can you give us a little bit more insight as to what this push -and -pull is? Because we've got to get things corrected, yeah? We cannot have obstructionist and stuff. We've got to move forward, okay? What's your thought on this? MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, and that was an interesting meeting to have on my first day on the j ob. It was definitely needed. One of the things I see is a lot of the employees in the Building Division, they have a lot of knowledge pertaining to the Code and how it applies to these permits. They're very good at telling me what cannot be done. Which is great; it's good to know because these regulations are there for a reason. But what we have to do, and be creative is—now that we know what we cannot do, what can we do? How can this get achieved, while maintaining that level of safety, or maintaining that adherence to the code and regulations that we have to—we are responsible to oversee? And that's where came at too, is that we're seeing an issue, where they say, "Oh, maybe the designer should have fixed this," and this is a common problem in construction. Sometimes designs are perfect, but they're in an imperfect world. Means and methods, it doesn't come out exactly, and rightfully so, that's just the way the world is. But at the same time, we need to maintain those levels of safety at the full implementation of these plans. So we need to make sure that we review it appropriately and it's inspected appropriately. And we need to have communication between both those parties, as well as the public, to ensure that they understand how we got to this point. Because all I saw was a lot of finger -pointing. Finger -pointing, like I said earlier, if you wanted me to address the issues of why it got stalled, we can identify why, but that's not going solve how we can move forward. So my goal is how we can move forward and take what we cannot do, and let's see what we can do. And just by meeting in the middle, and move forward. That's whole process here, is moving forward. So I'm helping our staff that community service of, and that service to the community is how we're communicating these things; because if we cannot communicate, we cannot move anywhere. Page 20 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MR. CHUNG: I just thought it was kind of interesting that Mitch gave, you know, that perspective of theentrenched, you know, of way of thinking, and his vision, and then you're kind of right in the middle of trying to facilitate it. I'm going to leave you with this last thought, and this is for Mitch too because he's an attorney. And I brought this up many, many times but nobody has really followed up on it, and it relates to the building permit process. You know, there's a landmark case, and I think it came out from this island. Cootey vs. Sun Investment; 1970 -something case I think, if I'm not mistaken. And I think it had to do with flooding, okay. But the basic premise to that case was that when county government starts to futs around with plans that have been approved by professionals, then we expose ourselves to liability. I think we should—if things are glaringly wrong, then yes, we go ahead. But if we're going to start dealing with minutiae that's already been done by professionals who are far more qualified than the people who are reviewing them, we've got to watch out, okay. I'll just leave you with that thought, and maybe you guys can use that as a tool for speeding things up. We've got to improve. We have to. MR. RODENHURST: May I address that? MR. CHUNG: Briefly. MR. RODENHURST: Okay, briefly. Thank you. Just really quick. That's part of a process of becoming an engineer. That's something that I've learned from my degree, to the ethics of being an engineer; and something I've learned from the licensing, how difficult it is to be licensed as an engineer. We have a responsibility that if we see something, we need to make sure that's a glaring error, we definitely need to step in. But there's also level of respect to the license of engineer; and to question that, it takes a lot. So I think we do need to make sure that we stay within our liability, within our jurisdiction in the County, when we review these plans. MR. CHUNG: Well, thank you very much for your time. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah. Mahalo for the questions. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Anyone in Kona? MR. INABA: Yes, Chair Lee Loy. This is Holeka. CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: So I had a question, Mr. Rodenhurst. On December 10h we had a meeting, just to talk story, hear about your background. In that meeting, I asked about your experience in an administrative capacity, and I asked you to send me Page 21 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 some information, especially because there have been a lot of public concern. I've gotten a lot of emails in concern about your appointment. And I'm just wondering why I haven't gotten information. I asked for administrative experience, specific kuleana for the projects that those administrative experience was in and the duration of that. But I'm a little concerned that I didn't get any follow-up. So is there a reason why I didn't I wasn't able to get that information? MR. RODENHURST: Council Member Inaba, thank you for the question, and I'll apologize for that. I was under the in the impression that information was sent forth from the Mayor's office. I will get you that this afternoon. But if there's any questions you want me to elaborate on that, I can right now. But again, I do apologize for that miscommunication. MR. INABA: Okay. Yeah, you know, for me, I'm just going to be upfront as always. Based on the information that I have available to me today, that was submitted by the Mayor, it lists a lot of experience—or only experience as a project engineer, and I'm going toI don't think I'll be able to support the appointment for the favorable recommendation today. So I hope you can provide me with the information that I've requested because I think, you know, it's our duty—I take this kuleana seriously, especially when community members who chose me to be their voice are very concerned. So please get me that information, if you so choose, prior to the next hearing in a couple of weeks. I yield, Chair. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else in Kona? MS. DAVID: Chair Lee Loy? CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Chair David. MS. DAVID: Thank you. Aloha, Mr. Rodenhurst, and thank you for your patience this morning. I do have some questions—or just as a question. In your own opinion, your construction experience, managing construction in the private sector, how does that satisfy governmental administration duties and responsibilities? I know you've given us an idea of how you feel that the private sector construction industry, and your abilities and qualifications in managing those kinds of projects is equivalent to what is required to manage a multi -divisional department, and basically do everything that a governmental agency has to be responsible for. I only ask that because I've listened to you in your comparison, and I still have some questions of how they relate. So I was just asking—wanting your specific answer on how does your private industry enable you to manage a, you know, like 400 -plus employees in a department? Page 22 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MR. RODENHURST: Thank you, Chair David, and I appreciate the question. To clarify some of the private experience, my private experience was as a construction management and a construction support of government agency projects, whether it be through the County, the State. And in those positions, it was basically almost like a third -parry fill, where I would operate as a state or county engineer, in managing those projects. Each one of those projects has a different level of complexity where it involves approvals from different agencies: obtaining the necessary permits, obtaining—ensuring that we have the proper MOUS (Memorandum of Understanding) with Utilities, with different agencies. I think there was one project that I was on that was—one part of the road was County road, one part of the road was State, and we had to operate and make sure that those budgets were separate because it was separate funding. Which is similar to the obstacles that we have to overcome at the Department Public Works, depending on, you know, funding is—each task is based off of what funding. We have worked with designers and consultants on their designs for these projects, similar to what we worked with here at Public Works. So in my—in the simplest way to consolidate that, I basically worked in the private sector, and looking at Public Works through a private lens, and operating within the constraints of those capacities required of government employees in the engineering role. As far as administration, the coordination between the different agencies, the coordination with Utilities, that's all that's being done right now with DPW and our activities, whether it be in Engineering, whether be in Highways, whether it be in Traffic. It's all that coordination. As far as a company or a department of hundreds of employees, it's all about leadership and the people I work with, and the division chiefs and those leaders, and ensuring that leadership is instilled in my direct subordinates, and then followed through with each leader down the line. I don't anticipate directly managing all 400 employees, but I do require accountability and integrity from each one of the leaders. And I've brought that up to every single person I've met. I've met majority of the people within the department. I've gone out to Kona. I go out to Kona every week. I plan to continue that so long as my schedule permits. Merrick is also onboard to help with that, as well; and we will be we're splitting the tasks of the island, and making sure that the service is provided island -wide, not just in Hilo, not just in Kona. Is there anything else you would like me to elaborate on for that? Page 23 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MS. DAVID: No, that's perfectly fine, your explanation. In your private sector as a construction manager, were you the top go -to person, or were you working in concert with other managers or engineers? MR. RODENHURST: I'm sorry, could you clarify the question? MS. DAVID: Okay. Were you the construction manager solely in charge of all these projects that you referred to in your resume? MR. RODENHURST: Not on all of them. MS. DAVID: So you have worked with—and some of your projects you weren't the manager, construction manager in charge solely then? MR. RODENHURST: Yes. MS. DAVID: You worked with other engineers and managers? MR. RODENHURST: Yes. MS. DAVID: Okay, thank you. Thank you, Chair. I yield for now. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair David. Anyone else? MS. VILLEGAS: I'm going to let it go back to Hilo for now. And then if you could come back to Kona, that would be great. CHR. LEE LOY: Sure. Anyone else here in Hilo? Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Follow up, Mr. Rodenhurst. We got a little bit sidelined initially, so I wanted to come back and talk story with you. You mentioned the bridges of Hamakua, and we're talking infrastructure. I was in Hamakua last, driving across one of the bridges there. That's probably older than you and I put together. And you talked about communication being a big cornerstone of your management style. We have the STIP (State Improvement Transportation Plan) list out there. We have a need for shovel -ready projects to go forward. It's my belief that coming out of Washington, DC we're going to be having relief funds that are truly economic stimulus, and we have to be ready to embrace that. We have a report that's coming out; it was partnered with DOT (Department of Transportation). What is the status of that? How are you going to use that? Are you going to make things shovel -ready? Get projects shovel -ready? Because we've been able to capitalize on things, and your predecessor was able to do some Page 24 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 of that. But how are we going to move that agenda forward? Because that's where we need to get things done. We all have a few bridges in our district. Heather's got a lot of bridges in her district. Like I said, some of those things are they're interesting historical bridges, but history does need to be maintained periodically. So can you just expand on that a little bit? And also one other thing, on the communication. If we have bad roads, potholes, something along those lines, is there a communication tree that we can steer us or people too so they can put that on a list somewhere, so it gets attended to? Lots of questions. MR. RODENHURST: Thank you, Council Member Richards. I'll address the issue, first with communication. Yes, we are pursuing a system to effectively address complaints, effectively communicate to the public and to you folks here on the Council, where we're at and where we need to go, and as far the status of bad roads and those things. I don't have any more on that at this time. Like I said, we are working on it. As far as bridges, yes, and we are actively working with the bridges. I've met with some folks from Hamakua already, in discussions with Kahakini Bridge, Kolekole Bridge, and Kanna Road. So we are taking a look at what we can get and seeing when we can get it done, at this point. So I'm working with Council Member Kimball and the public as we speak, to address some bridges in that area. I have sat down with our bridge guys at DPW to get a catalog of what our priorities are for these bridges, because a lot of these bridges, these are longstanding problems, and they need to get addressed sooner rather than later. As far as DOT funds, I have started discussions with District Engineer Harry Takiue and Ed Sniffin at the DOT. We have started seeing what I asked them where we're getting—where are we going to get any funds from this new federal package. They brought up discussions, and a lot of it is—seems to be leaning towards technology upgrades and upgrading our traffic signal systems. So we're taking a look at what we can do. I'm working closely with them to see where we're moving forward with that, as well as what opportunities are available for federal funds. We have started the conversation, and hopefully I can get more details to you sooner rather than later. Is there anything else you need me to elaborate on that? MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, the shovel -ready. MR. RODENHURST: The shovel -ready projects. Yeah, so I am working; that's one of top priorities too with the Engineering Division. We are working to make sure we have shovel -ready projects, whether they be FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funded, Federal Highway funded, and getting those out as Page 25 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 soon as possible. We're going through a transitional process, but that doesn't give us an excuse to not get this done. So we are working on that currently, as we speak. MR. RICHARDS: I know our State DOT was very successful in capturing some of the federal turnback money because we were ready. So I want to push that as one of your initiatives, to be sure we have stuff shovel -ready so we can jump on it. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Kimball, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair Lee Loy. Just a couple of follow-ups based on what my colleagues have said; and starting with Mr. Richards and having things being shovel -ready, in addition to just having identified projects. In the past, we've lost out on federal funds and the opportunity to utilize them because we have not met our own internal deadlines in terms of permitting and other activities. Have you already started working on streamlining some of that internally, not just for the customer, the public customer, but for your own internal needs? MR. RODENHURST: Thank you for the question. And yes, we are working with our Engineering Division to make sure that we don't miss these deadlines, because it is vital that we get all the funds we can to use for our shovel -ready project. We all know that COVID has its impacts, and we haven't seen the full impact of it yet. But we know we're going to be tight on our budget, and any federal funds is going to be necessary for us to move forward with these shovel -ready projects. So I have been in talks, we have been working towards that, and we are working on it right now. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. And then I want to just thank Council Member Chung for bringing the liability question, and then sort of second-guessing engineers and other professionals that submit plans to your department, I do think that is something important to look at. But I just also want to ask about the thing that—you highlighted which was the you didn't actually respond to customer service question. All of us are here through different methods. We're elected, you're appointed, other people are hired, but at the end of the day we all serve the taxpayer. So what is your plan of action, I guess, from an administrative standpoint to deal with that certain cultural aspect of—we're customer service to the taxpayers? MR. RODENHURST: And yes, I apologize for not answering that completely earlier. Yes, throughout the department we need to make sure that our customer service is top-notch. That we are communicating consistently, effectively, and clearly what is being done in the department, and what our communications are, Page 26 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 whether it be negative or positive, whether it be a rejection or whether it be an approval, and make sure it's done in a timely manner. We can't let things slip through the cracks and wait a long time. We need to make sure that it gets done. And we're holding everybody accountable, myself included. I need to get the administrative experience resume over to Holeka today. So does that answer the question better or would you like me to elaborate a little bit more? MS. KIMBALL: I'd appreciate it, just elaborate it a little more. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah. MS. KIMBALL: But it's holding accountableI mean, this is key I think. And, Mitch, you talked about this on the campaign. It's one of your key things. It's bringing back that perspective of customer service, and I think that is so critical when we talk about all these things that should have happened, should of happened. Part of it is just not having that mindset. So what does that mean? I want you to give in to the nitty-gritty of that, if you will. MR. RODENHURST: Okay. And that means you're basically having people accountable for their response and accountable for what their responsibilities are; their purpose and their value. Making sure that in their position that they get this information out, and that we hold them accountable. If I see any unprofessionalism, we're going to have that discussion on how we can improve, how we can allow them the opportunity to succeed. That's when we've got to hold them accountable. If someone falls short of that, that goal of customer service, we do address it to the leadership, and make sure that these people get the training they need to effectively service our County and our people. Because we're all one County, citizens that work within the County that are servicing citizens outside in the County. And so, we want to make sure that everyone's held accountable, that we are making sure they're doing the right thing the right way. And holding ourselves accountable; if someone sees something that they're not supposed to be doing or that we can improve on, we need to definitely improve on that or we need to make changes. Does that answer it better? Okay, thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Kimball, I'm trusting you're yielding the floor? Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz, please. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair Lee Loy. Aloha, Mr. Rodenhurst. Is it okay I call you Ikaika? MR. RODENHURST: Yes. Page 27 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great, thank you. You talked about working on certain projects personally, permitting being one of them. What are the other project priorities that you are going to be personally involved in? MR. RODENHURST: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. So my top priorities are the building permit process, maintaining our roads, and ensuring we have shovel -ready projects and we take advantage of our federal funds. Those are my top three priorities. I am personally taking the lead on our permitting process and our shovel -ready projects. I am delegating my Deputy Director, Merrick Nishimoto, to lead on maintaining our highways with overlap as needed. Because like I said, we're not on silos. We work together within interdivisional, interdepartmental. So those are my top three priorities right now. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Excellent, thank you. You mentioned transparency earlier in communications, and I think we are all huge advocates for that. On the Public Work's website there is a section for resources, for every two weeks they provide updates of various roadwork projects that are happening. Is it possible to expand that information out into the community so that we know what all the priorities of Public Works are, but also the reasoning behind each of these decisions and priorities? And how do you plan to achieve that? I mean, are you looking at employing some sort of dashboard to provide visual information so people understand where projects are going to be happening, the timeframe for action? If you could, just specify. MR. RODENHURST: Thank you for the question. And yes, we do intend to improve our communications. As far as the vehicle for that, whether it be a dashboard, how that works, I'll be working closely with the Mayor's Office, and how we provide updates to the community on what's going on. We're currently doing our best to identify where we're having public impacts, whether it be road closures, whether it be road delays, construction work, maintenance work. We're working on that. But as far as projects, yes, making sure that the public is updated, the Council's updated on our status, as in where we're going. That is something that I am 100 percent behind, and I'm 100 percent working on. One of the possibilities is a dashboard, and it is improving our website to incorporate that, and that's something that we'll be working with IT (Information of Technology) in exploring. At this time, I don't have anything concrete, but we are working to improve our communications in all levels of technology. And if there are any recommendations, I'm more than happy to take them. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great, thank you. Couple of years ago, I think it was first few minutes I was in office, we had passed a resolution, entering into an agreement with the State, where we would collaborate on projects that were less Page 28 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 than $2 million. Do you have any specific examples on projects we can collaborate with the State on right now? MR. RODENHURST: Specific examples on projects we can collaborate with the State right now, off the top of my head I do not at this time, but I will definitely look into what we have and get back to you as soon as possible. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. RODENHURST: Is there anything you? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, no problem. You know, I'm just wondering, how do you plan to leverage your relationship with Ed Sniffin and Harry Takiue? We oftentimes we have had a number of issues within Puna, and I'm sure you can appreciate that, living in upper Puna. We are trying to do things as a County, but it's hard to advance when the State needs to be at the table in order to make, you know, progress. So how are you planning on leveraging those relationships, so we can actually get some things done in a coordinated manner? MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, and I appreciate that question. You know, I previously worked as a consultant towards State Highways, and I've worked with Harry Takiue in different capacities, whether he was a design engineer, construction engineer, as a district engineer. I've met with him and Ed on multiple projects. I look forward to working with them. As I said, I've already started discussions with them moving forward on how we can collaborate together on projects and take advantage of federal funds, and make sure that we get those for Hawaii Island. I think it's very important because our State system works in conjunction with our County system. And a lot of times it overlaps in Puna, and we do have to address that various issues. I mean, everything from making maintenance of traffic signals to improvement projects. And I am looking forward to working with them. I have a good relationship with them. Part of the job for being a director is getting the right people to the table. And like I said, we're breaking down silos interdivisional, interdepartmental. I would say interagency, as well. We need to make sure that we're communicating effectively; and our goals and our plans with the State side, and they're communicating effectively with us, as well. So I'm more than willing to sit with anyone at the table to get this job done. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. And because we live in Puna, where on the list of priorities is Puna connectivity? You know, pre-COVID we experienced carmageddon twice, and I really want to make sure that our folks are able to Page 29 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 evacuate in times of emergency, where they're just not stuck in that sort of traffic. A lot of issues. So where in your priorities will Puna connectivity be, considering this Council passed a bond earlier this year to provide some funding to address that? MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, and I said earlier, one of my top priorities is our shovel -ready projects and making sure that our projects, including lava recovery, including projects in Puna, that they are top tier. Connectivity is a top tier -one, especially in our relations with the State. And like I said earlier, I think the communications between myself and Harry Takiue and Ed Sniffin is that they're looking to upgrade technologies and how the traffic signals work with each other. that's going to include upgrade in connectivity. And also like I said earlier, safety is a key factor in how we decide our projects. Marking sure there are applicable evacuation routes that can be used at a moments notice. Halema`uma`u is going off again. We have haveI mean, I don't if there's been a year—in recent times, where there hasn't been some level of disaster. So it's definitely a priority to make sure that there is safe access in and out of not just Puna but all districts in time of emergencies. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: You brought up eruption recovery. How are you going to balance the needs of the island as a whole, as well as the intense and important needs for Puna? I mean, we have a community that has waited years for investment of these federal dollars for critical infrastructure projects. So how are you going to make sure that we are making progress on that front as well moving forward on priorities you've articulated that are beneficial to our whole island? MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, so for priorities as far as in Puna specifically, like I said earlier, I have every faith in our division heads and how they go about their job. I'm going to definitely put my focus on key projects permitting. Lava recovery is a big one, that's been one that's been standing as well as federal funds, and we need to get those federal funds used. So it ties into that. This is one of my top priorities. Some of the other ones might just need a little bit of push here and there within our division chiefs. But as far as real big pushes, I would consider engaging our federal funds, making sure we don't miss deadlines and making sure that we spend those effectively as one of my top priorities within our department, coinciding with the building permit process. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Just have a couple more questions. Public Works and Planning often operate in their own fiefdoms, how are going to better collaborate with Planning Department going forward? MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, Planning Department is vital to anything we do in the County. The way I look at it and just to summarize it is Planning is where and Page 30 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 DPW is how. So we need to work with them, and no matter who it is, no matter who is over there, I'm willing to work with anyone over there. And I am telling our staff that we need to work with them. We cannot be, again like we've talked about, pointing fingers, it's not possible. We don't get to that anymore. We have to make sure that we're working together, and we work in unison to move this County forward. And it's going to take interdivisional, interdepartmental, interagency cooperation. Basically, just communicating effectively and bringing everyone that needs to be at the table to the table. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Thank you, Ikaika. I really appreciate the unique lens and perspective that you bring to the table. I mean, you are well positioned to be solving many of the challenges because you're living through them with us. So, thank you. Chair, I yield. MR. RODENHURST: Mahalo. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Back in Kona? MS. VILLEGAS: Yes, please. This is Rebecca Villegas. CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. I kind of want to pick up just for quick second on what Council Member Kimball mentioned about serving our taxpayers. This is my first time being in office during the transition of a mayoral administration and the appointments of new heads of departments as directors. A number of my constituents have pointed out and brought forward deep concerns and questions about the wisdom of the County appointees taking office, receiving paychecks, and having access to sensitive info before the confirmation by the County Council. It's stated in our Charter, Section 13-8, that this is the process and procedure, but I do have hopes that will change and we make some changes on that. Because it calls into question this process, and the wisdom of allowing that kind of access prior to confirmation by the County Council. I alsoI just have a question about Mr. Smith being here. Jeanette, is Mr. Smith still here to beI just have some questions about the appropriateness with Mr. Smith being one of the interviewers during Mr. Rodenhurst's process for being selected for this position and the need, the intentionality, and why he's remained active in this meeting. Is it as a testifier, just to listen? Or is there somebody there? Mr. Clerk, is there someone who could answer that for me? CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Villegas, as Chair of the Committee, I'll go ahead and answer that. There was some questions around the selection process. Also, as a subject -matter expert, Mr. Smith served as Deputy Director in previous administrations, and so it was to provide context on the evaluation process that Page 31 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 they went through and the subject -matter experts that were at the table in the interview process while elevating Mr. Rodenhurst's name onto Mayor Roth. And so, I was asked by other Council Members to have Mr. Smith available to clarify any questions they had around that. And so if you have any more questions around that selection process and/or any insight that Mr. Smith had as a member of the evaluation team or his past experiences as the Deputy Director, he's available as a subject matter. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. I suppose for myself, I would then have loved, and perhaps in the next meeting, we could have access to another department head that was not a member of the evaluation and interview team for Mr. Rodenhurst's appointment. But I'll leave it at that for now. CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Villegas, if you could make that request to the Mayor, because I don't know. I don't know who was on that team. So direct communication with Mayor Roth and his team, and if you could go ahead and make that request. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. I also—in my mind there's a definite conflict with Mr. Richards being a part of this voting body related to the appointment of Mr. Rodenhurst, as it relates to him being directly listed as a reference on the resume we were given. I feel that, and perhaps Clerk's Office or Corp. Counsel may be there, but there may have needed to have been some prior notification to this body about that connection. It seems inappropriate to me and it definitely calls a conflict of interest; and I would then ask, and I'm not sure of the exact process here, but I would encourage Mr. Richards to recuse himself from voting today. And I'm not sure if any anybody needs to comment on that, but I'm just going to put that out there and move on. I alsoI'm going to just very, very honestly say that I struggle with the connectivity and lines of influence and financing related to your campaign, Mr. Rodenhurst, and now, to your appointment to this position in office. I definitely want to keep you know, my main focus in this is I have a lot of questions about your qualifications for this position and how that relates to the Charter. But I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge and bring forth the concerns that have been brought forth in dozens of written testimony, and emails, and phone calls to my office concerning the implications of your appointment, and as they relate to your campaign and who you were financed by and how this is all lined up. And there'sI'm sure you've seen them. I know Mayor Roth's office has seen them. I know that a number of other members of this body have seen them, and I would be remiss not to acknowledge and take into consideration those concerns and validate the implications by a number of the different facets of those connections. I think it's unfortunate that our prior DPW department head had such struggles working within the administration, within silos, with the County Council, and I Page 32 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 think that did create a void and has created kind of a people are excited to work with somebody who will have a rational conversation and follow through and respond to communication, and I thank you for being kind of person, Mr. Rodenhurst, and I see that being a refreshing opportunity for people both in DPW, and in Planning, and within the administration to have access to somebody with that kind of personality and prioritization of connecting and communicating, so I thank you for that. However, I have some questions about your qualifications, and as they relate to union position versus a management position, and I just have a couple of questions for you. In your role as project engineer, did you approve or deny vacations? MR. RODENHURST: Yes. Yes, I did. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. How many employees did you manage directly? MR. RODENHURST: Directly, I managed four employees. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. Did you do their performance evaluations? MR. RODENHURST: Yes, I was part of the performance evaluation process on them. MS. VILLEGAS: Part of the process or you did them and you presented them to the staff as your direct employees? MR. RODENHURST: I did performance evaluations on a few employees and participated in the process of other employees. It was a combination. MS. VILLEGAS: Did you approve or deny overtime? MR. RODENHURST: Yes. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. And did you do the schedules? MR. RODENHURST: Yes. MS. VILLEGAS: Because I see there being kind of a potential discrepancy in the understanding what union management in a union position is versus a broader administrator position. And I'm just going to jump to another question, because one of the things that came up and you did—and I appreciate you came to Kona to meet with me. But I wondered, one of the things that you said in our meeting was that when you put in an application to become a member of the Mayor's administration, that your Page 33 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 application was not for this specific job. That you just kind of put in a blank application to potentially be considered for a member of Mayor Roth's cabinet. Is that true? MR. RODENHURST: Not entirely. Would you like me to elaborate? MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, I would definitely like for you to clarify. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah. MS. VILLEGAS: It's very different from than the statement you made when we met. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, and if I miscommunicated, then I apologize don't appreciate miscommunication, and I'll take full ownership of that. I put in an application for whether it be Director, Deputy Director, of either DPW or DEM (Department of Environmental Management). I wasn't sure which one I was going to be up for. I just put in for either of those because of my engineering background. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, thank you. That does make sense, as engineering background applies to both. DPW, and Planning, and DEM, Department of Environmental Management, it's going to be pivotal to the future and the success of our County. That those departments and that those department heads are the absolute best, most qualified, with the most experience, in order for us to emerge from this really challenging time, both economically and as we have so much work to be done in improving our infrastructure systems. Unfortunately, Mr. Rodenhurst, I have spent a lot of time looking through the Charter and looking through other definitions about what specifically administrative capacity entails. And a number of my colleagues on this body have already asked the questions that I was going to ask about what, how, or if you have five years of experience in an administrative capacity; and unfortunately in my review of your resume attached here and the listing of role as project manager and scope construction management services being the term used there. Construction management support services, with just the specific construction, I don't see administrativeI don't see evidence of five years of experience in administrative capacity at the level that will be required, should be required, in order to become our next director of the Department of Public Works. With that, I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Villegas, I trust you yield the floor? Alright, anyone else? MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, I said I yielded. Page 34 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. How you doing? MR. RODENHURST: Good. How you doing? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Very good. Okay, elephant in the room, we ran against each other. Pau, okay? Roger that? MR. RODENHURST: Yeah. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: You know why, it's been interesting listening to everyone's comments. I think some good questions arose today, and I think like we said from the beginning, more focused around your ability to supervise a department. I think it's about six different departments underneath of and about 400 people, and I think that's very valid concern. You are a very nice person, and I got that a lot from the community, he's a great guy. But I do have some concerns about you running a department just of this magnitude and of the responsibility that it holds to the community. And also given the constant community criticism of the department itself, and not every aspect but in many aspects. So I'm going to ask—I'll ask you a few questions, you know, just with the premise of what I just said. You know, what I did a lot of interviews for Liko Lehua, so I'm going to be more personable than, you know, directly, trying to go for anything specific. But what made you run not run. What made you apply for this position, in general? MR. RODENHURST: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder. And if you want to have that conversation of why I decided to run, I'm open to that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: No, no, no, I'm sorry. I just—No, no, no, I was listening to you talk earlier and it was almost like you were cross in between campaigning and answering questions. So—and that was total slip of my tongue. But what made you decide to apply for the department head for Public Works? MR. RODENHURST: It's something that I feel with my skillset, with my experience, that I would be effective at. It's how I can give back to the community; how I can serve my community to the best of my ability, and that's all I want to do, that's what's been instilled on me from my parents, my grandparents, from my time at Kamehameha Schools, from my various coaches. just want to do what I can to support this community. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Beautiful answer, but I'd say a little fluffy. So more specific, not fluffy, on what direct issues made you want to head one of the departments that's been a huge challenges for us as a Council. Page 35 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MR. RODENHURST: One of the reasons why I decided to go with DPW, and thank you for clarifying that, is I see a lot of the challenges that we face, whether it be our roads that have that are in dire need of infrastructure improvements, whether it be the permitting process which we've heard about. Ad we live in Puna, I've heard at least over the past year, if not, ever since I've moved to this island, permitting issues. Just seeing a need in the community to fix this system and help it be better and serve the community, that's why I decided it would be a good opportunity with my skillset. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Let's say Puna, you represent Puna, but you also represent I mean, your decisions guide our island, yeah? MR. RODENHURST: Correct. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So Puna aside, you know, although that's my district and that's where you live, Puna aside, I mean, you're going to be making decisions to—it would affect every single person in this room district. So I think discussing Puna's roads is good but at the same time your thoughts and where you're headed is going to be a little bit more island -wide, so I just to make sure that you're aware of that. How long have you lived here for? MR. RODENHURST: I've lived here for about—going on seven years. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So seven years? MR. RODENHURST: Yeah. And in fact, if I can elaborate on that? Again, if I miscommunicated, I apologize. I was focused on Puna. We both live in Puna, as we discussed, but I'm not talking about infrastructure just in Puna. Across the island. We're talking about bridges. We're talking Ka`u. We're talking about Kona, We're talking about South Kona, North Kona, Kohala. We're talking about Hamakua. The whole island. We have needs everywhere, as we all need. And yes, this department is island -wide, as are all the Council jobs, as well. You represent each district, but the decisions that are made here affect everybody. I 100 percent agree, and 100 percent support what we can do to serve our community. And part of being an administrator is delegating tasks, and that's why I chose Merrick Nishimoto as my deputy. He has all the experience in Kona. We'll be splitting time. I'll be spending at least four days out of the week in Hilo; he'll be spending at least four days of the week in Kona. We'll be addressing projects as needed. If we have to be at other places, so be it. We're giving island -wide Page 36 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 coverage because that's what's required of us, that's what's needed by the public, is island -wide coverage. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. You know what, just looking at your resume, I mean, I was looking at yours, I looked through everyone's resume, and ran through all of them. You know, if I was to say I'm going to compare yours to—and you're an engineer, yes? When did you get your license? MR. RODENHURST: I believe my license was 2019. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So you're a civil engineer, Licensed? MR. RODENHURST: Yes, sir. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: 2019. MR. RODENHURST: Yes, sir. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And then your time at Bowers+Kubota from 2011, was as a? MR. RODENHURST: Was a project engineer. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: But not licensed. MR. RODENHURST: Correct. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. What did you do before that? MR. RODENHURST: I went to school and played football at UH-Manoa. Before that I was—various jobs. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Like what? MR. RODENHURST: I was a Pizza Hut delivery driver. I was a movie theater cashier. I was a door -house security. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I know Sue supported you during the campaign. MR. RODENHURST: Um-hmm. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And did find there's a number of similarities between you and I, which is actually funny. You do lilikoi butter, right? MR. RODENHURST: I don't, my wife does. I'm a travel baker. Page 37 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: You guys have a business? MR. RODENHURST: She has a business. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Registered? Everything good? MR. RODENHURST: Yeah. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And you've been Pizza Hut delivery driver? MR. RODENHURST: I have been, yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Interesting. I just thought that was funny. MR. RODENHURST: It was. In a Nissan Sentra. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Can you explain what construction management services is? MR. RODENHURST: Basically, to put it on a nutshell, it's managing a project to ensure that the project is on budget, on time, adhering to the different regulations, whether it be a federally -funded project, whether it be within State right-of-way, whether it be a County project, and making sure that the contractor meets those regulations in their work. Making sure that the money is spent appropriately, and that we are tracking that. Making sure the materials are certified. Basically, it's making—kind of making sure everything goes smoothly. Any agency coordination is done, whether it be Department of Water Supply, utilities, designers, consultants. And when the need arises with change orders, addressing those needs and making sure that it is explained effectively why those are needed, and that the process is done and we're getting the best price for the product. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And I noticed a lot of these—and two of these projects are in Oahu. MR. RODENHURST: Correct. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER look like they're on island, yeah? And then the rest were on island, or it's MR. RODENHURST: I believe so, yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: How many of these projects for DOT no that's District of Hawaii. Okay, these are here. I mean, I noticed a lot of them just trying to get a feel for what you've done here. So you've done a lot of resurfacing, reconstruction. Every single scope is construction management Page 38 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 services. But I see a lot of resurfacing and repaving. I see, you know, putting down markings and rumble -strips. I can see that you did some record keeping for the lava flow and what happened, and looks like the same thing that was for Hurricane Lane. And resurfacing nd then the intersection improvements at Old Government Road, Kea`au Pahoa Road, which roundabout was that? MR. RODENHURST: Is that the Shower Drive one, or which one? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It's your project. MR. RODENHURST: I don't have the resume in front of me. Oh yeah, that was the original. So that was the Pahoa one. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: The Pahoa one? MR. RODENHURST: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Did you have anything to do with `Ainaloa one? MR. RODENHURST: No. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good. Okay, some of the emails I got, and I've got to say I have never had so many negative emails in regard to appointments as I've had between you and Zendo Kern. I've never gotten this many negatives, and I mentioned that earlier. Different people didn't have any, okay. But for you and Zendo, I have a huge amount of negative emails. I mean, I had them print out the majority of them, and this is what I'm looking at, right here. MR. RODENHURST: A lot of trees. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It's decent, you know. It's a decent stack, yeah, maybe like half a tree. With that said, one of the concerns that was brought up by a constituent in our district, which I thought was you know, of all the ones that did get, I thought this was very interesting. It was a good comment that was said. Give me one second. So if I were to look at—and this is an interesting position you're in because you ran a campaign, and in running that campaign, you got a lot of contributions. And while you can say that they're very separate from your job that you're applying for now, and that you've been appointed to since December 7h, it also clearly shows who is going to be behind you, and who was behind you and who continue to be behind you. If someone gives you $2,000, you're beholden them in a manner of a sort, you know. Whether you can say yes or no, at the end of the day it's up to you. That's your personal morals. Page 39 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 With that said, from a constituent, the campaign financial connections, the entities that you would have to police and hold accountable, are going to make it hard for you to enforce the regulations and make life difficult for the businesses and individuals who have contributed to you in your campaigning moment. I think you know, I really do find some truth in that, because your department paired with Planning is extremely important when it comes to how we move forward with projects, when we talk about land use, and permitting, and all the different aspects of what your position will do paired with the Planning Department. You mentioned you know, I think Heather Kimball mentioned "accountability." So as you are the leader of your department, and these are for the main parts the union employees will be handling, but your biggest contributors of your campaign, which we would normally wouldn't see for any department heads because it's kind of rare I'm guessing, were the same unions that the employees you have to hold accountable. So how are you going to overcome that? How are you going to handle that, when it was so clear from the beginning who supported you in your campaign? MR. RODENHURST: If I may ask you clarify when you say, "How am I going to handle that?" Handle which aspect of this? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: The employees that you are the director for fall into the unions that heavily endorsed your campaign. You have to hold them accountable like you said, and make sure they're doing they're doing their jobs. But the people who supported you during your campaign heavily are the same unions that employ the people you need to be that you need to hold accountable. MR. RODENHURST: If I may, first I don't agree there's relevance in my campaign contributions to my qualifications for director. But to address your concerns, first off, you have two unions heavily involved in DPW, one of which I received campaign contributions; the other one, I did not. So there are multiple unions, first. Second, I hold everyone to the same level of accountability as I would anyone in the department, and it's regardless of whatever union they're a part of. They need to make sure that they're doing their job to service this County, and they're being held accountable for how they perform, and fulfilling that purpose and helping the County, helping the community, that's across the board. And to say that it's a challenge because I received campaign contributions, that is a separate thing. I'm here to direct this department. I'm here to manage the people in Department of Public Works and manage taxpayers dollar effectively. It has nothing to do with my campaign contributions. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Like I said, very rare circumstance, where someone who ran in an election, walks into a position within the County, Page 40 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 especially with a director position, where there is going to be scrutiny and then also a confirmation process by the Council. So without that process being—if you had not run for office, there would be nothing to look at, and I would have nothing to say as far as campaign contributions. But after seeing them, it is to me kind of a premonition of who's behind you. And with that, I just I have concerns, honestly. Compared—it's like tying that two-year lack of administrative capacity in your previous job, it makes me very hesitant to say "yes" today. And coupled with the amount of community, kind of an outcry that I've seen, I don't think I can support you today. And I do appreciate everyone's effort went into bringing Mr. Rodenhurst in today, but that's where I'm going to have to draw the line. So, mahalo for your time. Mahalo, Chair. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Looking around the room, I see one more light, with Mr. Richards. It's going to be our kind of final round. Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Thank you, Chair. I'm going to touch back on a couple of things. First of all, what, Heather, you saidI believe in our administration and I believe in supporting our administration, and identifying whether or not people have credentials here. That's the first premise. Secondly, though I won't disagree it's an unusual situation that we have a former candidate coming forth. We're talking about credentials for a job; we're not talking about a campaign here. And so we all have campaign donors, and to infer that we will make an ethical miscalculation just because someone supported you, I think is a wrong direction to have that conversation. The conversation today is ask about qualifications. And so I hear what you're saying, Matt; and to a certain degree, on a surface you say, "Okay," but by the same token, that's between a campaign. We're not talking about campaign. We're talking about employment going forward. Thirdly, I do have to address something that was brought up. And, Ms. Villegas, to your question about me having a conflict of interest, I strongly disagree. This is an island. And as I articulated before, Mr. Rodenhurst's great-grandfather was someone I actually knew. And so having a conflict of interest, I got to know Ikaika after the election, and he—we've discussed before but after the election, we got to know a little bit better, and talk story. And I wanted to pick his brain, as he was picking mine. And so to use me as a reference, I actually feel honored by that, and I don't think it's a conflict of interest. Because we're on an island, and my family has been Page 41 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 here many, many generations. I happen to know quite a few people; and the fact that out trails crossI know Council Chair David's, a lot of her family. I know a lot of Council Woman Lee Loy's family. Not because I knew them, it's just because you're here on an island. Just to say I have a conflict of interest because I'm used as a reference for a job, that I think someone is qualified to do. Yes, I think that the—our candidate is younger, but the credentials that he brings forth, and the energy, and the enthusiasm to go forward—so I strongly disagree with you, Rebecca. I do not have a conflict. Also, I am bound by our electing process to vote. We were all voted in to vote on different situations. And so I don't a conflict of interest, and I've had this question raised once or twice in the previous deal. One of the paradoxes is we have no Corp. Counsel in chambers right now because we're in the approval process. But I don't see a conflict of interest in this, because we're talking about identifying someone's credentials. And I liked what Mr. Rodenhurst said so far, "Supporting the County going forward." I do admire the fact that we have a candidate that is not sour -grapes. He didn't win his election, but he's still willing to serve the County. And look around the room, I mean, we were all sitting in these elected -positions. Sometimes we wonder why we're sitting in these elected -positions, because it's some of the most difficult things that we've had to deal with. But we're here because I think that we all believe we have the same drive, which is to make this County better for our community, for our people, for our County in itself. We have to be mindful of our finances, we have to be mindful of our cultures, we have to mindful of the lands, but we need the best people in the positions to do that. We're here to determine if this is a bonafide candidate, and I believe it is. You know, years ago I heard then Senator Al Simpson of Wyoming make a comment, and he said, "Comes down to politics, it's pretty simple. If you have ethics, nothing else matters. If you don't have ethics, nothing else matters." I've said that before. And so to question credentials, it's been verified and validated by our Mayor, by his team, I believe that. But then to question whether or not that I have a conflict of interest because I'm supporting someone that I think is going to actually do some good for our County, I'm sorry, I disagree. So with that, Chair, I'm going to yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you. You know, this discussion really has degenerated into one that has obvious and unfortunate personal overtones. I'm going to be really frank; I'm not going get into that. I'm just going to give you my perspective on this. And I'm going to be supporting your nomination today. I might be on the short end; we'll see. Page 42 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 You know, I'm troubled by continually the Charter having continual additions to the qualifications of different department heads. It almost makes it an elitist group. Look at it this way, the Mayor, County Council, no more any minimum qualifications, right, and we judging you guys. I think that's pretty odd, but it is what it is. You have you are bound by certain Charter requirements. One speaker today talked about governmental administrative experience. There's nothing the Charter that says governmental experience, okay. Other speakers are talking about, "Well, you haven't managed a big company of hundreds of employees." There's nothing that requires that you have that kind of experience. Just managerial experience. If we try to find people who have experience in managing hundreds of people, the only two places on this island that we're going to find them, HELCO (Hawai`i Electric Light Company) and within our own department. And we're looking to try to change things up, okay? Whenever we deal with these types of appointments, quite frankly, we are taking leaps of faith. We've heard people give their presentations; and always good stuff, right? They're not going to say bad stuff about themselves. And we hope for the best. And I will say I've been disappointed on many, many occasions. And I will let you and Mitch know so that—not maybe catching you guys by surprise, but our County Clerk knows, I have prepared a Charter amendment for two-year terms for department heads. At least it would give the Council Members, you know, some security in knowing that they have couple shots at this. But I'm still tweaking it, because there's a possibility we could look at maybe probationary period. Look, out public employees have to go through probation, but yet— Point et Point of Order: MS. VILLEGAS: Excuse me, Mr. Chung? I'd like to just call a point of order, are we now talking about a potential piece of legislation that hasn't officially been brought before this body? MR. CHUNG: Yeah, I am MS. VILLEGAS: Is that in accordance with? MR. CHUNG: I don't see anything wrong with that because it's germane to this situation here. MS. VILLEGAS: I would respectfully disagree. MR. CHUNG: Well, why don't you ask either this Chair or that Chair to weigh in. MS. VILLEGAS: Chair Lee Loy, would you care to weigh in? Page 43 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 CHR. LEE LOY: Absolutely. I think it's germane to some of the broader discussions that have entered into this conversation. As Mr. Chung stated at the beginning, there are many overtones that are being approached here. And so I'm going to allow this. MR. CHUNG: But I'll stop. But I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm kind of resent that I was being interrupted on something like that, on a "Point of Order," but I'll stop. I'll say this, there is nothing in the County Charter that precludes you from being appointed here. I don't care what anybody else says. It's a close call, sure; but in this situation, I would like to defer to the Mayor's choice. You are here to try and advance his program of—what is it, succeed and CHR. LEE LOY: Thrive. MR. CHUNG: Thrive and succeed. It's a change in the way we look at things, okay? If it doesn't work out, you're not going to be the first person who disappointed us. I hope that's not the case, right? But we should at least give the Mayor a chance. He's just gotten into office. He's trying to advance a program, why not give him the chance with the people he feels comfortable with? I'm not saying that we shouldn't take people within the department, but sometimes that doesn't work out either, right? So, that's my thoughts on this. I believe you're qualified. It's a close call. You know, you don't have the vast managerial experience of working with hundreds of people, but you did have managerial experience, and you seem like a good person who is well intentioned and has the community at heart. So, I'll be supporting you today. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair, I mean, Mr. Chung. I see one more light. And I really want to get to the vote, we have other business to attend to. Ms. Kimball, please. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair Lee Loy. Mr. Rodenhurst, I will genuinely say I came in today undecided on your appointment. And basically on paper your resume looks a little thin, and I had concerns about that, in meeting the obligation with respect to the Charter, which we are bound to follow. I have been impressed with your responses, and I think it demonstrates your ability to handle this position. I was concerned, you know. You're young, and I'm all about getting fresh ideas in there, but I didn't want you eaten alive by the very strong personalities that are in the department. The fact that you've been able to handle our questions, and I think respond in a way that was clear and intelligent, makes me choose to want to see you in action. I think that you are good choice for this, and I hope that you will live up to the expectations that you have put in place today with your responses. So, mahalo. Page 44 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. With that, I'm going to wrap this up. And for me, it really is right to the Charter. At the start of this, we had Mayor Roth, we had Human Resources Director Bill Brilhante talk about those qualifications. And at the end of the day, it's just very straight -forward to me; check the box on having an engineering license, having the administrative experience, which we have learned from past practices and even someone who was on the interview committee, that these our multi -disciplinary, multi -faceted approaches to gaining administrative experience. He spoke about working for a land planning, land consultant firm, and like me, I worked there, too; and managing engineers, architects, flora -fauna specialists, cultural specialists, driving all of that disciplines, technical expertise, into an environmental impact statement, and then marching that through a three -four -three requirement and all of the hoops and hurdles that go through that, I can completely relate on what it's like to have to manage people who have many disciplines and technical training. I did that for eight years, and it felt like a lifetime. And so, for me. it is a no-brainer to support your nomination as the Director of the Department of Public Works. With that, Mr. Clerk, can we please roll call vote? Vote on Comm. 38: The motion to recommend the confirmation of the (Approved) appointment of Mr. Steven L Rodenhurst as Director of Public Works was carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Kierkiewicz„ Kimball, Richards, and Chair Lee Loy — 5. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, and Villegas — 4. Excused: None. 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 business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. LEE LOY: Any other business? Motion to adjourn, anyone? Page 45 PWMTC-1 January 5, 2021 ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 12:14 p.m., Mr. Richards moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. LEE LOY: This meeting is adjourned at 12:14 p.m. Approved: s. u L. K. Lee L di rks and Mass Tr a mmittee S L/na (Date) Page 46