HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2021-02-03 2020-2022
Hawai‘i County Council
th
5 Session
Hawai‘i County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawai‘i
February 3, 2021
INVOCATION: Reverend Daido Baba of Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin gave the morning’s
invocation.
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawai‘i County Council was called to order at
ORDER: 9:04 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair
Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Vice Chair
Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
Mr. Matt Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Member
Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member
Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member
Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Mr. Herbert M. “Tim” Richards, III, Member
Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of
ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance.
(At this time, Mr. Richards led the Council in the Pledge of
Allegiance.)
PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Petitions,
MEMORIALS, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence.
CERTIFICATES
OF MERIT, AND (There were none.)
EXPRESSIONS OF
CONDOLENCE:
STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items.
PUBLIC ON
AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by
the Chair:
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Leilani Bronson-Crelly: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
CHR. DAVID: Please give me a minute. I forgot to remind everyone—Jeanette,
sorry—that in our continued effort to prevent the potential spread of coronavirus
and in accordance with our Governor’s most recent emergency proclamation, we
will receive oral testimony for this meeting by having our testifiers patch into our
meeting using teleconferencing. So, thank you, Jeanette. You can go ahead with
your next testifier.
Peter Eising: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
(See Comm. 44.142)
Ken Van Bergen: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Stephen Bell: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
(See Comm. 44.131)
Tiffany Edwards Hunt: Res. 39-21 (Comm. 102), comment; and
PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
John Thatcher: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Janice Palma-Glennie: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
(See Comm. 44.157)
Sidney Fuke: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
(See Comm. 44.144)
Craig Takamine: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Nathaniel Kinney: PC-4 (Comm. 78), in opposition; and
(representing Hawai‘i PC-6 (Comm. 80), in support.
Construction Alliance) (See Comms. 78.6 and 80.7)
Robert Golden: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Tom Bierlein: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
(See Comm. 44.133)
Cory Harden: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
(See Comm. 44.148)
Dwight Vicente: PC-2 (Comm. 44), comment.
Kealohanui Browning: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
(See Comm. 44.137)
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Emily Naeole: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
Recess: At 10:02 a.m., the Chair called for a recess due to technical
difficulties.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 10:04 a.m.
Garth Yamanaka: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Mark Hinshaw: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
David Blancett-Maddock: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
(See Comm. 44.135)
Steven Hirakami: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Stan Roehrig: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Michael Shewmaker: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Ryan Kobayashi: PC-6 (Comm. 80), in support.
(representing Hawai‘i Laborer’s (See Comm. 80.8)
Union Local 368)
Matthias Kusch: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Ron Terry: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Paradis Reed: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
(See Comm. 44.159)
Dave DeLuz: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Jeff Darrow: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Kona Moran: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Caleb Yamanaka: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in support.
Carolyn Pellett: Res. 29-21 (Comm. 55), comment;
Res. 30-21 (Comm. 56), comment;
PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition; and
PC-6 (Comm. 80), in opposition.
Brenda Ford: PC-2 (Comm. 44), in opposition.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Announcement: CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Before we take a recess, I meant to do
this ahead of time. I would just like to, before we start business,
take a moment of silence on this Council in honor of our former
Mayor Billy Kenoi, please, and wish his family our sincere
condolences. Thank you.
Mahalo, everybody. We’re going to be in recess, and we shall resume when we
come back. Let’s take about five minutes. All right. Thank you. We’re in
recess.
Recess: At 11:01 a.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 11:11 a.m.
APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval
OF MINUTES: of Minutes.
Vote on Approval Ms. Lee Loy moved to approve the Minutes of
of Minutes: December 23, 2020. Seconded by Mr. Richards and
(Approved) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you.
Vote on Approval Mr. Richards moved to approve the Minutes of January 6,
of Minutes: 2021. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can you run us down with the “Communications”?
COMMUNI-The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Comm. 53.4: REPORT OF ATTENDANCE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS KIERKIEWICZ,
KIMBALL, AND LEE LOY AT THE VIBRANT HAWAI‘I CEDS ACTION
PLAN MEETING HELD VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING ON JANUARY 14,
2021, PURSUANT TO HAWAI‘I REVISED STATUTES SECTION 92-2.5(e)
From Council Member Heather Kimball, dated January 20, 2021.
Motion to Close Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 53.4.
File: Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, this is a report just in the abundance of caution. And in
the brave new world we are in with video technology, I’m hoping we’ll have
some guidance with regard to the Sunshine Law and this method of
communication.
In this particular case, Council Member Kierkiewicz and I were actually signed
on and participated in the meeting. Council Member Lee Loy was signed on but
not fully. Her audio was not connected, so she didn’t actually participate in the
meeting. But anyone just looking at the pictures on the screen would think all
three of us were there. So again, abundance of caution and trying to be absolutely
transparent. But hopefully we’ll have some guidance in the future on how to do
this.
CHR. DAVID: Yes, I agree. Thank you very much. Anyone else? Seeing none,
all those in favor of filing Communication 53.4, please say “aye.”
Vote on Comm. 53.4: The motion to close file on Comm. 53.4 was carried by the
(Filed) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, “Order of Resolutions,” please. Resolution 29-21.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Res. 29-21: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A
RIGHT-OF-ENTRY AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I,
PURSUANT TO HAWAIʻI REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7, TO ACCESS
CERTAIN STATE LANDS WITHIN THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I
The agreement would allow the County to enter onto State property, identified as
Tax Map Keys 2-4-056:17 and 2-4-001:167, to repair damages to existing drainage
facilities that were sustained during heavy flooding and other natural disasters.
Reference: Comm. 55
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy (B/R)
Approve: PWMTC-2
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 29-21 and Public Works
and Mass Transit Committee Report No. 2. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Looking forward to my colleagues’ support. However, just for
the record, Mr. Clerk, in resolution, the second “WHEREAS,” there’s a clerical
error, typo, and we’ll just correct that before finalizing this document.
MR. HENRICKS: That would require a motion and then a second and a vote on
that even though it is just a typographical error. But it does not need to be
written. You can do that now if you’d like to.
MS. LEE LOY: Chair, with a little bit of latitude in Resolution 29-21, second
“WHEREAS” clause, if we could kindly correct the TMK (Tax Map Key) to
reflect (3) 2-4-001, parcel 167, and then a space and “and.”
Motion to Amend: Ms. Lee Loy moved to amend the second line of the second
“WHEREAS” clause of Res. 29-21 by inserting a space
between the tax map key number and the word “and.”
Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: It’s been moved by Ms. Lee Loy, seconded by Mr. Richards, to
correct a typographical error in Resolution 29-21; basically adding a space
between the tax map key and the next word. Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. All those
in favor of that motion, please say “aye.”
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend the second line of the second
Amend: “WHEREAS” clause of Res. 29-21 by inserting a space
(Approved) between the tax map key number and the word “and” was
carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, thank you. Next, Resolution—
MR. HENRICKS: Now, you just have to go back to the main motion, as
amended.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, that’s right. Sorry. Back to the main motion, as amended.
Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Resolution 29-21,
as amended, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 29-21: The motion to adopt Res. 29-21, as amended to Draft 2,
(Draft 2) and Public Works and Mass Transit Committee Report
(Adopted) No. 2 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Now, Mr. Clerk, thank you. Resolution 30-21.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Res. 30-21: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A
RIGHT-OF-ENTRY AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAI‘I
DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, PURSUANT TO
HAWAIʻI REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7, TO ACCESS CERTAIN
STATE LANDS WITHIN THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I
The agreement would allow the County to enter onto State property, identified as
Tax Map Key 2-2-029:001, to repair damages to existing drainage facilities that
were sustained during heavy flooding and other natural disasters.
Reference: Comm. 56
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy (B/R)
Approve: PWMTC-3
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 30-21 and Public Works
and Mass Transit Committee Report No. 3. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Discussion, Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Same as before, this is more of a function, and continued support
from the rest of my colleagues.
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo for that. Anyone else? I’m sorry, Kona; I’ve been
ignoring you. Easy to shout out if you want to comment, okay? Hello? Can you
hear us? We can’t hear you. Can we—?
MR. HENRICKS: Just take a brief recess so we can check to make sure the
microphones are functional from that side for when the time comes.
CHR. DAVID: We’re going to be in recess for a minute. Thank you.
Recess: At 11:17 a.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 11:18 a.m.
CHR. DAVID: Can you hear me? Okay. Thank you, Mr. Inaba. We hear you
now. Thank you. Okay, we can proceed. Mr. Clerk?
MR. HENRICKS: You have not yet called for the vote on 30-21.
CHR. DAVID: All right. All those in favor?
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Vote on Res. 30-21: The motion to adopt Res. 30-21 and Public Works and
(Adopted) Mass Transit Committee Report No. 3 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Resolution 31-21, Mr. Clerk.
Res. 31-21: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR
AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR A MULTI-YEAR LEASE
FOR ONE MULTI-FUNCTION COPY MACHINE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a five-year lease agreement, with an
approximate monthly cost of $750.
Reference: Comm. 58
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-12
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 31-21 and
Finance Committee Report No. 12. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: We spoke about this during Committee on
th
January 20, and I think there were no questions at the time. So, I’d like to see
approval of this and also waive the five-day hold as well.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. We’ll take the vote on this and then you can make
that motion.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay.
CHR. DAVID: Any other discussion on this? Seeing none—Kona, you will let
me know, right? Thank you. All those in favor, please say “aye.”
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Vote on Res. 31-21: The motion to adopt Res. 31-21 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 12 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, go ahead.
Vote on Motion to Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to suspend Council
Suspend Council Rule 15 to waive the 5-day hold for reconsideration.
Rules: Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following
(Approved) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Mahalo, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, Resolution 36-21.
Res. 36-21: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED
FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO WAIMEA OUTDOOR
CIRCLE FOR GENERAL MAINTENANCE OF THE ULU LA‘AU WAIMEA
NATURE PARK
Transfers $3,800 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 91
Intr. by: Mr. Richards
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Res. 36-21. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Richards, go ahead.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, this is the park in Waimea. If you’ve been there, this is
the one along the stream. It’s not a County park. This is managed by the Outdoor
Circle, and they just need help funding. Eventually, we’ll have that path along the
stream to get that done. This is to cover their operational expenses. I ask for your
support.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in
favor please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 36-21: The motion to adopt Res. 36-21 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, move on to Resolution 37.
Res. 37-21: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS, PURSUANT TO HAWAI‘I REVISED STATUTES
SECTION 46-7, FOR A WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY
ACT GRANT
Funds would be used to assist dislocated workers by providing disaster relief and
humanitarian assistance employment in Hawai‘i County.
Reference: Comm. 92
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 37-21.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: This is an agreement with the Department of
Labor and Industrial Relations to provide funding for training. We’ve had
discussions about this, and I look forward to everyone’s approval of this so we
can move it along.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in
favor of approving Resolution 37-21, please say “aye.”
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Vote on Res. 37-21: The motion to adopt Res. 37-21 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Resolution 38-21.
Res. 38-21: CREATES ONE NEW PLANNER V POSITION FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
The position would assist with identifying areas of growth and development and
laying out master plans for sewer collection systems, wastewater treatment plants,
and solid waste facilities within Hawai‘i County.
Reference: Comm. 101
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 38-21.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: I just look forward to everyone’s approval.
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor please say
“aye.”
Vote on Res. 38-21: The motion to adopt Res. 38-21 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: Council Member Chung – 1.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, Resolution 39-21.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Res. 39-21: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO
AGREEMENTS WITH THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF
COMMERCE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Allows for the receipt of $2,251,163 of Federally-derived funds, which would be
used towards a Puna Wastewater Statement to conduct a comprehensive
Programmatic Environmental Impact Study, and for a North Kona Sewage Pump
Station and Force Main Project.
Reference: Comm. 102
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 39-21.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. This was waived to
Council and I believe much needed; using some EDA (Economic Development
Administration) funding to do a study for both Puna wastewater systems as well
as the North Kona sewage pump system.
I believe we have Deanna Sako here to help with any questions. Deanna, if you
could come up, I’m sure people have some questions about this. There were
questions raised in the testimony today as well.
(Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for being here. So, if you could
just give us a little background and then to the need for the urgency.
MS. SAKO: Deanna Sako, Director of Finance. This is a project that I think
they’ve been working on for a long time. And back after the eruption of 2018,
environmental—our economic development assistance or agency kind of created
some funds and made it available based on the disasters. And it was a
competitive process for our entire region. So, we were competing with Guam,
Samoa. So, it was a sense of urgency to get projects in, and we had to compete
for it. And Guam and Samoa had a lot of projects ready to go.
So, we submitted applications both for the Puna area study to determine what
might be available to do with wastewater out there. And then what EDA was
really pushing was shovel-ready projects, and the North Kona sewage pump one
was shovel-ready—and that’s a much larger project.
One of the things that—we just found out about the Puna one, and we only have
30 days to sign and return it. So, we were kind of up against the deadline there.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
So, because we know we have this other project out there that it does seem like
we will be awarded, we wanted to combine both into the same resolution so that
when we get the award we can quickly turn it around and return it back to EDA.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So, that’s the urgency aspect. And
then, the question that was raised earlier by one of the testifiers was, is there a
breakdown of how much funds go to each project, given that it’s 2.25 million for
two projects?
MS. SAKO: The 2.25 is actually—that we’re appropriating with Bill 20—that
entire amount is for the Puna wastewater study that will come in with a separate
appropriation ordinance when we get the final amount for the Kona sewage pump
station. That’s much larger. I want to say, like, in the $19 million range.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Wow. Okay. So, this is solely for the Puna
wastewater study.
MS. SAKO: Yes. The whole 2 million is, yes.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: And just for the study. And planning of the
system? Or just studying—?
MS. SAKO: Studying what would be needed. And I believe Director Mansour is
on the WebEx as well if you have specific questions.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Oh, wonderful. Yeah, let’s—Ramzi, could
you give us a little background on this so we can get it from your point of view
and your perspective? And a little history: It sounds like the previous
Administration got this rolling. Deanna, I know you were here from the previous,
but the Kim Administration was able to get this grant proposal in and now we’ve
got the funding back. So, just give us some background on it and your point of
view, any comments you have.
(Note: At this time, Environmental Management Director Ramzi Mansour
came forward to address the members of the Council, via
videoconferencing.)
MR. MANSOUR: Yes, definitely. Thank you, Council Member Kānealiʻi-
Kleinfelder. This $2.2 million was dedicated to the Kona area where we need to
do a feasibility study for determining the waste treatment plan. These $2 million
are going to be for contracted services. And that $2 million is broken down to
many services, such as evaluating existing conditions, looking at regulatory
assessment, also study different types of treatment plans and see which ones are
going to affect better for that community, and also do implementation and master
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
planning. And the $200,000-plus, that was dedicated to hire a project manager
part-time to assist in the preparation of the master plan and the feasibility study
for that community; that, as far as the $2.2 million.
The Kona project is we’re estimating that we may get $19 million. The
$19 million has been considered by the EDA department, and we’re waiting on a
letter of commitment and approval. Once we get it approved, we’ve only got
30 days to sign the agreement. And that is why we’re coming in to you today
asking you to approve the resolution, so once we get the $19 million, we can sign
the agreement. Hopefully, that could help you a little bit.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Here’s a follow-up question for you: Do
you have anyone who’s been put on point for this project? Have you selected a
member for the use—I know you don’t have the funding yet, but do you have
someone in mind?
MR. MANSOUR: We’re going to recruit for the position. That’s why we’re
coming before you today to approve the resolution so we can start recruiting for
the Planner V to assist us in this project as we move forward. Our goal is to have
you approve it today so we can start the recruitment because it’s going to take
about three to five months to recruit. And once we recruit, we’ll hire that person
on board to tackle this project.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Amazing. Thank you for that, Ramzi.
Deanna, three to five months—what is the timeframe if we accept the funds? I
mean, the funds are ready to—
MS. SAKO: The funds are ready to go. I think he’s just talking about once we
put in our request to fill, it does take HR (Human Resources) a little while to
develop a list specifically for a Planner V. So, hopefully, within three months we
would have somebody on board. And I’m not sure if it was mentioned, but I just
wanted to clarify I believe these funds come with zero match. So, this is hundred
percent Federal funded.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Oh, wow. I’m very happy to see this done.
Ramzi, thank you for being here. Deanna, thank you for being here. Please stay
on for further questions from the Council, and thank you for your time today. I
yield.
MR. MANSOUR: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go
ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thanks, Deanna. Thanks, Ramzi, for
being here. I just want to state emphatically, for the record, this is new money
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
from EDA and it is not recovery money that we are using to do the feasibility
study for Puna as well as the North Kona project. I just need a “yes” for the
record because it caused a lot of consternation in our community to have both of
these projects lumped into one resolution. And I understand the timing situation,
but I just want to make sure that that’s very clear.
MS. SAKO: Yes. No, that’s correct. And the money was made available
because various disasters at the time, including our lava disaster. But there were
other disasters around the country at the same time too. So, we’re grateful for the
funding.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks, Deanna. Ramzi, we had an opportunity to connect
on this last week. I had some questions about it. So, thank you for taking the
time. One of the things that I did bring up was a few years ago the State
Legislature did appropriate $600,000 for a feasibility study to be done for the
Pāhoa Wastewater Treatment Facility. There was a requirement of a 20 percent
match. My concern here is ensuring that we salvage our reputation with the State
and not leave any money on the table. And so, what are the plans for leveraging
those funds?
MR. MANSOUR: Thank you for the question. Yes, Council
Member Kierkiewicz, we are planning to come before you in March, too, also
with the resolution to accept that $600,000 so we could go back to the Mayor’s
office and have him issue a letter to the Governor so they could allow the money
to be transferred to the County.
MS. SAKO: I think that project has been started and stopped a couple times
because I think—I want to say both lava disasters kind of interrupted our process
of applying for those funds. So, I think our appropriation has lapsed, which is
why they need to come in for a new appropriation.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Keep me posted on that one. I know that
Senator Joy San Buenaventura worked really hard to make that happen for our
community. And I’m just putting it out there. If we’re going to be doing this
larger regional study, could we then, once we identify some feasible options for
Pāhoa, leverage that State funding to do additional design work that might need to
happen in order to activate treatment facility? Is that a possibility, Deanna or
Ramzi?
MS. SAKO: We can go back and look at the specific wording and that State
appropriation, but I think we should be able to leverage them together.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Thank you. I appreciate it. Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Kona? No?
Mr. Chung, go ahead.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. CHUNG: Thank you. Yeah, I’m going to be supporting this, and I don’t
want anyone to read my last vote against that new position as being inconsistent
with this matter. That other matter was waived from Committee, which is okay,
but there wasn’t really any information provided regarding cost items and things
like that. Every time we’re trying to expand government, we’ve got to really kind
of think about it, right? And in the resolution itself, unless I’m mistaken, it said
partial funding from the Federal government. So, there’s some questions. And I
knew it was going to pass already, so I didn’t really want to discuss it. But I knew
it was connected to this thing as well. But now that you’ve explained it’s fully
funded, that’s terrific. I certainly support this measure, though. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Anyone else before I go back to
Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder? Ms. Kimball, go ahead.
MS. KIMBALL: Dr. Mansour or Director Sako, what is our obligation to
produce in the roughly three-year period of this grant?
MS. SAKO: What is the—?
MS. KIMBALL: Do we have any obligations to the EDA?
MS. SAKO: Yeah. I’ll let Director Mansour answer that. I’m not as familiar
with the grant itself.
MR. MANSOUR: Yes. Our application is once we recruit for the position and
have somebody to manage the project, our goal is to meet with EDA and go over
the RFP (Request for Proposals) process to secure a consultant to assist the
department in doing the evaluation and follow the timeline and milestones that’s
set up in the agreement. So, we’ll be generating a timeline schedule and agreeing
with the EDA on the time and limitation of completion. We have 30 days from
today to accept the grant, so that’s the reason we are before you today because we
are in time limits of the acceptance of the agreement or the grant itself.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay, thank you. So, at some point, it will come back to us and
explain the timeline that is going to be applied to this?
MR. MANSOUR: Yes, definitely.
MS. KIMBALL: All right, thank you. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Anyone else before I go back to
Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder and Ms. Kierkiewicz? Seeing none, Mr. Kānealiʻi-
Kleinfelder, go ahead.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Just as far as scope of work, Puna is a very
large district and I was wondering, are you including all—I mean, what is your
definition of Puna for this scope of work for this funding?
MR. MANSOUR: My understanding is it’s going to include your district and
Council Member Kierkiewicz’ district. So, the idea is to look at the tributary area
and see where we could place a regional treatment plan if it’s feasible, and where
we’re going to place it to include the majority of the impacted districts.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay, I mean, we’re looking at Kea‘au,
Pāhoa, Mountain View. Puna is a very large district. It’s actually as big as the
island of O‘ahu.
MR. MANSOUR: Yeah. Pāhoa is the area that we’re going to look into, and part
of it is to—that’s why they gave us the $2.2 million with no match is the idea to
look at the entire district and figure out how we best could manage that with a
treatment plan. It may be possible to centralize it where we could capture most of
the connections. So, there’s a lot of work that is going to go into it, but at this
time it’s so initial. As we sign the agreement, the contract will be discussed more
with the EDA and the consultants and definitely with your district and
Kierkiewicz’ district.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, Puna is shared between Districts 4
and 5. I’m just wondering about your town centers. It’s a large, vast district,
Puna as a whole, with a lot of—you have private subdivisions. You have town
centers. You’re both mauka and makai of a highway system. So, I’m just—yeah,
I’m just going to try to feel out how big this project will be. I know you’re still in
the planning phases, but just seeing where you’re at with that frame of mind.
MR. MANSOUR: Yeah, that’s going to be part of the feasibility study. Because
as you know, for us to do the infrastructure, the sewer collection system, we need
to look at the possibility of gravity versus force main and where is the best
location for the treatment plant that could capture the most connections to it. So,
at this time, it’s preliminary. But our goal is to capture as much as we can into
that feasibility study to make it work for the entire district.
The idea is if we could plant the seed somewhere in a centralized location, and it
depends on the construction amount that we’re going to get out to the preliminary
design that will allow us to expand. So, it is going to require a lot of involvement,
and it’s pretty initial at this time. It’s hard to determine the extent unless we start
looking at the geographic maps and the GIS (Geographic Information System)
maps and determine the areas and the location of the treatment plant.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Is there going to be a working group to
break this down, or is it going to be completely consultant-based and outside of
the County’s hands?
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. MANSOUR: There’s going to be a working group, definitely. We’re not
going to allow the consultant to continue to work in silo. So, it’s going to require
us to be involved. And definitely, if any member of your district would like to be
part of it, that will be great. From the get-go, probably maybe ad hoc committee
provided from your district and Kierkiewicz’ district. That way, at least we could
set the boundaries and understand the criteria that we need to take off prior to any
designs starting.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I will begin looking for people to
help with that. Thank you. I’m sure there will be a lot of people interested in
helping. So, mahalo for that, Mr. Mansour. I yield.
MR. MANSOUR: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Ms. Kierkiewicz, go
ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Ramzi, I just wanted to clarify. When
we spoke, you mentioned Kea‘au, Pāhoa, and Volcano. Just wanted to make sure
that this actually would be taking a look at the entire region of Puna, which
includes Volcano and that would be Chair David’s district as well.
MR. MANSOUR: Yes, we will.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. And I would be remiss if I didn’t thank
Douglas Le, the recovery team, members of R&D (Research and Development),
and the Department of Environmental Management for working hard on this
grant. I mean, great job on the intergovernmental collaboration. Thank you. We
appreciate it. Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Seeing none, all
right, all those in favor of approving Resolution 39-21, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 39-21: The motion to adopt Res. 39-21 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can we move on to bills for first reading, Bill 13? Oh,
I’m sorry.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: If I can, I would like to make a motion to
waive the five-day hold on Resolution 39. Although it does have an
accompanying bill, I’d like to just move that ahead for the department.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. I’m sorry for not recognizing you. There’s a motion
to suspend the rules relating to the five-day holdover. Is there a second?
MS. LEE LOY: Second.
Vote on Motion to Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to suspend Council
Suspend Council Rule 15 to waive the 5-day hold for reconsideration.
Rules: Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following
(Approved) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, Bill 13, please.
BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for
ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading).
(FIRST READING):
Bill 13: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-44, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2020 TO JUNE 30, 2021
Reappropriates lapsed fuel tax funds from past fiscal years by establishing the
following program appropriation to the Capital Budget:
Kawailani/Pōhakulani/Ainaola and Kawailani/ʻIwalani Traffic Signals Engineering
Project ($10,546.40).
Reference: Comm. 59
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-13
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai‘i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 13 on first
reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 13.
Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
Page 20
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: We had a decent discussion on this at the
th
last Committee meeting on January 20. I know the Director is here as well as
Haku if there’s any questions. Otherwise, I recommend we pass Bill 13 on first
reading.
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor of
approving Bill 13 at first reading, please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 13: The motion to pass Bill 13 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 13 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Bill 14, please.
Bill 14: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-44, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2020 TO JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates the seventh increment of the fuel tax revenues established by
Resolution No. 504-08 to the following programs: Roadway Projects -
Engineering ($1.7 million); Bridge Inspection, Repair and Replacement Program -
Engineering ($1.2 million); and Local Road Improvements - Highways
($2.9 million).
Reference: Comm. 60
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-14
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai‘i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 14 on first
reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 14.
Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Any comments, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder?
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Again, fairly robust discussion at the last
reading at Committees and looking for everyone’s approval.
CHR. DAVID: Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 14: The motion to pass Bill 14 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 14 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, please, Bill 15.
Bill 15: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-44, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2020 TO JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates excess fuel tax revenues collected pursuant to Ordinance 19-7 to the
following programs: Roadway Projects ($27,420.13); Bridge Inspection/Repair
($18,280.08); and Local Road Projects ($45,700.21).
Reference: Comm. 61
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-15
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai‘i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 15 on first
reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 15.
Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Any comments, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder?
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Same as the last two bills, looking for
everyone’s approval.
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor please say
“aye.”
Page 22
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Vote on Bill 15: The motion to pass Bill 15 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 15 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Bill 19.
Bill 19: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the following Federal – Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (WIOA) Disaster Recovery Dislocated Worker Grant (DWG)
accounts: Employment ($67,000) and Education/Training ($427,500); and
appropriates the same to the following WIOA Disaster Recovery DWG accounts:
Employment Administration/Planning ($6,700), Employment ($60,300),
Education/Training Administration/Planning ($42,750), and Education/Training
($384,750). Funds would be used to assist dislocated workers by providing
disaster relief and humanitarian assistance employment in Hawai‘i County.
Reference: Comm. 92
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
; and
Comm. 92.1: From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated January 22, 2021, transmitting
proposed amendments to Bill 19.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Motion to approve Bill 19, but I also need to
make a motion to amend it with the contents of Communication 92.1.
CHR. DAVID: Yeah, let’s do the first one first, Bill 19, and then we’ll second—
You’ll second that one? Thank you.
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 19 on first
reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor—
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. HENRICKS: Before you call for the vote, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder had
wanted to make a motion to amend.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, I’m sorry. Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: The Department of Finance requested that
we amend Bill 19 with Communication 92.1. There was a difference in the
amount that they initially reported, and it’s going to be more than we estimated.
So, there’s an increase in funding that’s been shown in Communication 92.1.
Motion to Amend: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to amend Bill 19 with the
contents of Comm. 92.1. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Discussion on the amendment? Any more discussion on the
amendment? Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: I have a question for Deanna on this, but we can do it on the
main motion once it’s amended, I think.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Alrighty. All right, any other discussion on the
amendment? Seeing none, all those in favor of amending Bill 19 with the
contents of Communication 92.1, please say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 19 with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 92.1 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: We’re back to the main motion, as amended. Go ahead,
Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you. Deanna, just a quick question. It’s not often we
get a report that we have more money than we had anticipated. So, where did the
extra 20,000 come from?
(Note: At this time, Finance Director Deanna Sako came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. SAKO: When they first submitted to us to create the appropriation, they had
been awarded the original amount. And then subsequent to that, they were able to
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
just, from the Federal government, find out that they were able to get additional
funds. So, we wanted to amend and make sure we appropriated all the funding
that was available to them.
Because of just all the disasters going on and everything, Housing has been very
successful in getting a lot of additional grant funding this year, and we’re very
appreciative of them for hustling and doing all that they’re doing.
MR. RICHARDS: So, more just as policy, were you being conservative like you
always are and then we’re able to find more? Or is this just was actually more
awarded?
MS. SAKO: They were still in the process of the period. So, we thought that we
knew what the final amount was, but by the time it got to you guys, they actually
had already found out that the award was actually higher.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, so, thank you. That answers it. Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: I just wanted to say mahalo for working
with us and doing the amendment and providing it to our office. Thank you.
MS. SAKO: Yeah, thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo. Any other comments? Seeing none, all those in favor
please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 19: The motion to pass Bill 19, as amended to Draft 2, on first
(Draft 2) reading was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk.
Page 25
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Bill 20: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants – Economic Development
Administration (EDA) Economic Adjustment Assistance Disaster Recovery
Program account ($2,251,163); and appropriates the same to the EDA Economic
Adjustment Assistance Disaster Recovery Program account. Funds would be used
towards a Puna Wastewater Statement to conduct a comprehensive Programmatic
Environmental Impact Study, and for a North Kona Sewage Pump Station and
Force Main Project.
Reference: Comm. 102
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 20 on first
reading. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: We had a robust discussion just now
regarding Resolution 39, which accompanies Bill 20. If there are further
questions, the Director was present; Deanna is present. I don’t have any further
questions at this time. Thank you, Chair. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? Seeing
none, all those in favor of approving Bill 20 at first reading, please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 20: The motion to pass Bill 20 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can we move to order of the day, second reading,
Bill 6?
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading).
(SECOND OR
FINAL READING):
Page 26
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Bill 6: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 10-32 WHICH RECLASSIFIED LANDS BY
CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM SINGLE-FAMILY
RESIDENTIAL – 1,000 SQUARE FEET (RS-7.5) AND MULTIPLE-FAMILY
RESIDENTIAL – 1,000 SQUARE FEET (RM-1) TO MULTIPLE-FAMILY
ST
RESIDENTIAL – 1,500 SQUARE FEET (RM-1.5) AT KŪKŪAU 1, SOUTH
HILO, HAWAIʻI, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEYS: 2-4-025:048, 053 AND 080
(Applicant: Ikaika Ohana; formerly Giampaolo “Paul” Boschetti) (Area: 5.5 Acres)
The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for
this amendment, which would allow revisions or time extensions to five conditions
to the existing change of zone ordinance. The new applicant proposes to build a
64-unit affordable housing development with a community center and garden,
laundry facilities, and a 116-stall parking lot, to be located on Kapiolani Street
across from the Police Department’s Hilo Headquarters.
Reference: Comm. 18
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
First Reading: January 20, 2021
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 6 on second and final
reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
(Note: At this time, James Rock, applicant’s representative, and
Katherine Garson, current owner’s representative, came forward to
address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.)
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. This would bring affordable housing
opportunities to our East Hawai‘i community. This was discussed quite
thoroughly during Committee and at Council. So, just looking for continued
support from my colleagues. Thank you. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Mr. Chung, go ahead.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, thank you. I’m just wondering if a representative of the
developer is here as well as Public Works.
MR. HENRICKS: We do have representatives of the developer, I believe, in our
Zoom chat room. That’s what I’m seeing on our schedule. So, we should have—
yes, we do have people: Ms. Garson, Mr. Rock, and Mr. Bigley.
MR. CHUNG: All right.
MR. ROCK: Hello. This is James Rock. Are you able to hear me?
Page 27
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. CHUNG: Yes. Thank you. Maybe Mr. Rodenhurst, Director Rodenhurst,
could you please come up?
(Note: At this time, Public Works Director Steven Rodenhurst came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. CHUNG: We received a testimony on this bill, and it’s not an unreasonable
type of testimony. It’s from a Patricia Tummons (See Comm. 18.2), who I guess
lives around that area, and she was just asking whether it would be better to not
allow the exit-entry point on Kūkūau Street and just use it as an emergency use
only, exit or entry. I don’t think we’re in any rush right now, right? Would it be
possible if we just deferred this, came back next meeting, and have you guys just
kind of take a look at this suggestion? Would that be okay?
MR. RODENHURST: Definitely.
MR. CHUNG: Mr. Rock, is that all right with you guys? This woman said she’s
in favor of. She’s not against the project, but I guess living around that area, she’s
just kind of concerned about the added traffic and the turn and sight distance. I’d
just like you guys to take a look at it if there’s no hurry.
MR. RODENHURST: Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. Director of Public
Works, Ikaika Rodenhurst.
MR. CHUNG: I know it’s catching you cold, too, so I wanted you to have some
time to take a look at it.
MR. RODENHURST: Yes, we definitely will take a look at this. Provide me any
information necessary for this, and we’ll have our department take a look at it.
MR. CHUNG: And maybe talk to the developer’s representative too.
MR. RODENHURST: Yes.
MR. CHUNG: All right. I’m going to make a motion to defer this to the next
meeting.
MR. RICHARDS: Second.
CHR. DAVID: Wait, hang on a second. You want to—do you yield for now?
MR. CHUNG: Yes.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Richards, go ahead.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. RICHARDS: That’s all right. In light of what Council Member Chung just
said, I’ll support his—
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Chung, I don’t see any other lights. Go
ahead with your motion.
Motion to Postpone: Mr. Chung moved to postpone Bill 6 to February 17, 2021.
Seconded by Mr. Richards.
MR. ROCK: I apologize. Is it possible to add a comment prior to the vote?
CHR. DAVID: Oh, sure. Who’s that?
MR. CHUNG: Yeah. I guess that’s—yeah.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, okay.
MR. ROCK: I do apologize.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Rock, is that you?
MR. ROCK: Yes. I am very sorry. My name is James Rock. I’m here on behalf
of the affordable housing developer Ikaika Ohana. Also attending is
Katherine Garson on behalf of the previous project’s permit—current project
owner.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead.
MR. ROCK: Thank you. The process of our project, it is time sensitive. The
funding sources that we do have in place, they do have expiration dates. And so,
as a matter of proceeding, we would ask the Council to consider allowing this bill
to proceed as is. Regarding the comment and the concern for the traffic flow off
of Kūkūau, we do understand when the community raises concerns, we want to
listen and we want to make sure that our designs are incorporating those
comments.
And as such, as to the Planning Commission approvals and previous zoning
ordinances, I believe on Kapiolani the access ways are limited to right-in, right-
out, which, overall, it addresses some of the traffic flows and concerns for the
areas. And then, coming off of Kūkūau Street, the studies that we have
performed, they do support that as an entry and exit for the project. So, overall,
we do believe that traffic flow and the way that the development lives and
breathes within the community, it is important.
We do acknowledge some of the community’s concerns regarding the access
points off of Kūkūau. We are comfortable with the current development plan that
Page 29
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
traffic flow will be acceptable for the County’s standards, and it will be a very
positive project for everybody involved. And with that, just basically we do ask
to continue, if possible, with the discussion today.
MR. CHUNG: Maybe if I can ask a question of Mr. Rock?
CHR. DAVID: Yes, go ahead.
MR. CHUNG: So, when is your deadline?
MR. ROCK: So, current financial commitments through the State of Hawai‘i
extend through the end of June. And looking at the course to complete
development, we do anticipate that we’ll approach the State once we can show
positive progress within the County through the various approvals that we need to
obtain to move the project forward. And so, the—
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, so, when is your deadline for the County?
MR. ROCK: As far as for which topic?
MR. CHUNG: Getting everything approved. Because, you said your ultimate
deadline is in June, and that includes State approvals and things like that. So, I
know you’d like things done sooner than later. I absolutely understand that. But
we never delayed this matter at all. So, if you guys are coming up against an
absolute deadline on the Council’s side, then that means you guys didn’t really
give yourselves too much leeway, right? It’s kind of razor thin. I’m just
wondering if we can hold off for two weeks. Or if that’s absolutely not possible
on your end, just explain it to me a little better.
MR. ROCK: Understood. No, as far as an extension for two weeks, no, it will
not stop the project altogether. It would be a preference as a matter of moving
the—continuing to move the project forward.
MR. CHUNG: Of course. Yeah. And again, as I’ve stated, I didn’t look at this
as being an unreasonable suggestion by this concerned citizen. And I’m not
saying that I’d follow this suggestion, but it would be wise for us to have our
Public Works Department just take a look at it and weigh in and work with the
developer—you—if there’s enough time—and looks like we have two weeks—
and then we’re going to do something at the end of two weeks. I promise you
that.
MR. ROCK: Understood. And in the spirit of us definitely working as a partner
with the County to bring housing to the folks that need it, we are very happy to
engage. We’re very happy to facilitate.
MR. CHUNG: All right. Thank you.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. ROCK: Sure. Thank you very much.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Thank you, Mr. Rock. Mr. Richards, do
you have—?
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, just a quick comment.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Mr. Rock, thanks so much for that. My district, District 9, I
know we’re working on some housing up there. And having the willingness to
come to the table, not hit the pause button but just make sure we’re talking to the
neighbors so we get everything handled appropriately, I appreciate that. I’m glad
you are supporting a two-week slowdown so we can have the conversation. I
yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? All right, I believe—
where were we on the motion?
MR. HENRICKS: There was a motion to postpone by Mr. Chung. I don’t recall
who you recognized as a second.
CHR. DAVID: I think it was Mr. Richards.
MR. HENRICKS: Thank you. And that is the motion on the floor, to postpone to
th
February 17, 2021.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Any discussion on the postponement? Seeing none,
th
all those in favor of postponing Bill 6 to the February 17 meeting, say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to postpone Bill 6 to February 17, 2021, was
Postpone: carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Chair \[sic\], can we move to Bill 7?
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Bill 7: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-44, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2020 TO JUNE 30, 2021
Adds the Public Works Kalanianaʻole Avenue Reconstruction - Private project for
$425,000 to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be provided from
Private Contributions.
Reference: Comm. 22
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
First Reading: January 20, 2021
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai‘i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 7 on second
and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: This was approved with a favorable
recommendation at Committees and at first reading. So, I don’t know if there’s
further discussion, but the Director is here if anyone has questions.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Any other Council Members? Ms. Lee Loy, go
ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you, Director Rodenhurst, for being here.
This is that project down by the pier that’s been taking a while. And so this is,
again, the portion or the match with HELCO (Hawai‘i Electric Light Company,
Inc.), this $425,000, to help HELCO do their improvements with the work that’s
being done at Kalaniana‘ole. So again, just my colleagues’ support.
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in
favor please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 7: The motion to pass Bill 7 on second and final reading was
(Adopted) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Page 32
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Bill 8, please.
Bill 8: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-44, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2020 TO JUNE 30, 2021
Adds the Public Works Kalanianaʻole Avenue Reconstruction project for
$10 million to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be provided from
General Obligation Bonds, Capital Projects Fund – Fund Balance and/or other
Sources.
Reference: Comm. 23
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
First Reading: January 20, 2021
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai‘i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 8 on second
and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Very lengthy discussion in both Committee
and at Council meetings. I do have one follow-up question, and it may be more of
a statement. But if you could come up, Mr. Rodenhurst.
(Note: At this time, Public Works Director Steven Rodenhurst came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for being here today. Just
stemming from a few conversations I’ve had, I just would offer that it may be
good to take a real good look at that project and how it’s being laid out
construction-wise regarding grade and fill and the pipeline and the finish layer of
concrete that’s supposed to go on top. There’s been some questions and some
comments raised by the community, and I’m not an engineer for roadways. I can
tell you about electrical and conduit, but I can’t tell you about roadways and fill.
So, with—just keep your eye on that. This is a fairly large ask. So, keep your eye
on it and take a good look at that project and work with different members of your
department to really nail down what’s going on with that and why it happened.
And I would appreciate that. Thank you.
MR. RODENHURST: Yes. And, Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, we are
focused on that. I just had a meeting with our engineering division and the
contractor yesterday to reinforce our commitment to getting this done efficiently,
getting it done right, and making sure we get it done as soon as possible.
Page 33
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. I yield for
now, Chair, and thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? Ms. Lee Loy,
go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and thank you. Thank you, Director Rodenhurst, for
really stepping up for this one. As I expressed way back in Committee, I’ve had
my eye on this project for a while and if this can become a model on how we get
more efficient with doing our projects. The other piece that continues to be
missing is the reporting back to community. And as I’ve shared in the past, if we
could re-engage our homestead community in Keaukaha who drive that road a lot
besides all the other things that go on in that area, that would be ideal.
As Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder mentioned, I, too, am watching this one and making
sure. And again, thank you for the punch list of the different things that need to
occur. Watching this one because a mile of road to take this long at this price tag
is, for me, challenging; for the public, it’s their money. And cost comparison, we
went from Hilo to Kona with the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, and it got done
quicker than this. And I just wanted to share that. So, thank you for really
watching this one carefully. Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? Seeing none, all right,
all those in favor, then, of approving Bill 8 at second and final reading, please say
“aye.”
Vote on Bill 8: The motion to pass Bill 8 on second and final reading was
(Adopted) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, I believe—no? Okay. Thank you.
All right. Mr. Clerk, Bill 9, please.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Bill 9: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the following Federal – Foster Youth to Independence
Initiative Voucher accounts: Voucher ($175,000) and Administration ($25,000);
and appropriates the same to the following Foster Youth to Independence Initiative
Voucher accounts: Voucher ($175,000) and Administration ($25,000). Funds
would be used to provide housing assistance to young adults at risk of experiencing
homelessness.
Reference: Comm. 24
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
First Reading: January 20, 2021
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 9 on second
and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Discussion was held during Committee and
at Council, the last meeting. I look forward to everyone’s favorable
recommendation.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in
favor please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 9: The motion to pass Bill 9 on second and final reading was
(Adopted) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, go ahead.
Page 35
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Vote on Motion to Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to suspend Council
Suspend Council Rule 15 to waive the 5-day hold for reconsideration.
Rules: Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following
(Approved) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Let me see. We are down to Bill 16, Mr. Clerk.
Bill 16: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants – Assistance to Firefighters Grant
(AFG) 2020 COVID-19 Supplemental Grant account ($345,373.33); and
appropriates the same to the AFG 2020 COVID-19 Supplemental Grant account.
Funds would be used to purchase personal protective equipment for the Hawai‘i
Fire Department in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reference: Comm. 63
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
First Reading: January 20, 2021
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 16 on second
and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: This is $345,000 for the Fire Department,
and we had a good robust discussion at the last meeting. I look forward to
everyone’s continued approval.
CHR. DAVID: Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor please say “aye.”
Page 36
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Vote on Bill 16: The motion to pass Bill 16 on second and final reading was
(Adopted) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, please, Bill 17.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Chair, if I could make a motion to waive the
five-day hold on Bill 16 as well.
Vote on Motion to Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to suspend Council
Suspend Council Rule 15 to waive the 5-day hold for reconsideration.
Rules: Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following
(Approved) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Now, Mr. Clerk, Bill 17, please.
Bill 17: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 20-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2021
Appropriates revenues in the Federal – Emergency Rental Assistance Program
COVID-19 account ($30 million); and appropriates the same to the Emergency
Rental Assistance COVID-19 accounts: Program ($27 million) and Administration
($3 million). Funds would be used to pay rent, utilities, and other housing
expenses for eligible households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reference: Comm. 83
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
First Reading: January 20, 2021
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 17 on second
and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Is there any further comments? Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Looking for everyone’s continued approval
of this bill. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor please
say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 17: The motion to pass Bill 17 on second and final reading was
(Adopted) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Are you—? Yes, go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Yup. Chair, if I could, just for this funding,
I’d like to get this moving. So, if we could waive the five-day hold on this as
well.
Vote on Motion to Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder moved to suspend Council
Suspend Council Rule 15 to waive the 5-day hold for reconsideration.
Rules: Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following
(Approved) voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Moving right along. Do you want to break for a
bathroom break or just break for lunch?
MR. RICHARDS: Break for lunch. We never get lunch.
CHR. DAVID: Yeah, we never get lunch. I agree. Okay. We’ll be back by
1:30? Okay. 1:30 or 1:15?
Page 38
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. RICHARDS: 1:15.
CHR. DAVID: 1:15. Okay. All right, we’re in recess till 1:15. Thank you.
Recess: At 12:11 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 1:16 p.m.
CHR. DAVID: Aloha, everyone, and welcome back to the County Council
meeting. Right now, we’re going to reconvene. And, Mr. Clerk, can we take
FC-9, Communication 70, please?
REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports.
FC-9 NOMINATION OF LISA ANNE KAMUELA MEHEULA TO THE PUBLIC
(Comm. 70): ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION
COMMISSION
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 2-215(k),
Hawaiʻi County Code)
Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Finance Committee Report
No. 9. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Discussion, Mr. Inaba?
MR. INABA: Aloha, Council Members. Asking for continued support for
someone who would represent District 8 well on the PONC (Public Access, Open
Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission) Commission. So,
mahalo nui for your continued support.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in
favor of confirming the nomination of Lisa Anne Kamuela Meheula to the Public
Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission, please say
“aye.”
Vote on FC-9: The motion to adopt Finance Committee Report No. 9 was
(Adopted) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Page 39
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. We’ll move to FC-10, Communication 76.
FC-10 NOMINATION OF GAY MATHEWS TO THE MERIT APPEALS BOARD
(Comm. 76):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 19, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
; and
Comm. 76.1: From Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika‘i Bartolome, dated January 22,
2021, correcting the term ending date of Gay Mathews’ nomination to
December 31, 2024.
Vote on FC-10: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Finance Committee Report
(Adopted) No. 10. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Move on to FC-11, Communication 77.
FC-11 NOMINATION OF GABRIELLA CABANAS TO THE MERIT APPEALS
(Comm. 77): BOARD
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 12, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on FC-11: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Finance Committee Report
(Adopted) No. 11. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Page 40
Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, PC-2, Communication 44.
PC-2 APPOINTMENT OF ZENDO KERN AS PLANNING DIRECTOR
(Comm. 44):
Negative
Recommendation: Due to a vote of 4-ayes, 5-noes
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 5, 2021 (Section 13-8,
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
(Note: Comm. 44.129, from Planning Director Zendo Kern dated February 2,
2021, transmitting supplemental information, was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to confirm the appointment of
Zendo Kern as Planning Director. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Discussion.
MR. RICHARDS: Chair?
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you. Yeah, if the Mayor could come up.
(Note: At this time, Mayor Mitch Roth came forward to address the
members of the Council.)
MR. RICHARDS: Chair, I understand there’s quite a maelstrom revolving
around this appointment. And I also understand that there is a lawsuit filed as
well as a letter from the Office of Information Practices that I believe you have
received. And so, I would like to inquire what is the way forward?
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. I believe we have Corporation Counsel on standby.
(Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance came forward
to address the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.)
MS. STRANCE: Yes.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Strance, and thank you for being here. The
question is, I believe we’re all wondering whether we can proceed with this given
the fact that there is litigation that was filed this morning. I think we’re just
looking—at least I’m looking—for direction for this Council on how to proceed
with business regarding the appointment.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MS. STRANCE: The last I checked, there was no temporary restraining order
filed, or granted I should say—I don’t know if one was filed—that has ordered the
Council to not proceed. So, absent a court order, it doesn’t appear that there
would be anything that would prevent the Council from moving forward as a
result of the lawsuit that was filed.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you, Ms. Strance. Now, concerning the letter
from the OIP (Office of Information Practices), I understand that we have a
Sunshine Law, and there’s a way to have that remedied. Is that correct?
MS. STRANCE: We do not have a letter from the Office of Information
Practices. One, the deputies in our office, at my direction, made an inquiry and
received verbal input from the Office of Information Practices regarding an email
that was sent by Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. And we got an opinion regarding
whether that email would prevent him from voting and some direction about what
might happen—a suggestion about what he should do about that, and that was
communicated to Council Chair David. That advice was sought and received
before they received notice or a copy of the lawsuit that was filed.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. So, going forward, the advice for that letter, may I
request what that was?
MS. STRANCE: Yes. The Office of Information Practices did not believe that
the email itself disqualified Council Member Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder from
voting. It suggested that he announce at the Council meeting what had happened
and make the email available to those who would want a copy.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. And being that this is an unagendized conversation, we
are going to have to agendize that to move forward. Is that what I understand?
MS. STRANCE: I wasn’t asked for an opinion on that, and I don’t have one to
give.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Well, typically, for our Council business going
forward, we must agendize everything and give the proper notice. And so, I’m
very willing to entertain that conversation, but we’re going to have to schedule a
meeting to agendize that and then have that reported so it can be discussed. So,
Chair, how would you like to proceed?
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, shall I request that the communication that was sent
regarding their OIP opinion be submitted to the Council Members and then we
agendize the communication at our next meeting or a special meeting? And—
MR. CHUNG: Go ahead.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead. What’s your point?
MR. HENRICKS: Help me out here. What’s going on?
MR. CHUNG: Is this that important that we’ve got—well—
MR. HENRICKS: I’m sorry. I just don’t understand the circumstances. I don’t
have any context of what’s going on.
CHR. DAVID: Well, Mr. Richards is requesting that the—can we even talk about
that situation where inadvertently a Council Member just replied to a (inaudible)?
MR. HENRICKS: I’m aware of that situation.
CHR. DAVID: Okay, right. And so, the question was whether Sunshine was
violated, and then I think Corp. (Corporation) Counsel just said—I said how do
we, you know, what does he do now? And so, they sent a recommendation that
OIP suggested that he send a letter like Judge Strance, I mean—
MR. HENRICKS: My understanding of Judge Strance’s response was that the
email itself be made available upon request.
CHR. DAVID: I see.
MR. HENRICKS: And that could be anybody. Whatever request. Public
request.
CHR. DAVID: Okay.
MR. HENRICKS: It’s already been inadvertently made available to the rest of
the Council. That was kind of the point, right?
CHR. DAVID: Right. Okay.
MR. HENRICKS: And if you want to make it a point of discussion at a future
Council meeting, then Mr. Richards is correct that it would need to be agendized
to make it a point of discussion. And if that is the Council’s desire, then we will
go down that road.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Mr.—
MR. RICHARDS: Well, see if the Mayor would like to make a comment. As
we’re going forward and there is an ethics comment towards me being made at
this point about transparency, I want to be sure that we are being completely
transparent. So, I’m going to defer to the Mayor as—
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Understood. Thank you. And you yield? Mr. Mayor.
MR. ROTH: Thank you, Chair David.
CHR. DAVID: You’re welcome.
MR. ROTH: I’m just going to first talk about this issue and then we can get into
the testimony and stuff like that. I believe that it should be agendized, and it
should be made available to the public. People are testifying on this. The public
deserves to see what was said in that letter. I believe that letter does cause not
only a Sunshine Law violation, which the County is also being sued over as well
as the Council, but there’s also ethical issues that it brings in. So, I believe that
you should agendize that and set that for another meeting.
CHR. DAVID: Well, let me ask my colleagues. Any discussion on that, on
Mr. Richards’ request to bring that communication before this body for
discussion?
MS. VILLEGAS: I have a quick question if I could.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Just to clarify, this communication that wants—
the letter to be brought before the body, are you talking about the email and what
was accidentally responded to someone sending their opinion? Or are you talking
about the lawsuit documents? I’m confused on which documents you’re talking
about.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. You can—Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: It’s actually both. Primarily, we’re talking about the
communication. This was obviously a very volatile situation, and the question is,
to be completely transparent and putting all the information forward so the public
has full time to weigh in on this, we have a situation before us where there is an
ethical concern, as has been highlighted, and a Sunshine Law concern, as has also
been articulated. And in the—I have an ethics thing before me right now about
transparency, which, for me, I’ve been more than transparent.
MS. VILLEGAS: Which document are you talking about? I just need to know—
MR. RICHARDS: And so with this, the email that we’re talking about, that has
not been seen by the public. So, that should be put forth so we can have the
discussion.
CHR. DAVID: Ms. Villegas, does that answer your question?
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MS. VILLEGAS: That answers my question. I’m looking at the email right now,
and I think that this attempt to postpone or whatever is going on seems
preposterous to me.
CHR. DAVID: Ms. Villegas, I don’t believe there’s any request for a
postponement. What is being requested here is that that particular letter and,
eventually, the litigation complaint that we just read about this morning be
agendized at a future date for discussion in open session. I believe that’s what—
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for clarifying that.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you.
MR. RICHARDS: It is correct.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you.
MS. VILLEGAS: We’ll proceed as normal today—if this is considered normal.
But we would proceed with our vote today, and this would be agendized for a
future date. Correct?
CHR. DAVID: That’s my understanding.
MS. VILLEGAS: Great. Thank you. I appreciate that. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, and I will—from a legal standpoint, I am not an
attorney, but my understand is if we have these pressing issues and if there’s a
concern for a Sunshine Law violation from the office of information, we should
pay attention to that so we don’t get ourselves—we’re already facing one lawsuit.
And again, I’m not an attorney. So, I have to rely on Corporation Counsel. I
know our Mayor is an attorney, and we do have an attorney sitting here. So, I am
seeking the way forward. Because again, we have a lawsuit that is on the Council
as a whole and the County as a whole. So, I want to make sure we’re doing it
right going forward.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Thank you for the question. Anyone else wants to
weigh in before I make a comment or ask a question? No?
MR. INABA: Chair? Chair, this is Holeka.
CHR. DAVID: Yes, go ahead, Mr. Inaba.
MR. INABA: I think we should proceed. We have Corporation Counsel’s advice
that there’s nothing to prevent us from our normal proceedings today. And with
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
that, I think we should let Corporation Counsel handle what’s been filed and
move forward and wait for their advice. At this time, I don’t—again, like
Mr. Richards, I’m not a lawyer. So, I would leave it in the hands of those in those
positions to help advise us. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you for your comment. Anyone else? No? I have a
comment because it really directly affects a few of us on this body. My
understanding, I’m not an attorney either, but that is a separate process that has
been brought against some members of this Council, which we don’t have the
facts about. I’m not sure whether we can, once the litigation is filed, whether we
can discuss the complaint or the merits of it on this body. We probably can but it
will probably be in Executive Session.
So, I really—the thing is, it’s my belief—lawsuit; yes, it’s proposed Sunshine
Law violation—until a judge renders his decision or her decision, there is nothing,
in my opinion, that is preventing us from moving forward with our business
today. And that’s my interpretation of what I’m hearing, and also, we haven’t
even gotten served yet. So, to me, I think that is a procedure that is running on its
own, and it can be part of our business once Corporation Counsel gets its hands
on it and we have an Executive Session on it. And that’s just my interpretation of
what we have going on here.
My other question that I have—and this might be for Corporation Counsel also—
is that, No. 1, can we move forward with our agenda today? And, No. 2, if for
some reason it is determined that we can’t move forward and the timeframe
within which this body has to make a decision on an appointment or confirmation,
if that deadline runs, what’s the result of that? I’m sorry. Corporation Counsel?
MS. STRANCE: You’re asking my opinion?
CHR. DAVID: Well, basically, I got your answer, the first part of your answer:
There is no restraining order. There’s no court order before us right now
restricting us from carrying out our duties today.
MS. STRANCE: That’s correct. Although the complaint seeks injunctive relief,
I’m unaware of a court issuing a restraining order. A restraining order then would
be a direction to the County Council as to whether it could proceed or not
proceed. Absent a restraining order—and we looked as early as this morning, or
later this morning to the court docket to see if one had been issued. One certainly
has not been provided to the Corporation Counsel office. So, you have a lawsuit
that has been filed.
As you pointed out, there may be issues around service. And once proper service
is accomplished, then there’s a period of time within which the County Council
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
and County of Hawai‘i would have to respond to the complaint. And it would
take its course. So, absent that, I don’t believe that there is a prohibition for you
to proceed.
If the lawsuit is successful and a court would find that the Sunshine Law was
violated, one of the remedies is—under the statute, an action taken in violation of
the Sunshine Law is what’s called “voidable.” What voidable means is that the
action of the Council could be set aside. But because it’s voidable, it would be up
to the court to decide whether or not it would be void. So, there are not automatic
repercussions to a finding of the violation of the Sunshine Law.
Within the complaint, there are not allegations but there are statements made
about willful violations of the Sunshine Law subjecting those persons to
misdemeanor charges. And those would have to be taken up in a separate
proceeding that would be initiated by the Prosecuting Attorney’s office. But at
this stage, you simply have knowledge that a lawsuit has been filed and
allegations have been made, and you’re now aware that there is a buffet, really, of
potential remedies should the lawsuit be successful. If it’s not successful, then
there’s nothing. But I think without the court order directing you to stop, there’s
nothing requiring you to stop.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much for that opinion. Mr. Chung, go ahead.
MR. CHUNG: Well, I guess I would have said it in a different way, but yeah, I
mean, I don’t see any reason for us to just move ahead today. If there were
injunctive reliefs or if there was an injunction issued, then even under that
situation I think—you informed me, you educated me that there is a deadline,
right, to get this appointment finalized or else it is automatically approved. Even
if an injunction was done today, I think the order would toll that ordinance, you
know, the requirements of that ordinance during the pendency of the period that
the injunction was in effect.
So, I think let’s just go ahead already, yeah, on this thing. But I will—I’m going
to make this comment, though. And, Maile, you know. You and I have had a lot
of discussions on this matter. First of all, I see Mr. Heaukulani out there. He’s a
very well-respected member of the legal community here. I read in the newspaper
what the allegations were. Unless there’s more, I don’t believe there’s any
grounds to substantiate the claim. That’s my personal feeling, okay. Nor do I
believe that there’s any grounds for this ethics complaint against Mr. Richards.
But look at what is happening to our Council. I’m kind of embarrassed, quite
frankly. So, I just wish we’d be more responsible in the way we throw things at
each other because, hey, I’ve got a lot of stuff I can throw, too, okay, but why?
For what purpose? Anyway, thank you.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Thank you for that, Vice Chair Chung. Council Members, any
other members want to weigh in at this point? Seeing none, all right, we’ll move
forward then. Mr. Clerk, did we read in—yes, we did. Okay.
MR. HENRICKS: You have a motion on the floor to confirm the appointment of
Mr. Kern.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Okay. Now, on that motion, Council Members,
discussion please.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I’d like to note the fact that we have Mayor Roth
here, and I would love to hear from him. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. And, Mayor Roth, go
ahead.
MR. ROTH: Thank you, Chair David and members of the Council. I really
appreciate being here. My doctor gave me five minutes to be down here today. I
want to take off on what Mr. Chung has said and actually start off on how this
Council started off and the words that you gave, Chair David, about all of us
working together and trying to be a County that cooperates with each other. We
don’t want to be what’s happening in the Congress in the United States where
people are fighting for no good reasons.
That being said, I’ve heard several of you say that you’re going to judge the
candidates on their minimum qualifications. Mr. Kern meets those minimum
qualifications. I’m going to do this in two parts. Mr. Lord is going to take over
for me in a second. But you’ve heard from several attorneys. I know that,
Ms. David, you met with Mike Matsukawa the other day, and you guys actually
looked at the Charter Commission from I guess it was 1999, 2000. And what they
talked about in that Charter Commission was it didn’t matter if a person had
business looking over one person or 2,000 people. The idea was to allow a bigger
pool rather than a smaller pool. If you look at the qualifications of Mr. Kern, he
clearly meets those qualifications. As Council Members at this stage, you sit—if
I can take off my mask?
CHR. DAVID: You sure can. Thank you.
MR. ROTH: You sit kind of like judges. To be a judge, you have to be fair and
impartial. Unfortunately, what we’ve seen in these confirmation hearings is
Council Members trying to embarrass people. And what happened is they ended
up embarrassing themselves, the Council, and our County.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
I do believe that the letter that we’ve been talking about, an email, disqualifies
Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder because it shows he cannot be fair and impartial. He
says he’s not going to vote. That means that everything that everybody said
today, he would not take into consideration.
I think there’s a couple of things that I noticed here, and it had to do with a lot of
people who said, “pay for play.” As far as my selections, I had an independent
committee that made those choices. However, there’s been a couple of Council
Members, I think, that made it a point because Mr. Kern gave money to other
people that they were not going to support their candidacy. I know that because
one of the first things one of those Council Members said when Mr. Kern went
into their office is, “You supported my competitor, and I’m having a hard time
getting over it.” And the actions that happened in this Council really showed that.
I think there’s some issues on the Code of Ethics, specifically the fair treatment
rule under 2-83 (Hawai‘i County Code). That says, “All persons shall be treated
in a courteous, fair, and impartial manner.” Mr. Kern was not treated that way by
some of the members. Not all. Not even all of the people that voted against him.
But some of those members. The fair treatment is what they’re bringing against
Mr. Richards.
There’s another section in the ethics code that I think applies more to these other
candidates, and that’s the conflicts of interest. It has to do with an undertaking
which has a financial interest. Persons giving to a campaign is a financial interest.
And when you don’t give and you retaliate, that’s not right and that’s an ethics
violation. The way some of the questions came out in this Council I believe were
retaliation, and I really believe that a couple of members should recuse
themselves, set themselves aside and not take part in this vote because of that.
As far as Mr. Kern and his abilities, I think you’ve seen he has the abilities to run
the department. Watching the meetings yesterday, Mr. Kern did an excellent job
answering questions and actually educating a lot of the Council Members. I am
going to finish my talk and ask you to support him. I’m going to ask Mr. Lord
because I’ve outstayed my doctor’s permission to be here. But I thank you for
this opportunity to talk. I would hope that those members think about what I’ve
said and recuse themselves because that really is the right thing for them to do.
Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mayor Roth.
(Note: At this time, Managing Director Lee Lord came forward to address
the members of the Council.)
CHR. DAVID: Identify yourself for the record, Mr. Lord.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. LORD: My name is Lee Lord. I’m the Managing Director. Good
afternoon, Council Chair David and members of the County Council. The
selection of Mr. Kern comes after an extensive vetting and review process by a
non-partial selection committee. Mayor Roth allowed the whole process to occur
without influence or push from himself. He had the final say. And as he is the
appointing authority, the final decision was his.
Mayor Roth, as mentioned, chose a path no mayor in Hawai‘i County has been
known to take. He engaged the community in the process of choosing department
heads like no other mayor has. Subject matter experts from all sides of the island
and all backgrounds were invited to assist with the process that has brought
selectees for department directors to this Council for confirmation. He allowed
the selection committees to select and present the best candidate for each
department head that he could then appoint.
The selection process was rigorous and, as stated, included a panel of subject-
matter experts from all sides of the County to assess each candidate’s credentials
as they align with the requirements outlined in the 2020 Hawai‘i County Charter,
per Chapter 7, Section 6-7.2, of the Hawai‘i County Charter. Requiring the
Planning Director to have a minimum of five years of training and experience in a
responsible planning position, with no less than three years of experience in
administrative capacity, the committee found Mr. Kern to be the strongest
candidate out of seven that were interviewed, meeting all the qualifications of the
Charter.
The committee found Mr. Kern’s 20-plus years in the construction and
development industries satisfies the minimum of five years of training and
experience in a responsible planning position requirement. The committee further
found Mr. Kern’s extensive administrative experience as owner and operator of
Superior Development Group doing business as Green Island Builders, president
of Mr. Kern Enterprises LLC, and consultant at Kern and Associates where he has
led a multitude of projects related to land use planning and development since
2003 to more than satisfy the no less than three years of experience in
administrative capacity requirement.
In all, Mr. Kern not only meets the qualifications set forth by the Hawai‘i County
Charter but embodies all the aspects we were looking for in our administration.
When the selection committees were brought together to create questions and
develop a process that would be consistent within each selection committee and
between selection committees, they came forward and asked that Mayor Roth
provide his expectations and philosophy of what he is looking for when seeking
members of his administration. Mayor Roth’s philosophy, priorities, and vision
were shared with each of the committee members that assisted Mayor Roth.
The members of the selection team believe that Mr. Kern’s experience far exceeds
the terms and requirements outlined in the County Charter and he embodies
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Mayor Roth’s priorities of treating all people with dignity, respect, and aloha.
The selection committee also feels that Mr. Kern also demonstrates priorities of
transparency, accountability, responsibility, and giving the help needed to the
staff and citizens requesting help. Zendo demonstrated Mayor Roth’s mantra of
helping staff and customers to strive and succeed.
All members of the planning department interview team have given permission to
disclose their names as asked at the last meeting. They are Craig Takamine,
Ken Van Bergen, Nancy Cabral, Mike Fujimoto, and Myles Miyasato. All are
respected pillars in our community from various expertise areas that involve
planning and administration in our County from both the east and west sides of
the County.
Lastly, the Administration has heard, as stated, over five opinions from lawyers
that have given their opinion that Zendo meets the qualifications as presented in
the County Charter and interpreted in plain language. No lawyer has stated Zendo
does not meet the qualifications for the position. Three of those lawyers were
willing to go on record here in these chambers, whether it was their unofficial or
official legal opinion. I point out the plain language issue as there are no
definitions in the Charter of “training and experience,” “planning position,” or
“administrative capacity,” except for as they are written in the Charter in plain
language.
Adding layers or expectations that are not there. For example, “in a public sector
position” was not taken into consideration as Zendo meets and exceeds the
qualifications as they are written, just as the other directors that you’ve already
confirmed also do.
Our interpretation follows the directives I have heard repeatedly and consistently
from the County Human Resources department and the Corporation Counsel
throughout my 13 years in the County in an administrative capacity, interpret
them as any reasonable person would, and ensure that you remain inclusive in
interpretation, avoiding adding any language or interpretation that may exclude
anyone.
Prior to Mr. Kern having a chance to speak for himself, I wanted to address some
of the concerns that were previously brought up regarding the question raised of if
he has the training and experience to equal five years combined in a responsible
planning position. Mr. Kern’s training and experience include, and I am
paraphrasing from the detailed document that you all have—and if you don’t have
one, I have extras here—over 15 years of experience working on land use related
projects, land use applications, and land use planning matters. Five years of
comprehensive training and mentoring by Sid Fuke, Planning Consultant and
former Planning Director. Serving over three years on the Windward Planning
Commission, of which two years Mr. Kern held the position of chair. And
attending various trainings and workshops throughout his career.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
His three years performing in an administrative capacity include, but is not
limited to, human resources, including hiring, firing, training, and others;
managing up to 15 in-house employees; managing up to approximately 50 non-in-
house employees and workers, such as subconsultants, engineers, drafters,
designers, etcetera. Compliance with labor laws, tax laws, insurance requirements
and other laws and rules.
While directing the department, Mr. Kern will receive direction from myself and
Mayor Roth. Mayor Roth will be meeting with Mr. Kern regarding planning
direction, vision, and philosophy as we are following the Planning Commission’s
decisions.
I, as Managing Director, support Mr. Kern and the staff in the department
assigned to these areas on issues of operations, budgets, human resources,
employee issues, and support from other departments.
Bobby Command—the Deputy Managing Director—and the executive assistants
are also part of the team assisting with special projects and community issues that
need assistance. Mr. Kern is also working within the boundaries of the General
Plan, County Council, and the planning commissions, as well as the community
voice.
Mr. Kern is and will be measured and evaluated by several standards. The
priority being budgetary responsibility, completion and movement forward on
administrative projects such as EnerGov, overall interactions with staff, and the
ability to build a team within the department and collaboration with other County
departments and within the community with the stakeholders and interacting with
those affected by the department.
The overall goal is positive movement for the department and all the communities
in the County. Mr. Kern has demonstrated his ability to transfer his knowledge
from his previous involvement in the planning process on the Planning
Commission and County Council Planning Committee.
Mr. Kern has worked on projects that demonstrate a breadth and depth of
understanding of controlled urban planning and development, as well as the
ability to vision a future 20, 50, 100 years into the future by involvement and
work on Envision Downtown Hilo 2025, General Plan amendment, Puna
Community Development Plan, various projects in the urban growth area, and
various trainings in climate change and sea level rise.
Any fear of a rogue decision is met with a great deal of oversight. Should
Mr. Kern or any of the appointees, including myself, fail to follow the laws and
rules we are bound by as well as Mr. Roth’s stated vision and directives,
Mayor Roth can remove us.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Zendo understands the previous ecosystem and the community issues and
concerns we have here in our County, as demonstrated by projects he has a part of
and by his responses to your questions in the Committee meeting. There was a lot
of discussion regarding interpretation of the County Charter and how it was being
interpreted.
Bottom line for us is that Mr. Kern meets the qualifications set forth by the
Charter. We believe he far exceeds them. Mayor Roth entrusted the selection
committees to choose the best candidates for each department. The selection
committee selected the best candidate for this position. Mr. Kern has already
proven through his work he has already done in the department and the positive
changes we have seen in the department and in the community. We are asking
you to acknowledge his training and experience and trust Mr. Kern to make the
improvements and lead the planning in our County in a way that will build a
future for our children and their grandchildren fifty to a hundred years down the
road.
He’s proven he has the skills and ability. Trust the Administration to ensure that
Mr. Kern has the support, resources, direction, and supervision to do the best job
possible. We do not feel that anyone will step forward and be able to embrace
and carry out the duties as well as Mr. Kern. Mr. Kern has taken an oath to
uphold our Federal, State, and County laws. He is working with the guidance of
Mr. Roth. He is following his directives and philosophy of removing silos,
working as a team, looking for solutions, thinking outside the box, and treating
employees and our constituents as you would like your family treated all the time
with everyone, including here in Council Chambers.
We all want, including Mr. Kern, the best for the constituents of Hawai‘i County.
And as Mayor Roth repeats, we are looking forward to changing the philosophy
of government to creating a government that allows people to thrive and succeed.
Mr. Kern embodies that philosophy, and he is already a part of a well-selected,
experienced, professional Cabinet. He has performed diligently and carried out
th
the directives and philosophy of Mayor Roth since December 7. With that, we
ask that the Council do the right thing and confirm Mr. Kern as Planning Director.
Thank you so much for your time. Mahalo.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Lord. Council Members? Nothing? Oh,
Mr. Chung, go ahead.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah, thanks. I’m going to keep this, well, the second part of my
statement, short because we’ve discussed this at length already. But I had to
address something again. I’m being attacked again, now this time by
Tiffany Edwards Hunt, okay, somehow suggesting that the reason why I had
asked for a postponement the first time was to make a mockery of the system so
that we can exceed the 60-day deadline and, thereby, having Mr. Kern go in by
default.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Now, I think Chairperson David will confirm that I only found out about this law
on Monday. And after she informed me, I talked to our County Clerk
Jon Henricks. He’ll confirm that I called him. And we went over the County
Code, and he confirmed that that is the law. That’s the law. That’s the first time
I’ve ever heard of that, all my years working here, because I had no reason to
know of this law, quite frankly.
And I got a text from Tiffany Edwards Hunt on November 28, I think. She
wanted to discuss with me this appointment so I called her. And I’m not going to
tell you everything that she said; she can reveal it if she wants. But basically, at
the end, she texted me saying, “As always,” or something like that, “aloha, Aaron.
Happy New Year.” Yeah. She’s really nice when she wants something from me,
but as soon as I go against what she wants, now she starts accusing me of stuff
without any basis whatsoever except her own imagination.
I’ll say this—because these kinds of things don’t even come to my mind—I
would hate to make a mockery of the system. It’s embarrassing. Right? It’s not
going to be my legacy. But I think maybe that’s her frame of reference. If you
smelt it, you must have dealt it. Right? So, that’s all I’m going to say about that.
It’s kind of making me mad that people are so irresponsible in the way they throw
around these allegations.
But anyway, I’m going to continue to support Mr. Kern’s appointment. As I said
before, I think, yeah, it’s a close one. You can fool around with the Charter
language, but from my perspective, he qualifies. And I would like to interpret
that Charter to give it a broader application so that you open up the pool of
candidates. Okay? Second, I want this Council to be one that has an image of
compassion. Mr. Kern, he has a very compelling life story. I’m very impressed.
I didn’t know that about you, Mr. Kern.
How many times—I’m going to get off again. If he’s such a bad guy in
representing all of these bad people—developers, pro-development—how many
people here have voted against any of the rezonings or developments that he
brought forth over all these years that he’s come before the Council? I know I’ve
never voted against any of them. And I cannot really recall anyone on this
Council voting against all of these developers. All passed. And I know for a fact
that he has withdrawn things that didn’t really meet with the approval of, for
example, me. I made it very clear something wasn’t good over there: “You work
with the community. If not, don’t bring it.” And he didn’t bring it. He stopped.
I think he’s a good man. And I’m going on your representation, too, Lee. And I
hate that the Mayor had to come here from his sickbed. But I’ve got nothing else
but to take you for your word that if things don’t work out and if Zendo isn’t the
person that fits into your program, then he would be summarily dismissed by you.
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And I’m also banking on Zendo being the person that he has represented to us. I
am certainly willing to give him the chance. I really am. That’s all I’m going to
say and I yield. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Anyone else? Ms. Kimball, go ahead.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a feeling—I’m going to take
this off—Mr. Chung, that you and I are not going to agree about a lot of things
through this term, but I’m going to agree with you today. I am disappointed as
well at some of the behaviors around this particular issue.
We have a very specific job, in my opinion, as Council Members when it comes
to the confirmation process. As I stated multiple times before, the Mayor, as a
duly elected official, the executive of this County, has the authority to choose his
Cabinet. Our job is to vet that person and make sure that they meet the minimum
qualifications. It doesn’t matter if we like that person or not. We also can’t make
assumptions based on what we think they may do and decide on that. We have to
make decisions based on what is presented to us.
When I made the decision literally at the last minute in the last hearing to not
support the nomination, it was because there were still questions in my mind that
were unanswered. I’m not here to play games. And after that meeting, I was very
transparent with the Administration about what my concerns were because I did
think it was fair to give you every opportunity to address those concerns.
The concerns I had were, first, training. Mr. Kern was not able to give a
satisfactory response, in my opinion, with regard to training. He has since
provided that document that all of you have in front of you with the list of
training. Before there’s any debate about why wasn’t this provided before or
anything like that, I specifically asked for this document. I want to take
responsibility for that with my colleagues.
My second concern was about how much time we were going to hire this
person—paid by tax dollars, paid by taxpayers’ money—how much time is he not
going to be able to do his job because of potential conflicts of interest, and that is
represented here in this document. My third question had to do with the full
scope of administrative experience. And fourth question: How much oversight is
going to be required by the Administration and the public with regard to the
concerns of the potential conflicts and the administrative experience?
And my final concern was was this the best we could do? I felt like the
Administration rushed this in many ways. Looking at the quality of the
documents—well, you guys chided us; the Administration chided us a little bit.
I’m going to chide you back. I expect the highest from myself, and I expect the
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
highest effort from you folks. What was presented to us initially, I felt was not
robust enough, and I hope, as we proceed forward and work together, that extra
effort is placed on providing us with full information.
At this time, I would like to ask two questions—one of Corporation Counsel and
one of our HR Director. The first one, Corporation Counsel, my—thank you,
Lee, for being up here. I don’t think I have any more questions for you at the
moment. But, Mr. Kern, I will have some questions for you in a moment.
Judge Strance, it is my recollection that Corporation Counsel advised us on
interpretation of the language in the Charter, not specifically whether or not the
Corporation Counsel specifically thought that this candidate met the
qualifications. Is that correct?
MS. STRANCE: Yes. The opinion of the Corporation Counsel’s office is that it
is not its rule to make a declaration about whether a candidate meets or does not
meet the qualifications. I—
MS. KIMBALL: Regardless of the fact that you would be responsible for
defending the County if there were future lawsuits, you do not think it’s the
position of the Corp. Counsel to advise us in this way.
MS. STRANCE: That’s correct because the language of the Charter does not
have definitions of the term. And so, it is incumbent upon the County Council to
come up with a collective understanding of what the Charter means, or at least
come up with a number of different opinions that result in a vote in favor or
against the candidate. So, there are lawyers that have rendered opinions and
that’s fine. The rules of Corporation Counsel, however, is not to do your job. If
there was a word that had a legal definition and the County Council was not
following something that was clearly defined or if there’s a case that clearly states
what the requirement is, then if asked, we would advise you that you’re applying
the wrong definition because there’s direction around that.
But what you folks have been struggling with is how you’re going to interpret
language that isn’t defined. And Corporation Counsel, I believe, was asked to
describe one of the words within the Charter. We provided you with some
thoughts on that, but the office was not asked to provide the legal opinion on
behalf of the County—whether it’s on behalf of the County Council or on behalf
of the Mayor—of what to do. And that’s really what I think you’re asking is,
“You tell us what the meaning is and we’ll follow that.” But that’s not the task of
the Corporation Counsel in this situation.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Judge Strance. The reason I raise that is because
there’s been testimony and other comments made on the record that Corporation
Counsel supports or believes that this meets the minimum qualifications, and
that’s not really your position to provide that. So, this is really just a clarifying
question. Mr. Brilhante, may I ask you to come forward, please?
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(Note: At this time, Human Resources Director William Brilhante came
forward to address the members of the Council.)
MS. KIMBALL: My question for you: Have you been provided with this
document (See Comm. 44.129)? It’s a supplemental document from Mr. Kern.
MR. BRILHANTE: Good afternoon, Chair David and Council Members.
William Brilhante, Director, Department of Human Resources, County of
Hawai‘i. Ms. Kimball, in response to your question, as a matter of fact as I was
sitting here today, I happened to peruse the stack of papers as I was waiting for
this matter to come forward. And I have been able to review the document that
you are making reference to, and I had a chance to go through it. So, the short
answer to your question is “yes.”
MS. KIMBALL: My question is, could you provide some guidance with respect
to how HR would typically view training and the list provided? Would this list be
an example of something that would meet the expectations for training?
MR. BRILHANTE: Council Member Kimball, would you allow me a little bit of
latitude to add a little bit to your question?
MS. KIMBALL: Absolutely. Sure.
MR. BRILHANTE: Thank you very much for the privilege of allowing me to be
here today. It’s a very contentious issue, and it has raised a lot of concern and a
lot of comment and a lot of opinion in our community. And I second
Mr. Chung’s sentiments in that one of the things I’ve always appreciated so much
about the County, and especially the County Council, was the way in which the
County Council provided stability for the County. Oftentimes, you’ll get a mayor
and the mayor will have their agenda, and they would have their stated goals and
practices. But oftentimes, that’s one individual making decisions that would
affect the whole entire island. Whereas, the Council, I always looked at you as
being equal representation of the entire community; there’s one of you from each
district here on the island. And I appreciated that. I appreciated the stability that
it provided and the sense of fairness.
And the reason I bring that up is because, in HR, there’s several principles that
guide us, and we don’t just make this up as we go. The County of Hawai‘i’s HR
department is not a department that is autonomous to anything else; it acts
independently. We’re specifically guided. We’re one of the few departments in
the County where we’re specifically guided by requirements under the HRS
(Hawai‘i Revised Statutes) and that’s HRS 76. And one of those—several of
those primary principles are called the merit principle. And the basis of that is, as
we vet and as we hire and as we recruit government servants—because that’s
what everybody who works for the County is, a government servant—we want to
be inclusive. Mr. Lord brought that term up, “inclusive,” as opposed to
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“exclusive.” And the rationale behind that is because generally a government
servant is coming on board and there’s a sacrifice associated with the job that they
do. Oftentimes, an engineer in the private sector will make tremendously more
salary than an engineer in the County because of the economic and the financial
resources available to the County.
So, under the merit principle, the guidance that we have and we’re required to
follow under that is that, as we do recruitments, we want to ensure that the
recruitment process is fair, impartial, and equitable. We treat everybody the
same. We leave our biases. We leave our own personal feelings against a
particular candidate at the door when we walk into the office and we perform that
task of recruiting somebody.
The other principle I want to talk about is the principle of being inclusive as
opposed to exclusive. The best practices or our guiding principle is we follow the
best practice. And under the best practice for governmental recruitment is the
sense and the fact that we do not want to create artificial barriers when we vet
candidates. We want to broaden the field. We want to make government service
available to more people than to be restrictive and less people.
So, under those two principles, when I look at the language of the Charter, the
language is very vague, ambiguous, as well as broad. And so, with that in mind
as we’re having this discussion, one of the first requirements that the Charter sets
forth for the position of Planning Director is that the individual has five years of
training and experience. It’s inclusive and it’s conjunctive. It’s not separate five
years of training, five years of experience.
I think one of the best analogies I heard for this principle or this concept is what
Mr. Lord brought to my attention—and you may have heard this before, but
please allow me to go forward—is you have red marbles and you have blue
marbles and you have them separately. You have a glass container. The glass
container represents the five years of training and experience. As you put the
various marbles in that glass container, it’s irregardless if there’s 10 red
marbles—say you start with 100 marbles—if there’s 10 red marbles and 90 blue
marbles. It’s irregardless if there’s 1 red marble and 99 blue marbles. It’s
irregardless if there’s 20 blue marbles and 80 red marbles.
At the end of the day, the bottom line is, cumulatively with all the marbles put in
the glass, does it fill the glass? And that’s what this requirement means in my
eyes and as it relates to Human Resources as we vet applicants. Training and
experience is included together.
So now, thank you for that indulgence. But as it related to your specific
question—I haven’t forgotten; you guys can wake up now—as we go forward, I
looked at Mr. Kern’s supplemental submittal, and I see the training and
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workshops that Mr. Kern listed. And there’s two full pages of various training.
Again, the requirement is five years. It’s irregardless training experience. It’s
five years of experience.
And I looked—this seems to be, in my opinion, a pretty impressive list of
training. And if we were to vet this—and part of our vetting process was we
listed Mr. Kern’s overall experience as it related to the requirement for a
responsible planning position. And through our vetting process, we came out
with initially Mr. Kern has 18 years of responsible planning experience. What we
did was we subtracted four years from that 18-year total to make up the
requirement for the college degree portion.
When we vet applicants, we—general practice—our stated practice is one year of
college is equivalent to one year of related work experience. So, from that
18 years, we subtracted the 4 years, and that brought us down to 14 years of
administrative experience, I mean, of a responsible planning experience. And we
did the same thing with the three years in a responsible planning position, and we
did the same with the three years’ experience in administrative capacity.
And for each of those specific criteria when we looked at vetting it, inclusive as
opposed to exclusive, we found that Mr. Kern’s training, experience, planning
experience far exceeded the requirements of the Charter. Again, this was an
informal vetting. If I was to request it by either one of you to provide a formal
vetting, that’s exactly how we would do the process. Because under the merit
principle, we treat all our recruitments fair, impartial, and equitable.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you so much, Mr. Brilhante, for that inclusive and
comprehensive answer.
MR. BRILHANTE: You’re welcome.
MS. KIMBALL: Mr. Kern, would you mind coming forward? Thank you.
(Note: At this time, Planning Director Zendo Kern came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. KIMBALL: So, as I’ve said moments ago, I had a few outstanding questions
after our initial Committee meeting, and I’ve shared them extensively with the
Administration as well as yourself. You’ve produced this document, which has
been provided to all of us. Would you like to—I’m just going to give you the
opportunity to highlight anything that’s on here that you would like to make sure
the Council attends to.
MR. KERN: Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the County Council,
Council Member Kimball. I’m not going to highlight exactly what’s on there. I
haven’t wanted a Thursday to come like this in a while. I think I did the best I
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could to lay that out. I think there is something that I was thinking about last
night, something that resonated with me around this unique time that we have
right now, this unique pivotal time we have right now. And I was thinking about
it last night.
Everybody has their, maybe, niche, right. I was never the guy that worked on,
like, a massive Waikoloa project or anything like that. I worked with some
decent-size guys, but most of the people I worked with were smaller, and I would
be the guy that they would call when there was a problem: “How do we solve the
problem?” And I feel like that’s one of my strongest suits around this is solving
problems, thinking outside of the box. And I think maybe the path that brought
me here was part of that.
And then, actually I always kind of wondered, even last time we were at Council,
excuse me, Committee. There’s this thing you guys can tell I’m passionate about,
land use planning, right, and it’s kind of an oddity. I thought about that last night
amongst that and I said, “You know, land use planning is a massive problem that
affects everybody. It’s a massive challenge. It affects everybody from the person
being born to the person on their deathbed. And it’s this kind of unseen, unknown
element.” And I think that’s one of the reasons I’m so passionate about it, is that
it’s just constantly moving, challenging process that I put into work to the best of
my ability in my private practice, in my times as a community servant, to try to
come up with those solutions.
I know that we’re facing a lot. I don’t have all the answers. I’m not perfect. I
will continue to seek for perfection. But one thing I will say is that I’m open to
listening. I’m open to collaboration, brining the right people together and really
working holistically and inclusively for a common goal. I think we all want the
same thing. We want our island to be amazing and to thrive and be preserved in
the essence that we love but still maintain opportunity, and that’s from a
completely holistic approach. So, I would love the opportunity to work on this
problem.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Mr. Kern. And I also have never looked so forward
to a Thursday. I have spent a lot of time on this. I’ve had a lot of conversations, a
lot of meetings, a lot of sleepless nights because I am, as we all are on this
Council, wanting to do the best for the community as a whole, not just my district
but the whole island, and am wanting to make a decision that is fair and that I feel
is right. So, thank you for taking the time to put this document together.
Mr. Lord and, of course, the Mayor for being here under the circumstances. I told
him he didn’t need to meet with me or anything like that but he definitely wanted
to. So, I’m going to do what I did last time and yield at this point. I’d love to
hear from other Council Members if they still have concerns.
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CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball, and what a coincidence; your five
minutes were up, I was just told. All right, Council Members. Mr. Richards, go
ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. And thanks, Mr. Kern, for being here.
We’ve discussed this at length, so I’m not going to harp on anything. I do
appreciate, Chair, latitude for getting the questions answered because we have a
way forward. I appreciate that.
I was intrigued probably of all the testimony and all the stuff, and I think
everybody’s losing sleep on this one, by Mr. Jeff Darrow. The comments have
been made about seeking the way forward, trying to make the County better,
setting ourselves up for not next generation but the generation after that
generation, and seeking that positivity. It’s no secret Jeff and I don’t agree on
everything, and we’ve come to some pretty strong disagreements, but I respect
him because I know his heart is in the right direction. And whether we agree or
disagree, that’s not the point.
But what intrigued me the most is him coming back from retirement because, for
someone who’s been in planning for a long time and seeing that there is kind of a
shining way forward, that spoke a lot to me as far as if we have planning—and we
can spend a lot of time talking about the problems we have with our building
permitting process and the problems between Planning and Public Works; we
know that. The question is, how do we move forward with it? When I see
someone who’s been in there working a long time saying, “I see a way forward,”
I think we’re actually going to make a big difference here. That pushes a big flag
up for me that says, “Hey, there is a shot at making things different.”
So, I appreciate your tenacious attitude and your positivity going forward because
it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be real tough. And I’m going to keep with
what Aaron had said, keep it short, because I believe in you. I believe in the
Mayor’s vision going forward. And I’m going to be supporting you because
when the department is stepping up for you—you’ve been there two months and
they’re saying, “We see a future here”—that speaks a lot for me. And more than
anything else, I appreciated all the input, but that one really spoke to me. So, I
will be supporting you. Chair, thank you so much. I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Go ahead,
Ms. Kierkiewicz. Go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I’ll be supporting Mr. Kern. I was
really intrigued by testimony from Mike Matsukawa related to the 1999 Charter
Commission. So, I spent some time going through the minutes because I’m a
geek like that and really appreciated the dialogue from, like, Bob Herkes and
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Roland Higashi around why they were leaving language as is—broad
interpretation so that we’re not limiting ourselves to qualified candidates that—
candidates had multiple pathways to becoming director.
I don’t think you’re going to be an excellent director. I know you are because
I’ve seen you in action. One of my babies is recovery; this Council knows.
Heather, you weren’t here. Holeka wasn’t here last term. I struggled with the last
Administration. We would be here sometimes till eight, nine o’clock at night
talking about recovery. Why? Because there are hundreds of millions of dollars
on the line, and I never got the support that I needed. I needed someone like him.
He has guided so many conversations. He has been supporting Public Works and
the recovery team. They have incredible synergy.
My community. I feel for them. They were traumatized by the catastrophe of
2018, and now they finally have a guy that not only gets it but he listens. He
cares. He shows up. He challenges people to take action because he recognizes
that the last Administration dropped the ball, but, hey, not going to go there.
We’re going to puka through, right? We’re going to huli forward. So, I’m going
to be supporting you wholeheartedly because you were the best person for the job
right now. Absolutely. Thank you.
I mean, not confirming someone like him would be a detriment to our County.
He put his business on hold. Can’t practice for a year. Sucks for our County.
Our County loses out. Our island loses out. People that are trying to navigate the
planning labyrinth, they no can have access to Zendo either. Put that into
perspective. The way you helped guide conversation yesterday during Planning
Committee—incredible. Your knowledge of the Code, of HRS, of all of that—
phenomenal. The way you’re able to explain it with such clarity and simplicity;
haven’t had that before. Supporting you 100 percent. We would be lucky to have
the Planning Department led by you, Mr. Kern. Thank you. Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Anyone else? Kona, anyone else?
MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha, Maile, Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Aloha. Go ahead. Anybody.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, okay. Go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. I’m going to keep it brief. My vote won’t change.
I’m astounded. I’m baffled. I will repeat again the level of overcompensation,
what feels like manipulation, drama, and consistent kind of chaotic desperation.
This is my first time being in office during a mayoral election where the Mayor
gets to appoint his Cabinet and his Administration. I’m very happy for most of
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the appointments. I’m just baffled. And having had conversations with people in
other municipalities and people who have worked in planning departments
elsewhere, it’s a very—finding a very common sentiment that this is being viewed
as way out of the ordinary. And that in itself brings me to pause and question that
so much desperation is being put behind this appointment instead of—I’d actually
like to—can we just call for the vote?
CHR. DAVID: Are you calling for the question?
MS. VILLEGAS: Yes, please.
CHR. DAVID: Okay, well, our Rules say if somebody calls for the question, I
can’t even talk, right?
MR. HENRICKS: (Inaudible.)
MS. VILLEGAS: If you’d prefer, Chair David, in reference—
CHR. DAVID: Hang on a second. Go ahead.
MR. HENRICKS: If Ms. Villegas is making a motion to call for the question,
then your role as Chair would be to recognize that motion and see if there’s a
second to that motion.
CHR. DAVID: I see. Okay. All right. Ms. Villegas, did you hear that?
MR. HENRICKS: And then there would be a discussion and vote on that.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. And then discussion and—
MR. HENRICKS: Well, actually, there is no debate on this.
CHR. DAVID: There’s no discussion, right?
MR. HENRICKS: No.
CHR. DAVID: Yeah.
MR. HENRICKS: Because it’s obvious why somebody calls for a question;
there’s not much to debate at that point.
CHR. DAVID: At that point, okay. Did you hear that, Ms. Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: I did. And in deference and respect for you as Chair, I would
reverse or rewind that call.
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CHR. DAVID: Okay, we got it. So, I believe Ms. Kimball’s light was on and
maybe somebody else would like to speak before we do that to just give this the
amount of credence that we should. So, go ahead, Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Ms. Chair, and thank you to my colleagues for
allowing me some latitude today again, and just wanting to make the most
thoughtful decision possible. I don’t know what it was about yesterday, but it was
a day for epiphanies. And one of the things that has been brought up here is, are
you the absolute best candidate for a planning director out there in the world.
Probably not. In fact, probably none of us are the absolute best person that could
possibly do our job. The epiphany I had last night is that that’s not the bar. The
bar is, do you meet the qualifications. That’s what we’re making the decision on.
That was my only additional comment. Thank you, Madam Chair.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Anyone else? No? Kona, anyone
else? Any comments?
MR. INABA: Chair?
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Inaba.
MR. INABA: Aloha, Zendo. I just want to follow up on our conversation last
week. We’ve had a few conversations, and I have a lot of aloha for you. I think
you do a really great job in leading our department and helping to figure out some
of the problems that we’ve been experiencing like we discussed yesterday. I do
have before me, like everyone else, your trainings and workshops experience.
And I mahalo the HR Director’s mana‘o as well. With what’s in front of me—
and I can’t say that I completely understand or agree with the HR Director’s
mana‘o with the marbles. I appreciate the analogy, however. And what’s before
me right now, I don’t see the training part. I see the training. I don’t see where it
quantifies to add up, whether it’s one or it could be a hundred marbles of
experience and zero marbles of training. It’s just a little confusing.
And I’ll be really happy if you do get this job because I think you’ll do a good
job. But just with the Charter language, I won’t support today. So, we’ve had
these conversations and you know where I stand, and I mahalo you for leaving
your business to kōkua us here. So, know that it’s not personal. It’s just the way
I’m reading this, which I think is the most basic way. And with that, Chair, I
yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else? Okay. Mr. Kern, I think
we’ve had you here for longer than necessary, but I believe this is the process, and
I appreciate your strength and diligence and sitting before this body.
Lots of great respect for you I’m hearing the community, and I can’t say I
disagree because I agree with all those things. What I have—and please, we are
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here in our independent capacity to do this job to the best of our ability. And
that’s an interpreting in our own comfort, whether we believe that the Charter
language—and I’ve had conversations like Mayor Roth has says, you know, with
a lot of really credible people and what they have said. I’m throwing this all at
you, and this is what it is and it appears, but as a Council Member, the ultimate
decision is whether you feel it rises to that satisfaction. Right? I don’t make
decisions because of things outside of that. I’m just a process-crazy, nut person
like that. Okay? Procedure and process is, I think, our responsibility because
when we start to consider things outside of that scope, that’s where it gets cloudy.
So, for me, thank you for the training/workshop list. And it’s the three years of
administrative work is what I’m having some problems with. Like I said, I have
nothing against you personally and I really like you. But it’s what I feel in my job
I have to be comfortable with. And so, I think I’ve done my due diligence; talked
to a lot of people or people that’s close to me that understand the law, and just to
see what direction I was going to take. So, I thank you for being here and,
Mr. Clerk, roll call vote, please.
Vote on Zendo Kern: The motion to confirm the appointment of Zendo Kern as
(Approved) Planning Director was carried by the following roll call
vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Kierkiewicz, Kimball,
Lee Loy, and Richards – 5.
Noes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Villegas, and Chair David – 4.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
(Note: PC-2 is not adopted due to its negative recommendation.)
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Congratulations, Mr. Kern.
MR. KERN: Thank you so much. You can count on me to do my very best,
regardless.
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo. Thank you.
COUNCIL MEMBER: Can I request a recess?
CHR. DAVID: You sure may. We’re in recess.
Recess: At 2:42 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 2:48 p.m.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, I think we can move on to Item No. 24, PC-3, C-71.
PC-3 NOMINATION OF RICHARD HENDERSON II TO THE BOARD OF
(Comm. 71): APPEALS
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 12, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on PC-3: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Planning Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 3. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by
the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball,
Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Villegas – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, PC-4, Communication 78.
PC-4 NOMINATION OF DENNIS LIN TO THE WINDWARD PLANNING
(Comm. 78): COMMISSION
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 12, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
; and
Comm. 78.2: From Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika‘i Bartolome, dated January 22,
2021, noting the term ending date of Dennis Lin’s nomination to be December 31,
2024.
Vote on PC-4: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Planning Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 4. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by
the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball,
Lee Loy, Richards, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Villegas – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, please, PC-5, Communication 79.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
PC-5 NOMINATION OF MICHELLE GALIMBA TO THE WINDWARD
(Comm. 79): PLANNING COMMISSION
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 19, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on PC-5: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Planning Committee Report
(Adopted) No. 5. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, PC-6, Communication 80.
PC-6 NOMINATION OF MARK TRAVALINO TO THE LEEWARD PLANNING
(Comm. 80): COMMISSION
Negative
Recommendation: Due to a vote of 4-ayes, 5-noes
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 19, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to confirm the nomination of
Mark Travalino to the Leeward Planning Commission.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Any discussion?
MR. INABA: Chair?
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Go ahead.
MR. INABA: Aloha, Council Members. Just taking this back to two weeks, we
had a five no-vote on this nomination, and I’ve had, since that time, the
opportunity to talk with Mr. Travalino. And I understand he’s been here for over
30 years. He has kids here who often tell him about the development. But I’ll get
back to the point, and it’s that, currently, we have Mr. Newberg on the Leeward
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Planning Commission who is the West Hawai‘i representative for the Carpenters
Union. And Mr. Travalino, who’s being nominated right now, represents the
entire island for the Laborers’ Union.
I’ll be honest that I really have a hard time with anybody who is not just a union
member but a representative being on a planning commission. I do see the value
in having a wide array of perspectives, but when two members from a
commission both represent union members across this island are strictly on the
west side, I think it’s really concerning to grant that kind of imbalance going into
a commission. So, with that, and as one of the Council Members on this island,
asking for your support in voting “no” on this nomination. With that, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else? Mr. Clerk, please, roll call
vote.
Vote on The motion to confirm the nomination of Mark Travalino
Mark Travalino: to the Leeward Planning Commission failed by the
(Failed) following roll call vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy,
and Richards – 4.
Noes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kimball, Villegas, and Chair David – 5.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
(Note: PC-6 is adopted due to its negative recommendation.)
CHR. DAVID: Thank you.
MR. TRAVALINO: What?
CHR. DAVID: Kona, your mic is on.
MR. TRAVALINO: No, it’s me—Travalino.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, sorry. All right, Mr. Clerk—
MR. TRAVALINO: I don’t have a second to say my peace or my mind?
Because, obviously, this is—you guys already formed my character in the
newspaper by saying stuff about me. I’ve been part of this community for
31 years. I do know development and I do construction. Unfortunately—
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Travalino, I believe we’ve taken—the Council has taken
action, and we’ve called for the vote already. So, thank you for being available.
Mahalo. Mr. Clerk, PRPSC-2, Communication 64, please.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
PRPSC-2 NOMINATION OF DOUG ESPEJO TO THE LIQUOR COMMISSION
(Comm. 64):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Parks and Recreation and
Public Safety Committee Report No. 2. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. DAVID: Discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor please say—
MR. INABA: Chair, I just want to make—this is Holeka. I just want to ask that
we can’t see who’s on the Zoom if there are any of these people on the Zoom. So,
if we could give the opportunity to, or if Jeanette might be able to let us know so
that any of these nominees who might be in the WebEx have the opportunity to
share. Sorry, Mr. Travalino, for not having, or for you not having that
opportunity. We couldn’t see that you were in the WebEx.
MR. HENRICKS: And just to—this is Mr. Henricks—just to inform you that that
was the only person that was available in the queue as far as the rest of the items
for the agenda for the rest of the day.
MR. INABA: Mahalo, Mr. Clerk.
MR. HENRICKS: You’re welcome.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Now, did I—?
MS. KIMBALL: Actually, can I make a comment on that? I was actually
unaware that Mark was on the phone, and I would have liked to ask him a couple
of questions. I don’t know what opportunity we have to rectify that in the future.
MR. HENRICKS: Well, you could rectify it now if you so desire. As you were
in the prevailing vote, you may request a reconsideration.
MS. GOODENOW: He’s no longer connected.
MR. HENRICKS: That would be an issue as well. However, we could try to get
him back today and then, before the meeting adjourns, you could make that
request for a reconsideration. That would bring the motion back to the floor.
Would you like for us to try to contact Mr. Travalino, Madam Chair?
CHR. DAVID: Yes. I mean, is—Ms. Kimball—?
MR. RICHARDS: Chair?
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MS. KIMBALL: Mr. Richards, do you have a recommendation?
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah. Heather, you’re a freshman and this is one of the weird
things that we can do. Because you’re in the prevailing, you can request a
re-vote, essentially is what can happen so we can hit the pause button. But it has
to be done before the end of this meeting. So, you can—
th
MR. HENRICKS: Actually, I would note that you have until February 19.
MR. RICHARDS: Oh, excuse me.
MR. HENRICKS: So, you could actually request a reconsideration, and we can
th
place it on the agenda for the 17 and then we could have Mr. Travalino
available. And if your motion to reconsider is successful, it takes us back to the
th
point prior to where the vote was called. So, we could prepare this for the 17 but
with no guarantee that the motion for reconsideration will be successful, but it
would be an opportunity. Or you could make the motion now. We could bring it
back and we could—
MS. KIMBALL: As a freshman, I seek the guidance of my more experienced
colleagues. Would you suggest we do it today or shift it to the next—?
MR. RICHARDS: I would suggest that you request the reconsideration—
MS. KIMBALL: Okay.
MR. RICHARDS: Which hits the pause button. And then we can work to get
Mr. Travalino back on. And if not, then we can go forward. That’s my
suggestion just to help with procedural stuff. Chair, I hope that’s okay.
(Note: At this time, Mark Travalino, nominee, came forward to address
the members of the Council, via videoconferencing.)
MR. HENRICKS: Update: Mr. Travalino is back.
MS. KIMBALL: All right. Well, then, I will go ahead and request consideration
although I don’t know—
MR. HENRICKS: Just move for reconsideration on the vote to appoint, excuse
me, approve the appointment of Mr. Travalino.
Motion to Ms. Kimball moved to reconsider the vote taken on
Reconsider: Mark Travalino’s nomination to the Leeward Planning
Commission. Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Okay, it’s been moved by Ms. Kimball, seconded by Mr. Inaba,
okay, to reconsider the motion—
MR. HENRICKS: And that motion is debatable, so we can allow for discussion
on this motion that’s on the floor right now to be recognized.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Council Members, on the recon (reconsideration)
motion. Discussion? No? All right, all those in favor of approving the motion
for reconsideration, please say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to reconsider the vote taken on
Reconsider: Mark Travalino’s nomination to the Leeward Planning
(Approved) Commission was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kimball. Is Mr. Travalino online? Thank you.
Mr. Travalino? Oh, there you are. Hang on a second. Council Member Kimball
has some questions for you.
MS. KIMBALL: Hi, Mr. Travalino. I apologize. We were not aware that you
were on the line earlier to talk about your nomination, and I’m glad you are here
now. One of the questions that was brought up by my colleague, who is your
Council representative, I believe, is the concerns about your affiliation with the
labor union. So, tell us a little bit. What hat are you going to wear on this board?
How will you ensure that you can be deliberative without being biased?
MR. TRAVALINO: As I—excuse me. Thank you, everybody, for giving me an
opportunity to speak. It kind of threw me a little bit when you guys whipped right
through things. So, I had to reconfigure my brain here.
I have a lot of hats to wear. I’ll be the first one to say that. Being that I’m a union
representative—I’m a family man. I play a lot of sports in the community. I have
kids. I’m a father. When I sit down and I’m committed, it’s community service
I’m all about. I commit myself to community service. I put my community
service hat on and put my union hat in the closet. Understand, I—community
comes first; always comes first.
Us guys in West Hawai‘i, I’ve seen—I’ve been West Hawai‘i for 31 years. I’ve
seen a lot of development. And I’ve seen a lot of good development. I’ve seen a
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
lot of bad development. And from my perspective, I do believe that
overdevelopment is not good, especially on the coastline like I said before. So, I
know when it’s time to take my hat off as far as being the union representative
and putting that hat on as far as community service and taking a good look
around. And I talk to everybody in our community. I try to reach out to
everybody I can, whether it be park cleanups, beach cleanups, whatever we’re
doing in the community.
I’m just listening to my family. Like I said before, I’ve got boys who are surfers,
and they’re kind of pissed that we’ve done so much to our coastline. I do need—I
know there is good construction out there to keep my guys busy. There’s a lot of
infrastructure work that needs to be done. I was here. I know you were talking
about sewer projects and whatnot. There is failing infrastructure, and that’s all
part of the Planning Department, which I think I could really be an asset if I just
have the opportunity. This is a community service. I’m not asking a dime for my
knowledge and my years of working construction and being in the field.
I was on the Board of Appeals for five years. Each time I served as far as
community service, I’ve always taken my hat off. There was never a conflict of
interest. I believe it would be fair just to give me the opportunity to serve on this
board. Thank you.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Mark. The conflicts of interest as it’s defined by
the ethics code is financial gain. Is there any adjustment made to the income—do
you get paid regardless of what decision you make on the Planning Commission?
MR. TRAVALINO: Yeah, I won’t get paid to make decisions on the Planning
Committee from anybody. Decisions are based solely upon what I’ve heard in the
community from friends and local business owners in West Hawai‘i. And I don’t
get—no, I don’t gain their (inaudible) anywhere. There’s no one that I can help
but our community.
MS. KIMBALL: How many members are there on the Planning Commission?
MR. TRAVALINO: Seven.
MS. KIMBALL: Seven. And are there any other vacancies right now?
MR. TRAVALINO: Not that I know of.
MS. KIMBALL: Is Pomai outside? Yeah.
(Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika‘i
Bartolome came forward to address the members of the Council.)
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MS. KIMBALL: I’d be curious about that. And when you were elected to the
Appeals Board, was that a unanimous decision by the Council?
MR. TRAVALINO: It was. Marty was (inaudible).
MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, okay. And what was your—Pomai, just a quick question.
How many vacancies are there on the—?
MS. BARTOLOME: One.
MS. KIMBALL: One. And there’s another one coming up, yes?
MS. BARTOLOME: There is one coming up March of next year—no, kalamai,
March of this year.
MS. KIMBALL: Yeah. So, in a month.
MS. BARTOLOME: Yes.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay. And there’s one vacancy in addition to this one?
MS. BARTOLOME: That will be that one.
MS. KIMBALL: This will fill that one vacancy.
MS. BARTOLOME: So, he would fill the one vacancy now that would serve a
full term till 2025, and then there’s the March vacancy that’s coming up.
MS. KIMBALL: And all of them, are these at-large positions or are they—?
MS. BARTOLOME: So, there’s three at-large. And then the rest are
South Kona, North Kona, South Kohala, and North Kohala.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay, so, the current vacancy is what?
MS. BARTOLOME: This one is North Kona.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay. And the vacancy coming up in March?
MS. BARTOLOME: That one is at-large, South Kohala. At-large to
South Kohala.
MS. KIMBALL: What I’m going to do is this, Mark. You and I had a couple of
good conversations. Thank you for reaching out to me. I appreciate the
conversations we had, and our daughters share similar interests in art and design.
We’ve had conversations before. I told you that my vote initially was to support
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
my colleagues because you would be filling a seat to represent your particular
district, which is also their responsibility. And I feel it is important to respect
their wishes in that regard.
I see you’ve talked to Holeka. I don’t know if you’ve talked to the others, but
what I’m going to recommend is maybe we can reconsider this—for the
representative of your district can’t seem to support your nomination—to have
you go for the at-large in March. I yield, Chair. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Travalino, do you understand what Council Member Kimball
is saying?
MR. TRAVALINO: So—
CHR. DAVID: So, your appointment—you’ll be reappointed and your
nomination will come before this body in March for the at-large position.
MR. TRAVALINO: And which—so, it will be—
CHR. DAVID: On the same thing. The Leeward Planning Commission.
MR. TRAVALINO: Okay.
CHR. DAVID: But instead of filling the position for North Kona, you will be
appointed, nominated for the at-large position.
Point of Information: MR. CHUNG: Just a point of information.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: I think that was a suggestion by Ms. Kimball. And it very well
may be what the Administration does, but I think it takes several other steps for
that to happen. So, just wanted—
CHR. DAVID: Okay, well, I was just explaining because he didn’t really
understand what Ms. Kimball was saying when she said, “I’ll bring it up in
March.” So, it’s totally up to you folks then.
MS. BARTOLOME: Yeah. And because it’s an at-large position, that is
something that it’s an option. So, we can discuss that, though. I can discuss that
with Mr. Travalino further.
CHR. DAVID: So, Mr. Clerk, we are on that motion to reconsider. So, shall we
just leave that—?
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. HENRICKS: Well, actually, you’re on the motion to approve his
appointment or his nomination.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, that’s right. We voted on the reconsideration already.
MR. HENRICKS: Correct.
CHR. DAVID: So, now—
MR. HENRICKS: A little dicey now because I don’t know what it would mean at
th
this, I guess—it’s until the 19. So, if you would give deference to the Mayor’s
office to issue a letter stating that they’re formally withdrawing this nomination, I
think that would suffice, and it wouldn’t bring the automatic confirmation date of
th
the 19 into play. Maybe a question for your Corporation Counsel to confirm that
that would suffice to cure that situation. I don’t know. And then, you know, it
does rely upon that. You could also make this more confusing and postpone this
th
to the 17 to keep this alive, but that’s just throwing it out there to add a little bit
more—
MS. LEE LOY: Shoyu-sugar.
MR. HENRICKS: Yeah, I’m sure.
MS. BARTOLOME: Yeah, I think, probably for documentation purposes, that
the best thing to do or one of the options would be to withdraw because, then, I
can do the proper documentation for the proper position. And then we can go
from there.
MR. HENRICKS: So, the Council would assume that within the timeframe of
th
making this agenda for the 17, prior to that it would receive the official letter
from the Mayor withdrawing this nomination. If it doesn’t for whatever reason,
th
then you can put it on the agenda and deal with it on the 17. So, my suggestion
would be just to withdraw—have Ms. Lee Loy withdraw her motion for today and
then that would—
MS. BARTOLOME: Postpone.
MR. HENRICKS: It’s still technically on our agenda. But if there is no motion,
it doesn’t necessarily mean that the matter fails. The assumption is that a letter
will come in withdrawing and then we’ll deal with potentially a fresh
appointment—
th
CHR. DAVID: On the 17.
MR. HENRICKS: As described today. Not for the particular North Kona seat.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Chung, does that—?
MR. CHUNG: No, I just have a thought, though.
CHR. DAVID: Okay, go ahead.
MR. CHUNG: I’ll keep this quick. And I really do appreciate Ms. Kimball’s
attempt at trying to get a good compromise in here. This doesn’t require any
answer, but if Mr. Inaba had voted against this nominee because there would be
too many union people on the board or the commission, then let’s just assume, for
argument’s sake, that he continues to vote “no” on that basis. And I’m not
assuming anything, but that was his stated reason.
Then if the votes change on the Council, it’s going to be reflective of a deference
to that Councilperson’s preference. It’s very convoluted, this thing, because of
the stated reason. I just want to throw that out. I’m not expecting any kind of
response, but I appreciate the effort on Ms. Kimball’s part. Thank you.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Mr. Inaba, did I hear your mic go off?
MR. INABA: Yes.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, thank you. Go ahead.
MR. INABA: Mr. Chung, thank you for bringing up that point. And I want to be
up-front here today, too, in that my understanding is that that position that’s
coming up in March is an at-large South Kohala seat. And I don’t think that
Mr. Travalino would even be eligible for nomination, and this is me trying to be
honest. And I seconded the motion so that Mr. Travalino could share his mana‘o
today.
The commission is the commission who decides together as a body on projects
coming through on their agenda. So, Mr. Chung is right in that I wouldn’t be able
to support, whether it was for this seat or another seat on this specific
commission. Ten years ago when Mr. Travalino was nominated to the Leeward
Planning Commission, I believe he received seven “noes” and two “ayes,” and it’s
really pointing down to what I’m talking about right now. As a union
representative, your primary job or kuleana is to make sure that union members
have jobs.
So, I said this two weeks ago: We all have the ability to take issues before us and
be objective. I believe that. The nominee’s main kuleana, however—and we
know your main kuleana is to ensure jobs. And the fact that we have two separate
unions possibly being represented on this commission represents a total
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
imbalance. So, that’s as straightforward as I can be. And again, I ask for my
colleagues’ support in keeping a balance on this Leeward Planning Commission.
Chair, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Mr. Chung.
MR. CHUNG: Yeah—oh, sorry.
CHR. DAVID: Oh, I’m sorry. Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, go ahead.
MR. KANEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Inaba, I hear your concerns. And as the
sitting Council Member for that district, your district, and for the Leeward
Planning Commission, which all decisions will affect your district as well as
Maile, Tim, Rebecca, I respect your opinion. I respect your concerns, and I
understand exactly what you’re saying. I support you today. Mahalo for voicing
your concerns and taking the time to explain your opinions and your point of
view. I think they’re very well founded, and I agree with what Mr. Chung said as
well. That being said, I think it’s up to all the Council Members to vote
accordingly, make their decision, and then we can be pau with this agenda item.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. Mr. Chung, go ahead.
MR. CHUNG: That’s the reason why I brought it up. Because, I certainly didn’t
want Mr. Travalino to have any kind of heightened expectations and then come
back and have the same thing. I mean, I really feel bad for him. But let me ask
you one question, Mr. Travalino, because Mr. Inaba did raise a question that all of
us have on the back of our minds. There is some kind of nexus between
development and having union members employed. Now, I’m going to ask you
this question: Will you give us assurances—or you can even tell us how you feel
about it—that if you were appointed to this commission, you would never
leverage your seat on the commission or have your decision be determined by
whether developers are signatories to union contracts?
MR. TRAVALINO: Thanks for your question, Mr. Chung. I would never do
that. I have a different hat to wear. It’s not a union hat when I come to
community service. I have it—I draw a line right there. I either wear my hat—
I’m doing community service, or I have my hat and I’m doing union work.
MR. CHUNG: Thank you very much.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Travalino, you’re just term limiting off
the Board of Appeals. Correct?
MR. TRAVALINO: Sure.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. RICHARDS: And so, I think, I’m sure there have had things come before
you there that would probably speak to the question Mr. Chung just asked. And
here on the Big Island, we all wear a lot of different hats. And so, I appreciate
your candor on that one. I like the fact that Aaron brings up the point don’t have
heightened expectation, but I appreciate your honesty in saying, “Yeah, I can put
that one hat off and focus on taking care of our County.” So, I just wanted to
bring that up. Thanks, I yield.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Mr. Travalino—anyone
else in Kona before—? No? Okay. Mr. Travalino, I appreciate your comments
regarding your public service, and I appreciate your service on the Board of
Appeals, was it? And I believe the Board of Appeals one, basically I didn’t
think—in my mind, it does not rise to the issues that are being discussed right
now because of your union affiliation. And I know I’ve heard you say you can
separate the two. This is a volunteer job, but you are a union representative—and
a paid union representative. Right?
MR. TRAVALINO: Yes, I am.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. And you represent the—
MR. TRAVALINO: Hawai‘i Laborers.
CHR. DAVID: Members of Hawai‘i Island or the State?
MR. TRAVALINO: State.
CHR. DAVID: The State. Okay. And so, in my view, I think that’s the concerns
we’re talking about specifically for the Kona district. That is the development
capital of the world, or the island, and I think that’s the concern I’m hearing
Mr. Holeka Inaba express. And so, I would—another commission maybe; I really
wouldn’t mind supporting you on another commission. But in deference to the
concerns of I don’t know how many years ago and also the comments that
Mr. Inaba has made, I think we were trying to be very mindful that we have a
representative that—a diverse group on especially the planning commissions. Not
all business, not all union and that sort of thing. A nice balance and a nice mix.
So, I appreciate your desire to serve on the planning commission, or the Leeward
Planning Commission, but I really regret to say that I have to agree, from a
development standpoint, there’s a lot of concerns about development on the west
side. So, thank you for coming forward. Okay, anyone else before we—wait a
second. We are at a motion to—
COUNCIL MEMBER: (Inaudible.)
CHR. DAVID: No, because we voted on the motion to reconsider already.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. HENRICKS: The motion on the floor is to confirm the nomination of
Mr. Travalino to the Leeward Planning Commission.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. So, we dispensed with the other one. Okay.
MR. HENRICKS: Yes. It is the main motion.
CHR. DAVID: Main motion. All right, Mr. Clerk.
Vote on The motion to confirm the nomination of Mark Travalino
Mark Travalino: to the Leeward Planning Commission failed by the
(Failed) following roll call vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy,
and Richards – 4.
Noes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kimball, Villegas, and Chair David – 5.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
(Note: PC-6 is adopted due to its negative recommendation.)
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Travalino, and I apologize for the added
discussion and thank you for being here today. Mahalo. Thank you, Pomaika‘i.
Aloha.
PRPSC-3 NOMINATION OF RILEY SMITH TO THE LIQUOR COMMISSION
(Comm. 65):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on PRPSC-3: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Parks and Recreation and
(Adopted) Public Safety Committee Report No. 3. Seconded by
Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
MR. CHUNG: Did we finish this?
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
CHR. DAVID: You know what?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: We did.
MR. CHUNG: We did? Oh, okay.
CHR. DAVID: We did? You sure?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, we did.
MR. CHUNG: Jon, did we finish Espejo?
MR. HENRICKS: I sure hope so. We shouldn’t have taken a reconsideration
vote in the middle of Mr. Espejo’s—
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: We did it after.
MR. HENRICKS: Yeah, I thought so.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Thank you for that. Somebody’s keeping track.
MR. CHUNG: Very confusing.
CHR. DAVID: Yeah, I know. Okay, next.
MR. HENRICKS: It’s a very dynamic day.
PRPSC-4 NOMINATION OF SIDNEY FUKE TO THE LIQUOR CONTROL
(Comm. 66): ADJUDICATION BOARD
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on PRPSC-4: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Parks and Recreation and
(Adopted) Public Safety Committee Report No. 4. Seconded by
Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
PRPSC-5 NOMINATION OF HOWARD KELLY TO THE LIQUOR CONTROL
(Comm. 67): ADJUDICATION BOARD
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on PRPSC-5: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Parks and Recreation and
(Adopted) Public Safety Committee Report No. 5. Seconded by
Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Mr. Clerk.
PRPSC-6 NOMINATION OF GEORGE R. ROBINSON TO THE POLICE COMMISSION
(Comm. 68):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on PRPSC-6: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Parks and Recreation and
(Adopted) Public Safety Committee Report No. 6. Seconded by
Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
PRPSC-7 REAPPOINTMENT OF JON BERTSCH TO THE POLICE COMMISSION
(Comm. 72):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 12, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Vote on PRPSC-7: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Parks and Recreation and
(Adopted) Public Safety Committee Report No. 7. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk.
PRPSC-8 REAPPOINTMENT OF MARIA SHON MAGSALIN TO THE FIRE
(Comm. 73): COMMISSION
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 12, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on PRPSC-8: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Parks and Recreation and
(Adopted) Public Safety Committee Report No. 8. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
PRPSC-9 NOMINATION OF GENE NAKASHIMA TO THE FIRE COMMISSION
(Comm. 74):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 12, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Vote on PRPSC-9: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Parks and Recreation and Public
(Adopted) Safety Committee Report No. 9. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy
and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
PRPSC-10 NOMINATION OF JOHN HIDUCHICK-NAKAYAMA TO THE VETERAN’S
(Comm. 75): ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Vote on PRPSC-10: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Parks and Recreation and
(Adopted) Public Safety Committee Report No. 10. Seconded by
Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
PRPSC-11 REAPPOINTMENT OF GEORGE SHERIDAN TO THE VETERAN’S
(Comm. 82): ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Parks and Recreation and
Public Safety Committee Report No. 11. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, you needed—?
MR. HENRICKS: Yeah. So, if I’m not mistaken, Mr. Sheridan wasn’t available
for Committee. The nomination was moved forward, and he had every intention
of being available at Council. It was our error on our part not being able to have
him available today. However, there is no deadline for this nomination for this
particular committee. No default deadline. So, options are to approve, reject, or
you can postpone if you’d like to speak to Mr. Sheridan.
CHR. DAVID: Council Members, move ahead?
COUNCIL MEMBER: Move ahead.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Kona, move ahead with this nomination?
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. INABA: Yes.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you very much. All right, all those in favor of confirming
the nomination of George Sheridan to the Veteran’s Advisory Committee, please
say “aye.”
Vote on PRPSC-11: The motion to adopt Parks and Recreation and Public
(Adopted) Safety Committee Report No. 11 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Clerk.
RAWEEMC-2 NOMINATION OF BRIAN LEY TO THE GAME MANAGEMENT
(Comm. 69): ADVISORY COMMISSION
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 6, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Regenerative Agriculture,
RAWEEMC-2: Water, Energy and Environmental Management Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 2. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by
the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
RAWEEMC-3 NOMINATION OF STEVEN A. HIRAKAMI TO THE WATER BOARD
(Comm. 81):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 19, 2021 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on Mr. Richards moved to adopt Regenerative Agriculture,
RAWEEMC-3: Water, Energy and Environmental Management Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 3. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by
the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, please, Communication 90.
REFERRALS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Referrals
EXECUTIVE for Executive Session.
SESSION:
Comm. 90: CHANG Y. AIONA, V, V. COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I; JOHN A. MEDEIROS,
INDIVIDUALLY AND OFFICIAL CAPACITY; CIVIL NO. 16-1-0342K
From Deputy Corporation Counsel Lerisa L. Heroldt, dated January 8, 2021,
requesting an attorney-client confidential discussion to consult with the Council
regarding the above-entitled matter, including a discussion regarding a litigation
filed by Ted H. S. Hong, Esq., on behalf of his client, Chang Y. Aiona, V.
Motion to Close Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 90. Seconded
File: by Mr. Richards.
Motion to Enter Ms. Lee Loy moved to enter into Executive Session in
into Executive order to hold attorney-client privilege discussion regarding
Session: Communication 90, as authorized by Section 92-5(a)(4) of
the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. There’s no discussion. Mr. Clerk, can we just take a
recess?
MR. HENRICKS: There is.
CHR. DAVID: There is discussion?
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
MR. HENRICKS: You’re making a motion to enter into Executive Session. That
is a debatable motion.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. Alrighty. And now the discussion, Council Members.
Have you read our confidentials? Is there—I’m just wondering whether is there a
desire to go into Executive Session to determine a position on this or—?
MR. INABA: Chair?
CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Mr. Inaba.
MR. INABA: Mr. Clerk, am I right that there’s been a motion and a second to go
into Executive Session, so this is the discussion?
CHR. DAVID: Yes, we’re in discussion right now.
MR. INABA: Okay. Yes, I support going into Executive Session on this matter.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, all those in favor of going into
Executive Session, please say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to enter into Executive Session was carried by
Enter into the following voice vote:
Executive Session:
(Approved) Ayes: Council Members Chung, Inaba,
Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair David – 9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: All right. Mr. Clerk, I’m taking a recess. We’re going to go into
Executive Session. Recess.
Recess: At 3:29 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 3:43 p.m.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you, everyone. We are out of Executive Session.
Ms. Lee Loy.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Vote on Motion to Ms. Lee Loy moved to concur with the recommendation of
Concur: Corporation Counsel regarding Comm. 90. Seconded by
(Approved) Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Don’t move, people, because we have to do another—
MR. HENRICKS: And just a little housekeeping.
CHR. DAVID: Yes.
MR. HENRICKS: We still have that motion to close file on the communication
that opened up this discussion. You could just take that vote. That’ll close 90.
CHR. DAVID: Okay. And so, that was Communication—
MR. HENRICKS: 90.
CHR. DAVID: 90.
MR. HENRICKS: Close file.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you.
MR. HENRICKS: Just call the vote.
CHR. DAVID: All those in favor, please say “aye.”
Vote on Comm. 90: The motion to close file on Comm. 90 was carried by the
(Filed) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. DAVID: Please, I think we’re done.
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Hawai‘i County Council-5 February 3, 2021
Return to PRPSC-2 MR. HENRICKS: Mr. Espejo.
(Comm. 64):
CHR. DAVID: Oh, that’s right.
MR. HENRICKS: Just making sure that we call the vote on that for the record.
We don’t want to overlook that.
CHR. DAVID: Mr. Espejo is—
MR. HENRICKS: PRPSC-2.
CHR. DAVID: Thank you. All those in favor of confirming the nomination of
Mr. Espejo, please say “aye.”
Vote on PRPSC-2: The motion to adopt Parks and Recreation and Public
(Adopted) Safety Committee Report No. 2 was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
OTHER The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Other
BUSINESS: Business.
(There were none.)
ANNOUNCE-The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
MENTS: Announcements.
(There were none.)
CHR. DAVID: Please, I think we’re done.
ADJOURN-There being no further business, at 3:45 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the
MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Inaba, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards,
Villegas, and Chair David – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Chung – 1.
Excused: None.
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Hawai`i County Council-5 February 3,2021
CHR. DAVID: Mahalo, everybody. We are adjourned.
Council Approval: MAR 0 3 2021
COUN CLERK
JH/dg
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