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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOREDC 2021/05/18 2020-2022 Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, and Economic Development 9th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai i May 18, 2021 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, ORDER: and Economic Development was called to order at 1:32 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair (via videoconference) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member (came in later) Absent& Excused: Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Relinquish Chair: At this time, the Chair relinquished the chair to Vice Chair Kierkiewicz. STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Closing public testimony at this time. And moving on to Business of the Day. If we could read in Comm. 229, please. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 229: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS REGARDING ENERGOV From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated April 12, 2021. Motion to Approve: Mr. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 229. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Ms. Kimball, would you like to tee us off to start the conversation? This is your communication. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. I know we are all anticipating the go-live date for EnerGov serving both the Planning Department and DPW (Department of Public Works). I wanted to invite both directors in today to give us an update on that status. I don't know if you guys have a preference of who starts, but I'll leave it to the directors to determine who wants to take the lead. (Note: At this time, Public Works Director Ikaika Rodenhurst and Planning Director Zendo Kern came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. KERN: Hi, good morning, Ikaika's taking the lead. MR. RODENHURST: Hi, Director Rodenhurst, Public Works. Thank you for inviting us here to update on EnerGov. I'd like to start off with an apology. I don't have a full PowerPoint presentation or anything to provide for an update. Currently right now, I think the word of the day for EnerGov is functional. We're working on making this functional, and our staff is maxed on their capacity making sure EnerGov is getting up and running by our go-live date as well as balancing the tasks of their daily work. Most recently, well from the last time we came here, we've encountered quite a lot of obstacles and hurdles to overcome. Primarily, we focused on one that was most recent. The company we're using to facilitate EnerGov has a software update that's required for this system. They're requiring that it be done by October of this year. And so for the sake of continuity for our staff, for the public so there's no confusion, we have elected to upgrade that as soon as possible, which that upgrade started yesterday. That encountered some technical issues for other jurisdictions that were using EnerGov system. So far we haven't encountered any significant issues that would postpone our schedule, but it has pushed our training schedule back one week. We are anticipating to start our training with end users as of June 1st. And confirming that we have all our training materials; all our training staff, and everything we need to get ready, ready by next week Tuesday, so we're good to go. We have begun outreach. We notified 4,000 professionals about our intention to go live in July, what to expect from EnerGov, kind of a little bit of a precursor that there will be a drop in service as we transition our entire system to EnerGov Page 2 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 to process our permits. And to bear with us at that time, as well as we will be issuing training materials. Right now we are still scheduled for the July 261h go-live date. We're determining the face of our EnerGov training on how we're going to put that out. That's a determination that's based off of a function that is the upgrade, as what's the final configuration going to be, as well as how end-user training goes. On top of that, we do intend to have outreach via radio, training videos online, and we are going through the process of looking at a live interaction training. Other than that, I can't say enough that I'm really pleased with my staff and with the staff at Planning and IT (Information Technology), as how we're all collaborating in this and making this move forward. I know there's been a lot of hurdles to overcome along the way, and I am confident that as of now, we will be able to push this forward citing any kind of unforeseen disasters. But we are committed to getting this out as soon as possible. Like we said, burn the ships at the shore and we're moving forward. That's where I can begin with this presentation. Zendo, do you anything to add? MR. KERN: Sure,thanks Ikaika. Yeah, I'd say, underscore everything that you just said. The software update was quite an interesting challenge, more than most folks would realize, but we're getting through it, and I think we've gotten through it quite well. Due to working with the team and really pushing the service provider for what we need. And then stepping up to help us with that. On the Planning side, we have been really focused on our process narratives. We've gotten through, you know, most of those, and anticipating the change or adjustments based on this upgrade which will change some of the interface. So it's very interesting because as much as we've been wanting to plan this out to a T all the way up to go-live, we're basically also on this two-week period where things are changing. It's very dynamic. But as Ikaika said, the team working together has really been pushing this through. Just simple things like training. You know, training was originally supposed to be in person. It's not. We have COVID requirements we have to work with. We have, you know, a certain amount of trainers, a certain amount of people that can be in a training environment which is 15. So we've had to setup a temporary training facility on the west side. We have one facility that's already ready to go on the west side. We have our east side facility. Down to, how does it work with just the headsets and the trainers? Simple things like that, but there's a lot of different elements that go into actually making this successful. And I would still say it's probably going to get more challenging before it gets better. I'm anticipating that and as Ikaika said, you know, our key word is functional, and from there we'll actually be able to further build this out as we've discussed previously. But as Ikaika's already said, I can't thank the team enough. Page 3 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 You know, our job is critical, but really it's our team members that are just grinding at this and it's been tricky. Lot of bandwidth, lot of stress on the entire department. So it's not just the team members that are working on EnerGov, and the process narratives, and going through the testing and everything else. It's also the other team members that are doing the regular work that are picking up some of the increased workload from the folks working on EnerGov not being able to work on it directly. So it's really a department-wide effort for Planning as well as DPW. And IT coming in and, you know, working with us. Coming in and crushing all of the hardware, software, so it's another unique life experience. Hand it back to you, Ikaika. MR. RODENHURST: Yes, and so just to kind of give a little bit more detail. The upgrade that we're talking about, it's been mandated by Tyler, but it's also kind of an upgrade regarding Silverlight. It's a coding issue right now. They're translating from Silverlight to HTML. And that's going to be something that's across the board for any municipality or anyone that's using the EnerGov system. So like I mentioned, there's currently a first-round group that started going through that where they identified some issues. Ours so far has been nothing too significant that we can't handle at this time, but it's still with the Tyler Group to address. And we're looking forward, and hoping and willing that we're going to be able to move forward without any hiccups. But again, I'm really appreciative of our staff and confident that as long as we can maintain there's no disastrous issues, we can achieve this go-live date. And if there's nothing else, I'm happy to take any questions. Or if there's anyone that wants any more information, I'm here. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, both. I just want to chime in before my colleagues ask you folks some questions. The Administration has been very generous by allowing me to kind of observe this process from a distance. And I do want to commend both Director Kern and Director Rodenhurst for their leadership on this. They have themselves as well as their team been working extremely hard to make sure that this relatively aggressive deadline for go-live is maintained. There are a lot of moving parts in this. A lot of things that could go wrong. Certainly a lot of things that could go wrong like the software upgrade that are outside of their control. And we are largely dependent on the vendor, Tyler, to provide service particularly with this upgrade. And they were, maybe not as immediately willing to assist us through that as they could have been. And I want to just also thank the directors for really pushing the vendor to make sure that they helped us through this. Because if we slip on the timeline, it's not just a slip. A week here means that the go-live date necessarily slips a week. Page 4 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 There's a period of time where we need to work with Tyler to do that go-live process. And there're limited scheduling opportunities for that. So if we slip from the current date, it's not like we just slip a week, we may slip as much as a month to two months depending on availability of the vendor. So I just wanted to again share with my colleagues that I'm currently very pleased with the process, and I just think that I'm happy to continue to support both directors and making sure that this—something that is long needed to be done finally reaches completion. Thank you, and with that I'll yield. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Anyone here in Hilo, questions or comments? Ms. Lee Loy, you have the floor. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you, directors for being here. And thanks for, you know, partnering together real nicely. You know, both Public Works and Planning. I just wanted to understand where IT fits in some of this, especially as it relates the software and the programming. And then, you know, we moved over to Windows 10 and then Adobe Acrobat. And you know, I just know personally I'm dealing with some of that. And if some of that software or like Adobe was provided for in the past but not so much anymore, if we have smoothed it out some of those software issues with IT. MR. RODENHURST: So we have worked with Director Uehara and IT through this trying to identify any software issues. I know Bluebeam is a critical component of EnerGov and the review process, so we've been in contact with them making sure that goes over smoothly. We have the licenses that are required and making sure that we have the support that's required. So that's currently part of this process that we're double checking that those interfaces work with this upgrade. So there's a lot of technical aspects that IT handles for this, while I do have some knowledge of coding, I don't have the extensive background that IT would have. But they've been very helpful through that. And we've been working with them. There's also other areas that incorporates with the GIS (Geographic Information) system. So they've been made aware that we need to work together on that. And so far, it's been so good. We have had their commitment to help us through this. Scott's been very involved. So really appreciative of him and his staff as well. I apologize for not mentioning that earlier. And you know, as far as this training goes, making sure that our staff has the—all staffs, including Fire, DOH (Department of Health), and all the other agencies that are going to be getting this end-user training, that they have the devices available at these training locations. And the software needed for them to initiate those training applications. Zendo, anything I missed on that one? Page 5 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 MR. KERN: No, you covered it all. I'll add a little bit just so I can share some more. I'd say, yeah, IT's been very helpful, fully committed to making this happen. As far as like Adobe and stuff goes, it's not something that we're dealing with EnerGov. We're primarily dealing with the tower software itself. And Kim, our IT person, is basically on loan from IT helping us out. She's basically our Mitchell in our department. And then, IT's two primaries have been making sure that all of our gear is going to be up and ready as far as having all the proper Windows. And Bluebeam, as Ikaika mentioned, is kind of our big other software component around that. Something that we're having to deal with is kind of shifting up hardware, fortifying our computers, making sure they have enough RAM, because with SAAS or Software As A Service, they use a lot more RAM, and so traditionally a lot of our hardware came with four gigs of RAM. In today's world, that just doesn't work so. So we're upgrading ones that we can and we've ordered some new hardware, so IT will be, you know, working to configure all that by the go- live date and by the time that we need it. So, yeah, IT has been extremely helpful. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, and I also want to point out that we are currently both departments are working towards getting an IT position available so we can have continuity. It's going to take some singular focus to get this. I mean, we all, in our daily lives now that's kind of how we do business. That's how we do life. There's a heavy technology component in there. And for IT to balance that as well as the specific needs of our departments, which are heavy with this system with building permits and the planning permit applications, we're going to need some dedicated support. So we're working with IT and HR (Human Resources) and the Administration for that. And I'm very grateful for the opportunity to have that happen. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and thanks fellas for identifying that because I saw it in the Planning's budget. There's another position there for IT. So that's actually making a lot of sense, right? I wanted to walk back to the other departments, and maybe Director Kern, you know, you mentioned Fire, DOH, but I know SHPD (State Historical Preservation Division) might also be a component in some of this permit review. And I was just wondering, has there been any extension or reaching out to our friends over at State Historical Preservation Division and how they're going to plug into this process for us? And I ask that because I know Director Rodenhurst and Director Kern, as you guys were coming on board, we had a great conversation with Sean Naleimaile over at SHPD. And there was a clear path of engagement, right? It was agency to agency, not applicant to agency. And so I'm asking this question because we identified it early on when you guys were coming on board. And I just wanted to know how that's going to be dovetailed into this review process. Page 6 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 MR. KERN: So from Planning side of it, we're going to continue to operate, you know, work with SHPD as we have been. They have a separate software system than we do. So it's going to be a little bit harder than say, sending something over to Fire for them to review. Where SHPD has their Hi-Crest system, it doesn't integrate with EnerGov so at those times, we're going to basically step out of EnerGov for a second, go through the Hi-Crest system, whatever communications, correspondence, etcetera go through SHPD will then be plugged back into our EnerGov system as a data base. Something that I'd like to look at and more the Version 2.0-plus side of it would be trying to find a way to do a little bit more integration within that to make a little more intelligence between the two systems. That's the ideal, but at this point in time, we couldn't even get into that with what we're dealing with. But that's the goal, so we'll continue. And the pathway of agency to agency is something that Ikaika and I are continuing to talk about and really find, and get people within the department to find these just simple mechanisms to work with clients. Because it's interesting, the larger, say projects, it's really not much of an issue. I find it to be more of an issue for the smaller mom and pop, where they need something from SHPD, SHPD won't take it because it is agency to agency, and Planning didn't have the mechanism or Building didn't have the mechanism at that time. And so they find themselves in the hallway with nowhere to go. So we've got no knowledge of that and we're sensitive to that. So that's more of how we're working in practice. How we integrate it within the software again will be Phase 2. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah,just to support that point. Yes, we recognize that the Hi-Crest system that SHPD uses is separate from EnerGov and will be kind of hardlined in. It's not a seamless transition from their system to ours. That's something we are looking into that we can't address at this time, but we intend to take a look and see what we can do. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thanks again, fellas. Director Kern, you mentioned the RAM, upgrading the RAM. And I know personally, I brought that issue up during the budget, right, to make sure that we had enough of whatever bandwidth was required for the various—within the department, right? The computers that we'll be needing to look at these plans. And again, I'm going to ask, is that reflective in the budget that we have enough money there? MR. KERN: I believe we're going to have enough. We were able to take a little bit of surplus that we had at the end of the year and looked at it and order some hardware; ordered some additional equipment. So that was very fortunate that we were able to do that,primarily due to this, you know, this COVID situation with a lot less travel and whatnot. So we have that and we're taking our existing Page 7 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 hardware and we're going to fortify the most appropriate machines and bringing them up to at least eight gigs a RAM. And basically deploy our new systems that we'll have 16 gigs a RAM in the most appropriate areas that are doing the most volume of plan review, etcetera. They'll be using Bluebeam the most. So for now, being that it's a challenging budget year and what we have for Planning, I feel we're okay. Not as great as I'd like it to be, but we're okay. And just kind of on that note my general thought, and I'm not a math big tech guy. I love tech, but I'm not super knowledgeable in it. But my thinking is that, you know, moving forward when we buy hardware we should be buying at least 16 gigs of RAM. Just because everything is so SAAS heavy these days that eight is barely a baseline. So to answer your question, for now, yes, we're going to be fine. MR. RODENHURST: And I'd echo that for DPW. At this point we're fine. We are looking at what our upgrade cycle is. Working with IT on that and to what extent that upgrade cycle is. Like Zendo brought up 16 gigs is probably a good baseline to have. And making sure that as we upgrade we're taking into account what kind of software needs we're going to have. And anything down the line, not just upgrading for what we have now, but what we anticipate. MS. LEE LOY: And fellas, I know you guys inherited this. This has been kind of a project from, you know, when I first started. And I just have a question because this contract was done, I'm guessing now five, six, if not more, years ago, and we all know technology changes very quickly. And so my question is if you guys know, when Tyler presented this package to us it was based on the most current technology and software at that time. Are we getting something that fits today? Oh, my God, he's smiling. Go ahead, Director Rodenhurst. MR. RODENHURST: If I may be so bold, are you asking if we are getting antiquated software? At this point, it to my knowledge, it's not antiquated. It is something that is being used. It is something that can be used. I definitely have seen, in my opinion, some worse SAAS software out there in different applications. So this is by far not the worst I've seen. I don't have enough data in my hands to know if we have seen any upgrades in the permitting software that have made some significant strides that outdate this. But to my knowledge it is a functional system. And that's why I'm saying, right now we're talking about functionality. And this is something that is applicable to us in this day, in this year. And if there's something that comes on the market that we can look at for future—like we had a discussion earlier today, we don't want to make the same mistakes of the past. We want to look at what we're doing, and definitely going to have to review a lot of the data in this and make sure that if there is a need for another upgrade or for a Page 8 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 change in software, that we know what's needed. Not just from our side, but from the vendor side as well. Right now, we are working with Tyler and making sure that they provide the software and the services that they have contracted with us. And that we're doing our part to provide our side as well. MR. KERN: Nothing to add here. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, I think that's my general concern at this point, right, is that we've been trying to stand this up for many years now and just technology being what it is. And you know, Ms. Kierkiewicz always says, "Let's figure out a way to fall forward." What I don't want to happen is that we go ahead and go live, and then a year from now, we're looking at a big buy to upgrade the systems, which would require additional training by our staff. I'm just trying to look around the corner. MR. KERN: And I can add a little bit. I don't think that's going to be the case. One of the good things about the current update that they're doing, it actually improves functionality; improves the Dashboard; actually gave some additional features that our staff was wanting to, kind of on their wish list. And the newest update actually provided that. And they didn't do it because we were asking, it was just part of the package. So when I heard, okay, it's a bit smarter; it's a bit more, you know, informed and a bit more dynamic. I thought that was a positive move in the right direction, for what that's worth. MR. RODENHURST: Yeah, definitely, you know, this upgrade would be helpful. You know, they've told us that they don't see any more big updates like this happening in the near future. They may happen, you know, like we talked about technology improves quickly. But to touch on that fall forward, we're falling forward, but we're going to get up and look around and see what's happening and move forward too. And we got to get back up on our feet and keep going. And that's something that we're working with Planning, for lack of better terms, have that plan for the future. MS. LEE LOY: All puns intended. My last question, gentlemen, and I know, you know, you guys are six months into your job and a few months ago, you guys made that very bold statement. You know, we're going to burn the ships at the shore and we're going live July 26h. You guys have been there now, and you guys know a whole lot more now. Are you still standing by your July 261h go-live date? Page 9 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 MR. KERN: Absolutely. MR. RODENHURST: Yes. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. Thank you, gentlemen. Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? Anyone in Kona? No? Here in Hilo? No, okay. I just had a couple questions for you, Director Rodenhurst. You mentioned drop in service as you transition the entire system. Can you provide us a ballpark estimate of what that looks like? MR. RODENHURST: So we're looking at possibly a two-week drop in service while the system gets transferred over. That way no data gets left behind. We don't get confused with pending applications that might have seen some kind of movement in that time. And we're working on a process to do the work needed to be done in those two weeks so that we're not just sitting around twiddling our thumbs. I don't want the public or the Council or anyone to think that we're just going to take two weeks off and wait for this to come up. No,there's a lot of work to be done. And there's definitely no shortage of applications or other work to handle. So, we're working through that process, and we'll definitely give notification of that. Like I mentioned, part of our outreach process is notifying the public. It will encompass online notifications as well as radio and other mediums of communication. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, yeah I think communication is key. We got to be proactive with all that information. I'm glad that Council Member Lee Loy brought up the IT piece, ensuring that we have the equipment for staff, but also the hardened IT infrastructure for the County, the servers, you know. And a recent conversation with Director Uehara, you know, another server going down. And so it just makes me really panic, right, because so much of our work is government, is now transitioning into this virtual space. And so I just want to make sure that we have everything that we need right now and we're making those critical investments. So, don't be afraid to tell us what you need because we want this program to be successful. MR. RODENHURST: For servers, I mean, Scott definitely is the authority to know what's most needed for this. Because this is a cloud-based technology and lot of our storage for this will be cloud-based. That's the good and bad of it. We will be able to use that and not have to worry so much about storage on-site. We're going to be doing with working with what we have and streamline that process and looking into the future of how we store all our data. Page 10 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 But for the go-live, we are using that cloud-based. And the double-edged sword of that is that is it connection based, so it's dependent upon our connection to internet and all the fun stuff that comes with that; and Wi-Fi availability. As long as the fiberoptic lines are all good, we're good. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Right, we want a strong system, not really a patchwork system. Okay. Alright, well I really appreciate all the work that you Director Rodenhurst, Director Kern, Director Uehara, you and your staffs have put into this. This certainly has been a tall order. I know that this is something that Council Member Lee Loy has been pushing for, from like her first term. So happy that, you know, we've identified that date and we're going. And I appreciate your emphasis on this being a functional system. I don't think people care if it's pretty. We want to make sure that this works. So focus on that, making sure that we have a system that works, alright? Anyone else? If not we have a motion the floor to close file on this communication, all in favor please say Ic aye. Vote on Comm. 229: The motion to close file on Comm. 229 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kierkiewicz—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung— 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, directors. Have a great day. MR. KERN: Thank you. You all have a great one as well. Aloha. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Moving on now to the next communication, Mr. Clerk. Comm. 232: REQUESTS AN UPDATE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REGARDING THE SUSTAINABLITY SUMMIT From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated April 22, 2021. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 232. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. Page 11 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I believe Director Adams is joining us here in Hilo Chambers and I believe he has a PowerPoint. Ms. Kimball, did you want to kick off the conversation? This is your communication. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. I wanted to bring in R and D (Research and Development)to be part of the conversation right now, because we're talking about the budget. And he has before him, data on the most recent conversations with the community, a little bit about what the future is that they want to see for Hawaii Island. What sustainability means to them. And we talk about budgeting for outcomes, and so I thought it was pertinent at this time to consider some feedback from the community on what sort of outcomes they want to see with regard to sustainability and use that in our mindset as we move forward with the budget process. Thank you, Director for being here today and I look forward to your presentation. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Director Doug Adams came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ADAMS: Thank you so much for allowing me to be here. I'm really actually excited to provide information on these listening sessions. It's been a little while since we conducted them. And the opportunity to talk about how we went through the process of bringing them in, and then the analysis that frankly, the team of VISTAS (Volunteers in Service to America)performed to provide you with the information that you're going to see today. I'm really excited about that. I should also let you know that about half-way through the presentation we're going to try to bring in the interactive aspect to this and we'll see if that actually works. Hopefully it will. If it works it's all to the credit of the VISTAS and the team back here. And if it fails I'll take total blame. Alright. I also want to just highlight today, in addition to me, we'll have Ioni Tcholakova and Emily Herzog will be providing part of this presentation. And then, other team members that participated in the analysis included Kendra Obermaier, Madison Tumicki, and Lucas McKinnon from our VISTA team and also Riley Saito who was their mentor over on the Kona side helping them out with some of the analysis. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Director Doug Adams provided a PowerPoint Presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of subject presentation, please see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office and in the Council's video archives online located at plaLMiawaiicounty.gr� i,cus.coiy/:View ublisp er....p ip?view... id-1. A hard copy of the PowerPoint is made a part of the record. See Comm. 232.1.) Page 12 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 MR. ADAMS: Obviously, I think the comments from the public are really important and the ability to take that and move forward with that information. But then also, the way that they were able to slice and dice and then make it available. Because this will be available then for the public in ways that perhaps they haven't necessarily seen. So you see our team there that participated in this process. I'd also like to thank at this time, the host of each of the 16 sessions that we had. You know, in some cases I would call them up and say, hey, how'd you like to host a session? And they'd be like, you know, "I thought I was your friend." And so, and I said, "You are my friend." And so, sorry I lost some friends. No, I didn't lose friends. But the fact that they were willing to do that work and then ask their friends and neighbors to come and participate in something that was a lead into the summit itself and the work that we are going to continue to do on sustainability and resilience, and where we're moving as we move forward. In a lot of areas, I mean, clearly the conversations that we had lots of folks that were involved, they wanted to be there, and they had been doing work in a lot of cases for a long time on some of these niche areas in their particular locations. And so making sure that we heard that and that we gathered that information and captured that was really important and continues to be important. And so I am open to your questions. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Director. First of all, I want to compliment Emily and Ioni for their work there. I'm going to definitely reach it out to my colleagues at U.H. (University of Hawaii) that are now teaching the GIS (Geographic Information System) class that I used to teach, and recommend that they share this with their students as a way to practically apply what they're learning in that class. Doug, I'd like to have you respond to, what are you folks now changing in R and D based on this information, or plan to change in terms of focus and funding? MR. ADAMS: We already knew that we needed to beI think I mentioned to you and the entire Council that we needed to be a little more focused on innovation, on pilot projects on prototypes. On taking a look at what's out and a little bit beyond the horizon. What this told us was that's the right thing to do. And so, we're just finishing up as a matter of fact accepting proposals for the 2021-2022 Innovation Grant RFP (Request for Proposal). And so with that information, we're going to be looking in particular at what those particular proposals that are going to be coming in. We're going to be looking to evaluate them with more of an innovative kind of mindset. This told us that we need to do that. Page 13 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 I think the other thing that I've thought about that we have not yet put into place is the need to go out to our various areas around the island more often. We need to make sure that we're not just inside our little cubicles, whether it's here in Hilo or in Kailua-Kona. But that we're actually reaching out and talking to folks about these subjects and other subjects that they may be concerned about. Not unlike what you all do as a part of your process. But to do it, maybe with a sense of, let's focus on some of these areas. And so part of the answer is, we have to listen more, but I think that there's also moving forward, a need for conversation that perhaps we didn't necessarily engage in this particular set of listening sessions because there was a particular design for them. But I think how there is this idea of, let's have some conversations about what's out there and what people have to offer in addition to the work that we're going to do that's coming out of the summit with all the work that we saw there and that people are doing already. Does that answer your question? MS. KIMBALL: Yes it does. And now I'd like to ask you to extend that a little bit to recommendations. As I mentioned at the outset, we're in the thick of budget sessions. And I want to just highlight one the key points that you heard from folks in these listening sessions which is the desire to see action, and you know, forward movement. How do we as a Council take the data that you've provided us? What recommendations do you suggest based on these data, how that would apply to our work going forward? MR. ADAMS: You all know your districts better than I do, but I think that what this information does is that you can go in and also par some of this data, or your staff can as well. Now each of these locations was a single two-hour shot kind of idea, but there may be something in the data here that either surprises you or coalesces some ideas that you're having that maybe you want to follow-up on in addition. So that's kind of how I'm looking at this. These are a set of data. They are data points at a particular period of time. Where there are potentially surprises in the information depending on whether the location is, then that will be useful. But I think, probably more important is to make sure that we don't lose site of the differences that are clear from the different areas and making sure that whatever the decisions are regarding sustainable actions, they take into account those differences. As opposed to being a one-size-fits-all for the entire island. That's difficult. It's difficult because law and policy doesn't work that way necessarily, right, but the idea of trying to do that;trying to make sure that we are connected to the individual areas and that they have different issues and different Page 14 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 perspectives based on those issues. I think that's important for us to remember and to try and use as we move forward. I think the other recommendation is, the actions that are going to occur are likely to be small steps, right? Large steps, big steps, those are tougher. But the small steps do need to occur and we need to make sure that we are available more often, so that there is, in addition to these conversations, that there is something that is happening that people see. So for example, I'll turn to tourism, right? I'll turn to regenerative tourism, or tourism strategic plan. We know that out of this strategic plan we've begun these action cohorts. In the variety of areas that are culturally and historically significant sites. And so making sure that we're having those conversation with the stakeholders that are in those locations, it's not just about visitors coming in, it's also about other owners, it's also about agricultural in some cases, and making sure that all of those folks have an opportunity to either have a perspective, present that perspective, do it in a way that allows for the potential for consensus. You're not always going to consensus, but the idea to allow for the potential consensus is really important, because you want action moving forward and you'd like that action to be in concert with the folks that live there or have some stake there, to occur. MS. KIMBALL: One final question, then I'll shift it to my colleagues. How is the Administration's budget recommended draft has any of the lessons learned in this been applied to the Administration's budget in terms of taking the priorities from these listening sessions and funding them, basically supporting what we care about with our dollars? MR. ADAMS: Yeah, the information from the listening sessions themselves were too late in the year for it to really, I think, have an impact on where we are. In particular, because COVID was the overall large thing that has been impacting what's going to happen with budget. I look forward to being able to take this and the information from the Sustainability Summit and the follow-on work and see that in the 2022-2023 budget. MS. KIMBALL: Great, look forward to working with you folks on that. Thank you, Director and thank you, Chair. I yield. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Ms. Villegas, you have the floor. MS. VILLEGAS: Just a quick question or perhaps more clarification. So this is a partial reflection though of everything that was taken? Or is this—because I just see five locations listed on this word count. Page 15 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 MR. ADAMS: Right. So what we saw, what Ioni provided to us; when that's put onto the site, whether it's our site and/or the Sustainability Summit site, you'll have access to everything. MS. VILLEGAS: Great. I just wanted to make sure I clarified that,that what we have here is MR. ADAMS: What you have here is a presentation. MS. VILLEGAS: Just a presentation. Awesome. Thank you, I just wanted to make sure of that, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Adams. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Director,timeframe for pushing the go-live button on that beautiful map that folks showcased? MR. ADAMS: Within a month. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great, thank you. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thanks, Chair and thanks, Director. I can see where Council Woman Kimball is all excited about the data collected, and I can see her laughing on the screen right now. That being said, reading through it, there are threads of commonality depending on how you interpret it. You have agriculture, regenerative agriculture, food production, which you could all sort of put them in a basket. The thing that was glaring for me was, do something rather than study it; then let's restudy it, and let's study it again one more time to make sure that our study was a good study. I think that's probably the biggest criticism we can take of ourselves that we put ourselves in analysis paralysis, and we don't actually do something. So, how do we break that inertia to actually get these projects running? Because I've got some ideas looking at what you did, and it's interesting. Like you said, depending which community you look at will dictate what's important. And then how do we take all the communities and come up with a direction forward. And so is it your intention to maybe pick three or four ideas and try to run with them? Or how what's your thought process in that? MR. ADAMS: I think what the department can do is smaller than with what can happen on the island, right? And so I think there are already folks that are interested in the variety of sustainable development goal universe. And so the idea that there is this data that would help, we hope, with moving forward in those areas. I think that can happen whether the department is pushing that or not. I think from the department's perspective, we will be looking at—we can't look at Page 16 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 everything, otherwise we do nothing. And so part of this is selecting some of those things that make sense. Now,the RFP itself that is going to be coming in, part of the idea there is to take funds that you all will appropriate that have been budgeted for us, and then you'll appropriate, and see how can those things, over the next 12 months, that those would be in action, lead to further work, lead to further success, further outcomes in the direction that we want. Sometimes they don't. Well then we shouldn't do them, right? Sometimes you fail, but you've got to learn from that. And if you are asking this department to always be right, we won't always be right. But I don't think that's what you're asking us to do, right? MR. RICHARDS: Absolutely not. MR. ADAMS: What you want is action. I think part of the way we take action is that we try something and then we see what's working, maybe what's not working. We tweak it so that the things that are working are the things that get enhanced and strengthened, and then we move from that. So part of the department's responsibility is to identify those things that do work. Identify those things that aren't working so well and go with our strength so that we can continue to move towards outcomes that support actions and support of these individual locations as well as the entire County. You know, part of this is it sounds good. I mean it sounds good to me, but I'm the one saying it. But part of this is making sure that it's not just talk, that there's actually—we're trying something out. To me, the analysis here in addition to telling us that to me that's an action, right? I thought that there's plenty of information that we can go to and we can grab and say, there's something here that we can do. And we have plenty of comments that we can go into, and we can say, hey let's fix this, potholes in the Old Airport just to grab something. Or the pier out in Laupahoehoe, for example, there was an issue if I recall. And so, there are a variety of things that we have the opportunity just as a result of listening here to try and deal with. But I think that there are themes, as you pointed out already that we have to work on. So let's, for example,just talk food security, right? If we heard nothing else, we heard that folks want to be able to farm. They think that some of the smaller farms is a way forward. We know that the ability to distribute our aggregation hubs is really going to be very, very important for our food security. Figuring out how to make a food-secure island. At the same time, we're trying to acknowledge the smaller farms that we have. We need to figure that out or decide that's not a way forward. But we have to kind of have those conversations and then decide. Page 17 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 We're not going to go industrial. We don't have that kind of setup here, but we need to do something that allows us to be more food secure than we are now. That's clear to me from this. And part of the process of doing that is all the things that we talk about when we're talking about agriculture and food access and our food systems. MR. RICHARDS: And I agree with your statement about, you know, R and D, Research and Development. And if you research enough things, you're going to identify quite a few things that don't work. But we as a Council, we as a County have to be accepting of the fact that you're going to be checking things out. And we cannot be critical when you find something that doesn't work, because that's your job. You're supposed to be looking for the good stuff. MR. ADAMS: I've got tough skin. I accept the criticism, you know. I think that critiques are important. We all learn because of critiques. I fully expect that the Council will say, "Are you spending our money properly?" You got the taxpayers' money here, and it's our responsibility to spend it wisely, and for you to have oversight, right? That's the nature of the push-pull here. So as long as there's an understanding that, look, we're not just spending it to spend it, that we're trying to get something done here, right,then you know, the criticism for things that don't work is warranted, right? Sometimes you'll see something particularly based on your perspective that maybe we don't. So we'll have that conversation. MR. RICHARDS: Well I think it's a great barometer of what the island is thinking, and obviously food self-reliance, agriculture, however you want to characterize it, part of that component is water and land accessibility. So that's all kind of in that fold. MR. ADAMS: No,that came out loud and clear. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, screamingly loud and clear. What I see missing is there's not a lot of reference to tourism, which I found kind of interesting. MR. ADAMS: Really, the only place that we had that conversation was in Kailua-Kona. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah. So anyway, I'm looking forward to digging into this a little bit further, because that will help guide maybe some of the areas that we need to look at little bit harder and support and budgeting. So it's been my opinion that budgeting isn't how you divide out money over everything, the hard part is deciding what you're going to fully fund so it'll work, as opposed to hitting Page 18 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 the pause on some other things. So that's a tough one. Anyway, Chair, thanks very much, Director. I yield. MR. ADAMS: Thank you. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone in Kona have any questions or comments for the Director? Okay, hearing none. MR. INABA: No, I'm sorry. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, no worries, you're fine. Anyone in Hilo? No, okay. I just have a couple of questions. Thank you, Director. And thanks Emily, Ioni and your colleagues for that really incredible compilation of information, data, and really putting on that really beautiful visual platform. It's a lot of information to unpack. I think it's going take some time, but I appreciate the summaries, that information being available to us as policy makers so that we know, you know, what is important to our communities, and it could be inspiration around some sort of, you know,project or policy measure. So thank you. I do have to elevate concerns from community around how little notice was provided. So I think, you know, in the future, certainly collaborate with us earlier on to get this information out. Because people want to contribute. You know, they saw the start of this new Administration as a time to hit that reset button and engage. And so, I want to say, thank you. But let's be a little bit more inclusive and you know, respectful of people's time and schedules and being able to get this on their calendar. So thanks, Director. And you know, on that note I did also want to say, it's not enough to have a seat at the table for community. I appreciate you bringing the table to community, right,to every single one of these communities, because often transportation is a barrier to folks providing their mana`o. Just a couple questions. Wondering how this information that you've captured from the listening sessions tied into the Sustainability Summit at all. Some folks are wondering if their sentiments were what kind of catalyzed the content that was provided. If you can just provide any clarification around the connection between the listening sessions and the Summit, that would be helpful. MR. ADAMS: So the timing of the listening sessions and the Summit made it difficult to actually have the information from the listening sessions included in the preparation of the Summit, if you will. We had in the process of the plan, we in fact wanted to have the sessions finish earlier so that we could take the information and make it available for some of the moderators and some of the commentary that would occur as a part of the Summit's breakout sessions. Page 19 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 But as you saw, we decided that rather than cut short the number of places we could go, which is what we would have had to have done, given when we were able to start and get out and talking to everybody, we felt that it was more important to make as much of around of the island that we possibly could. So we continued up all the way up into the week before the Summit and gathered information. And then the actual analysis of the information occurred, you know, after that. And so, we didn't have enough time to gather, to put this together necessarily as you will. But what we did have is that because I was part of the preparation for elements of the Summit itself, and because I was present at each of the listening sessions, my ability to gather both the memory of the information that I heard as well as what the VISTAS that were present at each of these locations. You know, we would do a quick and dirty, you know, what's a highlight here kind of stuff this is what I heard, kind of idea. That allowed me then to make sure that we were providing that information to some of our moderators in terms of some of that information as well. So not as tightly as we have liked frankly because of the timing involved, but we did have some ability to capture some of the information that was gunning, particularly some of the earlier ones on, to make sure that moderators in some of the areas had some of that information. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you for that. Just a couple more questions. You know, my colleagues asked a number of times, priorities that are stemming from these different conversations. I just encourage you a month from now when you publish this information, to highlight some of the priorities that this Administration is going to be focusing on. I mean let's just, you know, use some numbers here, some round numbers. Let's say there are 50 priorities and you have a limited funding source of$5 million. Throwing a little bit at 50 priorities is not going to make a lot of progress, but if we hone in on, say three to five things, we are going to make a real difference in those areas with that funding. So I encourage you to pick those priorities, to stick with them and articulate that out to community. I mean there's that expectation that when you have these listening sessions that you're going to do something with that information. So I know you're going to act and I just had to share that mana`o. Page 20 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 Finally, if folks want to do something beyond applying for the Innovation Grant, what other tools is R and D going to be offering to encourage community members, business industry to take action? Because there's a role in which everybody can contribute, and it just would be really interesting to see how you are going to be gaging and measuring these contributions. MR. ADAMS: So, obviously, the RFP side of things is the dollar side of thing, and people come in and they have some money. But there's that idea of what those things are that people are bringing us that will be in the sectors that we talk about, right? But in addition, frankly there is structure here, right? And we have structure around the County that allows for folks that may be interested in particular things to be involved. And so I would encourage folks to actually take advantage of that, right? So out of this we are standing up our Agricultural Advisory Commission, right, so we're beginning the process of identifying commissioners to serve on that, right, so sign up to do that. We will be setting upI'm sure that actually Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder will be happy to hear this, we're going to be using our Sustainability Advisory Commission as well as a way to make sure that—we want to use that particular entity to provide an overview of the things that are going to happen as a result of the Summit. That particular commission won't be managing it because there's only five folks as a part of that, but they need to be doing exactly the kind of thing you're talking about. Where's the priorities here? What are we learning that's coming out of this that can actually make a difference as we move forward kind of idea? And so, the use of that particular entity, been around since 2007, to actually make a difference as we move forward into this UNSDG (United Nations Sustainable Development Group) is really important. And we see that as a natural entity to actually kind of help with that. I think, also we have organizations. We have so many nonprofits and private sector entities that are looking to the County for leadership. I would, in a way, say take leadership yourself as well, right, be involved. Look for these organizations that may be larger in terms of more broader in their focus, or very niche-like and focused on some particular thing that is part of the sustainability goals. Go do work there, right? Figure out how you're going to make a difference there. That's what people can do regularly, it seems to me. I don't know if that answers your question. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: No, that's great, and you know, I do expect and hope community members, industry, to provide leadership and take action. I just want coordinated collective action, right, where we're not duplicating efforts or whatnot where we can avoid it. So I agree with you completely. It's just, you know, we've got to find ways to work together and keep each other informed. Page 21 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 MR. ADAMS: My experience, such as it is, is that achieving collective consensus sometimes can be a bridge too far. And so I sometimes look for alignment. And the idea that we may not be able to say—you know, we want to all do the same thing. When in fact, what we're looking to see is that there's an alignment of direction, that as many people have said, we take the canoes and we're at least moving in the right direction together. Whether we're in the same canoe on any particular issue, that's to be determined, right? But the idea that we can move in the same direction, I think that that's really important. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Thank you, Director. Anyone else? Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just ask, because I've been asking about this for two years. Are you actually going to standup the Sustainability Action Committee? MR. ADAMS: I am. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Wow. It's the small moment of joy in my life that you've brought me today, knowing that something so simple that existed for so long that lets community guide sustainability and brings together a strong wealth of information just to help us understand where we can go and to bring some other minds into the equation, is actually going to be held up. Thank you, Doug. And then as well, mahalo to your VISTAS. MR. ADAMS: I was going to say, thank you for doing that. Absolutely. This doesn't happen. This information doesn't provide you—you'd have me up here doing my regular blah, blah, blah, kind of stuff. We've all seen the Charlie Brown stuff, right? What we have here and that's available not just for policy makers, but for everybody that participated in each of these things, they'll be able to go back and see what was said. The transcriptions are there. We made sure that we didn't identify people necessarily because that's not what they were there for specifically. With the exception, if you were a council member and you were present, then you were identified as a council member if you had something to say. But other than that, what was key to us was gaining the perspectives that occurred. And folks will be able to go back and see, in fact, what was said during those sessions and see what other people in other locations may have said as well. We want to make sure that this was available, not just for us, but for everybody on the island. Page 22 GOREDC-9 May 18,2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Nicely done, Sir. You have a good team behind you. How long do you have them for? Are they—as soon as they come in—kind of three, six-month stints, yeah? MR. ADAMS: They come for a year stint. And so, I'm looking at the team here. Lucas and Madison are already gone as it turns out. And Emily, Kendra, and Ioni I have till the end of the year, I think. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, I think for the VISTAS, you know, in discussions with some close friends,just to make sure you're really take into account,the kind of cultural uniqueness of Hawaii Island when you're looking at the responses from people. And always make sure you understand who's in the room and who's guiding the conversations, that's incredibly important. Not everybody always shows up for the meetings. And I saw from some of the numbers presented, you had one meeting and looks like one person came to. So just, when we're talking about percentages and who showed up,just you know, it's good to understand. MR. ADAMS: But we didn't cancel that meeting and we had the conversation. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good job, thank you. Well I appreciate it, Doug. Thank you, and again mahalo to all your VISTAS who stand behind you helping. And thank you again for standing up that action committee. It's so simple but it's so needed. And it fit this year so well. So mahalo, Doug. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you, Mr. Adams and to your VISTAS for again this presentation and for all of your hard work. I think a number of us were at the listening sessions. The dialogue was rich. This update is certainly very enlightening. And I think we're all just hopeful and optimistic about how we can, you know, use this information to transform our community for the better. So thank you. There is motion on the floor to close file on this communication, all of those in favor say "aye." Vote on Comm. 232: The motion to close file on Comm. 232 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kierkiewicz–8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung– 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Motion carries. Page 23 GOREDC-9 May 18, 2021 ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Order RESOLUTIONS of Resolutions. (There were none ) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 3:05 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kierkiewicz— 7. Noes: Committee Member Richards— 1. Absent: Committee Member Chung— 1. Excused None. ACTING CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: We are adjourned. Mahalo. Approved• l id/ay! s. Heather L. Ki ball, Chair (Date) Government Operations, Relations, and Economic Development Committee HK/dt Page 24