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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PRPSC 2021/07/06 2020-2022Committee on Parks and Recreation and Public Safety 11th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai i July 6, 2021 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Parks and Recreation and Public ORDER: Safety was called to order at 9:00 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair (came in later) Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung. Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member (came in later) Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member (came in later) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. The following individuals registered to speak in comment of Comm. 301, and came forward when called by the Chair: Keoni De La Cruz Sylvia Dolena Lanny Sinkin Deborah Ward representing Sierra Club Hawaii Omega Spells Tina Bounds Sabrina Martino Inga Gibson PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 CHR. INABA: Mahalo. Testimony is now closed. Mr. Clerk, if we could move on to Communication 176.3. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 176.3: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION OF THE JULY 2021 HAWEO AWARD CERTIFICATE TO GAVIN KAGIMOTO, DETECTIVE — HAWAI`I POLICE DEPARTMENT From Council Member Holeka Goro Inaba, dated June 14, 2021. CHR. INABA: Mahalo. At this time we know we do our monthly award for the Haweo that alternates between Fire and Police. MR. BROWN: I'm so sorry Chair, could we have a motion? CHR. INABA: Oh, mahalo. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 176.3. Seconded by Mr. Richards. MR. BROWN: Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Brown. At this time, so we do our monthly award and this month we have our Police here and our awardee is Detective Gavin Kagimoto. And at this time, I'd like to just mahalo you and call both of you to our table for the introduction and explanation of why you were selected as the awardee. And we have Acting Lieutenant BJ Sagon here today, and mahalo Chief Ferreira for being here as well. CERTIFICATE OF (Note: At this time, the July 2021 HAWEO Award was presented to APPRECIATION: Detective Gavin Kagimoto of the Hawaii Police Department in recognition of going above and beyond the call of duty, in service to our community. His supervisor Acting Lieutenant BJ Sagon came forward and provided statements regarding his acts of heroism.) CHR. INABA: Mahalo Detective, and just so you folks know this operation Keiki Shield in East Hawaii resulted in five suspects being charged with electronic enticement of a child for the solicitation of sexual acts from children. A lot of good work done here. I just want to mahalo you again. We're going to take a five minute recess. There is a motion on the floor to close file on Communication 176.3 all those in favor please say "aye." Page 2 PRPSC-11 Vote on Comm. 176.3: (Approved) The motion to close file on Comm. 176.3 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Recess: At 9:38 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 9:46 a.m. July 6, 2021 CHR. INABA: Aloha, I'm calling this meeting out of recess at this time. Mr. Clerk, if we could do Communication 301. Comm. 301: REQUESTS A DISCUSSION WITH THE HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT REGARDING THE HAWAII RAINBOW RANGERS STAFFING AND OPERATIONAL SERVICE RESPONSIBILITIES From Council Member Rebecca Villegas, dated June 18, 2021. Motion to Close File: Ms. Villegas moved to close file on Comm. 301. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. CHR. INABA: Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yes. Thank you, Chief Ferreira, for joining us here today. Wow, it was a couple weeks ago that I asked for this communication, and that was before a lot of these transitions have transpired. And thank you for being here today and joining us for this meeting. I have a large folder of emails, and concerns from different people about what happened, how it happened. So I'm just hoping you might be able to shed a little light on what happened and how it happened. And then moving forward where we're headed, what the vision is and the direction. And how we can support you, and how we can disseminate the accurate information about this transition to those who are so passionately concerned, which I appreciate. Unfortunately with animal advocacy and passionate people, sometimes incorrect information can spread like wildfire. So thank you for being here today to help clarify all of those issues. (Note: At this time Police Chief Paul Ferreira came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 3 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MR. FERREIRA: Good morning Council Members, Paul Ferreira Police Chief. I felt it necessary that I show up, and not one of my Majors or Assistant Chief to go ahead and respond to any questions that you may have regarding the animal control services and contract. As you're all aware, July 1, 2020 is when we put out a new contract for animal control services. Prior to that, the Hawai` i Island Humane Society held the contract for years. A little more than 20 years that they held the contract for us. In August the contract was awarded -notice to proceed to the Hawaii Rainbow Friends Sanctuary. Then they were doing business as Hawaii Rainbow Rangers. They came on board in August 2020. I don't believe they fully understood what they were undertaking and what was entailed in taking over the animal control contract. When they came on board, they did not have the facilities or the resources that they pushed forward in their proposal readily available. So the Police Department took it upon themselves to say, "Okay, let's work with the Hawaii Rainbow Rangers, Hawaii Rainbow Friends and allow them the time to transition." The allotted time was extended to October, for them to transition and provide the animal control services. At that time we had the facility in Kona, which is next to the Police Station that is county owned that they were able to take over. And they were negotiating to take over the old Hawaii Island Humane Society facility in Waimea, that is owned by Parker Ranch, and they had no facility in Kea`au. Moving forward they advised HPD (Hawai`i Police Department) that they would be providing these services by the end of November. So in the interim, mutually agreed was to skill back the funds that were being provided pursuant to the contract, because the contract's monthly allotment was for full services, Animal Control Officers, Animal Care Officers, Veterinarians, everything that was included. That was allowed to go forward to November, came November they still were not able to fulfill all the obligations. Again, we said okay, fine, we'll give you till January moving on, we move forward. We understand what is going on. Finally in April, they were able to secure three facilities. The one in Kona, the one in Waimea, and they were leasing property from Barking Dog Kennels I believe is the name. So in May, they did the first Animal Control Officer training that they brought on board. They were required to have I believe 15 Animal Control Officers, I thought was 17 but I believe 15 was the number. What transpired after that, is we started—all during the process from the time the contract was awarded in August, the Police Department, the Patrol Officers, were responding to calls on animal complaints. We would get responses, we would get complaints from Officers, we'd get complaints from the community, and we'd fuel all these complaints going forward. In May when they finally had full complement of employees, we stated, "Okay, let's let them move forward." The recommendation from my staff, was let's go out for a new RFP (Request for Proposals). I said, and my decision was no, let's Page 4 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 give them the time, we got them this far let's see what happens. Let's give them the opportunity, let's move forward with extending the contract taking option year. In May to June we started getting more complaints, and now we had complaints internally from employees at Hawaii Rainbow Rangers. So finally on June 21st we set a meeting with Hawaii Rainbow Rangers' leadership. Mary Rose, Mr. Lipken, and I guess their Animal Control Director that they had in place at that time. Meeting was held at the Hilo Police Station. They came to the meeting, and no offense to Rainbow Rangers or anyone there, they came to the meeting totally unprepared. They had no plan, they had no recovery plan, they had no way of what was going forward, how many employees they had on staff, what was going on with their animal shelters, unable to answer any questions. Now the meeting was myself, Corporation Counsel, representatives from the Mayor, the Mayor was there and Finance was there. Well basically I explained to Mary Rose, I was really disappointed because they came to the meeting totally unprepared. The recovery plan they produced was two weeks later, that was sent to us. This was after the decision was already made, let's not exercise the option year. Let's look at just cancelling the contract and see where we can go from here. How can we best provide the services? And that is where we ended up, terminating the contract, asking Rainbow Rangers if they would stay on board for a month at a lower rate just to maintain the facilities and care for the animals. It was never ever any discussion of mass euthanasia of any animals, as was put out in social media. The Police Department did not go out to these facilities and takeover as it was pushed out in social media. What's interesting is one of their social media articles said I was at the Kipimana facility on Tuesday afternoon. I'm glad they told me, because I didn't know I was there. That is what went out on social media. So I tried to dispel that, and I understand that the Council got an email blast as well. So I responded to all the Council Members, attaching one of the email blast explaining our position and that is where we're today. Moving forward, yes, we have secured an 89 day contract with Ms. Sorano, who has been named as one of the parties that were against all of this. We have executed an 89 day contract with three Animal Control Officers, one in Kona, one in Waimea, and one in Kea`au, to respond to calls for service. We have taken back the Kona facility, we're in the process of arranging a lease for the Parker Ranch facility if it becomes open, and we're looking at what we have available in Puna, what if anything is available. We do realize that the Barking Dog Kennels, if I'm saying the name right, is available. And we are working with County Finance and property management. Is it feasible for us to lease that, is it open to lease and what is available for us? That is where we stand. We have acquired back the vehicles that were county owned from Hawaii Rainbow Rangers. We will be outfitting the three Animal Page 5 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 Control Officers for now, to respond to calls for service. In the meantime, the calls are coming into the Police Department like they usually do, and we will respond accordingly. We have asked the Department of Public Works to assist us in removal of dead animals from the roadways, which they have been doing since the start of this contract, as Hawaii Rainbow Rangers were not able to accomplish that either over the course. And that's where we are, and I'm open for questions. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you so much, Chief Ferreira. I just have a couple of questions. Now the responsibility of animal control, when they get a call about a creature that's in distress or seems to be feral or what not, protocol is to take that animal and hold it for 48 hours. Is that kind of? MR. FERREIRA: Any time we take an animal into our possession it's for a 48-hour hold, which allows us to find the owner. If there is an owner we'll determine what is to be done with that animal. After the 48 hours the animal is turned over to a shelter, it can be turned over to anyone out in the community. But there is also a 30 day window, that if the animal is owned by someone else they can actually come and claim the animal. And that's why we have to keep track of all those animals. MS. VILLEGAS: Right. You know, I know some people may want to, based on the emails I got, go round and round about, you know, with the accusations you know, and la, la, la, la. I guess for me what's most important here today is having an opportunity to sit and listen to and ideally provide support toI think it's actually wise for our county. It seems to make sense, in this municipality for Police to play this active role in this capacity. This is a thankless job to begin with, anything to do with animal control or any time it touches on euthanasia or kill free verses kill. You know, it's just really challenging for everyone, so I just want to thank you, honestly, for stepping in and taking control of these operations at this point. I appreciated one of the testifiers saying that there is a path forward. We obviously have a problem, we have too many feral creatures. And they're you know—cats as much as I love them are an invasive species and are devastating our bird populations. And the concept of catching and fixing and releasing doesn't change unless they can be a pet. It doesn't change the challenges and the burden it places on our ecosystem. So I just want to open it up to my colleagues. But I am hopeful we can navigate with more intensive support from the Police Department. I know the newspaper article said that it was like $94,000 a month was the payment, which seems like a lot of money. I know it can be spent really quickly when it comes to locations and staffing. But I'm really hopeful that we might be able to pursue a model of having animal control a unit that is within the Police Department, and then working with a nonprofit organizations and volunteers that so often don't have the capacities to kind of be the staunch hand of Page 6 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 the law when it comes to animals. So, thank you. And I open this up to everyone else. MR. FERREIRA: If I may make a statement? MS. VILLEGAS: Yes. MR. FERREIRA: As far as the enforcement part it belongs to Police Department, the vicious dogs, the stray animals, animals not on a leash. As far as the animal care and control portion, it doesn't belong with the Police Department. MS. VILLEGAS: No. MR. FERREIRA: It should be a different entity totally. You know, I understand thatI can still remember when the contract came to the Police Department, way back when, and I don't believe it belongs with the Department of Finance where it sat before, and it came to Police Department specifically because of the enforcement part. We've always had that enforcement part, we've always responded to that enforcement part regardless where the animal control is. The Animal Control Officers would respond to calls for service, if they could, you know, violations that may happen they may see they have the power to issue citations, they didn't have arrest powers. But we would ultimately route the cases to the prosecutors, and look for prosecutions in those cases. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. Do you know what the protocol, or in other municipalities are? MR. FERREIRA: I checked with the other three jurisdictions across the State. I understand that Honolulu—because I understood that Honolulu was similar to what our operations. And the Honolulu Humane Society is doing their contract. Honolulu does the same thing, they respond to all vicious calls and those nature. Their county Finance, I believe holds the contract with the Humane Society and the Humane Society does the intake of animals of that sense. Kauai County pretty much takes care of everything with the Kauai Humane Society. Kauai Police Department just responds to 911 calls or calls for emergency services that's it. I didn't get a response from Maui, but I believe Maui is in a similar situation that both us and Honolulu is in. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. It seems a shame when the Hawaii Island Humane Society didn't renew their contract, to maintain that part of the services. But I can understand the complications, this feels like the portion —it's just a thankless job all around. Because you're navigating creatures who aren't always in the best circumstances, and the desire to save every one of them can often create many more challenges. So I'll open it up to comments from my colleagues. CHR. INABA: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Page 7 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for bringing this forward, Rebecca. Your timing was impeccable, given what happened and how many emails we all received in the discussion in the community. Thank you for being here this morning, personally, Chief. I'm just going to dive into couple of questions, and then touch on where I think we could go. But I think as part of the contract, do we have a requirement to inspect their facilities island -wide? MR. FERREIRA: Yes, we do. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And have you inspected them? MR. FERREIRA: We have inspected them, not as often as it should have been inspected I would say. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Recently? MR. FERREIRA: Recently, yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. At what was the state of the facilities? MR. FERREIRA: Facilities in the most sense were not kept up to standards, what it should have been. The animals have been sleeping in their own excrements. That facility in Kea`au was never intended to be an animal control facility, as much as Kona and Kamuela was. The animals were not the report I got back was they were not being mistreated, it's just that they didn't believe they were receiving the care they should have been. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then from what I know, there's two facilities in Kea`au right now. You have both the Kipimana facility that just began, I think that's under, I want to say it's under Best Friends. And then we also have the Rainbow Sanctuary, where some of the animals are being housed. But I have a lot of the neighbors in the vicinity of the sanctuary, who are concerned because they're hoping that the animals are not being transferred from the Kipimana facility to the sanctuary. Because it's a neighborhood, and the dogs are barking all night long. So where are the animals that we have, or that were in the facility being transferred to or are they still in the Kipimana facility? Do you know? MR. FERREIRA: The animals that I know of were kept at the Kipimana facility, which is the reason we had asked Rainbow Rangers to assist us in caring for the facilities and the animals in place. The staff that we brought on board is supposed to be working with other animal groups, Humane Society advocates, to transfer some of these animals that have gone pass the 48 hours for adoption, for placement, for what needs to be done with the animals. Page 8 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And is sanctuary one of those providers, or no? MR. FERREIRA: Off the top of my head, I can't response to that. I really don't know. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Have all the appropriate reports been submitted by the Rainbow Rangers? MR. FERREIRA: We're still waiting on some of the financials. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. What can you speak about, as far as going forward as far as contract? I mean can you talk about that, or no? MR. FERREIRA: Well you know, what we're looking at is during this transition period during the 89 days, we're going to look at what is best practice. What should we do? Should the county adopt the Animal Control Officers part of it and just contract out the care and feeding of animals? Should the county look at, I know someone brought it up purchasing a facility to house these animals. What is the best alternative that we have? Or should we just put out another animal control contract, and maybe separate it or change it up a little? These are all questions that we're trying to get answered within this period, having just cancelled the contract in June. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And then who's driving the decision making, as far as contract and providers? I mean classically, it's been the Mayor's Office, HPD. MR. FERREIRA: That would be us, discussion with County Finance and the Mayor's Office. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And that was a question too, is why isn't the Council fixing this? In my head I had go back, well we do have a role here. It's been interesting from the first time we brought in Humane Society, to have a discussion and seeing the Executive Director fired three weeks later, to seeing the transition to Rainbow Rangers, and then watching this contract being, you know, however it played out, but here we are. But I'm watching all that, it's been interesting. MR. FERREIRA: In the future, if we do put out a contract of any type, nothing prevents the Rainbow Friends from bidding on the contract or any entity from coming in. And we've had organizations out there, applicants that have sent in emails saying that when we do open up a contract they want to be a part of it, they want to look at it. So there is interest out there as far as the animal groups, of what they can provide and what they can assist us with. The media release that we did push out identified an email address. So anyone in the community that has Page 9 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 one of these groups, to send in their interest and give us input. People have been sending in okay, this is what's done in this jurisdiction perhaps you guys can look at this. So all of this is going to need to be researched. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I would like to offer my services, this sits pretty near and dear to my heart. From the beginning, I've watched Humane Society falter a little, and then I saw the different groups step in. There were other groups who wanted to submit for that first contract as well, and a lot of them are very good. And they do the same thing they do today, as they did back then and they provide service to our community in the form of animal control. I was interested in knowing if there is a group that part of the Council could sit in on, if we wanted to. If there was a willingness on the Administration, we have to have Council involvement or not? MR. FERREIRA: I have no problem to get input from anyone. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MR. FERREIRA: The more voices that are heard, the less conflict we're going to get down the road. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I'd like to be part of that, and I'll send you an email as far as—I've been in discussion with some of the different parties and I'd like to share my insights. MR. FERREIRA: The only issue that we would have going forward down the road is, when we do plan on putting out a contract, the information that is contained in the bid process needs to be following procurement rules, who can chime in and who can't. So we have to be very careful in that sense. But as far as coming up with a proposal, what a plan should be going forward I have no problem. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Understood. One of the glaring things that is evident is that the lack of an East Hawaii facility is a major undertaking for any entity providing animal control. If you walk into animal control services here, the requirement is three facilities; east; west; and north for Kohala. I think Ocean View has been left out of the discussion, and I think that needs to be addressed. But East Hawaii serving close to, you know, more than half of the island's population with a lot of animals has no solid facility. And I think the community was under the assumption that Humane Society was that facility. A little latitude, Chair? CHR. INABA: Go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. And yet it's not a Page 10 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 county -owned facility, it's owned by Humane Society. So I think addressing an East Hawaii facility regardless of what it is, would be a huge benefit to any entity whether we change the system or not. You know, but as far as an animal control service provider, having an East Hawaii facility that's county owned, that creates a transition that's smooth. Right now it was really hard for that transition to happen. Thank you for the latitude, Chair. And then thank you for being here, Chief. MR. FERREIRA: Sure. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali` i-Kleinfelder. And just want to point out also that Corporation Counsel is in Kona, should anyone have questions. Mr. Richards, your light is on. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. And thanks, Chief. And first of all, I want to echo something that Chief said concerning the misinformation, actually really disinformation, about this mass euthanasia plan for all the animals in the shelter. That was like a complete falsehood to, I think, insight emotions. I've been part of this conversation since I found out that the contract was no longer being extended. And at the request of the Administration, I was asked to be available to help review the facilities and animals to see if there's any medical needs. As most of you know, I'm a practicing veterinarian. And as I reported on that, the animals themselves, they're a few that needs medical attention, but there's no glaring problems of the animals I've reviewed. And so that was good. Now that was not a comment on what was going on in the shelters, and there are some problematic problems in the shelters and I think this is what is been attended to. Ms. Villegas, you pointed out the concern for the overwhelming number of cats we have out there, and when I mention the programs problematic issues going forward, we have an animal control side, and then we have the "and then what" portion, meaning, what happens after the 48 hours? We've always had the Hawaii Island Humane Society, for what we previously had for as long as I was in practice. So Chief, longer than 20 years, closer to 35 as I can recall. And you know, to your point Ms. Villegas, the problem is the enforcement side because it's never popular. No matter what happens it's never popular. And it is problematic, but nonetheless we as a county, we as a community, we as a body, we owe this to our community to manage that. And this is where the problem starts to occur. Now what we're talking about here is that first 48 hours, not the care afterwards. And I appreciate the fact that the county has reached out to seeking that aid. And I know several of the groups have come to the plate and said, "Look we're going to help you in this transition phase." Some of my personal experiences as a practicing vet, and seeing some problems that were coming forth, and they Page 11 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 weren't being attended to, which is a problem for me, and wearing both hats. We didn't have a staff veterinarian, and we didn't have good veterinary policy that I could see to deal with the impoundment of animals and going forward from there. I think we all received numerous emails on numerous different issues. But we're talking about animal control. And I have one constituent that had a concern for a cat that was removed, and then placed back into the community that was causing a lot of damage to her own personal animals. Animal control, we need to attend to this. And so these again, are some of the problematic issues that were coming up again and again. Administration did ask that if I could help put together a group of veterinarians, and I did volunteer to be on standby, if we need to attend to things, and so that is in place right now. And so far it appears that things are flowing, going forward. Chief, I'm interested in your comments about the jurisdictions and how they administer in other. Did I understand correctly, you said we had an enforcement side and then turn over to Humane Society? MR. FERREIRA: My understanding, that is what the Honolulu Police do. They handle only the enforcement side, and they have a contract with Honolulu Humane Society to transfer animals. Kauai is pretty much separate from the police totally. But the Police Department will respond to calls for service, as far as vicious animal's emergencies. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. You know, and some of the things that have come out in this is for instance, I know if we have a dog bite of a human that's a police issue. If it's of another dog, that's not necessarily a police issue it's an enforcement officer. Do I understand that? MR. FERREIRA: We usually respond to as well, we'll get called to respond. MR. RICHARDS: Which I think we as a body have to look at that, because if we have a vicious dog, just because it hasn't bitten someone yet it doesn't mean it's not a concern. So I think we have to come back around, and visit this. You know, it's a tough time now, and I appreciate the fact and I appreciate the efforts of what the county is doing. Because we as a body have to take our animal control very, very, seriously. And I think most of this group understands that. Little latitude, Chair? CHR. INABA: Go ahead, Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you. For this facilities, yes, we need facilities. And Matt, I appreciate you saying north, south, not just east, west. The one in the north, Waimea, that one is initially established for large animals because of the community and then the small animal follow suit. But I think it's a good idea we look towards something in Ka`u, or somewhere in the south. So with that, thank you, Chair. I yield. Page 12 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Thanks, Rebecca, for bringing this forward. You know, when the Police Chief shows up, it's a big deal and that he's here to answer our questions. That means his Administration and his department is taking this very seriously. And so I'm actually going to walk back to the contract, Chief. And just help me understand, and maybe you've said it a couple times. I'm still trying to drill down on what it is, what is our exact charge? What is our duty, whether it's under the Charter, whether it's under HRS (Hawai`i Revised Statues)? When it comes to animal control, what do we have to, at minimum, provide? MR. FERREIRA: It's governed by the Charter. If you look at the Charter that animal control services are handled by the county. That is the enforcement of the animal laws, the vicious dogs; the noisy dog ordinances, and also the care in taking in of animals, what happens in that first 48 hours; responsibility to identify the owners, and the need to care for these animals until the owners are identified or released. And also dealing with the feral population out there, that we need to have animal control in place to address those issues, whether it be spay/neuter, whether it be to euthanize animals what have you, trap and release, all that has to be part of it. MS. LEE LOY: So it's all encompassing, because I'm really trying to understand like what is our kuleana here? And we have philosophical ideals on care for our animals. And I know government is unfeeling that way, so I'm just really trying to understand. Our charge is the public safety, right, and if there is a threat to that by an animal the department has a duty to respond. Is that kind of it in a nutshell? MR. FERREIRA: That is a small part of it. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. MR. FERREIRA: Because you still have the care of the animals after the fact, and you still have the care of removal of the animals on the roadways if they're injured or dead what have you. You have all of that still in play. The law enforcement part is a very small part, as far as the enforcement of the law or the Charter in the sense of noisy dogs or vicious animals. The rest of it is the care, and what Humane Society used to take care of. And if you take—go back at least three years ago, and we were before the Council then, Police Department was; Humane Society was, because there were allegations against Humane Society and the mass euthanasia. It's a difference of philosophy, you know, what is being done with euthanizing animals that need to be euthanized? And a strictly no kill policy, which is what Hawaii Rainbow Rangers were looking at. And I think that caused a conflict internally for them as well, that's where a conflict came about as far as their Page 13 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 management teams not agreeing with each other, not having each other. But it's from the county standpoint, from the department standpoint, what we looked at, this is public funds that are being expended, and are we receiving the services that they were contracted to do? No. So I said okay fine, if we're not receiving services that they were contracted to do, like anything else we terminate and let's move forward. As opposed to keep feeding the animal that we're not getting what we're paying for. MS. LEE LOY: And thank you. You know, because it feels so unfeeling, but this is the public's money and they were tasked under the contract to provide services. And from what I heard you say, they weren't meeting their contractual obligations. Thank you so much for clarifying that. I have some other questions. So you mentioned the department, it came from Finance, and I've been asking this for a little bit, right, kind of not it, nobody kind of wants it but it's with you, Chief. So my question is, I know you brought in an individual under an 89 -day contract, is that the contract monitoring piece that the department needs? Because we know that our officer's do so much already. But I'm also seeing that there was some obligations, that someone from the department monitored this contract. Is that individual? MR. FERREIRA: That is part of the contract, written into the contract that we have with this individual for the 89 days, is to be an Animal Control Director, what we would need. Because right now, and goes back years when we took over the contract, the duties are assigned to the Major or Captain of Administration that has a ton of other work that he or she is doing regarding law enforcement. And this is a small part of it. When the contract was brought over to the Police Department, it came out without staff, it came without resources. So it was incumbent on us to go out and do the monitoring and inspecting the facilities. We have knowledge and skills relating to police work, we don't have knowledge and skills relating to what is being done as far as animal control facility, which is why I've reached out to Dr. Richards, and asked for his assistance and the veterinarian friends that he has when we did the inspections on the facilities on June 30th, and July 1st. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chief, for acknowledge that. We have amazing skills sets, but you recognize that the department needed help with recognizing animal welfare. How many animals are we talking about related to this contract, right now, kind of where are we? Because there's a lot being said about how many, or how many are not being accounted for. MR. FERREIRA: When they did the inspection on July 1st, there were 52 dogs and 46 cats at the Kona facility. There were 21 dogs and 17 cats at the Waimea facility. There were 45 dogs and 34 cats at the Kea`au facility. Page 14 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. I have to ask but it's a bit morbid, because part of the contract also talks about deceased animals. Do we have an accounting of that? MR. FERREIRA: We don't have an accounting of what deceased animals had, but I know when they went to the Kona facility there was a freezer full of dead animals, dead carcasses. We would assume that those animals were the ones recovered off the roadways. Like I explained earlier, Department of Public Works—because of lack of response we were using Department of Public Works to clean the roads when they needed to. When they had dead animals, they would dispose it at the landfills in accordance. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you for answering that kind of tough question. Was the contract that we have in front of us for Hawai` i Rainbow Rangers augmented, or edited a bit from what we've seen in the past? Do you know Chief? MR. FERREIRA: I believe there were changes made with regards to what is euthanasia, in regards to reporting details. Off the top of my head, I don't know the specific changes that were made from the way Humane Society held a contract. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. Do we know of any outstanding payments? Because we got an email from a vendor who provided spade and neuter and they asked the Council to get them paid. Do we have an accurate accounting? MR. FERREIRA: That's what Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder asked, regarding the outstanding reports. One of them is the financial reports, it's what we're waiting on. Because we're getting the same inquires that individuals have not been paid. You've gotten the emails that Mary Rose had put in monies from her own pocket to move the contract forward, we're asking for validation. If we owe her money, and we owe a vendor money we will see through our obligations. But we need again, because its public funds, I'm not just going to approve an expenditure unless I see documentation stating what and where it is. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, Chief. Could you look into that? Because the contract was clear about commingling of funds? MR. FERREIRA: Yes. MS. LEE LOY: And so I'm going to leave that to you, Corporation Counsel, and Finance. I'm sorry, I had so many questions around the contract. There's interim services right, when they started the contract and one was, contractor shall supply the county with a list of permanent staff as requested. Was that provided, and were they permanent staff? Page 15 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MR. FERREIRA: That was part of the ongoing problems of them retaining staff to work in the shelters, also the Animal Control Officers. When they swore in the Animal Control Officers in May, they finally got them sworn in, in June when they had the meeting with us on June 21 ", they already lost 10 of them. They already lost 10 employees, so how can they continue to go forward? That was a question that was never answered. And again, no disrespect to them, but when they did show up for their meeting they were totally ill prepared. And I made that statement to them, that they should have been prepared to tell me this is what we have; this is where we're going; this is what we need to do. Not tell me, oh I think I have this, or I think we have that, you know. You don't come to a meeting with us, when you're trying to defend your contract by stating those things. MS. LEE LOY: Okay, yeah, I don't want to get too far in the weeds, I'm sure you're working it out. And there was one other thing, contractor shall supply the county with copies of an executed lease agreement for the facilities. Was that provided? MR. FERREIRA: Again, they were having difficulty finding a facility in Kea`au, or Puna district. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. I just want to offer, Chief. You know, a number of us have already, last question, have sat on the nonprofit grant in aid, and we've issued a number of nonprofit funds to help with animal control, spay/neuter; housing; and I had my staff take a look at the last five years. And the total request from these nonprofit organizations was $900,000. So on top of our animal control contract, the $2.5 million, there's an additional ask from nonprofits for another $900,000. Over the last five years, we were only able to grant $150,000. And so I offer this to the department, Finance, and Corporation Counsel, I mean these are the groups that we might want to reach out to, that could help us close the gap on spay/neuter, and then just adoption and fostering our four -legged creatures. Chief, I really appreciate you being here today. MR. FERREIRA: Thank you very much. MS. LEE LOY: Chair, I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Before we head back to Mr. Richards, oh, Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Aloha Chief, great to see you, thanks for being here. I just wanted to address a couple of things that came up with some of the testifiers. Someone asked about a capacity assessment, and if that's ever conducted prior to awarding of a contract. I'm not very familiar with how procurement works, but just wondering if that is something that we take on face value in terms of what they present in the proposal. Can you provide insight? Page 16 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MR. FERREIRA: My understanding it was within their proposal, what they were going to be providing; where they're going to be located at; what resources they would have to their availability. And again, when they started out and they made their proposal, I believe there were entities that were involved with other advocate groups or other animal groups. And whether or not that fell to the wayside, or it didn't come to fruition—but again, what we did was, understanding that they may not have understood the full impact of what they were undertaking, allow them that space or that room, to start building their facilities or start building their programs. So as far as their capacity, yeah, I've heard that lady. I think going forward it's something maybe they had to identify ahead of time, is what the facility is going to be. At the time the contract was awarded back in August, Hawai` i Rainbow Friends was the only bidder to the contract. Absent that, the Humane Society extended the contract for one month and they were not going to extend it any longer. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, so Police Department puts out an RFP, and says we need a, b, c, done. Rainbow Rangers submits a proposal, and says we can do a, b, c, d, this is how we're going to do it, this is how much we can do it for, and this is the timeframe the different milestones we're going to meet to get it done. Is that correct? MR. FERREIRA: Yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. There was never you forcing them to do certain things, it is they're responding to your request for service. MR. FERREIRA: Yes. And they put in the proposal as far as what they're going to be able to do, how they'll be able to do it. Part of the contract stated, they were actually supposed to be ready to go August 1st MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Because I recall a conversation with Rainbow Rangers at the Council last term where they've said we've been in negotiations with Police Department on this, and then a few days later they were expected to mobilize. But their proposal reflected being ready to activate by a specific date. MR. FERREIRA: When you submit a proposal on a bid, you're saying that you can take over this action from this point forward. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. FERREIRA: And again, understanding the complexity of it, we understood where they were coming from and we gave them the leeway to try and establish themselves. Of course it was at a lower funding rate. One of the emails that you may have gotten is that they were not receiving the same funding as Hawai i Island Humane Society. Well Hawaii Island Humane Society was performing all of the obligations in the contract, so they were getting the full award monthly. Page 17 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 Hawaii Rainbow Rangers was providing only 50 percent of the obligations, so you're going to be paid 50 percent of what you're providing. We're not going to pay you 100 percent for 50 percent for eight months. I would be fired if that was the case. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Of course. Doesn't seem responsible, right? MR. FERREIRA: Not with public funds, no. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Of course. Okay. I'm just trying to wrap my head around this, because like Council Member Villegas was sharing, there was a lot of folks that have come out very passionately about this issue. And at the end of the day we just want there to be a solution, we want folks to be successful. So I appreciate your team taking a hard look at over the next 89 days, how we can do things differently. It just seems that this particular contract is such a bear, for any one organization to handle. So maybe piecemealing it out, and then finding people who are operating in spaces of excellence in those areas to take on different aspects of the work. MR. FERREIRA: What has been promising is if you look at what's happened, and probably a lot of the nonprofits you have on that list have come forward and said okay, they're willing to help; they're willing to take in animals; they're willing to step forward and do this. And this is voluntarily now, I'm sure down the road we may look at okay, can we contract you to take over this part of it, the spay/neuter part? Can we contract you to do an adoption and move the animals, like some people have stated shipping the animals to the Continental United States where there are groups that would take in these animals? Is that feasible for the county to do? These are all areas that we need to look at, and we will be looking at them. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chief, I appreciate that. One more thing, the recovery plan was brought up, and you mentioned that they came to the table, there was no recovery plan at that point in time, it was delivered two weeks later. But you felt that the year had kind of, you know, come and gone working with the organization that, that plan wasn't strong enough to renew and extend the contract for another year. MR. FERREIRA: Again, it was a day late and dollar short, if I may be so blunt. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Is there anything that you feel that they did well? MR. FERREIRA: Their intentions were well, okay, I will say that. They were well intended when they came in and they bid on the contract. I understand the no kill philosophy, understand the passion for not killing any animals if they don't have to be, you know finding room for adoption, finding homes for these animals so I can understand all of that. Because of the changes I guess, because of the Page 18 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 different philosophy to what's going on, that is where the conflicts came up. And that is where they faltered. Whether the groups they partnered with decided they were no longer available, or they didn't want to be part of it, it changed along the way, and that's where they faltered. I don't believe that they undertook this contract knowing the full impacts, realizing what the full impacts were. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Right. And if any other partnerships sort of fell through, that was an aspect of the operation they needed to quickly fill in the gap around. It's very helpful to have this conversation. So often community members have really great ideas but going from idea to tangible achievement, that's where the rubber hits the road. That is the difficult thing. So having this conversation with you Chief, is helpful. Because now we know how we can better build up capacity and support our community so that they can be getting contracts and successfully executing in the future. So thank you, I appreciate it. And then mahalo Dr. Richards for sharing your services with the county on this particular issue. It's great that you have this expertise that you could share, mahalo. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Chief, for being here today and answering our questions. And to my colleagues for really covering most of it. I just have a couple clarifying questions. The first being, do you think it's necessary at this point to do a comprehensive audit of what has happened in the past year around this issue? MR. FERREIRA: You mean the financial audit? MS. KIMBALL: Mm-hmm. MR. FERREIRA: That would be done, regardless. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. MR. FERREIRA: We need to account for the monies MS. KIMBALL: How about a process audit? MR. FERREIRA: As far as the processes that are in place to build a contract, I don't know that we do that. It's more of a sense of going forward, how we can look at what was done and maybe what changes need to be made, or what worked, and what didn't work kind of thing. But as far as the financial side, we would do an audit. MS. KIMBALL: That kind of leads—what I'm trying to understand from the conversation here, is there a need to revisit the contract? And really change what Page 19 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 we're asking of some third party to provide, or is it we just need to find the right third party or the right combinations of third parties to meet the existing contract? MR. FERREIRA: Well that's part of what we're going to be discussing, or looking at how do we take on the next animal control contract? Do we contract the entire thing out? Should we have personnel in the county taking over some of the issues, like the Director, Animal Control Officers? Should that fold into the county or should that be a vendor issue? Should we stick with one vendor across the island, or should we look at doing multiple vendors if we have a director in place somewhere else? So those are all issues that we will be discussing, we'll be looking at. What will be the best way going forward? MS. KIMBALL: Right. That answers my question. I just wanted to clarify whether or not we were looking at revisiting MR. FERREIRA: We're not putting out the contract as is, right now. MS. KIMBALL: Right. Yeah, no. I mean these are the simple questions that we want to have absolute clarity around. I just want to also ask about the current capacity. You said you have the 89 -day hire which will act as a director, and then three Animal Control Officers. I do get about a call a week for a vicious dog issue or some other animal related complaint. And I do have great concerns about our ability to respond to that. Are there any plans to bring on additional staffing for this particular part of the program in the interim, while we're working out this contract? MR. FERREIRA: That is what we're looking at as well. Should we be picking up initial 89 -day contracts with other Animal Control Officers, or even with individuals to care for the animals at the facilities? These are all issues that we need to address. Initial hire of the Director, and three Animal Control Officers was to address the immediate need that we deal with. Can we get someone out there, just so that we can respond to most urgent calls? Understanding that we're going to have calls that are going to the wayside, because we don't have the response. MS. KIMBALL: Alright, okay. Any expectations on timeframe, on how long it's going to take to do all these evaluations? MR. FERREIRA: I wish I could give you an answer, a definite one, but again, it's an 89 day contract we're looking at. Realistically I'm looking at six months total over the long haul. What's going to happen, how it needs to happen? MS. KIMBALL: Okay, great. Thank you again, for being here. And also thank you Council Member Richards, for all your mana`o and helping out in this really dynamic time. I'm an animal lover myself, I have three dogs and one and half cats. And I say that because one of them is kind of feral, and we captured her; Page 20 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 and spayed her; and we feed her; but she doesn't actually like come and cuddle with us. But at the same time, I want to appreciate the comment that Council Member Villegas made that these are non-native species. They do a lot of damage to our native bird population, the toxoplasmosis issue with our native seals is also a significant issue. I have no idea how many feral animals we might have on this island, but it's certainly a problem. And want to see this addressed as effectively and humanely as possible. Thank you. MR. FERREIRA: Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Anyone else before we go back? I'm going to start with Mr. Richards, his light was on first. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. And I did want to echo something the Chief just said when the question was posed, was there anything good? And the answer is yeah. As I had stated previously, I went into the shelters to triage animals, to look for any immediate crises. And there are reports that there's some things going on, and my statement about some programmatic errors, or inconsistencies; or needs; are definitely there. But one of the things I did notice, is that some of the staff is outstanding. And I saw some animal handling that I thought okay, this is not something that can necessarily be trained, this is something that's inherent. So some of the staffing that I saw was really good and so we have some stuff to work with. And I believe that I passed that along, that I thought some of the staff was really good if they were interested going forward. But anyway I just wanted to make a comment that I think everybody is quick to criticize, but when kudos needs to be given sometimes we need that. And some of the staff there was outstanding, I was really impressed. Chief, I do appreciate you bringing up the freezer, very sensitive issue. And I think there are some things that we do need to work on, again, I'm willing and ready to support whatever we need to do to move this forward. Because as Ms. Kimball just said, we want a humane process going forward, and that's what we're here for. So thanks, Chair. I yield. CHR. INABA: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. I think at the end of the day, it's a public service that we provide. And it's our duty, it's our responsibility. And so whatever way we can help, you need to know that we're here to support you. But more so again, I'll offer my services, I've been involved in this from the beginning. And it may be two and half years, but for Puna and from my area this has been a huge issue. I did want to follow up, at the facility we have now, I mean do you have a number of animals that were there? MR. FERREIRA: At the Kea`au facility there were 45 dogs, and 34 cats when we went in. Page 21 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And they remain there, or they're? MR. FERREIRA: All of these animals were remaining there once we took over, and they're being moved out to adoption. I know Humane Society was contacted for some of them, I know other animal groups was also contacted as well. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Someone texted me and asked that question, so I figured I ask you. MR. FERREIRA: So that's why, I know in our email out, in our press release we said we had a moratorium on bringing in animals. We didn't want to intake anymore animals, until we could know what we're dealing with and how we're going to deal with it going forward. It would be senseless to come in and okay, we're still going to take in animals, not knowing what we have or what we're going to do with these animals going forward. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Do you need volunteers, right now? MR. FERREIRA: Right now, like I said, I'm amazed at the amount of support that we have gotten from all the advocate groups, they're asking, "Can we help? We've walked the dogs in Waimea before, can we continue to walk the dogs? We used to come to the Kipimana facility, can we continue to keep coming?" So I'm instructing staff, that as long as they're there to assist, help, we have no problem with it. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Let us know if we can help. I think for the public, if anyone's watching and they haven't heard yet, right now, the directive is to call non -emergency, correct? MR. FERREIRA: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And I would say that with a note of caution, because I know in Puna we are understaffed as far as Police Officers right now. And so the strain on our officers is going to be, I think immense as we start to call the non -emergency number. MR. FERREIRA: And hopefully—one of the directives was let's get cell phone numbers out there for the staff that we have contracted, so they can take the calls as well and we can move away from the 3311 numbers. Except if it's an emergency case the vicious dog complaint, that we would response to anyway. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Because that's normally the Police's jurisdiction. MR. FERREIRA: Yes. Page 22 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And then, is there going to be a press release from HPD as far as numbers and who to call? MR. FERREIRA: As soon as we get those in place, we will push out an immediate release. And we'll be in all our media outlets, with social media as well. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Beautiful, okay. Thank you, Chief. I yield, Chair. CHR. INABA: Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Chief. MR. FERREIRA: Good morning, Aaron. MR. CHUNG: You know, I've dealt with this animal control contract for many, many, years as you know. And no matter who the contractor is, I mean there's always going to be complaints, right? One way or the other, sometimes it amounts to philosophical issues. I remember when Ginger Towle, from the West Hawaii Humane Society used to come regularly. This one is a little different though, and first of all I really want to thank you. Not putting any of the other Chief's down, but you really seem to have the best grasp of the issues and are able to answer all of the questions as good a fashion as I've ever seen. Because this is a tough, complicated matter, right? A lot of moving parts and. MR. FERREIRA: I have good staff under me that provides me with all the answers. Believe me I don't take it up by myself, I have very good staff under me. MR. CHUNG: No. And thank you to them too. But I really will say this, I'm very impressed, you know, with the depth of your knowledge and the information that you have on this. Thank you so much. You know, we could go on and on asking questions about this matter, right? I'm going to try to just keep it as short as I can, because, you know, we could talk about the Rainbow Rangers contract, or we could talk about, you know, what we do moving forward already because that's pau. But there are some questions about that, the cancelled contract that I'd like to ask. First of all, Ms. Lee Loy brought up something about the staffing. My question regarding the staffing is, were people working there employee's or independent contractors? Because I'm hearing all kinds of stuff. MR. FERREIRA: We don't direct the contract holder, or the vendor whether or not the worker's there have to be employees, or if they're contracting their services out. We say they have to have employees working for them. Now whether or not they enter into private contracts with individuals, or hire them on as full time workers, I wouldn't be able to say. Page 23 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MR. CHUNG: Well what I'm worried about is this, and you might want to look into this moving forward. I don't really know what's true here, I really don't. But if the information that I've received is correct, then most if not all of the people working there were independent contractors. Built into those contracts are the times they're supposed to be there. That runs afoul of State and Federal laws. And we cannot be complicitous to something like that. So going forward, I think we have to take—and you know, I really don't know if it's true but sounds like it's true. So we might want to take a little bit more hands on approach on that matter, okay. That's my suggestion. MR. FERREIRA: And I could be wrong, they could be actual employees. MR. CHUNG: Could be, we don't know. MR. FERREIRA: I don't know. I can find out, and definitely get you an answer on that. MR. CHUNG: Yeah. And then, you know, there was reference made by several of the Council Members here, regarding the facilities. Three or four, I don't know. Can you tell me all the facilities that they have? MR. FERREIRA: They had three facilities under their control. In Kona, the facility right across the Police Station. In Waimea, the facility that was the old Hawaii Island Humane Society facility, that's leased from Parker Ranch. In Puna, at one time they had the Rainbow Friends Sanctuary up in Kurtistown, or Glenwood I believe. And then they transition to the Barking Dogs Kennels that they leased until April, and then they moved into the Kipimana facility in Kea`au. MR. CHUNG: Okay, where is that, the Kipimana? MR. FERREIRA: Kipimana Street is the street that goes into the Shipman Ag Park, they're on the Kalapana side of the roadway. MR. CHUNG: Alright. Is that a lease or a purchase? MR. FERREIRA: That's a lease. My understanding from them, it's a warehouse that they lease to house the animals. MR. CHUNG: Okay. Do you know the terms of the lease, more or less? MR. FERREIRA: No. MR. CHUNG: So they could actually cancel the lease? MR. FERREIRA: Yes. Page 24 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MR. CHUNG: Okay, so we don't have any detrimental reliance kind of issues? MR. FERREIRA: That's why we asked them -and that's why we're going to compensate them for continuing the service for 30 days while we can do a transition. And in the interim, since we were made aware that the Barking Dog Kennels have become available, is it feasible for us to lease it? I don't know if we want to buy it, or what it would entail. But again, we are looking for a facility in the interim. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, I just wanted to make sure that, you know, we're on firm footing, in terms of the termination of the contract, right. I mean if they had purchased, or if they had entered into a long term lease, you know, relying upon the county's representations that they would have a contract, you know, we might have some issues there. But I did look over the request for proposals, the contract terms, looks like you guys are well within your rights to terminate this contract. So you know, I think we're okay over there. As I said, there's just so many questions that can come up, but those are really the two most important ones. I will say this though, over my many years of, you know, having to work during animal control contracting periods, in fact I can safely say, I've never had so many calls of complaints about any program. You know, we get contacted via email, you know, mass emails about different projects, or initiatives, legislation, but on a program of the county, never have I received so many complaints. You know, I'm not trying to put the contractor down but it's a fact. It ranged from not receiving phone calls back from, you know, the animal control people. And this kind of interesting one, somebody from Alumoku called me, and they have no skin in the game, they're not trying to belittle the contractor. But they said they called up the contractor, they came to pick up the cat, brought it back to the same environment and was told that is their program, and they called it the trap, neuter, release into the environment, you know, that management area. But when I looked at this thing it's a pilot project, and I called your office and they said that pilot project was never implemented. And that's what they were telling the public, and that's not really nice either, right. MR. FERREIRA: Believe me every email that you got, I think we got. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, I know that. I got phone calls, everything, it was crazy. But just the response time would be very important and being truthful to the public. And do you know what I think is going to be crucial on this though? It's the philosophical issue about the no kill. Ours is called an animal control contract, and then you have no kill. Those two things are not exactly the same, right? We're trying to control animal populations, so I think you've got to look into that. And finally, Mr. Chairman, I will say this, for many, many, times I've said, I don't think you guys should be the lead agency on this. Page 25 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 MR FERREIRA: Thank you. MR. CHUNG: I've said it in public. I couldn't figure out where it should be, but either the Mayor's Office or Corp. Counsel. Your department is tasked with the responsibility of animal control, but to administer the contract that's a bit much I think. So we've got to think of a better way of doing this, maybe it has to be housed someplace else. But you guys are the people that are going to be providing a lot of input, because you guys are tasked with that responsibility. So maybe now is the time for us to revisit all of that, yeah. And that's all. Thank you again, though Chief, I really appreciate everything you said today. CHR. INABA: Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Just a quick mahalo. I had to chuckle, and thank you for your graciousness, as I kind of put together a simple response to hundreds of emails and was cutting and pasting. I totally overlooked the email from you, so I sent it to Chief Ferreira and he responded, well actually for clarification. You were so gracious and I just thank you for that, I felt oh, oh no. But I had to slow down and look at each email again and make sure I was responding to the right people. But thank you for your graciousness, and sense of humor and ability to clarify. It's brought a lot of comfort for myself, and for the constituents in our community to know to be able to say, you know, the timing was kind of synchronicity to have this communication, have this opportunity to have this conversation. So thank you again. MR. FERREIRA: Thank you. CHR. INABA: Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thanks, again. Yeah, I just wanted to make this one comment in deference to a person who was trying to get testimony into our website. And that's Franny Pueo. Everybody knows Franny, right? And the reason why she reached out to me is because I've been getting my cats fixed with her organization. She didn't have anywhere else to turn so she sent it to my email address, and she's just concerned it wasn't on, what you call it? When all of the testimonies are on our website, right? MR. BROWN: Yeah, we post them online for the public to access. MR. CHUNG: Yeah. So I just wanted to say, Franny, we got that corrected and it's now posted. And then so people can read Franny's comments. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Any last comments or questions? Okay, I think my colleagues did the job. But Chief Ferreira, yeah, Council Member Chung literally stole my words when he said, and I'm young obviously, but so impressed, because every single question that this body had, pretty much you had an answer for every time. Page 26 PRPSC-11 July 6, 2021 Whether it's this or the budget, you have it all. And thank you to your staff for making sure that you have it all. MR. FERREIRA: Like I said, I have good people working under me, they prepare me well before I come out and get myself in trouble. CHR. INABA: You don't even look at your notes though, you just know it already when you come before us. So with that, there is a motion on the floor to close file on Communication 301, all those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 301: The motion to close file on Comm. 301 was carried (Approved) by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (There were none.) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 10:55 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to MENT: adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 27 PRPSC-11 CHR. INABA: This meeting is adjourned at 10:55 a.m. Approved: <:--:: 1� OL, Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair Parks and Recreation and Public Safety Committee HI/rk fle 7�/ (Date) July 6, 2021 Page 28