HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PRPSC 2022/04/19 2020-2022Committee on Parks and Recreation
and Public Safety
28th Session
West Hawaii Civic Center
74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A
Kailua-Kona, Hawai i
April 19, 2022
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Parks and Recreation and Public
ORDER: Safety was called to order at 3:01 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona,
by Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Mr.
Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair
Mr.
Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair (videoconference from Hilo
came in later)
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
Ms.
Rebecca Villegas, Member
Absent & Excused: Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member
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.)
CHR. INABA: We'll move on to Communication 733 please, Mr. Clerk.
COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
Comm. 733: REPORT NO. 2022-02: PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF THE HAWAII FIRE
DEPARTMENT
From County Auditor Tyler J. Benner, dated March 21, 2022.
; and
Comm. 733.1 From Council Member Holeka Goro Inaba, dated March 18, 2022, requesting a
discussion with County Auditor Tyler Benner and Fire Chief Kazuo Todd
regarding the Hawaii Fire Department's Performance Audit.
; and
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
Comm. 733.2 From Fire Chief Kazuo Todd, dated April 6, 2022, transmitting a PowerPoint
Presentation.
Motion to Close File: Ms. David moved to close file on Comm. 733.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. INABA: For the record I also want to note that Council Member Kaneali'i-
Kleinfelder has joined us via videoconference from the Hilo Chambers. We are
here today, and I'm just going to open this up real quick. Also Council Member
Lee Loy is here in Kona. We have County Auditor Tyler Benner with us today, to
present simply the results of the Fire Department's audit. We also have Chief
Kazuo Todd, joining us via Zoom. But we're going to start off with the County
Auditor's presentation, and then we'll move into the Chief's slide. And we'll
open it up then for discussion among these Committee Members here today. So
we thank you for being here, Tyler. And if you want to get started go ahead.
(Note: At this time, County Auditor Tyler Benner came forward to
address the members of the Committee.)
MR. BENNER: Thank you very much, Council. Tyler Benner, Office of the
County Auditor. Just a couple of quick housekeeping items. I'd like to just take a
minute and try to educate Council on somethings that our office has changed, to
better communicate information to both the Council and the public. We're
establishing more like less a unique brand to our audits. This isn't just to be
ecstatically pleasing, but we also want to convey the information and a uniform
format. So that readers can be educated quickly, and know where to locate
information on these reports as we produce them.
So at the 40,000 foot level, this would start with an executive summary to precede
our reports. Keeping the information extremely brief, moving directly into the
recommendations and value statements. If this body is pressed for time, we ask
that you please read the executive summary including the recommendations and
conclusions.
At the 20 -foot level where possible we're laying out the report, so that each
includes a concise problem statement that we would refer to as a condition and
cause, and the effect of the condition followed by an recommendation. So if you
have a little bit more time we would encourage you to thumb through, and read
the slightly expanded definitions.
At the 10,000 foot level you might note that we added a QR code of reports, and
that would take you to the reports section of our website where you can navigate
manually. And in addition to uploading the entire document to Laserfiche we've
added in accordance style layout, which would allow you to expand based on the
table of contents. And you the reader can identify, and read thoroughly through
the issues that are a particular concern to you. So today where we have more than
Page 2
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
a dozen discussion topics if only two or three are particular interest, you could at
least become aware of those things that are important. And finally on the ground
level, we always encourage you where possible to read cover to cover.
So we appreciate Council's patience today for those explanations. I'm going to
work between couple of mediums, I'm going to do just a very brief PowerPoint
and a video. And then I'm going navigate our site referencing the report itself,
and I have data sets available to reinforce understanding. So that out of the way,
I'll begin.
MS. KIMBALL: Mr. Benner, can I just make a request that you talk right into the
microphone, and maybe just a tab slower. We've had a really long day so far,
having trouble following every word, thanks.
MR. BENNER: Yes, Ma'am.
CHR. INABA: And real quick everyone, within the pinkie folder we have these
slides that the County Auditor will be using for his part of the communication. So
Communication 733.3.
(Note: At this time, Mr. Benner provided a PowerPoint presentation to the
members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD
copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online at
http://hawaiicounty.granicus.com. A hard copy of the presentation is
made a part of the record. See Comm. 733.3.)
MR. BENNER: I open the floor for any questions you might have.
CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Benner. Real quick before we open up to
questions and discussion based on the report. I do want to give Chief Todd who
is joining us via Zoom, the opportunity to just give a brief overview as to the
department's perspective on this audit. General direction, we don't have to get
into the nitty gritty of it. We'll maybe leave that for questions, if this committee
has any. But wanted to give you the opportunity, and thank you for joining us.
(Note: At this time Fire Chief Kazuo Todd came forward to address the
members of the Committee.)
CHIEF TODD: Well, apologize for joining you guys through Zoom. I've been
sick for the last couple of days, and I didn't want to spread anything that I might
have. So I'm joining today virtually.
I do have a PowerPoint however, I want to keep this brief obviously. So I can use
it if a question comes up that the PowerPoint might address. Essentially as far as
the audit goes, the Hawaii Fire Department doesn't disagree necessarily with any
of the recommendations. Let me preference this by, you know, the Hawaii Fire
Page 3
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
Department has an amazing organization filled with amazing people that work
really, really, hard to achieve the missions set forth for them.
That said, I think one of the biggest issue has always been a lack of resources,
comparatively to other departments. If you take a look at some of stuff that the
audit does bring up in terms of our department, verses comparable departments
and similar size jurisdictions in the United States, you can see the funding levels,
the staffing levels, and variety of other things are massively reduced for the
Hawaii Fire Department. For the most part, the Hawaii Fire Department does a
very good job of meeting the day to day needs. But the ability to pivot or deal
with extra work in terms of large events and things like that, sometimes can be
impinged upon by the lack of ability to really spread out. And this can be seen
within our budget, going back for many, many, years.
At this point, I would say I agree. Anything that's going to happen in terms of
changes within the department while we are working on them, I don't have
specific timeframe in terms of when we'll be able to achieve them based on a
current resource allocations. If we were looking to achieve some of the things
that are recommended in the audit, each of them could be done, but I would
recommend it needs to come along with some kind of funding in all honesty.
I think the Master Plan and seeking accreditation, is something we should
definitely be shooting for. But all of this, kind of relies on having money in the
budget to make that happen. So that covers it and if there's questions that might
hit a specific topic, I can bring up the PowerPoint. But otherwise I'll turn it back
over to you.
CHR. INABA: Thank you, Chief Todd. And I want to make sure, first of all the
Committee knows the entire performance audit has been included in our board.
But then for the public as well there's report, and then kind of a sectioned out
version of it is available on the County website specifically in the County
Auditor's section. So at this time, I do want to open it up for questions, if it's
regarding the audit specifically it's probably going to be directed to the County
Auditor. And then perhaps if it's looking to the future and how we might be
enacting them, maybe we can hear from Chief Todd. So opening it up at this time
to my colleagues, any questions? Council Member, Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Benner, for being here. And
all of the members of our Fire Department, thanks for making the time for this.
And definitely appreciate you for inviting the Auditor in, and having this deep
dive in your processes. I wanted to start by asking the accreditation the CFAI
(Commission on Fire Accreditation International), what all does that get us, in
terms of benefit to the Fire Department and the County, having that accreditation?
I mean 75 in the entire world, seems a very difficult accreditation to achieve.
Page 4
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
MR. BENNER: Yeah. So first of all that's a little misleading, because what
they're saying is with the ISO 1 (International Standards Organization) rating
which is an insurance rating. So were probably not likely that the department is
going to be able achieve ISO 1 rating, just given the long travel times that they
have to make it on scene. That doesn't mean that they can't achieve accreditation.
The point of accreditation really is, that the department first gets to standup
current systems and processes. And then they need to be able to demonstrate that
they can keep those things current, in order to move through candidacy.
So it's about a three to five year process, but it's going to demonstrate that they
can get themselves up to where they need to be. And then they will keep
themselves up to where they need to be, which is a major obstacle that they dealt
with a lot in the past. The policy and procedures manual that was given to me,
had management staff that was present in 1994. So we have a system right now
that would not necessarily educate somebody who's just onboarding with the Fire
Department, of what the current practices are. I asked the firefighter up at
Kaumana if they had a book and they said yeah, it's where it's been since the day
they gave it to me in my locker.
So by comparison, you know, our Police Department is accredited. And they use
systems that do document version control, and they've changed something that
will push that new information out to their employees. They're able to set those
pushes, based on user roles. So these are really the best practices, and the type of
things that would come along with accreditation. The Department is going to
move beyond just how do I stand this up minimally, to how do I stand this up with
excellence? And I think that's the type of change that we should all be
encouraging.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for that, and I appreciate the clarification around the
ISO 1. Is there any funding benefit like does it make as more likely to be eligible
for certain grants, or things like that to have this accreditation?
MR. BENNER: I've heard that, but I don't have evidence to support that. I've
not researched evidence to find out if there's grant opportunities being left on the
table, as a result of being a non- versus accredited agency. Perhaps the Chief will
be able to speak to that.
MS. KIMBALL: Chief Todd, do you have any info on that?
CHIEF TODD: To my knowledge the CFAI accreditation does not confer any
benefits, other than to know that your department is a professionally accredited
department comparable to the best Fire Departments in the nation. It's basically,
it's the gold star sticker that you get for doing an amazing job in school sort of
speak.
Page 5
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
MS. KIMBALL: And I think that is absolutely a perfectly reasonable and
desirable goal. I just wanted to kind of get the whole picture of this. There's a lot
to do, and I'm going to actually—you talked to us at budget hearings, Chief Todd,
but just ask you to maybe explain your financial wish list with achieving some of
these items. And what your priorities are, looking at what some of the
recommendations are from the audit?
CHIEF TODD: So right off the bat, I'm a big proponent for being on credited
department. I think it shows that the department, the community, and the
government is committed to trying to produce the best services for the public. In
part of that to achieve it least on our side, my goal coming into the Fire Chief
position, was to spend the first year really analyzing taking a look of what was
going on within the department, to trying to figure out everything at that point
start putting together the plan.
This has actually worked out pretty well with the audit, because one of things
that's coming out of the audit is the recommendation for a Master Plan. And also
some recommendations on how we can go about doing that. So in the audit they
recommend approximately just short of $150,000, be dedicated towards maybe
hiring someone to come in and help us with that planning process. And the goal
in my view would be, you know, taking the first year of my Chief position to
really analyze the department, take a year to really plan for the future and
determine where we want as a government.
The County Council, Mayor, as well as the Fire Department, where do we want
the Fire Department to go? What are we trying to achieve? And over the next
10 years, what do we need to commit to make it happen? And through that
planning process we can get our roadmap forward, in terms of what kind of
services we are going to try and achieve, and what kind of commitment that's
going to take in terms of funding, and whether or not we want to commit to that.
So basically this comes back to that master planning and the Standards of Cover.
Honolulu has these documents if you guys are interested, I have copies of their
Standards of Cover document and strategic plans. And I would like to put those
forward, but I can be honest with you right now, without the funding and probably
a position initially dedicated towards managing that, it would be a stretch in terms
of timeframe to when I would be able to achieve it.
Right now the Police Department does do accreditation, but they have four
positions that are full time that only work on their accreditation to maintain their
accreditation process. I think it's a worthwhile thing to do, but we're looking
probably at least initially of $140,000, $150,000 to do the planning process. And
additional for a position to do the management at the least one position initially,
Program Manager Position, I would assume.
Page 6
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
MS. KIMBALL: And if I'm remembering correctly, and correct me if I'm wrong.
Neither of those things, were in included for you folks in the March budget.
CHIEF TODD: So those were not included in our supplemental request. While
we've been interested in going towards accreditation and what not, it was not
quite as immediate term planning when we were looking at things. Our first goal
to try and get our policies and procedures up to date, because we didn't think we
had the resources within our department to dedicate anyone towards that planning
process. The interesting recommendations that have come out of the audit have
been that there are external parties that actually are able to come in and help us
with the planning, which we were not aware of, and so that intentionally changes
that horizon of implementation.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay. So your priorities then are actually to begin with
working on the policies and procedures, and then move on to the planning?
CHIEF TODD: So right now my plan is always been to get our policies and
procedures updated, and that's already being worked and has been for last year or
so. And we're making progress on that, but that will not start us on the road down
towards master plans or strategic plans or things like that. In terms of where we
want to take the department at. I really just don't have the staffing or the funding,
to really dedicate to that effort at the moment. We'll probably have a short-term
strategic plan. But if we're looking to go towards accreditation, I don't have a
current supplemental request in for it. But that would be one of the things we
need to work toward, would be funding to start a strategic plan. Our master
planning process, and maybe create a position to work with accreditation program
management.
MS. KIMBALL: Great. Thank you very much. You sound like maybe you're
sick, so I hope you feel better soon if you are. I'm assuming that's why you're
not here in person. Thank you, Chief Todd. And thank you to the rest of the
members of the department. Mr. Benner, for being here today. I yield, Chair.
CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz, go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Auditor Benner, for the
presentation and also for taking your team out to visit all of the stations and talk
story with folks. As you were going through the high-level presentation, I saw a
picture of my partner. He's with the execration device, and right next to him is
Travis Santiago, he's Captain at the Haihai Station. He's there with Maxinne. So
appreciate the due diligence that you took to investigate every nook and cranny of
the operations, and come up with this very comprehensive report.
You know, I fully support things that are being elevated here, but it all comes
down to our financial picture. I do think that the O and M (Operations and
Maintenance) from the Fire Department is razor thin, and we need to find ways to
Page 7
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
increase that for sure. I wanted to spend a little bit of time, you know, maybe you
can weigh in but certainly want to hear from Chief Todd, about what are some
short-term ways in which we can start tracking the vehicles and the condition of
facilities?
My partner used to work at Central, I think we all heard during budget time just
the need to ensure that the facilities our firefighters are operating in are safe and
secure. And so just wondering if there are platforms, software tools, where we
can be tracking the condition of these facilities, and also coming up with
preventative and maintenance plan, so that we're budgeting for that accordingly.
MR. BENNER: I don't want to avoid the question, but because it may represent a
threat to our connectivity if we were to be an architect of an IT or software
structure that we would in the future have to then audit. I can't really make a
specific recommendation as to a program that we would rely on.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, I appreciate that. Fire One?
CHIEF TODD: Alright. So currently all the repair requests that are coming in
from the department are funneled through our Fire Auxiliary Services Office,
which is currently run by our Battalion Chief, Vern Hara. Generally speaking
while everything runs through him and he has access to everything, it's not kept
in any particular electronic database system where we can figure stuff out. Some
of it's just, you know, we send the paperwork in to DPW (Department of Public
Works) they go out and fix it, and the guys at the station are aware that the issue
was fixed, but our fossil is not kept in that loop.
And so there's definitely some communication issues, and potentially a
technological solution could be implemented. I'll be honest, one of my
supplementals is to ask for a clerk that would be working basically for Chief
Hara. And one of the reason was that it's not just that he's cracking all of our
repairs, he's also in charge of all our procurement, warehouse distribution,
maintenance, fleet facilities. He deals with our mechanics, he also takes care of
our dispatch. That was my old position, it is a little bit daunting in terms of the
work load. And a clerk would probably be enough if we were to create a clerk for
his position, enough to allow us to start all the tracking.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you, Chief. I can get on board with that, and
it sounds like work is happening but it's happening in silos. And so this is, I think
where the work you were talking about with the policies and procedures would be
really helpful. So that we can kind of close the loop and ensure that
communication is happening between Public Works and your fossil, making sure
that the work gets done but also communicated that it has happen. So thank you
for that.
Page 8
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
What about the vehicles? I mean want to make sure that all the apparatus are in
prime working condition. That your mechanics have all the financial resources
they need in order to kind of fix vehicles, so that our firefighters are able to get to
their destination without any issues.
CHIEF TODD: So possibly a crazy suggestion. I think the same clerk could
probably help, because the mechanics also fall under Battalion Chief Vern Hara.
And so the discussion we had was, the Mayor did approve like three clerks for us.
And we had assigned them, but one of the clerks that didn't get approved was the
one that would have dealt with the mechanic's, and the other clerk was the one
that was planned for like dispatch and the warehouse.
But potentially those other two clerk positions we'd asked for, could just be
consolidated to one for a cheaper solution. And they could just spend some time
working the warehouse and the repair requests, and some of the time working in
the mechanic shop, tracking all of the vehicles that are coming in and all the
repairs are getting done. One of the issues between us and say DPW and their
motor pool area, is that they do have support staff working with their mechanics
that are able to take in all the mechanic work orders and note down everything
into the electronic system to track everything, which our mechanics don't have.
Pretty much they are great at fixing things, but they're not the most computer
savvy of people. I didn't hire them because they were good at computers, I hired
them because they were good at fixing fire trucks. And so if they were to get
some support staff that would probably make it go a long direction. So
potentially those recommendations could both be solved with one Clerk III, and if
you guys were super generous, maybe two. But we'll take one, and that would
probably solve a lot of the issues.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Take it easy Chief, I think we can start at one. Okay, so in
addition to the clerk the personnel position, what kind of software are you folks
running right now to kind of process work orders for maintenance of vehicles?
CHIEF TODD: So I'll be honest, when I've been in the position to deal with the
repairs on facilities, I've been doing everything out of .pdf forms with java
scripting that I wrote myself. This ran into issues with DPW. And I hesitated to
implement any software on that end for the repair side, because DPW was the one
that ideally needed to be tracking. And me implementing and paying for software
that they wouldn't use, seem to defeat the purpose. But I'll be re -looking at that.
There's some really interesting ticket systems that are low-cost, that allow our
personnel at the stations to put in a ticket for any issues for their stations. As for
the vehicles, we're actually looking at a new software solution currently. We've
been working with Finance for the last couple months, about changing out our
record management system. Some of the ones we are looking at would come with
vehicle tracking systems, another option is to switch back to MaintStar.
Page 9
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
So if we had a clerk position, one of the issues is in the previous years we've
spent money out of our budget to have software for tracking of the vehicles. We
were spending $4,000 out of our budget every year to tie into the system that
DPW was using, so that we could also use it. I just didn't have anyone dedicated,
that could basically fill out the reports and put it into the system. So there's a
variety of options there that are relatively low-cost, and can be absorbed in my
current budget without any need for additional funding. Mainly the solution here
initially would be just getting a clerk and someone we can basically say, "Hey this
is now your kuleana, go forth and conquer this issue."
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I like the sound of that, I hope you continue to explore it.
Auditor Benner, final question. You know, I'm looking through just high level
list of recommendations here. I didn't see anything about equipment, is that
housed under a particular section? I'm thinking about like SCBA (Self Contained
Breathing Apparatus) compressors and other things, the tools that our firefighters
need when they're on scene. Where you able to kind of investigate, and come to
some sort of conclusion on that?
MR. BENNER: You know, we asked them is there's anything missing from the
truck, and what we heard was—well first of all I would say that the firefighters
were very grateful to have their positions in the first place. And they're not keen
on opening up to our function, which is understandable. But what they basically
had said was that everything we need is on the truck, and I understand that doesn't
match up to the pressure that Administration feels in providing those things for
them.
I understand that the Chief has conveyed that should one of those things fail,
there's not a guaranteed replacement sitting in the warehouse for that. And those
are things he wants to increase. But as far as the day to day, is there anything
missing from the truck? The only thing we were hearing, were some of the
nozzles aren't as nice as what we'd like to work with. There are more efficient
ways to deliver water in higher volume, more ergonomic, those types of things.
But they were rather small, so we didn't make issue of that.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. I mean because what kind of comes to mind, is one
of the comments that I had highlighted here. And I think just naturally, you
know, here within our community folks don't want to make waves, and they will
just find ways to make due. How we have a very incredibly resourceful County
Department. But folks are not reporting, because only the easy items get fixed.
MR. BENNER: Oh, facilities, yeah?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Oh, the station companies that they're saying at the station
facilities.
Page 10
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
MR. BENNER: Yeah. So what they basically said is that they call on DPW to
come in and fix something, if there able to fix a toilet handle or snake a drain or
something like that they're happy to do it. But something that's going to require
the next level repair, a lot of times they will survey that and they'll never see them
again on it. So there's a lot of issues that they're well aware of in the station,
things that come and go from time to time. A lot of things that they're taking on
themselves, fixing themselves. And just not reporting it, because they don't
expect that would get fixed otherwise.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Thank you for those clarifications, I appreciate it.
And thank you again, for taking the time to pull this report together. Chief Todd,
I hope you feel better soon, I'm not used to seeing you this way. You're usually
the energizer bunny, so get some rest and take your Vitamin C. Great to see you.
Thank you, Chair, I yield.
CHR. INABA: Mahalo. Council Member Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Thanks, Chair. Very comprehensive. But what I'm hearing is
kind of general theme that we need a Master Plan going forward, which comes
back to funding and making sure we get that done. Lots of things that we need to
work on, and obviously it's not going to happen overnight. But as you made the
comment that you can't really pick anything one out, or generally make one
recommendation on how to go. But we need to have a comprehensive of where
we need to go.
MR. BENNER: I totally agree with that. And this strategic plan I believe that
was developed previously, maybe omitted people that should have been at the
table or at least include them enough. And so it became an issue of the
department having to ask for everything that had developed in its own plan, where
as if those entities were there from the get go. And then the development phases
of those things, and there would be mutual expectation that those things will be
delivered according to the agreed timeline. I think they'll experience a lot more
success.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay. For me this audit is kind of stake in the sand right now,
so we know where we need to focus. And the way I see that we need to focus and
again, this is what the conversation is about, would be articulated by that Master
Plan, which will then be figured out—we as body, have to figure out how to find
funding for the department to get us through that stage. That's the tough one.
And we've had this conversation Chief, as far as resources. It's easy to fix things
quickly with a very large check book, but we don't have that.
And so we have to be able to strategically plan that going forward. So I like what
I'm reading in the audit, meaning that articulates where we better figure out how
we need to go. And so that's the next step, is we got to articulate that. We have
to come to the table with the support for the department, so they can actually start
Page 11
PRPSC-28
April 19, 2022
planning that. So I appreciate this, thank you very much it articulates it well.
Thanks, I yield.
MR. BENNER: Thank you, Council Member.
CHR. INABA: Going over to Hilo, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, are there any
questions or comments?
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Not, not at this time, I may have later.
Thank you.
CHR. INABA: Okay, back here to Kona. Okay, well my turn then. Thank you,
Auditor Benner, for this comprehensive document. It does help us, I don't know
if you're allowed to say, but at some point the intention is that we follow-up with
the recommendations that have been made in this initial report. Is that correct?
MR. BENNER: Yeah, this is going to be a bit difficult on our part, because we
normally would follow-up within two years. And some of the items listed here
cast over a longer time period. So if he had accreditation can be three to five
years. So we want to set an early expectation for this body that would we
probably find them as not implemented, when we did the follow-up. And chart
the progress at that time.
CHR. INABA: Thank you. And then any shape or form are you able to articulate
maybe of the recommendations provided, which are perhaps the most easily
achievable in a two-year span. If we were to go about the normal process, we
usually do for circling back.
MR. BENNER: If this body approved funding for it, the Master Plan would be
outsourced and can be created in as little as six months. Including all of the
supplementary documents, like the strategic plans, Standards of Cover, those
things can be created within six months. I had the opportunity to speak with the
Deputy Chief Ed Dunbar from Pasco, Washington. They're vastly different size
community, about 27,000 people.
They do a one-to-one five-year Master Plan. I called them to ask him about their
2016 plan, he said, well which plan are you calling about? I said I thought there
was only one. He said, "Well we're in contract for another." I said how was it?
He said, "It was amazing, we got just about everything that we wanted out of that
first Master Plan. And the thing that's changed for us since, is we over the next
five to seven years we're experiencing a doubling of our population. And so this
new Master Plan is going to be very capital intense, we'll have to stand up four to
six new stations. So that's what we're trying to achieve now." And so that's just
testimonial for what it could do for us.
CHR. INABA: Thank you. Any thoughts on that, Chief Todd?
Page 12
PRPSC-28 April 19, 2022
CHIEF TODD: Alright. So coming out of the audit, if there were a couple things
I would heavily advocate for. One would be one additional clerk for each
position, if we could somehow spend the funding for that. And then the other
would be to fund that master planning process, and then possibly an Accreditation
Program Manager position. If we could get just that, I could probably accomplish
a huge chunk of the recommendations over the next two years in the audit. Just
with getting that taken care of. Doesn't mean I won't come back next year and
ask for some additional funding for other things. But definitely that would be a
huge boom, to making progress towards achieving some great things.
CHR. INABA: Okay. We'll I think if the request doesn't come forth, then
there's not really anything this body can do. So based on this report, I'm hoping
that we might see something of that sort, (inaudible) that this body might be able
to support. With that, alright any other questions or comments, discussion on this
item?
Okay, well mahalo to you both. Mahalo to our Chiefs who are here in Kona
chambers today. There's a motion on the floor to close file on Communication
733, all those in favor, please say "aye."
Vote on Comm. 733: The motion to close file on Comm. 733 was carried
Filed by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Inaba — 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Member Chung — 1.
Excused: None.
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 4:00 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn
MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,
Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Inaba — 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Member Chung — 1.
Excused: None.
Page 13
PRPSC-28
CHR. INABA: This meeting is adjourned at 4:00 p.m. Mahalo nui.
Approved:
Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair
Parks and Recreation and Public Safety Committee
HI/rk
S/S /,,2 a
(Date)
April 19, 2022
Page 14