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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOREDC 2022/10/19 2020-2022 Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, and Economic Development 34th Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawai i October 19, 2022 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations, Relations, ORDER: and Economic Development was called to order at 9:02 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member (came in later) 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. KIMBALL: Thank you very much. With that, we will proceed to the Order of Business of the day. And I'd like to request that we start with Communication 1032, please? Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following item was taken out of order: GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 1032: NOMINATION OF RABBI RACHEL SHORT TO THE BOARD OF ETHICS From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated September 26, 2022, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: November 9, 2022 (Section 13-4(k), Hawaii County Charter) Vote on Comm. 1032: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) appointment of Rabbi Rachel Short to the Board of Ethics. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung— 1. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. CHR. KIMBALL: Please let the record reflect that at this time I will be yielding the Chair over to Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Kierkiewicz, here's the gavel. Relinquish Chair: At this time, the Chair relinquished the chair to Vice Chair Kierkiewicz. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Let the record reflect that I am assuming the Chairmanship of this Committee at 9:07 a.m. Return to Order The Acting Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: Page 2 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 Comm. 986.2: PROVIDES THE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DATA INDICATORS TO REPORT ON OUTCOME MEASURES OUTLINED IN THE STRATEGIC ROADMAP FOR HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS From Council Members Susan L. K. Lee Loy and Heather L. Kimball, dated October 3, 2022. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to close file on Comm. 986.2. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. So, I want to start with a little bit of history. If you folks recall, when we originally had the discussion about using some of the tax on the higher-income residential properties to fund a homelessness effort to address the problem to solve homelessness in five years, we had a robust discussion about how we would know if the program was successful, how we might have oversight and accountability during the duration of those five years, because the initial resolution was apparently moot on that. It didn't have a lot, it just put the tax appropriation forward. We, Council Member Lee Loy and I at the time, suggested that we would follow-up with a resolution that would describe some of those measures that we might consider using. We then had a conversation with the Office of Housing and they suggested that we roll back and propose a resolution that required them to put forth this strategic roadmap. And so, that was presented in September. We got the report from them as well as the presentation. I wasn't present there, but I have watched the video and I did rate the coverage afterwards. It seems like they shared my feelings that maybe the Strategic Roadmap was not as detailed as we would might want. So, that's a little bit of the background. The attached communication has a list of metrics that Council Member Lee Loy's office and mine put together, kind of a sounding board, a list of ideas of what would be useful for us to see as Council Members that have a fiduciary responsibility to insure that taxpayer dollars are being funded and used appropriately. So hopefully, the discussion can continue today amongst ourselves about these various metrics and what may and may not be useful. What I would say is that unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, both Susan Kunz and Sharon Hirota are off island today and not able to attend. In fact, I think they're physically in the air right not, so, we won't be able to have that conversation with them. However, I think it would be useful for us to look through the metrics that Council Member Lee Loy and I put forward to see if there's concurrence that these are the kinds of things that we want to see from them to know where we are as a baseline, where we are starting, and then how we are progressing as we go through these five Page 3 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 years to just ensure that we can tell the community that we are spending this money well; that there has been accountability in the appropriate level of oversight. I will let the Office of Housing go into more detail when they are able to be here to present this to us. Some of these metrics, they have easily available to them. Some of them are actually a little bit more challenging for them to get, and I will acknowledge that I am not an expert on the houselessness issue. They are, and so maybe we need to have—some of these maybe we don't need to evaluate the decisions, others, I think we certainly do. One of the things that I communicated to the Office of Housing was that our responsibility is different than, for example, HUD (State Department of Housing and Urban Development). So they have certain metrics that they are required to report to HUD for funding. Those metrics may not be the same metrics that we need as a body to ensure that we have appropriate oversight of this funding. So with that, I will yield for discussion. I hope you all had a chance to review the metrics that we're proposing so we can discuss that a little bit today, and then share that with the Office of Housing when they're available to have the conversation with us at the next Committee hearing. Thank you. I yield. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. As my colleague Ms. Kimball mentioned, I think she covered it really, really nicely. When Council Member Kimball and I were developing the resolution, this actually was what I floated to the Office of Housing. We went back and forth, and allowing them the opportunity to kind of get their arms around a strategic roadmap. We agreed that I would pull this back and kind of let them run with their idea. At that time, they had already engaged with a consultant for that strategic roadmap. As Ms. Kimball discussed and we were all here, I think we were all wanting more information. And so, that's how this list came back up. As Ms. Kimball mentioned, a lot of this information is already available to them. I think there's just two areas that may be a little challenging just because it'll require some coordination with another agency, specifically, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) and their list. But I think, as Ms. Kimball mentioned, this is a great opportunity for us to really signal to the Office of Housing what we're looking for, how they can share that information with us, and on an annual basis, every November, report back to us if they're moving the needle in these areas and how they're utilizing that funding. So, look forward to everyone's feedback. Thank you, Chair. Page 4 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Opening it up to my colleagues for discussion. Any questions or comments on the data provided? Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, thank you guys for bringing forth this very detailed list. I think one of the areas of concerns that came up for me and some other folks was that, we want to make sure that no more money gets spent fielding any more projects or consultants to gather data. The data is there, right? I mean, there are already nationally thousands of organizations tracking this data. And so, but having it—what my perception is from what you're explaining is, this is asking for it to be essentially code into a document to be brought to us that could be a living document that is a reflection of the success of the programs that the money is being allocated to or not. Correct? And ideally, it will be to that success. You know, as we—something that really jumps out here to me, registration data showing treatment programs and long-term care facilities needed: Beds needed for mental health; Beds needed for substance abuse and recovery; Beds needed for long-term elder care. And those are three integral parts of solving this issue that aren't necessarily directly related to somebody that's chosen a life of houselessness or vagrancy on our streets. These are people with needs for very specific wraparound services. Then I see here in Number 5, you have identified the capacity to provide services within the wraparound framework. My hope here is that, you know, we are not seeing the successes that we'd like to see with the Housing First Model, because there is no wraparound services. There are no wraparound services connected to that. So we may have facilities set up based on a Housing First Model, but it stops there. And so,the success alludes us. So, I really appreciate this being identified. My greatest hope is that funding is directly allocated to these areas and service providers who can fill in these pukas and bridge the gap from where we are now and where we need to get to, because no amount of money is going to cure our homeless challenges unless it's spent with wisdom and decisiveness and programs and wraparound services that will work, similar to, you know, the cancer industry. No amount of raising funds to cure cancer is going to really help unless we are looking at what's causing it and where the gaps are. So,thank you for bringing this forward. You know, I am hopeful that it's not just another spreadsheet, that we have actionable steps to be taken in utilizing this funding in the best way forward to actually finding some solutions. So with that I yield. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Mr. Inaba. Page 5 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 MR. INABA: Thank you. So looking at the first page where—our initial reporting period is set to be when? The first reporting period, what does that mean? MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, if I may respond. At the very end of this document, it's due November 1st, 2022, and then annually thereafter. And strategically, we picked that date—and I really want to mahalo my staff too, because they have been phenomenal at putting this framework and outline together for us because we wanted to step into that budget cycle with the data and the information at hand. So when they were coming to us during our budget cycle, we could compare how they were taking the money and programing it into their department based on this framework. I hope that answers your question, Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Yeah, and Number 2, it says, "related to the outcome measures stated in the PLAN." What is the plan referring to? MS. LEE LOY: I'm sorry, Number ? MR. INABA: Measure Number 2 on the last page. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Ms. Lee Loy, Ms. Kimball, do you have an answer for Mr. Inaba? MS. LEE LOY: I do. So they went down the path of a strategic roadmap. This plan, when it comes to us, a plan, it's actually just the data. So we wanted them to provide us this baseline first and then build the plan based on the data, and let the data drive where we're moving the money, let the data drive where the programs are going, and that becomes how the funding is spent. MR. INABA: So we have the roadmap that they provided, and based on the data that they are going to compile according to what's in this communication, they would then create a plan. Okay. MS. LEE LOY: Yes. MR. INABA: And has the Housing Office okayed or bought into the idea of creating a new plan, if you will, rather than acting on the roadmap itself? ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Ms. Kimball? MS. KIMBALL: The short answer to that is, no. And I will say, this is a little bit — I think what we should probably do today is close this file and then issue another communication for the next Committee meeting so that—for them to speak too. Because this was originally tied to the original resolution. So one, we're going to have to change that date because November 1st is going to be before they meet with Page 6 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 us next. And then the plan we're referring to is actually a plan that was identified within the original resolution. So thanks for catching that. You know, that was our request with the original resolution. The ask for them was to present the strategic roadmap. So you know, I think there's still room for conversation there about how this looks mechanically from their end. But you know, the previous points from Council Member Villegas and Council Member Lee Loy, we're really looking to establish a baseline around some of these things so that we can ensure that that strategic plan is appropriately oriented. And if you recall from the strategic plan, they did have performance measures, but they were not data measures they were qualitative measures. And we need some quantitative measures to be able to truly evaluate how well the program is working. Thank you, Chair. I yield. MR. INABA: Perfect. Thank you, Council Member Kimball. And I think I would just end by mahaloing both of you and the staff for compiling this list, because to me it's, we want data, but for sure, we want the same data later, right? And that's what this list is calling for. And perhaps just to end, there's been comments submitted to the Council about the homeless and things going on in Housing. So if people do have things to say or add to this list, I'd recommend that they reach out to the Council Members who are working on it. Thank you. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Ms. Kimball and Ms. Lee Loy for putting this comprehensive list together. It really makes sense. I'm just—and thank you for saying that, because November I", I had some issues with that being whether it was possible to even come up with something by November 1st it's two weeks from now. And at that point in time, Housing would have a chance to weigh in, right? I wish they were here today, because of the deadlines that Ms. Lee Loy has been speaking about relating to budget. But I think along the lines of what Council Member Villegas was speaking to on that section of the mental health and substance abuse, I think that's in my mind a priority, and funding for those kinds of issues to me will start to address some of the homelessness issues that everybody's talking about. So other than that, I thank you for this list and the fact that November—do you know what the other deadline would be as opposed to November 1st, that you folks will be establishing when they come back? The assessment? ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Ms. Lee Loy. Page 7 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 MS. LEE LOY: The Strategic Roadmap or this one? MS. DAVID: Your annual assessment and the status that's now noted as November I". Do you know when you anticipate that deadline to be now? MS. LEE LOY: I don't have it, but I wouldn't want to push it any further. And when Housing is available, I think you guys are going to hear a lot of this information is already available to them. That's how we get our HUD funding. That's how we get our CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) monies. It's all there. I stand firm on the most challenging one would be the DHHL numbers, because that will be real interesting, because I don't even know if that department has their arms around the waitlist, and how many are homeless that could actually be in that housing. And the interesting one that I had my staff slide in, in hopes to have EPIC (Electronic Processing and Information Center) really up and running, is the number of new construction and building permits that actually generate the Housing for our homeless, right? But also, I think that number will become interesting for us when we talk about our affordable housing units and the numbers that were supposed to be built when we're doing change of zone applications, and they're promising affordable housing. This really will become a nexus to measure not only the money, but a whole bunch of other things that is so complex around our housing and housing issues, MS. DAVID: Okay, thank you for that and that explanation. Look forward to having Housing before us. And I yield. Mahalo. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. David. Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder I can't see if your light is on, but did you have any questions or comments? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I did. Thank you, Chair. I just put my light on, so, appreciate that. I just want to mention, we received a 14-page—all the Council Members received a 14-page anonymous letter. What I really got from that letter,though, is that we need to be very clear with what we're asking for from Office of Housing. And I would caution that we should not be overbearing. We set aside the funding to the Office of Housing and Community Development to ensure that we can address issues like homelessness and housing, but in my eyes, we can go and start to dabble in what they're going to do with that money. At the same time when we set aside the funding, we usually fund an object or a program or an idea, and we let the department take care of it from there. And so, Page 8 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 I want to make sure that we're not getting too deep into the details and that we've done our job as far as the funding. Yes, we need to check up on it and make sure they're doing what is in alignment with what the County needs, but that really is their kuleana. And I appreciated that letter that we received because it outlined that. And so, I just wanted to mention that. I don't know who wrote it, but I just wanted to mention that we did receive, you know, that correspondence from someone in our community who was concerned that we wereI think just to paraphrase, you know, overstepping what our role is and not providing clear details. So today, it's nice to see that we're putting some very clear points that we want to see addressed, but also I do feel that we need to allow the Office of Housing to do their kuleana here and fulfill their obligation that we've set aside the funding for. So that's my two cents. Thank you for letting me weigh in. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Sure. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, I think that's incredibly gracious of you to express gratitude for the letter and for the perspective and the opportunity to glean from what was otherwise, not the nicest letter. Nor do I personally appreciate anonymous letters, because it eliminates the opportunity for communication, and reconnection, and true accountability. It is one of our challenges as Council Members, is it's easy to be charged with fixing something that actually isn't in our sphere of responsibility. So it's one of the dynamics of this job that can be incredibly frustrating, humbling, and it's part of the relationship between the Legislative and the Administrative branch. So, to whomever sent that letter, it is one of the dichotomies, and the ironies, and the challenges of what we try to do here, is work to hold Administration accountable to provide the resources necessary in order to accomplish the goals for our community and provide the services necessary. And so, it's a real dance. Anonymous letters aren't as helpful as those with signatures. But I just ask for the continued understanding and continued education process by ourselves. I mean, I myself am learning daily in this role, and with our constituents, what the wheel house is, and the kuleana for each of us in our capacities, whether or not it's serving on the County Council or working within the Administration within the divisions who are directly tasked to manage these resources and provide the outcomes that have been outlined either in legislative process or directly by the Mayor, the Administrative Branch. So with that I yield. Page 9 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Anyone else? Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. And thank you for the conversation around this everyone. I certainly agree that we don't want to be engaged in over-reach or telling departments or offices how to do their job. However, I do think it is very much within our purview to ensure that programs that we fund, that we create our meeting the objectives of that funding. And we are ultimately accountable to the taxpayers for the use and oversight of the funds that we acquire through the County. I will let the Office of Housing go into this in detail when they're here, but they did provide me with a preliminary spreadsheet based on all of the items that we've asked for of what they already have access to. And by and large again, they do have access to most of these data points already. Some of the things that they don't have are like the number of youth that will age out of foster care; individuals that are reintegrating from incarceration. So you know, we may have to look to other agencies for those numbers. And maybe that's something we don't task them with, but we facilitate in some way. There's other information that is available through census data. And if you look at all the items in I(A)(ii)(3), all of this information coming from the Homeless Management Information System they have, they just don't have the current rental numbers, and that maybe is something we need to work with the real estate market,the real estate industry to provide for us. You know, I think we are all very, very interested in the wraparound services and the capacity to deliver those, particularly around mental health services. And that is a large gap in the information that we have and that they are able to provide. So you know, everything in Number 5 here under the Capacity to provide services within the wraparound framework there, all of that is stuff that we're going to dig up somewhere. And you know, so this is a team effort, so the kind of thing that we really have to work with multiple agencies. But I'll just make one last point about those, and in particular, is you know, some of these things we may need to seek help from other departments, you know, other levels of government, federal, state; state in particular when it comes to mental health. And having these metrics will be very useful for us in terms of making the argument to those other agencies and other levels of government. So you know, in response to one of your comments, Council Member Villegas, I hope this is a giant spreadsheet because I love those. And we can analyze that Page 10 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 data once we have it in that format. So you know, I think that over the next couple of weeks before we hear from Housing again, folks can look through this and say, you know, we don't really need that in my opinion. Or if we've missed anything, please reach out to either Council Member Lee Loy's office or mine and we'll tweak this a little bit. I want to actually just, in conclusion here, ask for advice from the Clerk. Given that we have missed the deadline to put a new communication on the next agenda, should we actually postpone this to the first Committee meeting in November? In the meantime, Council Member Lee Loy and I can make some edits to the communication. I don't know if we amend communications or not but what would you recommend? MR. HENRICKS: That's one option. The Chair could extend or breach the deadline, prefer to start anew, or you could postpone this and then you could make an addendum to this communication; add on supplements, if you will. And if they—we could include them on the next agenda if we receive them within time before posting or they could just be distributed prior to the meetings. So both ways work. MS. KIMBALL: Okay, I'm going to make a motion that we postpone this item to, if anybody has the calendar handy ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Just one second. I want to say a few things before you make that motion. And I want to also acknowledge that Council Member Richards has joined us and I do want to invite him to share any mana`o he might have on this discussion. It's related to data indicators for housing and homelessness. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you. And I read through this and I fully appreciate that. I just want to add that I'm sorry I missed most of the conversation. But these are the metrics that we're talking about wanting. And this group,this Council, we've discussed about budgeting for outcome. We've also talked about, how do you measure something? So, this is a nice swing at getting that done. So to at least have some metric and especially the first year it was kind of like GIA (Grant-In-Aid). We were talking about that. The first year the data collected didn't mean a lot but it was the first stake in the sand. And this is the stake in the sand. We can then start measuring back again. So I like it, I fully support it. I look forward to the data coming out of it. Thanks Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Anyone else? Alright. Thank you ladies, for putting this really robust list of indicators together. I see it as a really great starting point that will help to drive our policies in these arenas, but also as Page 11 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 you pointed out Ms. Kimball and Ms. Lee Loy, help us to make the best sort of fiscal decisions going forward. There's been a lot of investments that we've been making as a body in homelessness and housing, and we want to make sure that we're getting a solid return on our investment, and that the community can see that, hey, there's actually things that are being implemented by community partners by the County that's really addressing these longstanding challenges. I just want to make sure that we're all on the same page because there's the Housing Production Fund, there' s the homeless money, and there's a lot of different plans that we have asked Housing to develop. Two years ago, I had introduced a resolution calling for a strategic housing roadmap. They have engaged Keyser Marston to pull that together, and we should be getting a report sometime this November. That's one piece. We just received a presentation last month from one of their consultants related to the Homeless funding, and now they are in the throes of crafting rules related to the Housing Production Program. Just want to wrap my head around, are these data indicators meant to support those different pots of funding that we have appropriated? MS. LEE LOY: Initially, this is just for the $9 million driven by, I think it was Bill 101. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Council Member Chung's bill. MS. LEE LOY: Council Member Chung's bill, yes. And that was specifically because that particular piece of legislation didn't have all of that information. It was kind of very flexible funds, and this was the opportunity for us to measure those funds. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: But I also do see that some of the data indicators here could help support just understanding where we are with meeting our housing inventory goals for the County. MS. LEE LOY: So insightful, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Absolutely, if we're going to make them collect data, I think we should use it as a tool on how we make good decisions. Absolutely, I mean I'm swinging for the fence on this. We're putting a lot of money, as you mentioned into those areas and we need to see the return on investment. Now,there's a sunset clause on the $9 million, or that piece of legislation that Mr. Chung put forward, and I know I will not be on this dais when that decision comes up because it's five years from now. And so I want to equip any future Page 12 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 Council with this information so they can make that business decision on whether to continue that funding or not. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you for those details. Just wondering, have you guys taken a look at the Homelessness and Housing Data Clearing House? Okay. I mean I just—Council Member Kimball's saying, yes. I think it is a really wonderful dashboard. A lot of the numbers are Oahu and the neighbor islands. So I'd like to find a way for us to be able to pull out some of our County data, but I think it's worth having the information presented in that manner as well. I love getting these reports, they're fun to read, but I also think something very visual that's accessible by anyone at any time is also really beneficial to just tracking how we're doing. Okay. Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: If I can briefly respond to that. Yes, the dashboard is managed by a company that has a contract statewide to collect and present that information. And you know, walking through some of these numbers with Office of Housing and looking at that dashboard, and the actual detailed reports that sit behind the dashboard,that's where a lot of the data sits that we're asking for. So, if we can just—what I've asked Sharon Hirota to do is actually go through those reports and point to where they are. We can actually automate pulling them out once we know which reports the different data points are presented in. But the dashboard actually does contain a lot of this information,just presented in a different way. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and to your point, Ms. Kierkiewicz, I think as Ms. Villegas mentioned, it supposed to be living, breathing, and we can evolve to a dashboard. But right now, every question we've asked of the Department of Housing, clearly we're not getting what we need. So we need to start somewhere. And then maybe in 2023, we get the information, we can ask them to move into more of infograph or more of that dashboard presentation to us. But for right now, this is where I want them to go get the information and what we're looking for. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, final question. So the expectation next meeting where Housing will be present,they will be presenting all of the information that's been requested in is communication? Just want to understand what we're asking of them. MS. KIMBALL: As I mentioned, you know, they provided me with this preliminary spreadsheet of what they can and cannot access easily. And so the intention for the next meeting would be to have that discussion with them around Page 13 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 any of the data points that are not easy for them to pull out and determine if we really need them. If we do, how do we get them without being over-burdensome to them? And they have other information for us with regard to timelines for the RFP's (Request for Proposal) that are going out around us as well. So, it'll be part presentation on their status as well as a continuing conversation around these metrics. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Thank you for the clarification. Really appreciate all the work that's gone into this. I think, you know, at the end of the day, good data helps to make better decisions and achieve better outcomes. So thank you ladies for your work on this. Mr. Richards, I see your light on. You have the floor. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. One thing,just so we're talking about the metrics in this. Under Section iii, Number 5, number of 201H applications filed by council district, I would ask that it might be expanded and that be the number of 201H applications filed, but then also maybe put something in there that have been pulled back. Because under 201H, this Council knows that the granting authority of any of the exceptions is this Council. I know of three 201H projects that have been retracted because we never saw them. And Housing held them up thinking that they were the granting authority or that they had to approve them or not. That's not how 201H works. And so, I think we are not getting some housing coming forth, because frankly, our developers kill fight. They're tired of trying to run their head up against the wall, and that's not how it's supposed to be. The granting authority for the exceptions is this Council. And so, I think the Council, having the information knowing that we have projects proposed and then retracted because the people wanting to build that housing just ran out of probably finances is part of it. So, I think that number, because I would like to see that number, and I bet it's a lot higher than people realize. We could have more housing, but the County has to grant that. I yield. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Mr. Richards. I'll just note, that when the Council adopted my Resolution 431-20, it required that Office of Housing submit to this body on a quarterly basis where we are with 201H applications. But to your point, we see what's going in, but we don't always see these applications coming to Planning Committee. And so, I think that is a good conversation that we need to be having with the Office of Housing. But the data is out there and it is sent to us on a quarterly basis which I appreciate. MR. RICHARDS: A quick response? ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, go ahead. Page 14 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 MR. RICHARDS: I have had this conversation with Housing, very pointedly. So, it'll be great if it comes out in a report for this Council, mostly for the public so they can see what's not coming through. I yield. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Ms. Lee Loy, did you have anything else you wanted to offer up? MS. LEE LOY: You covered it with that resolution. And to Mr. Richards' point, there's definitely more out there, and it would be really interesting to know why they were retracted and hear that explanation. That being said, though, Mr. Richards the way it's worded here, Number of 201H applications filed by Council Districts,just some wordsmithing; filed with the Office of Housing or just submitting. What kind of wordsmithing? MR. RICHARDS: Response, Chair? ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: As I understand under 201H, the Office of Housing is the authority that accepts the application; makes sure the application is complete, and then allows it to go forth with Fire, with Planning, with Public Works, etcetera. Any of the, I won't say exemptions, but the accommodations under the application are granted by the Council. But Housing has the authority over that application. All they're supposed to do is make sure that it is complete and then can go to the different authorities. And for whatever reason, I know of at least one that Housing didn't like very much, so they were not putting forth—it doesn't matter about their personal feelings about it. That's not their authority. And so, Housing is just supposed to accept the application and be sure it gets to the right different departments for whatever accommodations they're going to be looked at. And that's where we're getting stuck here. It gets stuck in Housing. I think this will help break some of that logger jam, so it gets to the appropriate floor,whatever determinations need to be made. Does that answer that? MS. LEE LOY: I'll go ahead and massage that one. That brought up an excellent point about the applications actually just being submitted to the Office of Housing. I'd like to see how many months it takes for it to get actually to the Council, because the clock starts ticking, and I'll go ahead and wordsmith that. MR. RICHARDS: But I'm happy to contribute to that. And this is a little bit springboarding off a conversation we had at Housing that we went to with David Arakawa and Stanford Carr about where things get stuck in this Housing path. We have to get things cleared up so things can move forward. I yield. Page 15 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. On the 201H, I think it's important to know more than just how many applications were filed. The actual details. A project could have 50 units, 100 units, 250. So understanding the scope as well as the location on the island, I think will help to make better decisions here on the Council, right? So expanding that one just a little bit more. Thank you. Yes, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I want to go back a little bit. When this ordinance presented by Mr. Chung was first brought forward the focus was homelessness. It was $9 million per fiscal year to address homelessness. And then there was an effort to adjust that to include the word, housing. And I gave my comments and my reservations on going to Housing. The two matters are related, I'll give you that, but the real concern was homelessness. I just want to put that reminder back in everyone's pocket. That we're deep, deep, deep in a conversation about housing, and yet, the original intention of this bill was to provide money for homelessness. So,just a gentle reminder that,that really was the focus of what I believe what Mr. Chung was getting at. Thank you. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I believe the language that this body adopted was, having the $9 million going to support homelessness and housing. And we all recognize the importance of the role that Housing plays in ensuring that homeless folks have that kind of stability. So thank you for that mana`o. Ms. Kimball, do you just want to wrap this up here and then make the motion to postpone this communication? MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, I think I'll just go ahead, and I think we've had a robust discussion. Thank you everyone for your contributions to this. And you know, the door's always open in the interim for your ideas if folks have them. I'd like to make the motion that we postpone this to the November 1st Committee meeting. Motion to Postpone: Ms. Kimball moved to postpone Comm. 986.2 to November 1, 2022. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. ACTING CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Any discussion on the postponement? Seeing none, all in favor please say "aye." Page 16 GOREDC-34 October 19,2022 Vote on Motion The motion to postpone Comm. 986.2 to November 1, 2022, to Postpone: was carried by the following voice vote: cApproved) Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kierkiewicz— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung— 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: That brings us to the end of the agenda. Can I get a motion to adjourn? ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 9:50 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy, Richards, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kierkiewicz— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Chung— 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: We are adjourned at 9:50 a.m. Mahalo. Approved: etPt . Heather L. Ki all, Chair ate) •vernment Operations, Relations, and Economic Development Committee HK/dt Page 17