Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN RAWEEMC 2022/11/15 2020-2022 Committee on Regenerative Agriculture,Water, Energy, And Environmental Management 25th Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii November 15, 2022 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Regenerative Agriculture, Water, ORDER: Energy and Environmental Management was called to order at 11:15 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Acting Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Absent& Excused: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Vice Chair Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Chair Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, 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: The following individuals registered to speak in support and comment on Bill 245 (Comm. 1104), and came forward when called by the Chair: Eileen O'Hara. Jon Olson. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Clerk, if we could go to our first Order or Business, Bill 245. RAWEEMC-25 November 15,2022 BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 245: INITIATES AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE VI, CHAPTER 10, SECTION 6-10.3 OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER (2020 EDITION), RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Replaces the requirement that the Director of Environmental Management have an engineering degree or a degree in a field related to engineering with the requirement that the Director have a bachelor's degree in engineering, public administration, environmental management, environmental policy, environmental economics or a related discipline, or a degree in law. Adds the requirement that at least two of the five years of required administrative or managerial experience must be in environmental management or public works, or a related field. Reference Comm. 1104 Intr. by: Mr. Chung Motion to Approve: Mr. Chung moved to recommend passage of Bill 245 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. David. ACTING CHR KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you. You know, this really speaks for itself. All I was trying to achieve with this measure was to expand the pool of potential candidates for directorship, as well as the other one that's going to come up later. And you know, everyone will accept things differently, but I think the more people that you can select from, the better. The two changes are, for the public's information, is that let's see, I expanded the list of people who could qualify from. Right now, it's a person with an engineering degree. You have to have an engineering degree or a degree in a related field, but I don't even know what a degree in a related field is, quite frankly. So now, it says, "Shall have a baccalaureate's degree in engineering,public administration." And you know, I kind of looked online at different jurisdictions, and a lot of them have this public administration, not for DEM (Department of Environmental Management), more for Public Works. But the Public Administration degreeI don't even know if our schools here have a public administration degree offered. But Environmental Management, environmental policies are heavily ladened with environmental stuff later, environmental economics or a related discipline. Now, this might kind of raise some eyebrows. I also said, "or a degree in law." And of course, I am a lawyer, right? But I'm fond of that degree, because I really believe that it is one of the most versatile disciplines that anyone can have. Page 2 RAWEEMC-25 November 15,2022 You know, this is what I stated to the newspaper when he interviewed me and it wasn't really quoted, but I'm going to say it right now. I've never tried to advance my personal interests all the times that I've been on the Council, and I'm not going to start today. Moreover, this is not to try to feather my cap or anything like this, because I don't qualify under, you know,the experience part. So, let's just dispel that crazy notion, in case anyone has that thought in mind. But the reason why I put the law degree in there, is that let's look at it historically. We have Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd, who was the Environmental Management Director before. She was a lawyer. Just recently,we had Diane Noda, who served as Number Two in the Harry Kim Administration. You know, if they can serve as Number One or Number Two—and you know, of course, it was a kind of contentious confirmation, I have to admit for Bobby Jean. But, if the Number Two, at least, can serve asI mean if a lawyer can serve as the Number Two person, you know, the Number Two is in the absence of the Number One. So, what's the difference there? I just thought I'd add that in. If you guys want to take it out, it's fine, because this thing—if it does reach its final form, it's not going to be with me or Maile around. But this is just to start the discussion rolling. And really, the whole intent is to expand the pool of qualified applicants. I don't know how many people applied this past time. This has nothing to do with the present Administration, and there's nothing to preclude an engineer from being nominated, appointed, and then confirmed later on. It's really going to be up to the preference of both the Mayor and the County Council. Now, I just wanted to read this one—an excerpt of a letter that we all received, and it is from the former, I think she addressed herself as former State Senator, Laura Acasio. And you know, I really respect her, but she said here, in opposition to it, because this is arguably one of the most important positions in our County government. If not properly managed—my experience, inappropriate; educated professionals, and there could be huge consequences. And then she points out, that as you may know, there is a standing upcoming Administrative Order on consent from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) for a number of wastewater issues in our County, including the Hilo Wastewater Treatment Plant. So, if we're in that kind of situation right now, I think it would actually serve as a support for broadening the scope of people that we can hire as the Director, because this situation occurred with our present setup. So, I just think, you know, we need managerial skills in that position. I'm not saying that engineers don't possess managerial skills, but you want an engineer who has solid managerial skills. Page 3 RAWEEMC-25 November 15,2022 If you guys want to increase that provision which says that they have to have two years, well two years of experience, having been in Environmental Management, Public Works, or a related field, then do it. Bump it up to three, four, five, whatever. That's really up to you guys. But I really would ask that this Council takes seriously the concept of opening up the pool of candidates that are available to any person who's going to be selected. And that's all. Thank you. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Chung, I want to say, thank you for expanding this, because I think, while we will not be here later, it does bring up and raise the questions that were discussed during several appointments in the past. And so, I think that I have to agree with your comments in expanding our pool. Someone mentioned that expanding the pool, we could do that by raising the salaries. And I just don't see how that would get us any better pool of candidates if we just raise the salary amount. I think they all interact and relate to each other, but I think in this case, your amendment provides a wider range, and I especially like the focus on the administrative aspect and skills to be included in that process. So, Council Members, it'll be your call after this. So, that's my comments, and I thank you Mr. Chung. I yield. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. David. Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Member Chung, for all these surprises at the end of your tenure on the Council. Always keeping it really interesting here. I'll be supporting continuing the conversation on this particular bill. I don't know if the five of us here can make the decision to kind of move this forward to Council. I think it would behoove us to connect and check in and have a robust discussion with the Council that's to be sat on December 5h about what we should do about this particular amendment, but I'm for it. I'm for finding ways to widen, expand, and boost our candidate pool for this particular position. I mean it's really evident that our relationship as people with the environment, has severely deteriorated. And so, restoring that harmony and balance I see to be a major kuleana of this particular department. It's not just about managing our waste streams, it's really thinking about having a healthy planet for future generations. And so, it's about solving environmental crises and preventing ecological disasters. That's what it really comes down to. So, with this particular amendment, Council Member Chung, we are able to attract, I think, the kind of people that have the tools, the skill sets, the knowledge, and capacity to help us confront the major environmental issues that we're facing, Page 4 RAWEEMC-25 November 15,2022 and we will face in the future. So, that being said, I will be supporting moving this amendment forward but would like to keep it in Committees so that we have new Council Members weigh in on this, and because it is suchI don't know, people are just feeling like you're turning everything on its head, Mr. Chung. Just a bit more discussion with members of our community, I think to have and inform this particular debate, would be really healthy. Again, supporting it and appreciate you bringing it forward. I yield. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Ms. Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. And yes, I'll echo my colleagues here and say thank you, Mr. Chung, for bringing this forward so that we can have a discussion. And I concur that we should probably keep it here in Committee to January 4h when our new Council is seated and can fully deliberate the information. In general support, the effort of what is trying to be done here, I think there's some word smithing that might be necessary just to you know, for example, not all of the proposed options or related fields would require a bachelor's degree, per se. It might be—some engineering degrees will go straight to masters without a bachelor's, so I think we might want to just provide that language. To give an example, I'm a littleI'm over the fence, I should say. I'm not real excited about the law degree in isolation. I think we need to maybe qualify that in particular fields of law, but I will defer to later discussions on that. But do appreciate the ability to have this conversation. It is a challenge for us to find qualified candidates for these important positions. Creating more appropriate guidelines is one way to expand that. Appreciate having it brought forward, and after the rest of the comments made, I think we're happy to make the motion to postpone to January. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you. Obviously, everyone here gets the intent of this bill, and I appreciate that. It was never my intention to have this thing moved forward anyway, especially when I heard we're only going to have five members present today. That made it problematic, and I knew you know, Tim wasn't going to be here anymore too. So, you know, it's certainly a sensible idea of keeping it here in Committee until such time as others can vet it. But really, I wanted to give the next Council, you know, a full term to really think about this and the other Charter proposal. I know that thing, the degree in law kind of sticks out like a sore thumb, right, when you read it. And it could be Page 5 RAWEEMC-25 November 15,2022 following up on what Ms. Kimball said. You could just have a degree in engineering, blah, blah, blah; or you know, environment or law,just take out certain words, and that might make it a little less awkward. But I really hope that you guys can come up with something that gives more people an opportunity to serve in these very important positions. And that's all. Thank you. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Seeing no further discussion, my comments are simple. I've watched different departments and different directors come and go. And just from my time in private industry, I think the inclusion of managerial experience adds a lot. Because it's not just the content of what the department does, it's the ability to work with others. That really is crucial. When you have a department with multiple department heads and two, three, four, 500 staff, you need to be able to work with people and interact with Council and Administration, and have good common sense knowledge, and higher-level education in the field that you're in. So, I think this does a favor to the people of Hawaii County, and maybe there's some wordsmithing that needs to be done, but I think the intent is good. I would appreciate a motion to keep it in Committees, so that the next Council coming in can discuss. Motion to Postpone: Mr. Chung moved to postpone Bill 245 to January 4, 2023. Seconded by Ms. David. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Any discussion? All in favor? Vote on Motion The motion to postpone Bill 245 to January 4, 2023 to Postpone: was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, and Acting Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—5. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba, Lee Loy, and Villegas —3. Excused: None. ACTING CHR KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That does bring us to the end of our agenda today. Motion to adjourn. Page 6 RAWEEMC-25 November 15,2022 ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:38 a.m., Ms. David moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, and Acting Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 5. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba, Lee Loy, and Villegas— 3. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We are adjourned. Approved: 11- 1 !'s 2 2 Mr. Matt Kane:li`i-Klein i-lder, Acting Chair (Date) Regenerative a,griculture, Water, Energy and Environ, ental Man.gement Committee MK/dt Page 7