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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOEAC 2023/04/18 (2022-2024) Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs 7th Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii April 18, 2023 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations and ORDER: External Affairs was called to order at 1:15 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Cindy Evans, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Cindy Evans, Chair Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Vice Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent& Excused: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, 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 and came forward when called by the Chair: Patti Pinto Bill 32 (Comm. 149), in opposition. Taliesin McEnaney Bill 32 (Comm. 149), in opposition. Jan Marshall (Vacation Land Subdivision) Bill 32 (Comm. 149), in opposition. Lisa Murayama Bill 32 (Comm. 149), in opposition. Jennifer L. Stotter Res. 74-23 (Comm. 151), in support. CHR. EVANS: Mr. Clerk, I want to take out of order, and I want to hear first Resolution 74-23. GOEAC-7 April 18,2023 Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following items were taken out of order: ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 74-23: URGES AWARENESS AND PLEDGES SUPPORT TO PROTECT NATIVE HAWAIIAN WOMEN AND GIRLS FROM ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION Seeks to increase awareness of the Holoi A Nalo Wahine `Oiwi: Missing and Murdered Native Hawaiian Women and Girls Task Force Report, and encourages the community to promptly recognize indications of sex trafficking and abuse and to immediately report any such instances to the proper authorities. Reference: Comm. 151 Intr. by: Ms. Kagiwada and Ms. Lee Loy ; and Comm. 151.1: From Council Members Jennifer Kagiwada and Susan L. K. Lee Loy dated March 20, 2023, transmitting a request for a presentation by Nikki Cristobal, Ph.D. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kagiwada moved to recommend adoption of Res. 74-23. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. EVANS: Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. To start off the conversation we're very lucky to have the principal investigator for this report here with us, Dr. Nikki Cristobal. Nikki if you want to come forward here. Nikki is, like I said, the primary investigator for this report, which is included in your packet. She's originally from Kauai, she has a Ph.D. in education and policy, and in 2021 started Kamawaelualani Corp., which is a non-profit that really is dedicated to art, culture, education, and community activations. So very lucky to have her today, and Nikki if you want to give us some updates or talk about your report a little. (Note: At this time Nikki Cristobal, Ph.D., Kamawaelualani MMNHWG (Missing and Murdered Native Hawaiian Women and Girls) Task Force, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. CRISTOBAL: Yes, mahalo for having me. MS. KAGIWADA: Actually, I'm sorry, one quick second, sorry. Council Member Lee Loy, do you have anything to add? I'm sorry. No, you're ready, okay. Go ahead. Page 2 GOEAC-7 April 18,2023 MS. CRISTOBAL: Mahalo, for having me. Nikki Cristobal, I'm the principal investigator, like Council Member Kagiwada said of the Holoi a nalo Wahine `Oiwi report. And I just wanted to start with a quote from an adult survivor to open up my testimony. (Note: At this time,Nikki Cristobal 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. 151.1.) MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much for being here,Nikki. This resolution really points to many of the things that Nikki has talked about today. And as far as the be it resolved clauses of this resolution, I think the three things that I really wanted to do was one, bring more awareness about these issues. And that starts with, you know, having Nikki talk to us today, but also, she's going to be going over at UH (University of Hawai`i) Hilo this evening to do a presentation for the public, so I think that's awesome. To encourage us to when we're thinking of services for the public, that we make sure that we include–that we're really looking at native Hawaiian women and girls, and that they are being serviced correctly, and that we're collecting the data as noted. As I have spoken with both the Prosecuting Attorney's Office and our Police Department about as they update their software and the ability to collect data that they really consider how they can collect the correct data and not lump large categories together, that makes it really hard to see what's going on in our community. So appreciate everybody's support on this and love to hear your discussions and questions for me or Nikki. Thanks. CHR. EVANS: Members, anyone else? Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you, Chair. Thank you so much for bringing this forward. When you're reading through the report when you say,there's no smoking gun you see a few smoking guns in here. Some of which, you know, are 130 years old, in terms of the historical drama to native Hawaiians. And pinpointing of,you know, certain,key events in history,that have contributed perhaps to where we are today are all shared here. So it's a very valuable report, especially for our county and what we do and being mindful. Prior to meeting on the Council, we had started that—was it a monthly report of our runaway youth, was that you Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder who brought that forward? And it was a normal report that the Police Department sent over to the Council, because we were having so many cases of either missing or runaway youth here, on our island. So to highlight and bring all this information before us today in this space, I'm thankful. So mahalo,Nikki, and mahalo to Council Member Lee Loy and Kagiwada. Chair, I yield. Page 3 GOEAC-7 April 18,2023 CHR. EVANS: Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. This is near and dear to my heart, and I appreciate you coming and providing this presentation report to us via this resolution. I'd like to touch bases with you offline, and get a feel for what you're bringing to the table and see how that works with something that we've created on our end through my office, to try and address sex trafficking, and domestic violence, and those kinds of things happening in our community. Yeah, we're way beyond the point of is it happening, it's more so solution oriented, and how do we address that. There's a lot of different aspects that we can get into. Some of the major ones being runaways tend to be, especially victims, they're definitely at risk, and identifying them; we started working on a monthly report of runaways from our Police Department. To the other end of the spectrum, which is the proprietors tend to be well off, well paid, not what's government officials, military, and everybody in the spot light, as far as the perpetrators are, which is your trust and support are what it's supposed to be. So, there's a lot of different aspects at play. Even the education spectrum, my daughter is 16 native Hawaiian and when she was 12, 13, 14, her homework was to come home and watch a movie. And I'm watching the movie that she's watching, and it is like a Hollywood portrayal of Old Hawai`i. As they begin it's like you have your missionary's and your native Hawaiians. And it's interesting but then there's this scene that struck me as just being completely wrong and why my kids are watching it, I couldn't tell you. But the ship comes in, you know, old wooden ship sails. Sailors are on the boat and native Hawaiian women come swimming to the boat topless, and come to offer themselves to the men on the ship. And then the next scene is a brutal display of domestic violence and exploitation from the same sailors to the local women. And my wife and I are going, what is the DOE (Department of Education) thinking sending this home to be watched by our children. I know there's a learning component there, but I'm just like, why are we watching this? This is just in my eyes completely out of line. You learn from your past, but there's also this point of perpetuating the drama, which is kind of what you're touching on, as well as generational trauma. So love to touch bases with you offline and see how we can integrate what you're doing with what we're doing. Sorry, go ahead. MS. CRISTOBAL: No,just mahalo. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, mahalo. Thank you for bringing this forward, Ms. Lee Loy and Ms. Kagiwada, appreciate it. CHR. EVANS: Okay, members? No, okay, Member Lee Loy. Page 4 GOEAC-7 April 18,2023 MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you. Thank you to my colleagues for their support. This dais knows that I've tracked a lot of things related to the Department of Hawaiian Homelands and a few figures that stick out in my head is that here on Hawai`i Island we have almost 120,000 acres of trust lands with the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. Fifty seven percent of them from the State, I mean we have the largest land holdings on top of we have, about 2,800 leases for our native Hawaiian beneficiaries. And so if we are to solve anything related to this issue, it's right here at home. And so, I really do appreciate Ms. Kagiwada inviting me into this piece of legislation and support wholeheartedly. I think the next iterations of your report as you refine that information, but understanding why it's so critically important for us here on Hawai`i Island. Because of our trust lands, along with at some point, we are going to have more Hawaiians moving here, because of that large land holdings. So anything we can do now to start addressing those inequities early will help serve our beneficiaries in the future. So, thank you to Mr. Inaba, too, to really highlighting those generational traumas that happen that are often times too scary to talk about, but we carry them with our kupuna. And so thank you, Ms. Kagiwada, for inviting me in on this. But to my colleagues, thank you for all of your support on this resolution. I yield. CHR. EVANS: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for being here. You look really familiar, and we were sign waving for women's reproductive health rights months ago. Was that you that joined us holding a sign related to missing and murdered native women? MS. CRISTOBAL: I did hold signs for that, but I was on Kauai. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. Well my heart was comforted to see you here today, and wow to get a Ph.D. And to have a focus on this deeply disturbing, historically generationally, unacceptable. You know, the ironies and hypocrisy in the movie that Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder used as an example, atrocious, right, in just how that story was being told in that movie. The implications of the women's intentions were just all of these radical displays of degradation. I really appreciate Council Member Inaba's recognition,just looking through the historical traumas and what that does. Perpetuating the cycles with domestic violence, and then our young children; boys and girls being raised with that kind of pain and perpetuated trauma is tragic and unacceptable. I just was getting some information from one of my constituents about stories of a young girl being raped and murdered in my district, and that I haven't seen anything about it in the news or I have a close relationship with community Page 5 GOEAC-7 April 18,2023 policing and trust the people that I work with implicitly. So it's really hard to navigate what's going on, where is it going on, how's it going on, what's being reported, how it's being reported. And perhaps part of the tragedy is if somebody is already missing from their life, and those that would report it,then when some tragic death befalls them, let's say, there isn't anybody to report it per-say. So it's really close to home. I have two daughters, and just long for the day, as women, we continue to be our rights and body autonomy; continue to be attacked. And grateful that there are women like yourself and your colleague sitting behind you who are standing up, speaking up, and demanding that it be given the attention it's due. Thank you; Council Member Kagiwada for bringing this forward. I look forward to voting in support of this resolution, but that this is brought forth in the public's eye for continued conversation, and focus, and accountability. So thank you, I yield. CHR. EVANS: Okay, any other member? If not, I want to tell you the way I feel about it. No more, no more, it's over, it's over with this; the way I feel about this issue, no more. We're not going to tolerate anymore. And I will say that I got to meet a lot of Hawaiian women that were in our prisons, and the ones I met happen to be in Kentucky. They had been taken there because we didn't have a place to house them in Hawai`i. They were in a prison facility that was runed by white Caucasian Kentucky Southern men. I walked in that facility and saw a hundred women under that particular environment, and was shocked that the State of Hawai`i and the leadership would allow that kind of environment. And I had the opportunity to interview and to talk to some of the Hawaiian women. I have to tell you, those that have been trafficked, those that have been assaulted, those who have been treated really badly, when they lashed out and they had enough, they normally end up in prison. Because when they lash out it's usually, unfortunately you know, it's in a way that our society won't tolerate, you know, you beating someone up, or killing someone, or stabbing them, or whatever it is that got you there, but you understood that they had enough. And what I think that the beauty of this report is it's truly starting to say to everybody, enough is enough. And then, we're talking about the leadership of public safety, the governor, the lieutenant governor, whoever is in a position of authority needs to know enough is enough. So they can learn about signs, they can learn about behaviors, they can start questioning themselves; am I participating inadvertently, am I allowing this behavior to happen? I just think it's wonderful. And the other thing I want to tell you is the biggest and hardest problem we have had for years and years is to get Congress to give Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders their own data set. We have been buried; our Hawaiians, I want you know, have been buried inside Asian data sets. Page 6 GOEAC-7 April 18,2023 And so what happens is you can't get your voice and your issues to people to see what's going on. And so this type of reporting and, really, I hope OHA (The Office of Hawaiian Affairs) and the trustees of OHA are really spot on with this. And making sure our congressional delegation is spot on with this report, because this is like all across the board, be it a congressional state, county, police, it doesn't matter. We have to say no more. And so hats off, thank you for your work, and thank you for bringing this forward. And with that if there's no more comments, I'd like to take the vote. All in favor, any opposed? Vote on Res. 74-23: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 74-23 was (Approved) carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kimball, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. MS. EVANS: Mr. Clerk, I'd like to take Communication 187 and 189 out of order. Comm. 187: REAPPOINTMENT OF JULES DUDOIT TO THE SALARY COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated March 30, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 13, 2023 (Section 13-4(k) Hawai`i County Charter) Vote on Comm.187: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) reappointment of Mr. Jules Dudoit to the Salary Commission. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kierkiewicz— 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. Page 7 GOEAC-7 April 18,2023 Comm. 189: NOMINATION OF LUAHIWA NAMAHOE TO THE SALARY COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated March 31, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 14, 2023 (Section 13-4(k) Hawai`i County Charter) Vote on Comm. 189: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) nomination of Ms. Luahiwa Namahoe to the Salary Commission. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Evans—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: Committee Member Lee Loy— 1. 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. Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 185: NOMINATION OF ERIC P. GEE TO THE YOUTH COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated March 30, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 13, 2023 (Section 13-4(k) Hawai`i County Charter Vote on Comm. 185: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) nomination of Mr. Eric P. Gee to the Youth Commission. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Page 8 GOEAC-7 April 18,2023 Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kierkiewicz—2. 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. Comm. 186: NOMINATION OF RICHARD REGO TO THE FIRE COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated March 30, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 13, 2023 (Section 13-4(k) Hawai`i County Charter) (Note: Comm. 186.1, from Mayor Mitchell D. Roth dated April 13, 2023, transmitting a letter of withdrawal to Comm. 186, was circulated.) Withdraw Comm. 186: Mr. Roth announced the withdrawal of Comm. 186. Comm. 188: NOMINATION OF CHEYDON A. NALEIMAILE-EVANGELISTA TO THE YOUTH COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated March 30, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 13, 2023 (Section 13-4(k) Hawai`i County Charter) Vote on Comm. 188: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) nomination of Mr. Cheydon A. Naleimaile-Evangelista to the Youth Commission. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, > Lee Loy, Villegas,as and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. Page 9 GOEAC-7 April 18,2023 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. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. STATEMENTS The following individuals registered, to speak in opposition to Bill 32 FROM THE (Comm. 149), and came forward when called by the Chair: PUBLIC ON BILL 32: Eileen O'Hara. Dane Dupont. Bill 32: AMENDS CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE 25, SECTION 2-138, OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Clarifies that public funds may only be used for the actual costs of expenditures directly applicable to the service or activity covered by the grant award agreement and that public funds may not be used for the repayment of debts. Reference: Comm. 149 Intr. by: Ms. Kimball Postponed: March 21, 2023 (Note: There is a motion by Ms. Kimball, seconded by Ms. Galimba,to recommend passage of Bill 32 on first reading.) CHR. EVANS: Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to first start out and thank everyone that submitted written testimony, and to folks that testified in person today, as well as the folks who were able to meet with me and Council Member Kierkiewicz to discuss this bill. There were some very clear points made that I think caused me to want to pull this bill at this stage and rework it a little bit. Primarily for clarity of language. There're some things that are not well defined, like what is an administrative cost, when we have a fiscal sponsor and there are costs associated with that, how does that pass through. So there's a little more research that I want to do internally, and then also talking some more with our non-profits before we proceed on this. But one of the things that I just want to acknowledge is, I really appreciate Judge Strance and our auditor for their time to talk with us about the public use of funds, and what some of our obligations are. I will say that my intention with introducing this bill was verynarrowly focused and perhaps somewhat myopic. Page 10 April 18,2023 GOEAC-7 p � I As presiding officer of this body, I was primarily concerned that we were executing our roles properly and we were protected from the misuse of funds. Because I had that myopic view, I failed to see the interpretation from other points of view. And that's why the democratic process is so important because folks in the community have shared their concerns about interpretations other than what I originally intended. So, I will not immediately here withdraw the motion unless anybody else wants to make comments. But otherwise, I'd like to proceed to withdraw the initial motion. CHR. EVANS: Does any member want to offer any comments before we move on? Okay, Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI I-KLEINFELDER: Just one brief comment. It was brought up to me by some of our testifiers today that we need to be aware of federal guidelines for use of funds for non-profits. Just something to think about as we go down the line. That was news to me. I didn't know that, but when I heard that, that was going to be my question today. So, I'm glad you are cognizant of that and going to work on that. Thanks, I yield. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Yes, thank you, Chair. And to the maker, yes,thank you. I really just want to thank you for tackling a section of the code that overtime our own non-profit grant-in-aid has continued to struggle with. And as we refine all the different pieces of that, I really do appreciate you holding it back and reworking it to a place that really is serving community. And our office has a lot of notes on these things, so if you don't mind, I'll just go ahead and forward that to you as you continue to do your diligence in this area. Also, I know that we were also trying to solve for a bright line of understanding on the use of our own contingency funds. And hopefully can dust off our own rules and procedures and advance our own Council Rules around the use of our contingency funds that meets up with a lot of the definitions that you're exploring right now. So, thank you so much and really appreciate just the working on policy that's not always as fluent as we want it to be. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Members seeing none, do I have a motion to adjourn? MS. KIMBALL: Actually, I'm just going to withdraw the motion to approve Bill 32. CHR. EVANS: Okay, oh it's a motion to? Page 11 GOEAC-7 April 18,2023 MS. KIMBALL: It's just a withdrawal, so there's no need for a vote or anything. I'm just pulling the motion from the floor, as the original motioner—maker of the motion, so. Withdraw Bill 32: Ms. Kimball announced the withdrawal of Bill 32. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. So Mr. Clerk, we're good to go? There being no further business, at 2:47 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the ADJOURN- meeting. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: MENT: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans– 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kierkiewicz– 1. Excused: None. CHR. EVANS: Thank you, we are adjourned at 2:47 p.m. Thank you. Approved: 3 Ms. Cindy Evan _ air ( ate) Committee on Government Operations and External Affairs CE/rk Page 12