HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOEAC 2023/05/16 (2022-2024) Committee on Governmental Operations
and External Affairs
9th Session
Hawai`i County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawai`i
May 16, 2023
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations and
ORDER: External Affairs was called to order at 1:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers,
Hilo, by Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Vice Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Vice Chair
Ms. Cindy Evans, Chair (via videoconference from Kona)
Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member
Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member
Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member
Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member
Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member
Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member
Absent& Excused: 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 and came forward when called by
the Chair:
Hannah Hartman, representing HULI
PAC (Help Uplift Leaders with Integrity) Bill 48 (Comm. 279), in support.
Cory Harden: Bill 48 (Comm. 279, in support.
Leslie Cole Brooks: Bill 48 (Comm. 279), in support.
Brittany Zimmerman: Bill 48 (Comm. 279), in support.
Melinda Hughes: Bill 48 (Comm. 279), in support.
Mary Zarba: Bill 48 (Comm. 279), in support.
GOEAC-9 May 16,2023
Dean Pichard: Bill 48 (Comm. 279), in support.
Indi Risha Singh: Comm. 273, in support.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you to all of our testifiers. To the Council I
did want to take Communication 273 out of order, and if I see no objections.
Mr. Clerk if we could please read in Communication 273.
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:
Comm. 273: NOMINATION OF DAMON NAGATA TO THE YOUTH COMMISSION
From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated April 27, 2023, requesting the Council's
review and confirmation.
Requires Council
Confirmation by: June 10, 2023 (Section 13-4(k)
Hawai`i County Charter)
Vote on Comm. 273: Ms. Kagiwada moved to recommend confirmation of the
(Approved) nomination of Mr. Damon Nagata to the Youth Commission.
Second by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by
the following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, and Acting Chair Lee Loy—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Member Villegas— 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.
Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of
of Business: business.
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COMMUNICATIONS
Comm. 272: NOMINATION OF JUSTIN ACKERMAN TO THE GAME MANAGEMENT
ADVISORY COMMISSION
From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated April 27, 2023, requesting the Council's
review and confirmation.
Requires Council
Confirmation by: June 10, 2023 (Section 13-4(k)
Hawai`i County Charter)
Vote on Comm. 272: Ms. Galimba moved to recommend confirmation of the
(Approved) nomination of Mr. Justin Ackerman to the Game
Management Advisory Commission. Second by Mr. Inaba
and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, and Acting Chair Lee Loy—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Member Villegas— 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.
Comm. 274: NOMINATION OF SCOTT TREFETHEN TO THE BOARD OF APPEALS
From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated April 27, 2023, requesting the Council's
review and confirmation.
Requires Council
Confirmation by: June 10, 2023 (Section 13-4(k)
Hawai`i County Charter)
Vote on Comm. 274: Ms. Galimba moved to recommend confirmation of the
(Approved) nomination of Mr. Scott Trefethen to the Board of
Appeals. Second by Ms. Kimball and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, and Acting Chair Lee Loy— 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Member Villegas— 1.
Excused: None.
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GOEAC-9 May 16,2023
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.
Comm. 275: NOMINATION OF LISA MCNAMARRA TO THE BOARD OF APPEALS
From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated April 28, 2023, requesting the Council's
review and confirmation.
Requires Council
Confirmation by: June 11, 2023 (Section 13-4(k)
Hawai`i County Charter)
Vote on Comm. 275: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend confirmation of the
(Approved) nomination of Ms. Lisa McNamarra to the Board of
Appeals. Second by Mr. Inaba and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, and Acting Chair Lee Loy 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Member Villegas— 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.
Comm. 276: NOMINATION OF CATHY LEWIS TO THE BOARD OF APPEALS
From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated April 28, 2023, requesting the Council's
review and confirmation.
Requires Council
Confirmation by: June 11, 2023 (Section 13-4(k)
Hawai`i County Charter)
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GOEAC-9 May 16,2023
Vote on Comm. 276: Ms. Kimball moved to recommend confirmation of the
(Approved) nomination of Ms. Cathy Lewis to the Board of
Appeals. Second by Ms. Galimba and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, and Acting Chair Lee Loy—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Member Villegas— 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.
Comm. 277: NOMINATION OF JAMES MCCULLY TO THE BANYAN DRIVE
HAWAI`I REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated April 28, 2023, requesting the Council's
review and confirmation.
Requires Council
Confirmation by: June 11, 2023 (Section 13-4(k)
Hawai`i County Charter)
Vote on Comm. 277: Ms. Galimba moved to recommend confirmation of the
(Approved) nomination of Mr. James McCully to the Banyan Drive
Hawai`i Redevelopment Agency. Second by Ms. Kimball
and carried by the following roll call vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba,
Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, and
Acting Chair Lee Loy—6.
Noes: Committee Members Kagiwada and
Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder—2.
Absent: Committee Member Villegas— 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.
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Comm. 299: NOMINATION OF DENNIS RIORDAN TO THE SALARY COMMISSION
From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated May 3, 2023, requesting the Council's
review and confirmation.
Requires Council
Confirmation by: June 16, 2023 (Section 13-4(k)
Hawai`i County Charter)
SII
Vote on Comm. 299: Ms. Galimba moved to recommend confirmation of the
(Approved) nomination of Mr. Dennis Riordan to the Salary
Commission. Second by Ms. Kimball and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, and Acting Chair Lee Loy—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Member Villegas— 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.
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
BILL 48: The following individuals registered to speak in support of Bill 48
(Comm. 279), and came forward when called by the Chair:
Evan Lam.
Indi Risha Singh.
Harvey Stone.
BILLS FOR ORDINANCES
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Bill 48: AMENDS THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS
AMENDED), BY AMENDING CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE 2, SECTION 2-7;
AMENDING CHAPTER 2 BY CREATING A NEW ARTICLE 49; AND
CREATING A NEW CHAPTER 37, RELATING TO SUSTAINABILITY,
CLIMATE, EQUITY, AND RESILIENCE
Adds a new agency and agency head to coordinate and manage policies and
programs to address sustainability, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt
to the impacts of climate change and other natural and human caused hazards.
Reference: Comm. 279
Intr. by: Ms. Kimball and Ms. Villegas
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to recommend passage of Bill 48 on first reading.
Seconded by Ms. Galimba.
Recess: At 3:06 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 3:13 p.m.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Good afternoon,the time now is 3:13 p.m., and I'm
taking Government Operations and External Affairs Committee out of recess.
Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. I'm going to ask in advance for a little
leeway on the timing with this. Council Member Villegas and I had taken a divide
and conquer presentation plan towards this bill. And since she's not here,
I'm going to have to do it all myself. I will do my best impersonation though. No
seriously, we should all have her and her family in our hearts today. This bill is
super important to her, and it wouldn't be except for the most extenuating of
circumstances that she is not here.
So for me this is a labor of love, it is what I came to this position to do. This
is a project that I've been working on for two years now, and it's taken many
shapes and forms, mostly because of all the people that have contributed. I
want to take this time to thank all of the folks Director Adams from R&D
(Research and Development), Jake Sykes, Kendra Obermeyer, Sara Freedman all
from R&D. Director Kern from Planning, Bethany Morris, and Douglas Lei also
from Planning. Director Sako and Deputy Nakagawa who just had to step out
from Finance, Corporation Counsel Strance was involved as well. The community
team from Think Big,Nowell Morin, Tam Hunt, and Jeanette Craig. Mahina
Paishon Dortay was kind enough to contribute to this as well, as well as the former
Sustainability Coordinator from City and County of Honolulu Josh Stanbro.
So when we started this out the idea was to create this office and create a chapter
that outlined the activities with office. So it's set up mechanically very much like
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the Office of Housing where you have the amendment to Chapter 2 that creates
the office, designates how the Administrator is selected, creates any relevant funds,
and then you have a chapter that matches up with it that specifies the guidelines.
And so that's what we've done here, you have the amendment to Chapter 2, and
you have the creation of Chapter 37 that creates the Office of Sustainability,
Climate, Equity, and Resilience, otherwise known as OSCER.
And I want to say our name is not arbitrarily picked. These are issues that
are important, and they are equal, and they are important. And there is a
requirement for us to think systematically about the decisions we make checking
all four boxes. We don't want make sacrifices and sustainability just to achieve
climate change objectives. We don't want to make sacrifices and equity just to
meet resilience objectives.
So the impetus behind creating this bill was twofold, the first was to answer the
question. So we know what to do about climate change, we know what to do
about building sustainability, we need to know what we need to do with respect to
resilience, why haven't we done it? And I think the testifier earlier, Leslie, gave a
list of all the plans we have out there that tell us exactly what we should be doing.
And so we started with this where we actually took the City and County of
Honolulu's bill, the ordinance that created their office of sustainability, and we
started looking at that as a backbone and it's very prescriptive. It's got these
benchmarks; it's got these targets. It's you're going to do this; you're going to do
that.
But when I sat down with our team who I mentioned before, I said okay, what
really has it been that the barrier between having all these plans and getting us to
implementation. It was we don't have education, we're not doing the outreach,
people don't know what to do even though we have the information; it's having
the technical support for the departments to go after grants to be able to do the rule
changes that need to make those real structural changes. It's a shortage of funding,
and it's a shortage of focus. We've talked about before, how many different things
our department heads have to do, right? We all know that everybody's
overworked, and climate change because it's not right there in front of your face
every day, it lacks that same equivalent sense of urgency, right.
And so, the ability when you're in there and you're having to make a decision
about how you're going to spend your time to say oh, I got to deal with this fire
right here, verses I got to deal with this long-term change. There's that lack of
focus,there's the inability to do that. So, I started to look around for models about
how to organize and was talking to one of our non-profit friends and they turned
me on to the collective impact model.
Within the pinkie that's shared in Communication 279.1, there's a page here that
talks a little bit about the collective impact model. And so the idea behind the
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collective impact model is to make effective and lasting social change. There're
really five components. First of all you have to create a common agenda. There
needs to be an agreement about what the shared metrics are, how you'll measure
success and progress; activities need to be mutually reinforcing, which means all
of those different sustainability partners out there. Those 300 folks, they need to
be knowing what each other is doing, and working together and having their
actions reinforce each other. There's got to be continuous communication and
then fundamentally, there's going to be this need for backbone support. And
OSCER(Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience) is that
background support.
I know that Council Member Kierkiewicz is very familiar with the collective
impact model, having worked with Vibrant Hawai`i in the past this is actually part
of their backbone organization as well. And so we've restructured the office into
this collective impact model. If you'll note, you'll see the wording is tied to that in
the descriptions of what the office is tasked to do. I've also included in the packet
where we intend to go with the next step, which is,you know, this office. In Bill
48 is fairly light at this point, but our expectation is that once the office gets
formed and put in place, we will build out Chapter 37 with much more detail and
much more specifics. I wanted to provide you the framework of what that looks
like right now. Again, this is just kind of a preview that will come in short order as
a follow-up bill.
The second purpose for creating this is the incredible amount of federal funding in
this space. And so again, in the packet that I forwarded with this communication it
has the digest from NACo (National Association of Counties) of all of the federal
funding that's related to climate change that's available right now. In that
particular set alone for a hundred billion dollars,that doesn't even cover what's
available under DOT (Department of Transportation), Department of Defense,
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), Economic Development,
there's all of this money right now. The wording in this bill has been very
specifically designed to target those funding opportunities. One of the
opportunities I've had over the last year, earlier this year, I was appointed to the
EPA(Environmental Protection Agency) Local Government Advisory Committee.
The purpose of this committee is to review all of the EPA grants before they go
out. So I've had a chance to review these grants, and the language that we've
chosen in this bill is there to particularly align with those opportunities.
One of the things I wanted to highlight about that is the Justice 40 Initiative. The
Justice 40 Initiative it's described in your packet as a commitment by the Federal
Government, that at least 40 percent of money that goes out there in this renewable
energy climate change realm will service lower modern incomed families,
traditionally marginalized group. It's a real strong focus on economic justice. So I
have the map here of the areas on our Island that are considered Justice 40. It will
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say that we are working with Office of Planning, there is some concern that this
doesn't actually cover all of the areas that should be considered Justice 40.
So happy to take questions in a moment, I did want to just talk a little bit about a
couple of things. You'll notice that the hiring of the Administrator, this is
something that the group could actually not come to consensus on. So we put
something out there and I think it's worth spending some time deliberating,
because there was a discussion. So, part of the purpose here is to elevate climate
change action to the level of the Mayor to have that authority that was being talked
about earlier. There's a desire to have some consistency between administration,
and not have the position be a political position. You know, it doesn't matter
who's in the big seat, there's going to be consistency through administrations. At
the same time,there was concern about a full civil service position either
becoming stale or if we didn't continue to have the opportunities for grant funding,
you know, what that might look like down the road. And so,the compromise
solution that we came to was a civil service hire with a six-year term. Our Director
of Human Resources couldn't be here today. We did have a conversation; you
have to have a justification of term length when you're putting it on a civil service
position like that. So I think it's within the realm of what we can do, but I
encourage everybody to think about that.
I also have provided for you, or the Finance Director has provided for you a fiscal
impact statement. Based on initial estimates of five positions which are described
in the packet, we're looking at a cost of about $870,000 to initiate this office.
large
Again, I think a portion of this will become grant funded in short order. We
already have a couple of leads for probably three positions at this point. I want to
remind folks that this amount would represent one tenth of one percent of our
overall budget, to show a commitment to working in this space. And then finally,
I just want to close with saying mahalo to the Administration for working with me
on this. Mahalo to Mayor Roth for his ongoing support.
I've included an EPA write up from April of this year on the impacts of climate
change on children, and it's a little heavy handed, I admit. But that's why we're
doing this. This is to leave a legacy for our next generation,to let them know that
we cared enough now to take the steps to actually implement the programs that we
said we'd know, we need to do, and that we're going to do. This is our Kuleana to
make sure that we leave this world better for our children and our grandchildren.
So I hope that you will all join me in supporting this effort to really take the lead to
be an example as a County in both State, the Nation, and the World, on how to
truly live sustainably, equitably, resiliently, and address the impacts of climate
change. Mahalo for your leeway, Chair, appreciate the extra time. Happy to take
questions.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball.
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MS. KIMBALL: Sorry if I can just add. We do have members of the
Administration here, I'm not sure if p
they'd like to speak first. Director Kern and
then, I believe, we have Director Adams on the line as well.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball.
MS. EVANS: Excuse me, Chair.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Ms. Evans.
MS. EVANS: Yeah, we're in Kona and our chambers are filling up with people
who want to testify on other agendas. Just so you know what's going on over here,
in terms of time management. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you so much for the heads up, Ms. Evans.
Opening the floor up to questions?
MS. EVANS: Chair, I'm willing to start.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Ms. Evans.
MS. EVANS: Okay. You know I love the content of this bill, I just love it, but
I'm really disturbed about what I believe has been a little heavy handed. I went in
to try to do two amendments and we met with the Clerk, and I was told I could not
do it, and this is the reason why. I think it's important for the public who don't
understand bill drafting, what happens. The title of the bill is so restrictive that I
am unable to present my recommendations for amendments. It's kind of
disturbing to me that it was so tightly written. I kind of feel like, you know, the
people who wrote the title knew that titles,just for the public to know if you want
to make amendments, if you want to do things you have to fit within the title of the
bill. You can't add, subtract, or do things that don't fit with the title.
In this instance I was unable to make changes, but I do want to make a comment
that I'm a little concerned that we're standing up a new department. I'm
concerned about recession and cost of growing government, but I really love what
this bill is about. My amendment would have put it into the Department of
Research and Development. I think Research and Development, if all of us look at
their work chart, see that they do claim enaction,they do renewable energy, they
just put out a climate action plan that they spent. I mean it's just this huge
document with amazing things on what we should do with resiliency and climate,
you know, all sustainability; it's all in here. And it was done by our Research and
Development Department.
I would have really liked to have seen us expand our Research and Development
Department, stand them up, support them in what they're doing. The other thing is
if we're having issues with grant writing and seeking federal dollars, then let's talk
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about that. Let's see what can we do, can we stand up a person in the Mayor's
Office, in his office that seeks grant money. I don't know, I heard the testimony
from the people that are all talking about let's chase the money, let's get the
money, the money's there,the monies there. You know, yes.
But the reality is we're setting up our government right now. We're putting in
motion what the department is going to be, the structure of it. I don't think any of
us, I'd be surprised or debating the content and the purpose. Well, I want to debate
was the structure of it, and where it fits, and the right way to fit. And I just was
really disturbed that I could not submit my amendments because of the title of the
bill. So with that, I think everybody got my message. Thank you, Chair. I yield.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Evans. Back here in Hilo,
Ms. Galimba.
MS. GALIMBA: Okay. Well I just wanted to thank both, Council Member
Kimball, and Villegas, for this bill and the work they did on it. I think it's
necessary, and its actually kind of a dream come true for me, because when I was
on the Charter Commission, I wanted to do just this. So this is much better
because it was just one sentence and not as well thought out as this was. And I just
wanted to say that we put it up there, and the only person that voted for it was
Doug Adams. I wanted to thank him for that. So I know he is a supporter of
climate change mitigation, and adaptation, and basically addressing that giant issue
that we all are facing. So again, I just wanted to thank all the hard work that went
into this. I mean, I do understand some of the trepidation that some folks have
expressed in testimony. And I think it's really important how this—I think it's
good that this is fairly broad and how it gets developed it will be super important.
I think that these are very big ideas. And we have to balance those big ideas with
the day-to-day work that the Directors of our departments do, and the people in the
departments. So that this becomes as it's described here, a coordinating agency
rather than a prescriptive one or the worst case would be like another layer
bureaucracy, which we don't need. So getting that right is going to take a lot more
work, but I think this is a very important first step and I support it whole heartedly.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you so much, Ms. Galimba. Anyone else? I
want to give other Council Members opportunities to weigh in. Mr. Kaneali`i-
Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Just couple of questions
for the Administration. I saw the fiscal impact statement, it's very helpful. The
next question would be is that budgeted into next year's budget already, because
we don't have Finance (department) here to answer to answer that question, that
would fall back to the maker to that bill?
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created, but
MS. KIMBALL: The positions have been they're unfunded and there
would be a budget amendment required to fund this office at this time.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: The positions have already been created?
MS. KIMBALL: Yes, they've been created as unfunded positions within R&D at
this point. But a budget amendment would be required to actually fund those
positions in the office.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. For Doug Adams, thank
you for being here today. Welcome back.
(Note: At this time, Director of Research and Development
Douglass Adams came forward to address the members of the Committee.)
MR. ADAMS: Good afternoon, Council Member. This is Doug Adams, Director
of Research and Development.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thanks for being here today. On the last
statement, positions are already created unfunded. I believe in this years budget,
this upcoming fiscal year budget, your department has increased for a grant writing
opportunity, correct?
MR. ADAMS: Correct.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And what is the total that was increased?
MR. ADAMS: I apologize I didn't quite catch that.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What is the increase amount in your budget
for the grant writing positions that were to go after grants, like what's being
proposed in this bill?
MR. ADAMS: My understanding was that was in the neighborhood of$500,000.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And is there overlap in this bill and
that department? Are these going to be moving forward together? If it passes,
okay, this is a big if.
MR. ADAMS: So that amount was not necessarily associated specifically with
this bill, but will go in concert with the efforts associated with this bill because the
funding is associated with unicorn bills that came out of the U.S. Congress. The
IRA (Inflation Reduction Act), the BIL (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law), ARPA
(American Rescue Plan Act), CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to produce
Semiconducting).
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MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Are you saying unicorn, is that an acronym
or is that just because they come out like unicorns.
MR. ADAMS: That is my perspective of those bills.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I like unicorns. Okay, thank you,
Mr. Adams. And then, Ms. Strance. Thank you for being here, Mr. Kern. I don't
know if I have any questions for you.
MR. KERN: I'm ready if you do.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Strance. A
previous agenda item left us in question about agencies, boards, commissions,
etcetera. In this case, you know, I'm reading this language. My question is we
have departments, and we have offices. This is creating an office of and there's
even a definition included for office, means, the Office of Sustainability and
Climate, Equity, and Resilience. I always under the assumption that a department
is something that is not created via ordinance, but is created via charter
amendment. And maybe I'm completely incorrect. And I'm gauging this from a
few that I've seen in my time on the Council. Is this a department or an office, and
depending on your answer,the next question is what is the difference?
(Note: At this time Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance came forward
to address the members of the Committee.)
MS. STRANCE: Good afternoon, Elizabeth Strance, Corporation Counsel. It's a
great question and one that we struggled with a little bit because there has been this
historical belief about that. I have not been able to find anything within our
Charter or within our County Code that has those definitions or those particular
prescriptions. And so, I think the tendency has been the departments are more
mayoral appointments, traditional structured appointments, where agencies have
tended to generally have some relationship to some other laws or be something that
is intended as Chair Kimball said, something that is almost a hybrid. And this
agency has that feel of a hybrid. So I think it's a good question. You know, and
what authority is with the voters on the charter and what is within the purview of
the Council to create added offices or agencies, within the County to support
operations or policies. And so my view of this bill is that it's a policy statement
regarding the coordination of these topic areas. But it is a policy question that this
Council needs to decide whether to adopt this, whether it feels like it's not a policy
it's something that it wants to do but there's not a law that prevents it.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So no law to say that it needs to be either
created via Charter amendment, which is what I've seen in the past, or via an
ordinance like this. But I'm also hearing that we are not, although we can't say it's
not a no, no, we're also saying that we don't really know what weight this carries,
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as far as creating an office of and what that actually means. We are appointing a
Director; we are creating staff; this does function as a department. So I'm looking
or clarification from you because I'm a little lost.
MS. STRANCE: You know, you always do this where I say I'm not sure or I
don't have an answer to your question. So the steps to look at this is, is there
anything in the State Statue, Chapter 46, that is directive on this, and the answer is
no. The next step is there anything in our Charter that provides specific direction,
and the answer is no. And then the next step, is there anything within the Hawai`i
County Code that would prevent this and again, based on my research that answer
is no. And so there's nothing that prevents it.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So take that and run with it.
MS. STRANCE: Can I just add one piece to it.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, go for it.
MS. STRANCE: Within the construct of the County Charter, there's the Office of
Management that is often referred to as the Mayor's Office, but it's actually its
own separate department, with very specific responsibilities around supervision of
various agencies and departments within the County. And so, in certain of this
agency into the County Code, it places it under the supervision of the Office of
Management. So it falls within sort of that general construction. But I hear what
you're saying, and may recall last year when there was discussion about creation
of a building division, about whether a required Charter Amendment or it could be
created by County Code.
We had a similar discussion, and I think it's similar concerns or reservations about
whether it should be by Charter or Code. An advantage of setting some up by code
is it's much easier to tweak and refine then if you set something up with much
detail in the Charter. So you have that look like I didn't give you an answer again,
but that's the analysis that we went through. So, the answer is that's there's
nothing to prevent it, and there are no definitions that make those distinctions that
you're asking for.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So if I took that to the next level that
means any Council Member here could—and I'm not, I want to get this out there.
That means any Council Member then could through ordinance, at this point,
create an office or department of spiritual awareness, unicorns, anything, given it
passed the Council, and could create staff, department heads, and allow the
position to either be political or non-political via appointment of whatever head is
going to be in charge of it.
Which is interesting, which is why I thought it was a Charter amendment, but I
understand what you're saying. I would like to know which way we're leaning. I
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mean, with this bill being in front of us and from what you just said, I think you've
leaned to this is okay, I can't find anything against that. I've never seen it, but
I've only been here four years so what do I know.
MS. STRANCE: It comes down to existence, of power and exercise a restraint of
it. At a federal level, you know,they'll sometimes talk about whether to add new
Supreme Court Justices because people don't like what the Supreme Court is
doing. And there's nothing in the Constitution that says that nine is a magic
number. Setting aside the wordiness of the agency, it comes down to governments
issue on your part, and a policy statement on your part, whether it's a packet you
want to follow. You authorized not too long ago, another agency for Animal
Control, and so this would be a second one that you folks would be setting up.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Now, it was the Animal Control Agency, but
under the Police Department, right? No, completely new agency? Oh, I'm sorry,
but this would be functioning under the Office of the Managing Director and the
Mayor's Office?
MS. STRANCE: The construct is almost identical.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay,that was a good start, thank you. I
yield, Chair.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks, Mr. Kaneali'i—Kleinfelder. Anyone else?
Mr. Inaba.
MR. INABA: Thank you. Just a few questions. So with the work R&D has
already begun on the integrated climate action plan, how do we see that work
transitioning over, being integrated into this new office?
(Note: At this time Research and Development Director Douglass Adams
came forward to address the members of the Committee.)
MR. ADAMS: Thank you, Council Member Inaba. Director for R&D,
Doug Adams. I should mention that the integrated climate action plan that's in
final draft form, is actually combined plan between Department of Planning and
Department of Research and Development. My view, and then I would ask the
Director of Planning to weigh in as well, is that the implementation of that plan is
going to be the responsibility of all the departments, with some oversight provided
by this office.
MR. KERN: Would you like me to add to that.
MR. INABA: Please, Director Kern.
(Note: At this time Planning Director Zendo Kern came forward to
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address the members of the Committee.)
MR. KERN: Sure. Zendo Kern, Planning Director. So yeah, I feel it's the same
way. We had some good discussion kind of preliminary to having this bill come
out the way that it is, and understanding how the various departments work within
their functions. And as Director Adams said, you know, we jointly worked on this
cap. And I think there were elements within that cap that this office could have
helped. I don't think it would take away from the roles that our departments did
and that was part of the discussion that we had. What I do think this position
would do or this office would do, would create the continuity, which is critical.
Continuity is essential on getting things through and passing over the
Administrations. It would create an essential voice for communication within the
various departments in our roles.
Because we all are working on something that's collective, but sometimes distinct.
So to have that central point where there's a communication, which would then
lead to collaboration on that as well as then the coordination of all these efforts.
these elements, it would helpwith the
And so that would help execute grant
funding, etcetera. But it would have that central point that's often very
challenging, and it might not have that appearance from being on the outside. But
being in these positions, in our roles in our departments, with all the efforts that
we're working on, having that center point I think is key. It's kind of that glue pull
everything together, and help push on those directives that we have. To implement
the cap.
MR. INABA: So based on your responses, even though we would like to see this
as the primary point ahead of what you folks have worked on, you folks would still
have a part to do in the ICAP (Integrated Climate Action Plan) moving forward.
MR. KERN: Yeah, my understanding is that this doesn't necessarily take away the
roles and duties that we both collectively worked on, as far as Planning
Department and Research and Development. It will help elevate that central point
of coordination and implementation. And we'll still have our specialties that we
work on. So for example like disaster recovery,that's a part of this resilience.
That effort and that work would still be going, we'll just be in coordination,
collaboration with this office. That's my understanding.
MR. ADAMS: If I can use an analogy that I've shared with Chair Kimball in the
past as well. When I was in the pentagon there was this element. Seven
individuals, typically senior field officers, that did work for the Chief of Staff at
the Army, and Secretary of the Army and they had responsibilities across the
gamut of what the Chief of staff the army had. And that included then reaching
down into the Army, the Army staff, and the whole Army to gain information; it
didn't mean that those entities that they were reaching to weren't doing their jobs it
meant though that they were tasking them with specifics that the Chief of Staff,
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Army Secretary, the Army had to do. It's not an exact analogy, but it's not a bad
one, at least from my view.
The Administrator here is going to be responding to the Council and to the Mayor,
specifically. And where there are priorities that need to be emphasized. That
Administrator is going to have the authority to reach into the departments, and say
I need this, or I need that. And the departments are going to answer that.
MR. INABA: Good analogy. I understand, thank you. For the introducers, do we
have any other positions right now that are similar in this set up for civil service
hiring but term limited?
MS. KIMBALL: So we have all the components of this. So, like our Mass Transit
Administrator is a civil service hire, our Housing Administrator is an appointment.
We have positions that are civil service, but term limited, we don't have a scenario
where we have as the Administrator. All the pieces are there, we've just combined
them all into one. And again, this was something—and maybe you want to ask the
Directors our body itself couldn't come to the consensus of the best approach, but
the consistency piece and the continuity piece that Director Kern mentioned was
kind of foremost in our thinking. We have an Administration that's focused on
sustainability right now. There's no guarantee that the next Administration will
have that same focus.
MR. INABA: And this was reviewed by Corporation Counsel, and deemed okay
by our HR(Human Resources) Director?
MS. KIMBALL: That's correct.
MR. INABA: Okay. Well I should have started with thank you for all of the work
that you and Council Member Villegas put into this. Going to definitely be
supporting the establishment of this office. I just have two more questions. First, I
have some concerns about the definitions and the way they read into some of the
content of the bill. For example we used the term equity and if you read the
definition in the context of Section 37-2-21 (a) (2) Improve environmental justice
and equity...Equity as defined that all programs conducted by the office will
consider the impact. So I just think it might be good to review the way we use
terms, so that when we reference back to the definitions it reads nicely. Because
some of them read nicely, some of them not so much. And then the last thing I
have is that we're establishing these positions in R&D, you said, right, Council
Chair Kimball?
MS. KIMBALL: Yes, but that's just to stick them somewhere that existed,
OSCER doesn't exist yet.
MR. INABA: Okay. And then maybe this is like a Corporation Counsel question.
When we say that there shall be a sustainability Administrator, and that it shall be
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in the Civil Service, and filled through Civil Service recruitment procedures.
Right now we're having to put in a budget amendment to fund the positions ahead
of our budget discussions. Are we required to fund the position, because we're
going to have make that decision, you know, in the coming weeks? And we know
there has to be an Administrator, that we shall fill it in these certain ways, are we
then required to fund the position?
MS. STRANCE: Probably, because otherwise it's a unfunded mandate. And so
there are a lot of positions that are created within the County that are currently
unfilled and unfunded. And so I suppose that it would completely undermine the
process not to fund it. If you're concerned about timing, you know, you're going
to have a chicken and egg kind of issue. You could adjust the effective date of the
bill.
MR. INABA: Oh, sorry. No, I'll just stop you I don't have concerns. I just
wanted us to know today as we head into the budget discussion that should this
pass; we need to fund the position. So it's in our best interest ahead of going in to
those conversations that we know, should this pass, we need to fund it, and we
better do it as part of our budget hearing. That's all the questions I have. Thank
you, Council Chair Kimball. Thank you, Corporation Counsel, I just wanted to set
us up for that when it's time. Thank you, Chair.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Mr. Lord looks like you want
to share something, go ahead.
(Note: At this time Managing Director Lee Lord came forward to
address the members of the Committee.)
MR. LORD: Managing Director, Lee Lord. Diane Nakagawa from our Finance
Department is on her way down if you wanted to ask her questions again when she
arrives. Thank you.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Lord. Ms. Kagiwada.
MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Actually, Managing Director Lord if you
wouldn't mind coming back. So first of all, thank you so much Chair Kimball and
Council Member Villegas. This is amazing and I know it took many, many hours
and hair pulling to get this done. But Managing Director I have a question about
just how this will actually function. As far as I heard,there's no authority to tell
departments what to do and that kind of thing, but we want to obviously
collaborate with many, many, departments.
We've got two directors here, who seem supportive, which is fabulous. But you
know, we've got Housing, DPW(Department of Public Works), DEM
(Department of Environmental Management), Civil Defense, and more that would
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come and collaborate potentially with this new office. So in the past we've had
some agencies that have worked on things together, and sometimes it's gone very
smoothly and sometimes not so smoothly. And since we don't have all these
directors here, can you give us just a little bit of input about how directors of these
other departments are responding to and feeling about this; the ones that are
underneath your jurisdiction.
MR. LORD: Oh, the current Directors have been very supportive. We've been
working, as you all know, on sustainability, equity, food sustainability, also all of
those avenues that were mentioned earlier. So we've had to use all of the
directors, in some part of what we're doing. So currently in this Administration,
they're working together. I'm trying to recollect some of the conversations we
had. But we have the County Charter I think we have to revise, and also the
position descriptions, which our discussion was around making sure that
collaboration happens. But you do bring up a good question, are we going to look
at how we're addressing the job descriptions or expectations of the other
departments to respond to this OSCER office. So I think we need to address that.
' the Administration, myself, and we're also looking currently it's y at the
continuous improvement position half time, and what we've been doing through
continuous improvement is all of that, bond building, and breakingdown silos
p g�
between the departments and making sure that those relationships happen. And
one of the reasons we wanted this half-time position for one year for continuous
improvement was we didn't want that to go away once this Administration leaves.
Somebody there that's continually making sure that whatever relationships and
connections have to happen between departments, it's objectified, it's
operationalized, that it continues to happen. And that process is in place, even if
our Administration leaves. So hopefully that all slides to it.
MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. And so then current projects one was brought up
already, but current projects that maybe in another department now and maybe
suitable perhaps to transfer over to this agency. How would those decisions be
made, and what would be the driving factors there?
MR. LORD: I think I'm going to call Director Douglass up here, Douglass Adams.
(Note: At this time Research and Development Director Douglass Adams
came forward to address the members of the Committee.)
MR. ADAMS: Thank you, Managing Director Lord. Council Member Kagiwada,
to address your question directly. I think the initial pieces and understanding of
what the missions are at the department and then how this particular office will
engage those missions. Some of the mission's that departments have will fit very
nicely, but not all of them will. So there will be a need to determine what the
missions are that this office is going to take hold of
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Part of that is going to be a set up at the office, right. We see within the structure
of the ordinance itself, the areas that it's going to have responsibility for. I think
by the nature of the office, there's overlap with some of the missions that
departments have as well. That's not a bad thing, that's a feeling of gaps kind of
thing. And as a result the need for leaders to act like leaders and work together is
going to be necessary to address. I think the question we come with.
MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. And I don't know who to direct this to, maybe it's to
the makers of the bill. But my understanding is that everything under OSCER, you
don't need all those things to address something. Going on for instance equity.
Equity would be touching almost every single department, and every single thing
we do at the County level. So do you foresee that this new agency will have direct
conversations around things like grants, contracting, equity in those things, other
places for equity?
MS. KIMBALL: I would direct you to the Justice 40 document to really highlight
how we're speaking about equity and environmental justice if you were in the
context of this office. Well, equity broadly impacts and has relevance to all of the
departments. This is maybe a narrow slice of equity, that just tied to the other
pieces that we're talking about in the scope of the office.
MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Yeah, that's what I meant by—so you don't—not
necessarily meeting every single one of these issues that you're covering, but more
than one, not just equity. Okay, I got it. Thank you so much.
MR. ADAMS: Council Member if I may make a comment to that.
MS. KAGIWADA: Yeah.
MR. ADAMS: As the Council deliberates, this particular area I think is really
important, especially important. I would even get up on the table and take my shoe
off. The reason is that, when we look at climate change and we look at the issues
associated with climate change environmental advocacy. Often times issues of
equity take a second seat. We have to be really careful in making sure that what
we do with climate change, with renewable energy, with all of these things, that
we're trying to do that are going to be malama our Aina are also making sure
we're malama our kanaka. Because if we do not take care of our people,
particularly those that are marginalized or vulnerable populations, in the process of
trying to take care of our environment. And also, mitigate and adapt to the climate
change that we know is here._And it's only going to be getting worse over the next
decades. That in and of itself is going to be a tragic result. We have to make sure
that we take care all of it together, and then the focus is on all of it together. And
that's my view. I didn't write the equity piece, but that is my view of how equity
fits into this.
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MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, and thank you. And certainly yes, we have a spotty
history of unequal burdens when we applied,you know, tried to do good in one
area, but who shoulders the burdens for that. So thank you for saying that, and I
wholeheartedly agree. Last question is just about timeline. What are we thinking
timeline wise for actually getting this off the ground and going, if it does pass?
MS. KIMBALL: So the hope is if there's favorable feeling from the body today,
I'd like to introduce the budget amendment either next week or at the second
reading. They will have our two Council hearings before the end of the fiscal year,
and we'll be able to start working on hiring the Administrator with the beginning
of the fiscal year with the funded program.
MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. What about space for this office, where will they
physically be located?
MS. KIMBALL: There is a line item in the budget right now for rent for space,
but it's possible that there's room for them in the Bank of Hawai`i building across
the street, as I understand.
MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So, space rented for them?
MS. KIMBALL: It was put into the budget just in case, but we think we probably
have existing space that can be used.
MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Thank you, Chair. I yield.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kagiwada. Mr. Inaba.
MR. INABA: Okay, going back to the position. So we created them in R&D for
now. Since the office doesn't exist, will they live there, we'll fund them there for
this first year if this bill passes?
MS. KIMBALL: No. If this bill passes, and then the subsequent budget
amendment passes. The budget amendment will create the codes for those
salaries, and wages for those positions. And those would be moved out from
R&D, and placed under this new budget code category.
MR. INABA: Perfect, thank you. Just one other small amendment on page two on
the top. Just for consistency it says, "the sustainability administrator shall have"
and just swapping climate and sustainability, so that we're always reading
sustainability before climate. And same thing, I don't if we want to consider that
in the next section as well. Alright got it, thank you. Chair, I yield.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Inaba. Anyone else?
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MS. EVANS: Here, at Kona.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Evans, go ahead.
MS. EVANS: Thank you. This is for Lee Lord. Hi, Lee.
MR. LORD: Good afternoon.
MS. EVANS: I wish I was there with you.
MR. LORD: We wish you were here.
MS. EVANS: We got a lot of people here. Anyway, I want the public to know
this line of questioning is really, really, critical, because of the Sunshine Law. I
have never seen this before; this is the first time I've seen it. The way the
Sunshine Law is, only two legislators can work on a bill. So I understand they've
worked really hard with you and with the department people, but I'm just looking
at it from fresh eyes, and I have to ask this really hard question. And the hard
question for me is, you know, I've been under the impression that the
Administration under your leadership and Mayor Roth has just been doing a bang-
up job on trying to dress climate change and the hydrogen summit. You know, I
can do all kinds of things that you've been initiating.
I'm just kind of surprised that we really have to do it this way. We already have
�
the Office of Research and Development, and I think you've been using them on
climate action, and renewable energy, and other initiatives, writing grants and
whatever. Why are you supportive of going this direction?
MR. LORD: I will answer for myself, and then I'll turn it over to
Director Adams. All the work that we have done since Mayor Roth took office has
pulled away from the departments; their main objectives, and their main missions.
They've been willing to help. And especially in Research and Development
there's a lot that Research and Development does that we've pulled their staff
away and pulled their time away. As well as the Mayor's Office, especially one of
our full-time EA's (Executive Assistant) is constantly working on whether we're
working on sustainability issue or agriculture issue. To keep the focus on what's
needs to be done, focused on in these areas that OSCER is going to be addressing.
So having a department for me or an OSCER office, will make the focus be there.
And then in perpetuity no matter what the next Administration is focused on, the
office will still be there with its mission and goals, and there will be staff available
to it, so that, you know, if the Research and Development's new Director is no
longer Doug Adams. And that person isn't all too keen in supporting things, this
keeps the focus on it keeps it moving forward. Because these issues are not going
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away, and we have to continue to this for our citizens. Doug, did you have more to
add?
MR. ADAMS: Thank you, Lee. Thank you, Council Member Evans. This is
going to be a little over the top, I apologize for that. There comes a moment in
time when it's important to focus on what is a preeminent challenge for us all, and
that is climate change. This Administration's vision,the Mayor's vision for
sustainability takes that head on. This particular ordinance, I'm sure will go
through a number of perturbations. It's gone through number of perturbations
to getting into this point.
But the idea of there being—we organize ourselves for priorities. The County's
Department of Research and Development, which I lead at the moment, we care
deeply about the missions associated with sustainability, taking on climate change,
renewable energy, the variety of things that we do, the portfolio of efforts that we
have. They all come back to sustainability, community, our ability to do things for
the economy, because that is how people have jobs, and are able to care for their
families, and have a quality of life. All of that being said, there's still a need for a
focus and the development of this organization allows that focus to be at the
mayoral level, and that is really the reason why. After all of the conversations that
we've had because Council Member Kimball can tell you, I was not necessarily on
board initially because my view, we were doing this. But at the same time, there's
a moment in time when you have to focus. And that's my perspective on this
particular organization and it's development in placement within the Mayor's and
the Managing Director's Office.
MS. EVANS: I guess my hope is I was going to introduce an amendment. but I
can't because I'm stuck by the title of the bill of the ordinance. You know, I just
see changing the name of your organization going back and calling it the Office of
Sustainable Development and Climate Action, and really standing up your office,
getting that focus that you say you want. I see that's a way that we can do it, but if
we're going to stand up a new department or whatever attached to the Mayor, I'd
rather go Charter Amendment. And that's kind of where I lean at this time, so
thank you, I yield.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Evans. Back here in Hilo, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. And first I just want to mahalo nui
Chair Kimball, and I wish Council Member Rebecca Villegas was here to
participate in the discussions. I know that climate change is an issue that's very
close to her heart. She's gone to the United Nations to participate in conversations
around this. And so I know your hearts have been poured into this, and I just want
to take a moment to thank you because this is not easy, but I'm so grateful for the
work that you've put into this. It may not be the perfect piece of legislation, but I
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think it is an important statement that we are making right now, where we are
attempting to make this a priority.
I think about past administrations, elected officials, who failed to act on challenges
we have to solve now, because they thought it's too expensive. We don't want to
grow government, I don't want to grow government; but I think this is a very
important investment that we are making in our future, that our kids are going to
thank us for. I don't want them to have to question when their parents were in
positions to actually do something about it, but they failed to act. I don't want us
to fail to act. This is not just a necessity, it's a moral imperative in my mind that
we be supporting this. I do have questions about where it should live, but listening
to the deliberations today, I'm find with it being a stand-alone office.
I think we should still have a little bit of discussion around the hiring of the
Administration. I think back very fondly to when this body hired our County
Auditor, and I like the ability of the Council to go through a very comprehensive
process to identify candidates, have the opportunity to question, and then make a
set of recommendations where we could interview in public, folks that want this
job. It is a very big and important job. So I just ask Chair Kimball and Council
Member Villegas to take that into consideration as we think about who should be
leading this office.
I also wonder and there's no sticker shock here. Creating the Animal Control
Agency was like $4 million dollars. This is not even a million, this is a drop in the
bucket when you think about climate disruptions, and what it is doing to our
planet, and our ability as humans to inhabit this space, so it's well worth it. I just
wonder because there seems to be hesitation by some members on the dais about
slow rolling this out. Yes, to the Administrator, but we do have a couple of
positions within R&D, and I didn't check with you in advance Director. But I
know you have couple of folks like Kendra and Jake, who are working on climate
change and sustainability issues. I wonder if maybe they could be shifted out
R&D and into this office initially.
I'm seeing some nods. Maybe this is something folks will consider, but just as a
way to sort of transition and to work with individuals that have actually been part
of crafting and shaping the climate action plan. It's very close to them. And I
think they're in best position, to help with implementation and leading the next
iteration of the plan, which is going to be more inclusive of business and
community members. Again, fully supportive of this. I think the office can be like
a central coordinating hub of sorts to ensure that departments, agencies,
businesses, community groups are all in alignment and taking necessary steps to
address climate change.
I'm very much a fan of the collective impact action framework, as Chair Kimball
mentioned. Was formally part of Vibrant Hawai`i, on their board, and very much
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believe in that model of every sector member of community. Knowing and
owning role, being united behind a vision, and acting, working in excellence in
their roles, to achieve those visions. I think it would be pretty phenomenal to use
this as a case study, a demonstration of government embracing collective impact.
If we are successful here then we a model for how we might be able to do that,
county wide which gets me really excited. Again, there are some small things that
need to be tweaked, but I just thank you for putting forward something we can
begin to talk about. And it's very timely because it comes during budget season
where we are essentially going to be voting on our priorities. And what's
important in the County and how we are making things better. Not just for this
generation, but for future generations. Thank you, very much. Chair, I yield.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. Thank you, everybody, for the feedback. And thank
you, to the Directors and Managing Director, for you contribution to this
Y � g g
conversation. I'd like to respond to some of things that have been put out there
just for everybody's information. You know there's conversation about how this
office is created as an amendment to the Code. This is a deliberate choice.
There're actually three pathways to create something like this, Charter amendment,
Code amendment, budget amendment. So Maui County actually created their
office as sustainability just by putting it in the budget, they didn't even have code
around it. You want to know what happened to their—it's gone, new Mayor it's
not in the budget anymore, okay.
City and County of Honolulu they have it through Charter Amendment, but we're
going to have to wait until 2024. I would argue that is too far away. And that gets
me to the next topic, which is the funding. The IRA (Inflation Reduction Act)
funding around climate is dropping now, I literally have three applications due at
the end of this month. One of them is to get electric paratransit vehicles for Mass
Transit. You know, cool things like that are becoming available. The climate
pollution reduction fund, which is one of the biggest grants out there through the
EPA(Environmental Protection Agency). The State has already been awarded the
$3 million Planning Grant. That Planning Grant is backed up $27 billion in
implementation, we need to be part of that planning part in order to be eligible for
those $27 billion.
This is not just the usual,there's money, there's money, there's money, no there's
actually money and that's why I provided that in the document. And it's dropping
right now, like I'm already feeling a little bit anxious that we are too far behind on
this. With respect to the hiring of the Administrator, yes, if we pass this bill, it
says that there shall be an Administrator. The other positions that have been put
into R&D are based on the collective impact model, they were suggested so that
we could give you guys a legit sense of what this is going to cost to stand up for
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imagining five positions. However, the code reads that the Administrator has the
ability to hire, based on what they think is necessary to meet the needs of the
office. And so the Administrator will have the ability to work with the Finance
Director if these positions need to be modified or changed to meet the objectives of
the office.
To your question, Council Member Inaba, it's really only the Administrator that is
mandated for funding, but we think that the framework lends itself to those
particular additional positions. To your point, Council Member Kierkiewicz, about
hiring like we hired the auditor. I would love to do that, that was actually my first
choice. I wrote it in there, and Judge Strance said uh-ah(no). The Council cannot
hire a position that will actually serve under the Administration, it would be a
violation of the separation of powers. Now we could go to the appointment by the
Mayor, approval by the Council. Again, it's a political appointment, if we made it
so it wasn't coterminous with the Administration it was a six year or something
like that, you'll maintain that continuity. But I can tell you that most folks wanted
to see that civil service position for this. Yeah, we couldn't come to consensus on
that, would have loved to use the auditor model because we ended such a good
Auditor that way.
The other thing that I wanted to just talk about briefly, and I'll use my own
analogy. This did come up, and Director and I had several conversations,
including one of the taxis in Honolulu about this office as I recall. There is a
distinct difference between the functioning of R&D (Research and Development)
and this office. When I worked for the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) under the
Department of Energy, we had an R&D Department, and we had a production line
which was the sequency of the Human Genome (project). So the R&D
Department was tasked with going out finding all the new ideas, testing different
procedures and protocols that improved efficiency, approved quality, lowered cost,
all of those things; They would test them, figure out what's worked, come up with
the protocols, and then pass them to the production department. Our role in the
production department was then to scale them and implement them. That is
exactly the distinction that we're making here. R&D has done a fabulous job, and
I applaud Doug and your team, for the work you have done on sustainability since
you took office. And it is because of that work, that I want to make sure that it is
continued beyond this Administration that there is that legacy that goes on
regardless of who the next Mayor is.
Just conclude briefly if I may. Council Member Evans, you did highlight the
integrated climate action plan. On page 91 of that plan is where the
implementation strategies that are recommended by the plan start being outlined.
The short-term implementation priorities 2023 to 2025, establish a centralized
coordinating authority to oversee at manage countywide climate actions and
mainstream interdepartmental collaboration. The integrated climate action plan is
a joint effort between the Planning Department, and the Department of Research, it
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is integral to plan success that a central coordinating authority be established to
consistently engage with and provide support to other departments, and community
partners, and their climate action implementation.
The central coordinating authority must be able to collaborate with other
departments through existing county processes, provide technical assistant and
support streamline climate related data gathering and dissemination, conduct cost
benefit analysis for climate action implementation, secure Federal and State
funding. County departments and their operations often fall into silos, limiting the
amount of interdepartmental collaboration needed to address the disciplinary threat
like climate change. The County must establish a protocol, for identifying
opportunities for interdepartmental collaboration on climate action. This will help
the county proactively minimize exposure to climate hazards and avoid the long-
term cost.
That's the first recommendation in the implementation priorities in the integrated
climate action plan that was produced by the Planning Department and R&D. The
second one is of course, to establish regular stake holder engagement to increase
transparency on climate action. This office is focused on those two things.
Becoming a central coordinating authority, making sure that they are able to task
the departments, and also collaborate with our external partners, and the non-profit
and private sector, to ensure that climate action is implemented.
The second piece of that is making sure that we are providing the technical
support, the communication network, to create long lasting, usually reinforcing
proactive action in this County around the issues of sustainability, climate, equity,
and resilience. This is all very intentional and backed up by other programs and
processes in the County. And again,just hope my colleagues can support these
actions.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. Alrighty, I get the privilege
of going last. I have a couple of questions. Judge Strance, have a few questions.
Completely support this and, you know, last meeting I said Council Member
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder likes to try and break things. I thought he would go harder,
he didn't, his light is still on. And I completely support, maybe not trying to break
it, but definitely testing it. Under Section (d), Legislative and budget. Article 2,
Office of Sustainability 37-2-21, we're on page four. First of all, I have to say
thank you to the authors. You know, when I saw Chapter 2, I know Chapter 2 to
be our junk draw of codes, seems like everything that doesn't fit somewhere ends
up in this chapter.
Judge Strance my question is legislation and budget the office shall evaluate
potential impacts of climate change on county facilities and infrastructure and
provide operating and capital improvement budget recommendations. In our Code
or actually in our Charter, some of that is given to our Planning Director. The
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Planning Director shall make recommendations to the CIP (Capital Improvement
Program) budget and I'm just testing that because we are—through Code, and the
word is shall, giving that authority to this officer within the sustainability office.
But in our Charter review, the list of proposed capital improvement contemplated
by agencies of the County and recommendations in order of thy priority. And
that's given under our Charter to our Planning Director,just want to understand
that a little better.
MS. STRANCE: Thank you, Elizabeth Strance, Corporation Counsel. So I think
there are a number of provisions. It's a good question, that there are a number of
provisions within this proposed bill that will require certain levels of coordination.
So at budget season, you know, the Mayor's office submits a capital improvement
budget. And so does this feed in or is this an addenda to that, I think those are
some things that will need to be worked out. What it would assure is that in your
budget considerations there would be something that expressly addresses this and
how the Administration packages that, I think, is part of what's expected by this
bill. So, as Director Adams and Managing Director Lord were saying, you know,
this bringing down of silos. As you flatten things out, you still have to parse out
and assign responsibilities. And so as the bill is written it's a requirement that they
provide that. How it is packaged and then presented to the Council, I think would
be sort of the next challenge and discussion.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Yeah, I think my larger question is does this, I mean
the Charter is the bible and then we have a Code, right. In the conflict it would be
the Planning Director who has that authority, whereas this Code says it shall. I
mean, I'm just putting it out there. These are some of the kinks that I'm seeing
with this that I'm sure can get ironed out, because then my bigger challenge is if
this officer, this Administrator has a livelihood of six years; they would go beyond
a Planning Director. They potentially could go beyond the Planning Director or
any member of the Council. And so even the mechanics of this position and again,
I'm going to be supporting this. I'm just raising my concerns on the mechanics of
this bill.
MS. STRANCE: Yeah. I think that's really appreciated, because it might be that
we need to look at that, and then do the overlay with the Charter provisions, and
temper the language, perhaps. So those are great questions, and it's better to raise
them and try to get it right now.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Yeah. The other thing I had and maybe this is
something for the maker of this bill. This I like, because we see such a incredible
push to sustainability, climate change mitigation, and all those spaces. But I don't
know what six years from now will look like, including all of the funding that goes
with it, which is why I can support it in Code, because it becomes more flexible
than some real hard corner in the Charter. But that being said,just proposing that
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this particular piece of Code has a sunset date, because then it forces that
Administrator to tie all these plans together, come up with an action or this work
goes away. I'm just putting it out there. I know there's some conversations as far
as that Administrator having a six-year window to do the work, right, and then
reapply or whatever that looks like. Just another space where we would have an
off-ramp because this would have a sunset provision. And I'm not saying that
we're not going to want to continue this, I'm just saying that sunset might be an
off-ramp to retailer this bill to what the issues are, of that time and space. Just
food for thought.
I focused in on that legislative budget analysis, because Council Member
Kierkiewicz and I did a lot of work around needs assessment for our County assets.
And if this is the tool to leverage that to make sure that our county assets are being
built to meet the future needs, great. What's also missing from this is the up keep
repair and maintenance piece of those assets, right, and how that tailor into this
goal. Those are my thoughts again, supportive of this bill, supportive of the goals.
I'm just trying to really put it into action, and look at how it might bump into the
Charter, and some provisions that are given to various directors. And how we
even structure our budget and structure our CIP wish list.
MS. STRANCE: Council Member, can you refresh my memory on the needs
assessment group that you and Council Member Kierkiewicz stood up. Was that a
permitted interaction group or was that an ordinance?
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: No, that was just a resolution. Council Member
Kierkiewicz; we were interfacing, yeah. And again, I think what the community is
really asking us to do is just meet the needs of the community. These are great
goals and if this helps us build better facilities, find, and capture money so that we
can do that, I'm all in. I just have some concerns that we might be pushing up
against some Charter language that gives certain authorities to certain department
heads. And if you tell me not, and that pathway, and that analysis, I'm good. I'm
really good.
MS. STRANCE: I think at some level the coordination piece will be depended
upon the level of cooperation of the department heads. And so you can require
things, but it does elevate it where there would be probably the obvious pukas
where it wasn't done. I hope I'm not stepping out of my lane. I'm kind of a
curmudgeon when it comes to adding new layers of government. It's kind of a
shopping thing, whether if you add something, whether you should let something
else go, and that's a perspective that I come from.
I want to say that one of the most exciting afternoons of my time in this job was
sitting in a meeting with the working group on this, and watching our young
people just grab on to this. You know, it's their language, they're committed to it,
their education is around it, and even watching the testimony today, you know, it's
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a topic that has just so much enthusiasm around it. And whether you do it with
this bill or not, there is an incredible generation of young people that have a lot of
talent to offer to this.
And the language of it, and the purpose of elevating it to something important, and
very visible in government; if my limited experience watching these young people
• and listening to this testimony is any indication, it is a way to engage the next
generation in government. And so when I think Council Member Kierkiewicz was
talking about moving forward—so I just say that what mechanism it is, it's going
to be what it is. But just watching that level of engagement and enthusiasm was
really one of the most exciting days I've had in my job.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thanks Judge Strance. And I think to the makers of
this bill that's what this was about, right, was to engage in that conversation. So
having said that, I see one more light. I know we really have to start a meeting at
5 o'clock. I'm going to go to Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and then if you could take
us home, Ms. Kimball. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. One follow up question
from everything I just heard, there is no requirements for the Administrator. And
touching on what Ms. Strance just said, I'm concerned that the six years and the
lack of requirements is actually going to give us somebody stale. It's going to
create staleness in direction in a department like this. Sorry, I'm not crying. I just
want to see young people in the position, I want to see people who are brilliant.
I've had people come to me recently, I did solar for 10 years, I thought I was fairly
smart, and she opened my mind to things I didn't even understand and technology
I didn't understand.
And that really helped me understand, and I'm—you think of yourself as one way,
but you realize when confronted with someone else who's brilliant, that you may
not be, so intelligent. Good reminder, you know, for humbleness yeah, we got to
be humble. But I look at six years, and I look at no direction for that
Administrator, and I see that as a potential problem because I have sat in
government for four years, and I got to say sometimes I'm quite a cynical person,
it's been pointed out to me. But in that cynical nature of mine what I've come to
realize is, sometimes I just don't have faith it's going to get done. So we got to put
bills like this forward, to get things done. You folks are working on it, everyone's
working on it, but we seem to just kind of sludge along it like government does.
I'd like to see that tighten up and make this real actionable. If you make it
actionable, then I can support this. Right now I feel like it's kind of, I'm going to
call it cute. It's cute but I'm looking for something a little bit more action packed
if that's helpful. Thank you, I yield.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Alright, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, thank you.
Ms. Kimball let's take us home, and we'll get to the vote.
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MS. KIMBALL: Yeah, thank you. To your point about the overlap of
recommendations on the budget, this is actually something Judge Strance, and I
argued about briefly in our deliberations. And it was actually something that the
Planning Department actually requested support from, and that is just ensuring that
when we talk about Capital Improvements in particular that it's viewed from this
climate lens. Like, let's not build things in places that are going to be under water
in however many years. So there's probably going to be a play there. The reason
why it ended up kind of being okay is that the Planning Department isn't the
decision-making body about the CIP budget, they make the recommendations. It's
okay for someone else to also make recommendations, as long as there's that
distinction between who is the ultimate decider. The ultimate decider, of course, is
us and the Council.
To Council Member Kaneali`i–Kleinfelder's point, it's actually the Administrator
does have specific functions which is to implement the goals of this chapter, and to
implement the goals of this office as set out in Chapter 37. So what will happen is
if this were to be approved, the Administrator would have a position description
that was written by HR(Human Resources Department) based on the requirements
of the office in this chapter. So it's not willy nilly it's actually they, have to
accomplish the task here. This is the draft of the remaining portions of Bill 37, it's
about 40 pages. We've got a lot of extra material talking about equity, talking
about specific targets that are—for example, we have targets around renewable
energy, we have targets already established around transportation. We're going to
codify those as part of this, so that there would be actual bench marks that the
office is responsible for.
The reason for separating into two pieces is because if you're committed to the
collective impact model, you're working on the foundation that you're going to
initiate things with the collective common agenda. And so you have to actually
work on this with everybody, all the stakeholders you can't just dictate this is what
we're going to do. We create the office, they facilitate the collective impact
model, we get the common agenda, we get that implemented as a broader more
concrete set of guidelines about what this office is going to accomplish. So want
to make sure that everybody's aware that this is just step one. But there's the sense
of urgency because like I said that money is already dropping out there, we want to
time it so that we're getting in with the budget and go from there. So thank you for
the deliberation today, willing to think on the sunset provisions, it's not a terrible
idea. Thanks.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kimball. We have a motion on the
floor to forward Bill 48 to the Council with a favorable recommendation,
Mr. Clerk, roll call please.
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Vote on Bill 48: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 48 on first reading
(Approved) was carried by the following roll call vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, and Acting Chair Lee Loy—7.
Noes: Council Member Evans— 1.
Absent: Council Member Villegas— 1.
Excused: None.
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 4:45 p.m., Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adjourn
MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Kimball, and Acting Chair Lee Loy—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Villegas— 1.
Excused: None.
ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: This meeting is adjourned.
Approved:
-7//6/04002
Ms. Cindy Evans, Chair (Date)
Committee on Government Operations
and External Affairs
CE/rk
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