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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOEAC 2023/11/14 (2022-2024) Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs st 21 Session West Hawaiʻi Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi November 14, 2023 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations and ORDER: External Affairs was called to order at 9:00 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Cindy Evans, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Cindy Evans, Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent & Excused: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Vice Chair 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 individual registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Steve Lopez: Res. 287-23 (Comm. 497), in support. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, would you please read in Resolution 287-23? ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 Res. 287-23: URGES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO REQUIRE THAT ALL BOARD AND COMMISSION MEETINGS PROVIDE VIRTUAL ACCESS FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, LIVE VIEWING, AND POST-MEETING VIEWING Seeks to ensure maximum levels of involvement, transparency, and accountability of government activity. Reference: Comm. 497 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 287-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. EVANS: Any discussion? Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: Yes. Good morning, everyone, thank you so much. This resolution is something that I’m introducing. As you know, our meetings are streamed live. There are recordings of our meetings that are broadcasted on our local channels and available for viewing online afterwards. Right now, we do have some boards and commissions here at the county who don’t currently have the ability to share live recordings and even view back the meetings. So for those who don’t reside in either Kona or Hilo where meetings are held, folks down in Kaū, folks up in Kohala, they will always need to make a drive to be attending ʻ any of these boards and commission meetings that don’t have virtual access. So I have included, as an exhibit to this resolution, a list of the boards and commissions who do or do not offer virtual access, and I just want to point out there is one mistake and that’s with the Water Board. Right now, it says that they do provide virtual access and they currently don’t. I believe it might have at one point. But really, this is to provide for our entire community, equal access to the boards and commission meetings that occur in our county. I would have preferred to have this be in the Code, but in discussing with Corporation Counsel, HRS (Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes) 92 prevents further county legislation in this area. So, asking for your support in providing equal access and increased transparency for our county government and the operations that we take care of here on our island. Happy to take any questions. MR. HENRICKS: Madam Chair, before you proceed, I’m just getting some information that we might have some—just reset the system very quickly, we’re having some difficulty, ironically, with our audio. CHR. EVANS: I can take a— Page 2 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 MR. HENRICKS: Five-minute recess should be sufficient. CHR. EVANS: Five-minute recess by the call of the Chair. 9:10 a.m., we will return at 9:15 (a.m.). We’re in recess. Recess: At 9:10 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 9:15 a.m. CHR. EVANS: Okay, so it’s now 9:15 (a.m.), we’re reconvening the Committee on Government Operations and External Affairs. Do we have any discussion? Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. Per the Clerk’s recommendation, he asked that I recap what I previously shared in case it was missed. So before us, Resolution 287-23 is a resolution that urges the Office of the Mayor to require all boards and commissions provide virtual access for public participation, live viewing, and after-the-fact viewing. We know our community is big and we host our boards and commission meetings in Hilo and in Kona, so for those folks who are not residing in Hilo or in Kona, boards and commission are pretty much inaccessible for those who don’t currently provide virtual access. Attached to this resolution is an exhibit that shows which county boards and commissions currently do and do not offer virtual access. This was provided to us by the Mayor’s office. So really, if we do want people to know what’s going on in county government, we want to increase that transparency of the leadership of our county and we really want to have that involvement from community, we need to provide this access, so I’m asking for my colleagues’ support. And in discussing this resolution, which was initially shared with Corporation Counsel as a bill, there were concerns that the open meetings, HRS 92 chapter, kind of covers enough and prevents us from legislating further at the County level. So this resolution is being introduced as a statement from the Council to make sure that our community is able to participate in these meetings. Again, I ask for your support and welcome any questions. Mahalo. CHR. EVANS: Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. For the maker or for everybody, I just checked, and I also believe the committee with the people with disabilities is also now—has the option of virtual, so you can make that adjustment as well. Just a question about the ones that say “N/A” is that because they aren’t always active or they may not be active right now, or is that because they need to be closed sessions? What’s the “N/A” boards and commissions there? Page 3 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 MR. INABA: We do have Pomaikai Bartolome in the Hilo Chambers. MS. KAGIWADA: We have Bobby here. Mr. Command. MR. INABA: Deputy—Managing Director Command is here. I believe for some of these they do, they aren’t meeting regularly, so that’s for some of them like the Charter Commission and the Banyan Drive, but if you’d like to clarify any of those that you see like the North Kohala CDP (Community Development Plan) who have “N/A”. I don’t believe they currently are. (Note: At this time, Deputy Managing Director Bobby Command came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. COMMAND: Can you hear me? MR. INABA: Yes. MR. COMMAND: So, I have a short statement here, but actually, that is—your question is more a Pomai question. Would you like that information, or would you like to present this first? MS. KAGIWADA: It was my question, and I would love—thanks Miss Pomai Bartolome, could you just look at the list here and kind of explain to us those that say “N/A” after them? (Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaikai Bartolome came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. BARTOLOME: Yeah, sure. Aloha, Pomaikai Bartolome, Executive Assistant to Mayor Roth here. So the Banyan Drive Redevelopment Agency, we all know that we’re still nominating and appointing members for this committee, so they’re not actively meeting. In fact, that’s for majority of the N/As, they’re actually either not active or we are still filling the seats in order for them to actually have an official meeting. So Cost of Government— MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, so there’s no reason they can’t be open once they get started? MS. BARTOLOME: No. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. I wanted to check on that, thank you. I guess another couple of questions, and maybe the Deputy Managing Director’s going to address this, but wondering if this goes for board and commission members as well, if that’s a possibility to have hybrid meeting if people can’t all make it to Page 4 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 Hilo and Kona given that they’re all volunteers and they live all over around the island. I’ll just put a few of my questions out there, maybe you can get to them. The testifier mentioned that working hours are limiting for the public to participate if every meeting is during the day during the week. I’ve also brought this up that I think that’s problematic for recruiting and retaining volunteers for these boards and having diverse members on these boards and commissions. I feel like basically, we’re pulling from retirees and those who have the ability to have very flexible work schedules, and that’s not really a representative group of our community. So, concerned about that, and just wondering if there’s any— looking forward, is there any possible leeway for making some of these later evenings or weekends if the board members and commissioners feel like that’s really important? Then the last one I have here is just the testifier also talked about public notification. I believe that is already taken care of by Sunshine Law, but it would be great if you could address that as well. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Diana Mellon-Lacey came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. MELLON-LACEY: Good morning, this is Diana Mellon-Lacey, Deputy Corporation Counsel, and I can address a couple of your questions at least. With respect to the types of meetings, we are bound by the Office of Information Practices, so we’re allowed to have, of course, the traditional in-person meeting and then we can have what’s called remote meetings. When we have a remote meeting—a remote meeting is one where everybody can be in a different place, so board or commission members could attend from their home or office or wherever. But when we have one of those meetings in that way, we have to have a public location, at least one, that the public can come to and where we would have the capability for them to watch it and to also give testimony and participate. That’s separate from the way the Council was set up. Usually, the way that’s been done is in a conference room, maybe with a laptop and an IT (Information Technology) or staff person, at least one, to help facilitate public coming to that meeting. Then we have what I think you used the word hybrid meeting, and that hybrid meeting is one where it’s in person, in a public location, but we also allow people to attend virtually, and that’s probably the hardest and most sophisticated kind of meeting for departments to run because you have to have equipment that’s going to allow for everyone to be heard and hear. And while like here in the Council Chambers, this is all set up and you’ve got IT people sort of on the ready. For the departments handling meetings, they don’t have all those Page 5 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 resources and if you don’t have the proper set up, it kind of falls flat because people can’t hear each other. So I think like so many things that stifle us, it’s resources, not that departments don’t want to facilitate virtual participation, so it’s resources and the best way to do that. But those are the kinds of meetings that the Sunshine Law allows us to have with those requirements. Have I answered all your questions, or you had some more? I’m sorry. MS. KAGIWADA: Yeah, not quite—just the testifier asked about public notification. Are all our boards and commissions following Sunshine Law as far as notification? MS. MELLON-LACEY: To my knowledge. If they don’t, then we have to cancel meetings and it’s no longer a requirement to publish in newspapers. So the reason I think that some boards and commissions do this is that they may have that as a requirement in their own rules, but it is not a part of the statute requirement, as long as we post it on the county’s website. MS. KAGIWADA: So the main place that we must post is on the county, the online county calendar, is that correct? MS. MELLON-LACEY: Correct. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, and then there may be additional places but that’s the one that’s required? MS. MELLON-LACEY: And we’re also required to physically post it outside the location, the meeting room location. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So I hope that answers some of the public’s questions about that. What about—so you’ve talked about remote meetings and hybrid meetings, for the hybrid meetings, do you also need that site for public to testify other than the in-person place that they can testify? MS. MELLON-LACEY: Well, no because when you’re doing the hybrid meeting, by definition, you have a public location, and at least some board members present at that public location so public members can come to that. But then you also allow them to participate virtually, and so you don’t have the kind of set up that this room, the Council Chambers have, where people can be remote and hear each other and all. It can be daunting if you don’t have the right kinds of equipment. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. It seems like we have lots of options, I mean I’ve been working with Ms. Bartolome with the new Youth Commission to find Page 6 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 places to meet and there are—there do seem to be plenty of options where you can do a hybrid meeting. Maybe there’s a few departments that lead a board or commission that maybe need a little more support, but seems like that might be worth it in order to include the public. That’s just my sentiment. So thank you and appreciate your input here. I yield. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Any other member? Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. First off, I wanted to say thank you, Council Member Kagiwada, for those poignant questions. Those were some of the directions my mind had been going as we’ve watched the Administration often struggle with filling roles on the boards and commissions. And having had a taste of what was possible through digital media connectivity during COVID (Coronavirus disease), it was kind of an odd silver lining, but I also understand and respect the challenges now that we’re out of that time of emergency, how do we keep that going in perpetuity? So I will be supporting this piece of legislation today and I would like to see, moving forward, the opportunity for actual participants in these boards and commissions to be able to Zoom in. I just think it provides a lot better accessibility and it broadens the playing field for people who may want to participate but cannot commit or then just don’t show up. Then we end up with lack of full representation for different districts in those boards and commissions meetings. So thank you for bringing that up and I look forward to continued work to open that access up. I yield. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: I just wanted to ask Deputy Director Command if he wouldn’t mind reading his statement. (Note: At this time, Deputy Managing Director Bobby Command came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. COMMAND: So aloha, committee members. Before I read this, I just wanted to second Corporation Counsel’s thought that this is all about resources. You had asked about meeting at night and let me back up just a little bit. The Mayor’s office has no problem with this resolution, 100 percent behind it. It’s not if it’s how, and the how becomes resources. One of the issues that we had a number of months ago, maybe a year ago, was that we had a GMAC (Game Management Advisory Commission) meeting and there was some sort of call on social media which put out the wrong information and a whole bunch of people, a whole bunch of very angry people showing up at a GMAC meeting, had to stop the meeting. There was a threat of violence and that part about it, the night meetings, we don’t have security here at night. We do, but basically, the security Page 7 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 is call police. Same thing with the County building in Hilo. Yeah, it can be a little bit hairy outside. I’m sure you’ve been around here at night and yeah, not enough light and everything but anyway, it’s all about resources. Let me just read this, it says, “We see the writing on the wall and hybrid meetings are the future of boards and commissions. So the question becomes not if but how we make that happen, and how will determine when we implement a feature that the public expects and deserves. We’ve already begun collecting information in anticipation of improving how we manage the 40 plus boards and commissions in the County of Hawaiʻi. Last week, we spoke to Ellen Ching, the Administrator of the Office of Boards and Commissions on Kauai, a six-person office that manages a total of 17 commissions and collected a lot of information to consider. Pomai and I have also spoken several times to Corporation Counsel Strance who has a keen interest in the subject of boards and commissions. Not only that, Chair Kimball’s staff has reached out to the Office of the Mayor as recently as this morning to begin discussions on how we can find more resources to improve our management of boards and commissions. We ask that you allow us to collect more information from the other counties and come up with some alternatives that we can discuss at a hearing soon.” Pomai, Corp. Counsel, and I are here to answer any questions. Mahalo. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Any other discussion? Yes, Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Yeah, I like this resolution. I like the intent. Any time we increase transparency for our community in government, then we’re doing good for our community. It’s good to hear the administrative support and figuring out the how is the next step. I would have loved to see the bill that this was because I like the bill push, which is we’re going to make this happen and then we figure out how after, instead of urging, seeing how we do it. Just a few typographical errors for I think maybe Pomai. In the Exhibit A, the Game Management Advisory, “advisory” is spelt incorrectly, there’s an extra “o”. And then I believe the Environment Management Commission should be Environmental Management Commission. Small, but necessary things to fix within the system; not sure where the information came from as far how you compiled the list. My only question for Corp. Counsel, so HRS 92, is there anything that changed recently or is this just the HRS 92 as is has created the issue where we can’t address this via Council Code, this has to be done in a resolution form? If you Page 8 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 touched on that already, I apologize but just trying to understand a little bit of the background. MS. MELLON-LACEY: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, this was changed, I think in 2023 most recently, to include all of the changes since the pandemic, and since the state law, I think, does not require the virtual meeting to occur, it’s optional. Then there’s a feeling that we should stay within the confines of the state law, but perhaps there’s some other considerations that the Corporation Counsel has in mind that I’m not aware of. MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. Ms. Strance. (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. STRANCE: Thank you. Good morning, Elizabeth Strance, Corporation Counsel. Since some of the advice that Council Member Holeka was describing came from me, don’t want to put Ms. Mellon-Lacey in a bad situation. So just contextually, I’m going to back up just for a minute. Prior to the COVID epidemic and the emergency proclamations put in place to respond to that, there was not an option for remote meetings under the state law. So when the state law was suspended by the governor, the governor put in place the opportunity to have remote meetings so government could continue to move forward and the public could continue to participate. As the epidemic was winding down and the Administrative Rules were winding down, the requirement or the permission to have the remote meetings was going to be phased out. But at that point, there was a lot of public interest in maintaining that feature of the emergency proclamation. The original amendments to Chapter 92 of the Hawaiʻi Revised Statute, which is the Sunshine Law, implemented some of the changes that were implemented during the COVID emergency proclamation, but not all of them. So people have become used to certain features of the remote meetings that were not present in the original, I think 2020 law. Then in 2021, I believe, the legislature added in additional features regarding the remote meetings. So this is very much a dynamic process and a timely conversation because I don’t think, and this resolution is obvious that we’re not finished with the discussion yet, so I place that into context. There is a theory of law called preemption and that rule of law is where the state or federal government has enacted a law that kind of takes over an area. County or state governments are not permitted to enact laws that are inconsistent with that state or federal law. So the original discussions that Council Member Inaba and I had had features that might violate the state law, it might not violate the state law. My recommendation is that I think that the—I don’t know that the Page 9 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 legislature is done tweaking the Sunshine Law, and if the county is able to address its concerns through practice, then it would not have to go back and tweak its county law as the state clarifies and either expand or contracts the state law. So in terms of drafting legislation, it’s theoretically possible unless there is state law that says that the state’s preemption is so pervasive that it prevents the counties from coming in and doing anything or whether the state law just establishes a floor and the counties can enact legislation that can increase the level above the floor. So any attempt to legislate I think needs to be kind of cautiously approached because it’s not clear that the state is done with it. Historically, the legal advice that we provide you is in large part based upon the advice and training that is published by the Office of Information Practices, and when or if the counties start deviating from that state practice, then our ability to rely upon, really standard pronouncements of what the law requires, has to be given in context that now we have a law that’s different than what the state law is and presumably what the other counties may be doing. The final piece is that the way that boards and commissions are set up in this state and county is that you have boards and commissions that are created by state statute, you have them that are created by County Charter, and some that are created by the County Code. We don’t have an administrative chapter called boards and commissions and so some of what you’re talking about is trying to pull together all of these really disparate pieces, some of which may have different requirements in creating some uniform practice and that would require a lot of thought, I think. Then finally, just to touch on a comment that was made on the applicable and inapplicable pieces, and I’m not sure that this was what Ms. Bartolome was talking about, but within the structure of boards and commissions, we have some boards and commissions that are advisory and some that are adjudicatory. Those boards and commissions that have adjudicatory functions, such as the Tax Board of Appeals, you might have certain boards and commissions that deal with employment matters. All of those are required to take place within an executive session, and as you know, any executive session is going to be shielded from public view and scrutiny as to what’s happening within that board, within that executive commission. So any kind of blanket pronouncement regarding boards and commissions, I think, that’s another layer of consideration that would need to be given. But having said that, this resolution and discussion seems very timely, given where we were two-and-a-half years ago and where we are now. It appears that there’s a lot of interest in what is being proposed both on the legislative side and on the administrative side of the county government. Page 10 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: As a short follow up, what is the floor for transparency? We talk about preemption and state law, what is the—if you can, kind of summarize, but what is the floor for them as far as what we have to do and can we create more ability for transparency? MS. STRANCE: The basic floor of the Sunshine Law is that they’re open to the public, there are minutes requirements, there are packet requirements, and agendizing and notice requirements. That’s the floor, but what we’re talking about is building in layers of opportunity for people to participate and so that kind of blurs what we’re talking about for transparency. It’s really about access because all of our boards and commissions are presumably, and as best as we know, are acting within the requirements of the Sunshine Law, which is that public participation option and it’s open to the public. What this is about is how do we bring more people into the process to participate meaningfully? So I would distinguish between transparency and access. I wasn’t real sure but I tried. MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: No, that’s good, I like that. And to Mr. Lopez’s point, and we’re talking about folks in our rural, underserved areas, Puna, Kā'u, Kohala, that don’t have, cannot get to, don’t have access to internet, cannot participate. And our job really is to make sure everyone can participate so that we can make better decisions, or they can at least understand why, what, how did it happen, who did what. So this is beautiful. I think this resolution is beautiful, and then I’m interested in 92 but I’ll go back and I’ll read through it and see where we’re coming from and then better understand what you just went through. MS. STRANCE: And I will say that from our office, we’ve elevated our involvement and interest in this topic by assigning Diana Mellon-Lacey to kind of a, not a position, but she’s our boards and commissions representative resourced for the Mayor’s office as well and she’s the supervisor of our Counselling and Drafting division. Those are the deputies that get assigned to the various boards and commissions and so thought that given her involvement as the supervisor of that division, that it makes sense for her to be the liaison on that issue as you folks and the administration is sorting through this. MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Strance. My final comment, what I hear from the community is they work, and so our board commission meetings happen in the middle of the day, understanding that we also work, and we have a schedule, 9-5, 7-4, whatever it’s going to be. If the folks who want to participate, if we’re talking about participation, active participation from the community, but our meetings happen when they can’t attend, Zoom provides a really nice option because you can attend maybe while you’re at work, if your boss lets you or whatever you’re doing or during your daytime activities, even when you’re driving, that happens once in a while. But Page 11 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 in the evenings, that becomes a very accessible time for our community. So trying to find a healthy balance between safety and security of personnel who are providing the meetings or providing the space for the meeting, the public participation point as well as ensuring that the public can participate from anywhere, kind of a—both sides of the spectrum and following HRS 92 and our own County Code. That’s my comment, really, how do we ensure that the public can participate outside of the normal hours for us or within their hours of being able to participate? MS. STRANCE: So the requirements of the state law are that if you’re going to allow for that participation from anywhere, you have to provide a site from somewhere so that people who do not have access from anywhere can go there and I think that’s some of what Mr. Command was addressing with the security. MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: And I do recognize the situation you brought up, Mr. Command, and that was unfortunate and one out of, I mean I don’t know how many meetings that have been held. So finding a way to provide security to make sure staff are okay and then making sure that we can open these meetings up to more people to provide more participation and access. That’s really, I mean that’s kind of a beautiful combination of government and people participating. MR. COMMAND: Totally agree on—and just to provide a little more context, we talked to the boards and commissions office on Kauai, all their meetings are held during the day. MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, yeah, that’s what I understand too. And I know there’s one commission in general that really would like to see evening participation because they get a better turnout. Their numbers show we get a way better turnout in the evenings because people can attend, that’s our Game Management Advisory Commission. MR. COMMAND: Understand. MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Beautiful, thank you. Mr. Inaba, thank you for bringing this forward, sorry it’s not in bill form, that would have been beautiful. But thank you very much, Administration, and Chair, I yield. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. I just have a follow up to what Judge Strance was saying. So you’re saying that there are some boards or commissions that they only do executive sessions, they never have meetings where the public can come. Is that what you were saying? Page 12 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 MS. STRANCE: That’s not accurate. MS. KAGIWADA: Oh, okay. And if they do go into executive session, do they still notice the meeting and notice the items that they’re going to talk about, just like we do for Council? MS. STRANCE: Yes. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So public still has the opportunity to comment even if they don’t have the opportunity to listen in on discussion, is that correct? MS. STRANCE: Correct. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So to me, that sounds like there’s still opportunity for the public to be involved even with those boards and commissions that tend to go into a lot of executive sessions, right? Maybe that hasn’t been so much of the history, but it is there for them if they want the opportunity. MS. STRANCE: Understood. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Okay, so I also wanted say thank you. I just wanted to say thank you for bringing this forward, I think it’s really important, I’ll totally be supporting. I hope we can go a little further and work with the Mayor’s Office to beef up our support of the boards and commissions and look at some of these other issues. Thank you, I yield. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Member Inaba, for putting this forward. I think one of the good things that came out of COVID was the interactive, sort of, conference technology. I think prior to COVID, folks were like, “What’s Zoom? What’s Webex?” And I think most people at least have heard of it these days, and so I like the idea of us shifting to every board and commission meeting having some sort of hybrid meeting approach where there is a location that a member of the community or a commission member, board member, can show up to, but folks can participate remotely. How quickly, Deputy Managing Director, can the Administration shift to having all boards and commissions function in a hybrid manner? I know you talked about resources and constraints but got to figure it out. I think there’s a public expectation now and the idea of an open, accessible meeting has really changed because of the pandemic. It’s not just in person, but we need to be able to access over platforms like Zoom. Page 13 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 MR. COMMAND: So like I said, we’ve been talking about this. Certainly, Judge Strance has sat us down a number of times, and we’ve spoken for quite a bit on this subject. We spoke to the people on Kauai. We hope to be able to talk to Maui and Oʻahu, find out how they run their boards and commissions and then maybe come back and report to you sometime early next year. I’m kind of going into the holidays right now, but if we could gather some more information, I think we’d be better able to discuss this. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: What other information is needed? Sorry, I think it’s pretty clear, hybrid meeting, as Judge Strance sort of explained. MR. COMMAND: I’d like to kind of get a idea of how much it’s going to cost. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MR. COMMAND: I’m not sure how long it’ll take to get that, but it shouldn’t be too long. MS. STRANCE: I’d like to just add, we would have to double check on whether this body can take authority away from boards and commissions to opt to not have remote meetings if they want to meet in person, because I believe the statute right now gives them that authority. So we would have to look at that. The second piece, just in terms of timing, is it takes a very specific skillset to manage a hybrid meeting. So when you have board or commission members, members of the public, it does take some skill to do—there are lots of trainings, and we would want to make those available to board and commission members. Certain Chairs may not be that interested if expectation is that as a supervisory responsibility, the Mayor’s Office, that means having a person with those skills staffed at every single board and commission meeting. So I know the inclination is it’s just easy, we’ll just get a Zoom license and we’re ready to go, but there are a number of other pieces and skills that are required and would require us to ramp up if that was the direction this body and county were heading. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So you’re saying by the beginning of next year you’ll have a plan and a budget for how we can shift to hybrid meeting structure for all boards and commissions? I mean some boards and commissions are already functioning in that way, so I feel like you have some of that research already done. MR. COMMAND: Right, yeah. I think that’s reasonable. Page 14 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. One thing I want to clarify because I heard some of my colleagues point out, there’s an issue sometimes with quorum and with members having to either go to Hilo or Kona Council Chambers to participate. Just my reading of this, Council Member Inaba, public participation goes beyond just anybody showing up to provide testimony, but members of our public who have signed up to volunteer, ensuring their ability to participate and contribute as a board member and a commission member. I want to push the envelope a little bit more and say outside of just having Hilo and Kona as potential meeting facilities, similar to what the Charter Commission has done, and Clerk, check me if I’m incorrect here, but I recall the Charter Commission going to different community centers around the island to meet. I’d like for that to also be explored as part of your plan, just so that we’re ensuring equitable access to meeting time. There’s a lot of burden placed on individuals that live in rural communities having to commute to either Hilo or Kona. So just levelling the playing field a little bit and venturing outside of your ʻahupuaʻa. into other communities and seeing if we might be able to host different boards and commission meetings in other communities. We have beautiful facilities around the island that I think could accommodate that. MR. COMMAND: I’ll look into that. Thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you very much. I yield, Chair. CHR. EVANS: Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. Just really quickly, thank you, everyone, for the discussion today. We do want to push it further and with this resolution, it is specific to the public’s ability to access live and after-the-fact. But I do want to say I know we use different platforms, but put a plug in for the Planning Department, the meetings that are streamed via YouTube are very accessible and the public knows how to use YouTube, not that that’s the best platform, but as soon as it’s done being streamed live, it is right there for viewing immediately. I just think we could perhaps use that as a model, not just for what should be but even considering the resources it takes to make it happen. The Planning Department might be a good place to look at. Thank you. MS. STRANCE: Council Member Inaba, my understanding is with Council the YouTube option is an observation option, people can log on and watch and then retrieve, but for participation, I believe they may have a Zoom access. So there’s two different parts of that, and I could be wrong but that’s my memory. MR. INABA: That is the case for the Planning Department, yes. Page 15 GOEAC-21 November 14, 2023 CHR. EVANS: Okay members, we’ve had a lot of discussion, any more? If not, I just want to thank everyone for their—my colleagues’ great questions and great discussion. My comment is to the maker of the resolution. I’m assuming we’re going to forward this to Council and we’ll probably have an amendment to clean up some of the language. But also based on the good discussion, I think by Member Kierkiewicz, we may want to add under the “Be it Further Resolved” that we’d like to see a report prior to the submittal of the draft budget, which I think is in March, if we could get a report prior to the draft budget on the evaluation and potential plan and what that might look like. It sounds like they’ve done a lot of work but there’s more to do but I think if we’re going to pass it, let’s just put it in there. It’s a suggestion. Thank you. Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, so sorry. One more thing I wanted to add in regards to the meeting calendar. So I know that under the boards and commissions page, there is an interactive calendar that you can click on that publicizes the various meetings. What I really appreciate about the Clerk’s Office and Planning Department is the Clerk’s Office publishes a calendar for the entire year, so you know when every committee and council meeting is going to happen and if it will be in Hilo or Kona, and it also notates our special budget meetings or other hearings that we must have. The Planning Department publishes an annual calendar for its commission meetings for Leeward and Windward, and I wonder if the same can be done for each board and commission because I tried to go through the fact sheets and there is no standard day and time, say first Wednesday at 10 a.m. I think that would be really helpful because if people care, if they really care about these issues, they’re going to show up, no matter the day, no matter the time, they’re going to make it a priority. And I think that also helps to increase participation, when folks know the meetings are going to happen. So just another consideration as we plan for increasing public’s access to these meetings. Thank you, Chair. MS. EVANS: Thank you. You’re welcomed to come to the Council meeting, we may have more questions. MR. COMMAND: Happy to do so. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. So we have a motion on the floor, all in favor? Page 16 GOEAC-21 November 14,2023 Vote on Res. 287-23: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 287-23 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Lee Loy— 1. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 9:58 a.m., Ms. Villegas moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Inaba, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Lee Loy— 1. Excused: None. CHR. EVANS: Thank you, we are adjourned at 9:58 (a.m.). Adjourned. Approved: 1Viq/2, 3 Ms. Cindy Ev s air (Date) Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs CE/jm Page 17