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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOEAC 2023/12/05 (2022-2024) Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs 22nd Session Hawai`i County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai`i December 5, 2023 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations and ORDER: External Affairs was called to order at 1:27 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Cindy Evans, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Cindy Evans, Chair Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Vice Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member (came in later) Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member (came in later) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Dwayne Mukai: Comm. 598, in support. (Representing Japanese Community Association of Hawai`i) Tommy Goya: Comm. 598, in support. (Representing Japanese Chamber) Chuck Flaherty: Comm. 612, in support. Jon Olson: Comm. 612, in support. CHR. EVANS: Thank you very much. Colleagues if you'll be flexible, I'd like to start the Order of Business with number 12, and then jump to 20 and 21. We GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 do have the mayor and people here that I know they want to get back into all the good work. So having said that, Clerk, Communication 12. Oh, Communication 598. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 598: ANNUAL REPORT OF SISTER CITY ACTIVITIES: JULY 1, 2022 TO JUNE 30, 2023 From Sister City Protocol Officer Jane Clement, dated November 7, 2023, submitting the above report pursuant to Section 2-166 of the Hawai`i County Code. Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 598. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. EVANS: Okay. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, Mayor, Jane. Thank you, we have the annual report, you could provide us with all the highlights. (Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Jane Clement came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. CLEMENT: Committee Chair, Evans, Council Chair Kimball, honorable Council Members, good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. Again, the Sister City Report highlights all of the events and activities that we did from July of 2022 through June of 2023. We are here to answer your questions. (Note: At this time, Mayor Mitchell Roth came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ROTH: If I may, I'm going to let Jane pretty much give this report, but I just want to add a couple things I'd like to say. First off, recognizing Mr. Goya and Mr. Mukai, who's in the room, and they mentioned Mr. Taniguchi, who has been a really amazing support. I just want to thank them for all the support that they have given over the years. As Mr. Goya and Mr. Mukai were talking about how important this is in the world we have today. I really have to mahalo these gentlemen, because there's been years where sister cities kind of weren't that big a deal, and the County may have slacked off a little bit, but these guys have always kept those relationships really strong. And so, I really want to appreciate them. I also would like to appreciate the Council for the role that the Council has taken in the last couple of years. I know we recently had a chance to go to Japan, Council Member Villegas, Inaba, Council Member Evans. And when you see how much Page 2 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 they value Hawai`i, our culture, and you think about things like the hula in Japan, which really, I think has a great connection with our sister cities, knowing that there's more hula dancers now in Japan then there is in Hawai`i and how these people have taken our culture and really have shown great appreciation and love. So many great things have come from these, I just want to recognize how important these are. I also want to recognize Jane Clement, who in her role, has really stepped it up a notch, and I think you see that in this report. So mahalo to the Council, mahalo to Jane, mahalo to Mr. Mukai, Mr. Goya, and Mr. Taniguchi, especially, for making sure that these relations go on. And there's other people in the community who have actually also been there, too many names to mention, but they all deserve great congratulations as well. Thank you. MS. CLEMENT: I would like to echo that, Mayor. Everything I know about Japan, everything about Japan I learned from these two, who are our biggest cheerleaders, Mr. Taniguchi, members of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, because they have been involved in the sister-city program for many years. They have been great mentors to me. And moving forward, they have pledged their continued support, which is really important to us, especially as we will be adding one more sister-city in Japan here shortly. But I just really appreciate the opportunity to do this work, and also thank you guys for your support of this program. MR. ROTH: I just want to,you know, we talk about Japan, I also want to remind all of us that we have sister-cities in the Philippines. And we've had some really great conversations with our sister cities there. We had our sister city from Chile this last year come to visit, but also share their ballet and their culture with us. Thank you. MS. CLEMENT: And I do invite you guys, if you have the opportunity to come and do one of these goodwill visits to any of our sister-cities, please take that opportunity as well. CHR. EVANS: Okay members, any discussion? Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. And thank you for this wonderful program, and to our community partners who do such a great job really shepherding this along. The one thing I'm just wondering about, so you included in the report upcoming events for 2023 which are really all past events. MS. CLEMENT: Yes. MS. KAGIWADA: And I was sorry I couldn't participate because I didn't hear about it in time. So, I'm just wondering if this coming year you can try to get Page 3 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 things out to us as soon as possible, so that we can try to participate if we're able to. MS. CLEMENT: Will do. MS. KAGIWADA: Alright, thank you so much. Anyway, great job, thank you. CHR. EVANS: Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. And thank you both for being here. Just a quick question about the conversation around sustainable tourism that you folks had. And of course, we're just now getting some of the numbers and what we're expecting over the next year in terms of visitors from Japan in particular major drop in expected arrivals as well as some changes in the dynamics with spending. Can you speak to that at all in this conversation? MR. ROTH: Sure. The purpose of what we're doing with the sustainable tourism was really a sharing of ideas, cultures, and things that we're doing. So, we did a Zoom conference with our sister cities in Japan. We shared some of the things that we're doing. We shared, for example, the video of the Pono Pledge. We talked about some of the things that the hotels are doing. And then the sister city shared some of the things that they're working on, as far as tourism. You know, one of the things I remember from one of our Okinawan sister-cities, was they did this echo bingo. They had their visitors give them kind of like a bingo card with different things to see. I thought that was a really interesting idea. You know, we talked about how we look at tourism here, and with what we're doing through R&D (Research and Development) and others. We're trying to redefine tourism—design our tourism around our community, verses designing our community around tourism. So, something like an echo bingo card is sending or putting our tourists in places where we want them to be, verses intruding on places where we really don't want them to be. So that was kind of the idea of how do we make it more sustainable. Talking about things like, you know, in the hotels you see now often times you have your shampoos that are no longer in the small bottles or in the big pump bottles, same thing with the soaps. There's a lot of waste that we have, things like having a Hydro Flask for water and things like that. Just different ideas to share each way around. So, it's really a learning opportunity for all sides, and we're looking at doing similar things for like energy, and other farming and things like that as well. MS. CLEMENT: It was sort of an exploration, or like a fact finding almost, of what our sister cities are doing around tourism. What are some of their initiatives that's practices. We did learn quite a bit from them, and they learned a lot from us. Because the processes are very different. And like Mayor said, this one initiative that they did with the echo bingo, I thought was brilliant. And maybe we could Page 4 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 even apply it to like maybe our zoo for example, like find this animal or find this plant, or you know,that kind of thing. It's like an interactive kind of activity for tourists, and not just to sightsee, but to also kind of, really discover what's around them, to have a better appreciation of the environment around them. So, those are the kind of stuff that we wanted to kind of learn from our sister city, and hopefully that they also learned something from our presentation. Frecia did the presentation on behalf of R&D. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I've always had a vision of people having a stamp card, going up the Hamakua Coast and getting a stamp at each of the little plantation camps up there. So, when you want to start that program, let me know. Actually, there's quite a few ties of course to the Hamakua Coast and our sister cities. And I do want to highlight, we have the plantation days, the thirty-year anniversary of the Hamakua Sugar closing, next October. Planning a big event, we want to bring any of our sister city folks over that have relationships to the area next year. But thank you for the report, and the conversations at the state level, and there was the state sister city summit around the other areas. You know, we think about tourism as being the primary conversation when we talk about our sister city relationships. But particularly with our friends in Japan, the agricultural issues, and the energy issues, and even some of the waste management issues, really very, very, similar. And so, I think these partnerships have that value in being able to share best practices, and the things that work, and things that don't work. So, thank you for all of your effort to keep these funds between our nations strong. Aloha. CHR. EVANS: Member Kaneali`i—Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I—KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Taking a moment to thank the Mayor and Ms. Clement for coming down today, as well as our testifiers. I'm very much in support of this program, and the ongoing work that you folks are doing, as well as our community members. I saw Mr. Mukai, or Mookie, as I like to call you, practicing his golf swing outside while he was waiting, so thank you for your patience. Just a tremendous opportunity for culture sharing, and for positive impact between government and then the people who help and build in the background. Having been on a few of these missions,just can't say enough about them, and I always say this every time, so I'm not going to go on and on. But just thank you very much for what you're doing. I'll support it. MS. CLEMENT: And just so you know, prior to coming over here, I actually just had a meeting with our Parks and Rec. We are going to do a ground golf tournament here. So, ground golf, as you know, originated from our sister city in Yurihama, and we are going to try and really promote that sport, and starting this year sometime in June, so you will hear about it shortly. Page 5 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 MR. KANEALI`I—KLEINFELDER: That is awesome, because I looked that up, because you talked about it. MS. CLEMENT: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I—KLEINFELDER: And I had to look it up, I was like, what is ground golf? And I did my research, looks really fun. MS. CLEMENT: We're going to have free lessons here,pretty soon. We'll be announcing that shortly. MR. ROTH: And just as a side, there was a team of people that went up this year, Mookie, Russell Arikawa. This year's world ground golf champion is Stephen Ueda from Hilo. MS. CLEMENT: That was his first time playing, and he won the international championship. So, we're pretty proud of that. MR. KANEALI`I—KLEINFELDER: We are special here in Hilo, but we shouldn't be winning first place. Okay, thank you very much for being here. MS. CLEMENT: Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I—KLEINFELDER: I yield, Chair. MS. EVANS: Thank you. Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, Chair. You know, like my colleagues, really thank you to Mookie, and Uncle Tommy, and Jane, and the mayor. You know, Jane picked up this program in the middle of COVID (Coronavirus disease) and somehow figured out a way to just electrify the program. And I'm so glad you brought up ground golf because there was a donation. And it actually started in our senior programs, our senior elderly activity program, and really is a big deal in our senior program. So, if you guys think pickleball is a big deal, wait till you guys play ground golf But I'm really looking forward to that. If you guys need any contingency money to make that really, really, a bragging right tournament, I look forward to helping support that. MS. CLEMENT: Maybe we'll have a special tournament with the Council Members. MS. LEE LOY: We can have grudge matches amongst members too. Thank you so much Jane, for your hard work and Mayor, thank you so much. MS. CLEMENT: Thank you. Page 6 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 MR. ROTH: By the way, I know that Pana`ewa, they have their seniors there. I also know at Kohala Park they have a group. I think also in Kona, there's another group playing ground golf for the last several years. MS. CLEMENT: We anticipate about 200 participants in this upcoming tournament. MS. LEE LOY: Yean it's so fun. Thank you, guys, for all the good fun work. Chair, I yield. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Well, we had a great discussion, and thank you for the report. Wow, that's a lot of reaching out and connecting with people. I attended one of the sister city events on the initial flight from Kona to Haneda. And I did not understand the importance of sister city, and I just really opened up my eyes when we met Mayors and other Council people talking about the student exchange, cultural exchanges. So, they're like, importing products from Hawai`i there. They're importing our dancers and our singers to come to Japan. So, there's a lot of economic benefit, but also a lot of goodwill. And then obviously, they're more than happy to promote everybody coming to Hawai`i, because they love Hawai`i so much, so just, the word of mouth. They even have Aloha Day in their cities, where the whole day is about aloha and Hawai`i. So how best to promote us, they do it for us, right? So, it was really nice. So, I appreciated that opportunity, and also for me,just opening up my eyes about really what benefit we get by participating. So, I appreciate all that you're doing, and having said that, I think we're done discussing. We'll take the vote. All in favor? Vote on Comm. 598: The motion to close file on Comm. 598 was carried by (Filed) the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. EVANS: Okay, so we're going to take it out of order. We're going to go to Communication 621. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, of Business: the following items were taken out of order: Page 7 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 Comm. 621: APPOINTMENT OF DEANNA S. SAKO AS MANAGING DIRECTOR From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated November 22, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confiiiiiation by: March 1, 2024 (Section 13-8 Hawai`i County Charter) Vote on Comm. 621: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) appointment of Ms. Deanna S. Sako as Managing Director. Seconded by Ms. Kimball and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Mayor Mitchell D. Roth came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Comm. 622: APPOINTMENT OF DIANE NAKAGAWA AS FINANCE DIRECTOR From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated November 22, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: March 1, 2024 (Section 13-8 Hawai`i County Charter) Vote on Comm. 622: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) appointment of Ms. Diane Nakagawa as Finance Director. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. Page 8 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 Mayor Mitchell D. Roth came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. MR. ROTH: I just want to thank you for, first of all, passing forward two—first point, very capable leaders, who both were raised and educated in Hawai`i, and just so happen to be women as well. Thank you very much from the Administration. MS. NAKAGAWA: Thank you. CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Congratulations. Okay, Mr. Clerk, Communication 610. Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: Comm. 610: REAPPOINTMENT OF JUSTIN ACKERMAN TO THE GAME MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated November 16, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: December 30, 2023 (Section 13-4(k), Hawai`i County Charter) Vote on Comm. 610: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) reappointment of Mr. Justin Ackerman to the Game Management Advisory Commission. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Evans—6. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, and Lee Loy—3. Excused: None. Executive Assistant to the Mayor Pomaika`i Bartolome came forward and provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Page 9 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 Comm. 611: NOMINATION OF DEAN AU TO THE LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated November 15, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: December 29, 2023 (Section 13-4(k), Hawai`i County Charter Vote on Comm. 611: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) appointment of Mr. Dean Au to the Leeward Planning Commission. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Inaba—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. 612: NOMINATION OF JIM BEETS TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated November 15, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: December 29, 2023 (Section 13-4(k), Hawai`i County Charter) Vote on Comm. 612: Ms. Kimball moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) appointment of Mr. Jim Beets to the Environmental Management Commission. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Inaba—1. Excused: None. Page 10 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 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. 613: NOMINATION OF JAMES LEE TO THE WATER BOARD From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated November 15, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: December 29, 2023 (Section 13-4(k), Hawai`i County Charter) Vote on Comm. 613: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) appointment of Mr. James Lee to the Water Board. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball— 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. 614: NOMINATION OF ALAN OKINAKA TO THE BANYAN DRIVE HAWAI`I REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated November 15, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Vote on Comm. 614: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) appointment of Mr. Alan Okinaka to the Banyan Drive Hawai`i Redevelopment Agency. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball— 1. Excused: None. Page 11 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 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. 615: NOMINATION OF NONA WILSON TO THE BANYAN DRIVE HAWAI`I REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated November 15, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Vote on Comm. 615: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend confiuination of the (Approved) appointment of Ms. Nona Wilson to the Banyan Drive Hawai`i Redevelopment Agency. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kimball— 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. 616: REAPPOINTMENT OF PAUL "SCOTTY" PAIVA TO THE BOARD OF ETHICS From Mayor Mitchell D. Roth, dated November 16, 2023, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: December 30, 2023 (Section 13-4(k), Hawai`i County Charter) Vote on Comm. 616: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) reappointment of Mr. Paul "Scotty"Paiva to the Board of Ethics. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Lee Loy— 1. Excused: None. Page 12 GOEAC-22 December 5,2023 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. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 4:23 p.m., Mr. Inaba moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Evans— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Lee Loy— 1. Excused: None. CHR. EVANS: We are adjourned at 4:23 p.m. Approved: Ms. Cindy Evans, t (Date) Committee on Gove ental Operations and External Affairs CE/rk Page 13