HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2024-01-24 2022-2024
Hawai‘i County Council
th
30 Session
West Hawai‘i Civic Center
74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, Building A
Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i
January 24, 2024
INVOCATION: Senior Pastor Sunny Ahn of Kona United Methodist Church gave the morning’s
invocation.
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawai‘i County Council was called to order at
ORDER: 9:05 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Heather L. Kimball,
Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Chair
Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Vice Chair
Ms. Cindy Evans, Member
Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member
Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member
Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member
Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member
Absent & Excused: Mr. Matt Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Member
PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of
ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance.
(At this time, County Clerk Jon Henricks led the Council in
the Pledge of Allegiance.)
PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Petitions,
MEMORIALS, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence.
CERTIFICATES
OF MERIT, AND (There were none.)
EXPRESSIONS OF
CONDOLENCE:
STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council 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:
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Timothy Rowan: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in opposition; and
(representing Black Sands Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in support.
Beach Property Owners
Association and Mālama O Puna)
Carrie Kowalski: Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in support.
(See Comm. 609.72)
Kawehi Inaba: Res. 412-24 (Comm. 686), in support.
(representing La‘i‘ōpua 2020)
Daniel Aina: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Eileen O’Hara: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in opposition; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in support.
Janet Marshall: Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in support.
Peter Frost: Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Jacelyn Auna: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Robin Henson: Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in support.
James Tucker: Bill 126 (Comm. 690), comment.
(representing Neighborhood
Watch and Men of Pa‘a)
Cindy Freitas: Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
(See Comm. 609.61)
Terri Napeahi: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Maile Lu‘uwai: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
(representing Keaukaha-Pana‘ewa Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Farmers Association) (See Comm. 609.75)
Clare Loprinzi: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Denise Medeiros: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support;
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition; and
Bill 126 (Comm. 690), in support.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Bob Douglas: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
(See Comm. 691.5)
Todd Singleton: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Debralee Kailiwai-Ray: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Suzanne Frey: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in opposition;
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in support; and
Bill 126 (Comm. 690), in support.
(See Comms. 609.62 and 690.1)
Franny Brewer: Bill 126 (Comm. 690), in support.
(representing Big Island
Invasive Species Committee)
Robert Rosehill: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support.
Jolani Shrinski: Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Mark Hauanio: Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in support.
(See Comm. 609.64)
Floyd Eaglin: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Nāko‘olani Warrington: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Joshua Franklin: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support;
(representing Hawai‘i Family Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition; and
Advocacy Group) Bill 126 (Comm. 690), in support.
(See Comm. 609.60)
Kihei Ahuna: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
(representing Keaukaha-Pana‘ewa Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Farmers Association) (See Comm. 691.1)
Charlene Manu: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Ronald Kodani: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
(representing Piihonua Hawaiian Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Homestead Community
Association)
Jon Olson: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691); and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), comment.
Napua Kaaa: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Patrick Kahawaiola‘a: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
(representing Keaukaha Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Community Association) (See Comms. 609.69 and 691.7)
Kauilani Almeida: Res. 416-24 (Comm. 691), in support; and
(representing Pana‘ewa Hawaiian Bill 107 (Comm. 609), in opposition.
Home Lands Community
Association)
CHR. KIMBALL: We’re going to take a ten-minute recess. Just before we do
that, I want to let folks know, when we come back, we’re going to handle the
reports at the end of the agenda real quickly, and then we’ll move to
Resolution 416 and Bill 107.
Recess: At 11:20 a.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 11:31 a.m.
CHR. KIMBALL: I’m going to make a quick correction to the timing that I
mentioned as we went into recess, which is, because of actions taken yesterday to
recess one of our other Committees until noon, we’re going to take some of the
items on the agenda until noon. And then we have to open up that Committee,
recess it, and come back to Council. The only reason we’re going to do it that
way is I don’t want to have us interrupt the discussion midway through 416 and
107. So this way we’ll keep it all together. With that, Mr. Clerk, can we go to the
reports, please. Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Clerk. I believe we did not do the minutes.
APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval
OF MINUTES: of Minutes.
Page 4
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Vote on Approval Ms. Lee Loy moved to approve the Minutes of
of Minutes: December 6, 2023. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. KIMBALL: Now, we will go onto “Reports,” please.
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:
GOEAC-99 NOMINATION OF ARTHUR TANIGUCHI TO THE LIQUOR COMMISSION
(Comm. 670):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 1, 2024 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on GOEAC-99: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Governmental Operations and
(Adopted) External Affairs Committee Report No. 99. Seconded by
Mr. Inaba and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
GOEAC-100 NOMINATION OF MATTHIAS KUSCH TO THE WINDWARD PLANNING
(Comm. 671): COMMISSION
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 2, 2024 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Page 5
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Vote on Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Governmental Operations and
GOEAC-100: External Affairs Committee Report No. 100. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
GOEAC-101 NOMINATION OF CATHY FERREIRA TO THE PENSION BOARD
(Comm. 672):
Requires Council
Confirmation by: February 2, 2024 (Section 13-4(k),
Hawaiʻi County Charter)
Vote on Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Governmental Operations and
GOEAC-101: External Affairs Committee Report No. 101. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Res. 390-24: APPROVES THE HAWAI‘I STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES’
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SLATE OF OFFICERS
Ratifies the slate of officers approved by the Hawai‘i State Association of Counties
Executive Committee on December 18, 2023, as follows: Hawai‘i County Council
Members Heather Kimball, President (Jennifer Kagiwada, Alternate); Maui County
Council Members Tamara Paltin, Vice President (Shane Sinenci, Alternate); Kauaʻi
County Council Members Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr., Secretary (Bill DeCosta,
Alternate); and Honolulu City Council Members Tommy Waters, Treasurer (Esther
Kiaāina, Alternate).ʻ
Reference: Comm. 648
Intr. by: Ms. Kimball
Approve: GOEAC-102
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 390-24 and
Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee
Report No. 102. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada.
CHR. KIMBALL: Any discussion? Council Member Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to extend humble
gratitude for your leadership, not just for our County but on behalf of all of
Hawai‘i’s counties. So thank you for stepping up to take on this additional role.
We appreciate you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, all those in favor
please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 390-24: The motion to adopt Res. 390-24 and Governmental
(Adopted) Operations and External Affairs Committee Report No. 102
was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Page 7
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Res. 391-24: AMENDS THE RULES OF PROCEDURE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE
COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I BY AMENDING RULE NO. 25,
INVOCATION
Seeks to incorporate ōlelo Hawaiʻʻi and Hawaiian cultural practices into County
Council meetings by adding kahu and kumu to the list of persons eligible to
perform the invocation.
Reference: Comm. 649
Intr. by: Ms. Kimball
Approve: GOEAC-103
Vote on Res. 391-24: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 391-24 and Governmental
(Adopted) Operations and External Affairs Committee Report
No. 103. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 399-24: CHANGES THE STATUS AND FUNDING SOURCE OF ONE TEMPORARY
PROGRAM SUPPORT TECHNICIAN POSITION TO BECOME A FULL-TIME
PERMANENT POSITION
Seeks to reallocate a previous federally-funded position in the Planning Department
to a full-time Human Resources Technician.
Reference: Comm. 658
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-124
Vote on Res. 399-24: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 399-24 and Finance
(Adopted) Committee Report No. 124. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and
carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Page 8
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Res. 400-24: AUTHORIZES THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION TO
AWARD FUNDS TO HAWAI‘I HI-DIVING FRIENDS
Provides $66,815 of grant funds for the Charles “Sparky” Kawamoto Swim
Stadium Dive Tower New Staircase project.
Reference: Comm. 659
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-125
Vote on Res. 400-24: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 400-24 and Finance
(Adopted) Committee Report No. 125. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and
carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 401-24: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, PURSUANT TO
HAWAI‘I REVISED STATUTES SECTION 46-7, FOR A GRANT TO THE
HAWAI‘I COUNTY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
Allows for the receipt of $69,680 of federally-derived funds to evaluate
infrastructure needs and associated costs to inform next steps for infrastructure
development.
Reference: Comm. 660
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-126
Vote on Res. 401-24: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 401-24 and Finance
(Adopted) Committee Report No. 126 Seconded by Ms. Galimba and
carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. KIMBALL: Can I suggest that we take the companion measure, Bill 113.
Page 9
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the
of Business: following item was taken out of order:
Bill 113: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2024
Appropriates revenues in Federal Grants – United States Department of Agriculture
Broadband Technical Assistance Grant account ($69,680); and appropriates the
same to the United States Department of Agriculture Broadband Technical
Assistance Grant account. Funds would be used to evaluate infrastructure needs
and associated costs to inform next steps for infrastructure development.
Reference: Comm. 660
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-128
Vote on Bill 113: Mr. Inaba moved to pass Bill 113 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 128. Seconded by
Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
Res. 402-24: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE
STATE OF HAWAI‘I DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Allows for the receipt of $478,400 of state-derived funds to support the ongoing
operations of the Hawai‘i Island Fentanyl Task Force.
Reference: Comm. 661
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-127
Page 10
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Vote on Res. 402-24: Mr. Inaba moved to adopt Res. 402-24 and Finance
(Adopted) Committee Report No. 127. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and
carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. KIMBALL: If we can go to the companion measure, Bill 114, please.
Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the
of Business: following item was taken out of order:
Bill 114: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2024
Appropriates revenues in Federal Grants – Opioid Settlement Funds account
($478,400); and appropriates the same to the Opioid Settlement Funds account.
Funds would be used to support the ongoing operations of the Hawai‘i Island
Fentanyl Task Force.
Reference: Comm. 661
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-129
Vote on Bill 114: Mr. Inaba moved to pass Bill 114 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 129. Seconded by
Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
Page 11
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Res. 411-24: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED
FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE ISLAND OF HAWAI‘I
YMCA FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES RELATING TO ITS NEW
HORIZONS WINTER BREAK DAY CAMP MURAL PROJECT
Transfers $4,850 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public
Programs account.
Reference: Comm. 685
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 411-24. Seconded by
Ms. Galimba.
CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thanks. Art for the kids so I ask for my colleagues’
support. I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in
favor please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 411-24: The motion to adopt Res. 411-24 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Res. 412-24: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED
FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO LA‘I‘ŌPUA 2020 FOR
EXPENSES RELATED TO ITS AFTERSCHOOL ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
Transfers $4,670 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 6); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Energy Program account.
Reference: Comm. 686
Intr. by: Ms. Galimba
Motion to Approve: Ms. Galimba moved to adopt Res. 412-24. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
Page 12
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
CHR. KIMBALL: Before I go to Council Member Galimba, I’m going to ask
Vice Chair Inaba.
MR. INABA: Yes, just want to recuse myself from this vote being that an
immediate family member is employed by La‘i‘ōpua 2020. And I do temporarily
have some work that I do with them as well outside of the Council. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Vice Chair Inaba. Council Member Galimba.
MS. GALIMBA: I just ask for my colleagues’ support.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. All those in favor, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 412-24: The motion to adopt Res. 412-24 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada,
Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 7.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: Council Member Inaba – 1.
Res. 413-24: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED
FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HAWAI‘I ISLAND ADULT
CARE FOR TUITION ASSISTANCE FOR ITS HILO ADULT DAY PROGRAM
Transfers $9,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 2); and credits to the Office of Aging, Other Current Expenses
account.
Reference: Comm. 687
Intr. by: Ms. Kagiwada
Withdraw MS. KAGIWADA: Chair, I’m withdrawing this resolution at this point. I’m still
Res. 413-24: going to be supporting this organization, but based on input from Corporation
Counsel on how I worded it, I’m going to be relooking at the resolution itself, and
I’ll come back with a clean resolution. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. Resolution 413-24 is
removed from the agenda.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Res. 414-24: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED
FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HAWAI‘I ISLAND
VETERANS MEMORIAL INC. FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES
RELATED TO THE WALL THAT HEALS EXHIBIT
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account
(Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 688
Intr. by: Ms. Evans
Motion to Approve: Ms. Evans moved to adopt Res. 414-24. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Evans.
MS. EVANS: I am really happy to be able to support this and want to thank each
and every other Council Member who has also contributed to this effort. And it’s
currently going on right now in Hilo this week, so I ask for your support. Thank
you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Any further discussion
on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 414-24: The motion to adopt Res. 414-24 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
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:
Page 14
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Bill 115: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2024
Increases revenues in Federal Grants – Housing Choice Voucher Program account
($5 million); and appropriates the same to the Choice Voucher Rental Subsidies
account, for a total appropriation of $28 million. Funds would be used for rental
assistance for eligible participants in the Housing Assistance Payment program.
Reference: Comm. 662
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-130
Vote on Bill 115: Mr. Inaba moved to pass Bill 115 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 130. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Bill 116: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2024
Increases revenues in Federal Grants – Mainstream Voucher Program account
($150,000); and appropriates the same to the Mainstream Voucher Program account
for a total appropriation of $950,000. Funds would be used towards housing
assistance payment costs for the Mainstream Voucher Program.
Reference: Comm. 663
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-131
Vote on Bill 116: Mr. Inaba moved to pass Bill 116 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 131. Seconded by
Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Page 15
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Bill 117: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2024
Increases revenues in Federal Grants – Housing Choice Emergency Voucher
Program account ($400,000); and appropriates the same to the Housing Choice
Emergency Housing Voucher Program account for a total appropriation of
$1,400,000. Funds would be used towards housing assistance payment costs for the
Emergency Housing Voucher Program.
Reference: Comm. 664
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-132
Vote on Bill 117: Mr. Inaba moved to pass Bill 117 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 132. Seconded by
Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Bill 118: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2024
Increases revenues in the Federal Grants – National Instant Criminal Background
Check Act Record Improvement Program account ($169,728); and appropriates the
same to the National Instant Criminal Background Check Act Record Improvement
Program account, for a total appropriation of $715,488. These additional funds
would be used to convert paper files to electronic formats and to fund overtime
hours for staff to prepare documents for electronic conversion.
Reference: Comm. 665
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
Approve: FC-133
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Vote on Bill 118: Mr. Inaba moved to pass Bill 118 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 133. Seconded by
Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Bill 119: AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10, DIVISION 1, OF THE HAWAIʻI
COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO
SPEED LIMITS
Adds speed limits ranging between 25 through 45 miles-per-hour for Honokaʻa-
Waipio Road.
Reference: Comm. 666
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy (B/R)
Approve: PCIA-5
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to pass Bill 119 on first reading and
adopt Policy Committee on Infrastructure and Assets
Committee Report No. 5. Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
CHR. KIMBALL: Any discussion? Council Member Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: No, I understand this to be a housekeeping matter and in your
district, Council Chair Kimball. I’ll ask for everyone’s support.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in
favor please say “aye.”
Vote on Bill 119: The motion to pass Bill 119 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Policy Committee on Infrastructure and Assets Committee
Report No. 5 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Page 17
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Bill 111: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2024
Appropriates revenues in Federal Grants – Community Project Funding-Hilo
Memorial Hospital Renovation account ($13,000,000); and appropriates the same to
the Community Project Funding-Hilo Memorial Hospital Renovation account to be
applied towards the renovations to the Hilo Memorial Hospital, located at
34 Rainbow Drive, South Hilo.
Reference: Comm. 641
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
First Reading: January 10, 2024
Vote on Bill 111: Mr. Inaba moved to pass Bill 111 on second and final
(Adopted) reading. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy,
and Villegas – 7.
Noes: Chair Kimball – 1.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Bill 112: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2024
Increases revenues in Federal Grants – State Homeland Security Program Fiscal
Year 2023 account ($80,000); and appropriates the same to the State Homeland
Security Program Fiscal Year 2023 account for a total appropriation of $780,000.
Funds would be used by the Civil Defense Agency to enhance community
preparedness and resilience, support law enforcement evidence storage and
warehousing, and add vehicles for law enforcement personnel and Civil Defense
emergency response.
Reference: Comm. 642
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
First Reading: January 10, 2024
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Vote on Bill 112: Mr. Inaba moved to pass Bill 112 on second and final
(Adopted) reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Bill 108: AMENDS CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE 49, SECTION 2-271; CHAPTER 37,
(Draft 2) ARTICLE 1, SECTIONS 37-1-2 AND 37-1-3; AND CHAPTER 37, ARTICLE 2,
SECTION 37-2-21, OF THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION,
AS AMENDED), RELATING TO SUSTAINABILITY, CLIMATE, EQUITY,
AND RESILIENCE
Adds definitions for “trauma” and “trauma informed,” and incorporates the concept
of applying a “trauma informed approach” to the application of and access to
critical resources and support for the County’s most vulnerable populations.
Reference: Comm. 626.5
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Approve: GOEAC-97
Postponed: January 10, 2024
(Note: There is a motion by Ms. Lee Loy, seconded by Ms. Kagiwada, to pass
Bill 108, Draft 2, on first reading.)
(Note: Comm. 626.9, from Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy dated
January 18, 2024, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 108, Draft 2, was
circulated.)
MS. LEE LOY: Chair, if I may?
CHR. KIMBALL: Yes.
MS. LEE LOY: Okay. Thank you. We postponed this just to level set everyone.
I wanted to reflect on legislation being proposed by Congresswoman Jill Tokuda
and make sure that our trauma-informed language was in alignment with her bill,
House Bill 6415. And so, with that, in your pinkie (folder) you will find
Communication 626.9.
Motion to Amend: Ms. Lee Loy moved to amend Bill 108, Draft 2, with the
contents of Comm. 626.9. Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
MS. LEE LOY: On the amendment, Chair. This really is a term of art. We’re
learning trauma-informed. And so, looking all the way up to our Federal
delegation right through our State legislation and down here at home, what I’ve
done in this amendment is really align and efficiently define trauma-informed
practices, policies, and other actions. I look for my colleagues’ support. I think
once we get this in, we’ll have a complete holistic bill, and then we’ll be able to
access, knock on wood, a whole bunch of money around this issue. I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Anyone else? Council
Member Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Mahalo nui, Council Member Lee Loy, for
putting this amendment forward. It was I think something that I had mentioned in
Committee about how we just might sort of clean up some of the language but
also strengthen how we elevate the importance of trauma-informed care in all that
we do. A resilient community is made up of resilient people. And so a lot of the
approach that this office is taking, it needs to be trauma-informed. So I will be
supporting this amendment and just really appreciate the kind of tension that you
play to aligning what we’re doing at the County level with opportunities for
funding and resources and support from State and Federal partners. Thank you. I
yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Anyone else?
Seeing none, I’ll just add a quick comment. Yeah, thank you, Council
Member Lee Loy. The original bill to create OSCER (Office of Sustainability,
Climate, Equity, and Resilience) and define the rolls was tied to all the Federal
funding and the language in there. So this is consistent with that. And I want to
just thank you for your hard work in making that connection with Rep.
(Representative) Tokuda and others to ensure that that funding will come in. And
as Council Member Kierkiewicz said, resilience, community, the foundation; the
root of that is resilient individuals. So thank you both. All right, all those in favor
of amending Bill 108, Draft 2, with the contents of Communication 626.9, please
say “aye.”
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 108, Draft 2, with the contents of
Amend Comm. 626.9 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Page 20
Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Vote on Bill 108: The motion to pass Bill 108, Draft 2, as amended to
(Draft 3) Draft 3, on first reading and adopt Governmental
(Approved) Operations and External Affairs Committee Report No. 97
was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. KIMBALL: We are going to recess Council briefly so we can go back to
the policy committee on planning, and a bunch of other things, land use and
economic development; I forgot the acronym, quickly. We’ll open that up, recess
that to the end of the Council meeting, and then come back and take on our
PMAR (Puna Makai Alternate Route) resolution and bill. All right, with that, we
are in recess. It is 12:00.
Recess: At 12:00 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 12:05 p.m.
CHR. KIMBALL: We are out of recess. Mr. Clerk, we’ll start with
Resolution 416-24, please.
Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
Res. 416-24: URGES THE MAYOR AND THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS TO
REMOVE PARCELS UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE DEPARTMENT
OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS FROM CONSIDERATION WHEN STUDYING
THE FEASIBILITY OF A PUNA MAKAI ALTERNATE ROUTE
Urges that the Puna Makai Alternate Route not connect to the homestead
communities of Pana‘ewa and Keaukaha, and that additional funds be provided to
broaden the scope to examine potential alternate routes in communities directly
mauka of Highway 130, such as ‘Āinaloa and Orchidland.
Reference: Comm. 691
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz and Ms. Lee Loy
Waived: PCIA
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 416-24. Seconded
by Ms. Lee Loy.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member—which one of you would like to start off?
Council Member Kierkiewicz, go ahead.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I’ll kick us off. Resolution 416-24 is a
message to our community that this Council is listening. When Bill 107 was
introduced, and that provides funding for a study for alternate routes outside of
Puna, there were discussions long time on the State’s side to get this done. And
there was a lot of, for right reasons, opposition testimony from Hawaiian
homestead communities about “Please do not use our communities as the end
point of this alternate road. We respect and appreciate and have empathy for
Puna communities, and we want you to have an alternate road, but don’t consider
our lands.”
That rest really heavy on my heart, on Council Member Lee Loy’s heart. And
because the County is being directed to do this study and because there were
issues that were not addressed at the State level, we’re having to reconcile those
differences here today. And I don’t want an issue like this, one where people, the
communities of Puna who love living there, but desperately do need an alternate
route because we have faced numerous disasters in recent history. We’ve also
experienced numerous car accidents that have left people in traffic for hours. We
need access to services, recreation, business. And a lot of that is in Hilo. A lot of
that is in West Hawai‘i. And so we need an alternate route. And I’ve never heard
anybody say, “We don’t want that for Puna.”
And so what this resolution is designed to do—and it’s nonbinding—but there’s
this recognition that administrations change. People come and go. We know how
long it takes for government to get stuff done. This alternate route has been
talked about for decades. I looked at the Puna CDP (Community Development
Plan) this morning. It talked about PMAR studies getting done in 2008. It’s
2024. We wanted to make sure that we, as a Council, at least elevate the issues of
our communities, the need for an alternate route, but also not on the backs of a
people that have had to carry so much of the burden and kuleana on this island.
And so I’m putting this forward, hoping that it gives our community some peace
of mind knowing that we stand with you, that even though there are issues to
resolve, we want to get a study done. But Hawaiian Homes has already said, “We
won’t give you our land.” And if that is the truth, we face the music and complete
a study that helps to solve the issue that the Puna community is facing.
And I want to invite Public Works Director to come forward to kind of speak to
the possibilities. There’s going to be a lot of opportunity for community
engagement. That is one element of this resolution, that we’re not just drawing
lines on maps just because, that we are reaching out into community and potential
communities that are impacted to talk story and really design these solutions
together. So, Director Pause, thank you for being here. Can you just share with
us the recognition of what Hawaiian Homes and beneficiaries have said, and the
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
possibility of completing a study like this without considering any of their lands.
We also ask that you consider expanding the scope of the study using County
General Funds, Fund Balance funds—there’s a lot of it. So just want to hear from
the department. Want to give you an opportunity to talk about what’s possible.
(Note: At this time, Public Works Director Stephen Pause came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MR. PAUSE: Sure. Thank you. Steve Pause, Director of Public Works. So,
going back to the task at hand, and I think you’re all familiar with how we got
here as far as the State. There was a House bill that wasn’t passed that had very
specific language in it that would have covered all of this if it had passed. So the
funding actually came through a different House Bill from the State budget. But
with that funding, the very generic work scope said, “for plans and design to
conduct site surveys on the Island of Hawai‘i to identify the most suitable location
for an alternate route in Puna below Highway 130.” That’s what came with the
funding.
Obviously, I’ve heard the testimony. I’ve been engaged with folks from the
community. And it’s very clear what the community does not want. And I sit
here and I’ve had conversations with folks. We’re trying to get the funding in
place to do a study that we haven’t even scoped yet. And I think I spoke last time
where once the funds are in place, we then would select a professional services
consultant. We would develop a work scope, get their cost together, and I
mentioned there would be at least three opportunities to engage the community.
The first one would be shortly after we actually get somebody on board. We go
out into the community and we engage and we discuss what the project looks like,
what the work scope is, what the options are.
But, all along, we’ve heard very loud and clear what’s one option we don’t want,
and that would be repeated at the same first meeting. But your resolution says
you urge the Mayor, the Director. Hear you loud and clear. The public sentiment
is very clear, even to the point where it’s questionable whether you’d be able to
acquire the land. So I’m not placing a lot of consideration on even thinking about
Railroad and going through Pana‘ewa as an option. There are other options out
there, and I think the starting point, as you’ve said, was nobody is doubting the
need. We do need to do something to develop alternatives. So that’s the way I
look at it.
As an engineer, as the Director of Public Works, we’re going to be doing a paper
study. I think we’ve already talked about what that entails. That study will also
have—like I said, once we get somebody on board, we’ll engage the public.
We’ll go out; we’ll do the basic data development engineering. I think I talked
last time about constraints, right. We’re going to evaluate options based on
constraints, and clearly there’s one option here that would have a giant constraint
associated with it. I would de-emphasize even to the point of saying if it’s not a
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
viable option, we know that right out of the bat, we’re not going to consider it.
But we do recognize there’s a need and the course of developing that work scope
is going to help us decide what those options are. And then we’re going to have
to align with the stakeholders and do other engineering studies that ultimately will
also look at environmental issues as well.
I stated last time there’ll be an opportunity for engagement before we do the
study. There’ll be an opportunity after the study is done, go over things, and then
after the study is published. But I guess I’m just here today, and I want the
community to know that we hear you. Why on earth would we pursue an option
that meets with such disfavor at this point? That’s kind of my way of thinking.
And, obviously, I think you made the statement that we have to make sure that
that message gets communicated throughout the department, especially if and
when there are transitions to the directors down the road.
So I guess the best thing I can say is the message has been received quite clearly
and loudly. And we’ll just need to pursue and look at other solutions and find a
good solution, long term.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Director. And then another aspect of the
resolution also urges you to take a look at expanding the scope. The money from
the State is very clear: Look at routes makai of Highway 130. But I think that if
we’re going to do this, let’s really put the money behind it and ensure that there
are a variety of alternate routes that are identified that improve the traffic flow
situation in the Puna region. Is that something that you can support? I’ve
connected with our Finance Director to confirm that once we hear from you about
expanding the scope and how much it costs, we can put forward necessary bills to
direct additional money for expanding the scope of the study.
MR. PAUSE: It makes perfect sense to take one big giant bite of the apple. So,
yes, there are other options that have been evaluated, or at least on paper. And,
yeah, the ability to just take a look at everything at one time makes the most
amount of sense. It makes it more efficient as well. So, yeah, we would be
amenable to looking at other funding sources to potentially make this study more
comprehensive.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Director. Again, I’m just going to humbly
urge my colleagues to support this resolution that Council Member Lee Loy and I
have brought forward. This work is really difficult. There are no easy answers.
And what we are trying to do in this moment of tension and a lot of like just great
difficulty is bring our community back together and ensure that, at the end of the
day, folks realize we have to live in the same community and take care of each
other. And that starts with understanding everyone’s needs.
MR. PAUSE: And from my perspective, we’ve done a tremendous amount of
scoping here upfront, in concert with having a debate about the funding. So
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
we’ve already got a leg up in some respects. Typically, you’d see the money in
place, and then we would have the scoping and engage the community. But,
clearly, the community is engaged now. It’s all good, valuable input and it’s only
going to make the study better.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Director, for hearing our communities. Chair,
I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council
Member Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you to my colleague Ms. Kierkiewicz for
sponsoring this with me because, as she mentioned, we share. We’re neighbors,
right. And really appreciate her really acknowledging a lot of the burdens that our
homestead community has carried over time.
And I want to share a little bit on why I’m going to ask my colleagues to, and
urge them to, support this. When I started on the County Council back in 2016,
one of the first pieces of legislation we took up was the siting of a composting
facility right behind our Pana‘ewa homestead ag lots. And we had exactly that.
We had a bill for an appropriation of funds. And I authored a resolution, similar
to this, urging the Administration to take the money for the composting facility
but not site it next to our Hawaiian Home Lands, which is why, confidently, while
people might think a resolution is just a nonbinding policy, it worked.
It allowed the community to come out and voice their opposition as to what they
wanted in their communities, what they didn’t want in their communities, but
more importantly just continue to acknowledge how much they’ve carried for the
community of East Hawai‘i.
And I have to take a moment because this is not the first time I’ve had to sit
through a lot of patronizing, entitled, weaponizing testimony about how another
community needs the help: “So, Hawaiians, help us again because we get
Hawaiians in this district too.” I’m really urging my colleagues to support this
resolution because it just stops the divisiveness.
I’m disappointed at our Vice Speaker Greggor Ilagan on how this happened.
Money is great but there needed to be a lot more community outreach, a lot more
information put out there, and a lot more opportunities for our stakeholders to
engage. But we’re here. And so it continues to be an honor to advance this
policy work along with my neighboring colleague Ms. Kierkiewicz. We’re trying
to find the balance, ensuring that we don’t want any more divisiveness in our
communities, and urge my colleagues to support this resolution. Thank you. I
yield.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Council
Member Kagiwada.
MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. First, I want to say mahalo to the testifier
who called out the lack of a South Hilo CDP Action Committee as a possible
contributing reason that this conflict was not addressed earlier. This is an issue
that I continue to bring up, not having representation for all of Hilo. So,
downtown to Kaumana City, Pi‘ihonua, Waiākea, and of course Keaukaha and
Pana‘ewa. This is an issue that is ongoing. We saw this problem, I believe,
would have been headed off if we had more formal community input for this
community when we did the Aloha Kia issue, and I see it again here. We don’t
have a way for our community members to be engaged in this way. So thank you
to the testifier who brought that up.
I’m going to be supporting this resolution. I think it’s really important for the
reasons that the authors stated. I think it’s going in the right direction. There was
also the testifier who said it’s a waste of money, and I heard that echoed by our
DPW (Department of Public Works) Director, that looking at an alternative that
the community does not want is a complete waste of time and money. And so I’m
glad that that was stated.
And I just wanted to mention that I am working on a resolution to look at alternate
things that our County can do to help with traffic congestion between Puna and
Hilo, in addition to an alternate route. So I’ll be working with the DPW Director
and trying to lay out some possible ways we can go. And if we need funding for
that, I hope we can get a bit of funding to look at those alternates because I think
they’re very important. So, yes, I will absolutely be supporting. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. Council
Member Evans.
MS. EVANS: Thank you. First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who
testified today. I support this resolution with its intent, but I’m disturbed that we
even had to have this happen today. I think the testifiers, the people that showed
up, are the people that are taking care of the next generations. They are watching.
Keep watching. And the reason I say that is because mayors go, public works
directors go, politicians go, and yet the need does not go away. So, when the need
doesn’t go away, there’s still people who are trying to solve the problem, and this
may come up again.
It’s shocking to me that there was already studies on alternative routes. There’s
already been “Look at how you’re going to deal with traffic.” And now, we’re
back at the table again. And so I was trying to figure out how we got here today,
and I realized that Representative Ilagan, last year he introduced a bill, and what
he asked his colleagues to consider was three things in his CIP (Capital
Improvement Project) bill request. One, he wanted $30 million, and he wanted it
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
for the alternative route, let’s see, for a Puna alternative route. He wanted 300, no
take that back, 30 million was to go from two lane to four lane. And then
300 million was to actually develop an alternative route. And then he had the
one-and-a-half million to look for an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) and a
study.
And what struck me is if he came up with 300 million in his budget request to
build a road, then that’s kind of implying that if Hawai‘i was to build that
alternative road, it would cost $300 million. So I don’t know where he came up
with that number but he threw it in there. And then what happened is I looked at
the budget bill. The budget—I take my hat off to Senator Joy San Buenaventura,
the senators and representatives from the Big Island; they got the $30 million in
the budget to do the two to the four lane, to build it out.
Then I see in the front page of the October Tribune-Herald that the Department of
Transportation had said, “Sorry, we’re not going to do the two to four lane.
We’re going to take that money, and we’re going to put it elsewhere.” And so
now we get this request in front of us for the one-and-a-half million because the
30 million got pulled away. That was already in the State’s budget. They’re
designated to do two to four lane. It’s very unfortunate that Ed Sniffen and the
new Administration is pulling out money from the community. That really
bothers me.
I know, for one who experienced the Kona—anybody did the Kona crawl? It was
just a horrible experience for the whole Kona community for, what, six years. It
was just awful. And so I really feel for the community. The one-and-a-half
million to do alternative, my only concern is I don’t want it to imply to the State
that the County is going to take up doing an alternative route for them, where they
should do two to four lane. So I have to ask you, Director Pause, were you
involved at all in that discussion of taking the 30 million away from the
Department of Transportation—I mean it was in the budget to do it, and they just
made that decision to pull that money. Were you aware of it?
MR. PAUSE: No—well, I’m aware of it, they took the money away, but, no, I
wasn’t involved in any of the discussions or consulted.
MS. EVANS: Were you involved, then, in it going over the one-and-a-half
million to do a study?
MR. PAUSE: No. I think the first time I got involved was a meeting back about
a year ago, back in May, when it was with Representative Ilagan and others. And
that was the first discussions we had about the PMAR study and the funding
available for it.
MS. EVANS: Okay. So, when I looked at Bill 107 that’s coming up, and I think
this does relate to the reso (resolution), to make sure that we send the message, I
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
think it’s important, but I’m trying to get to how we got to even having this reso
in front of us. Because, when I look at the way it’s written, it’s as if we’re
amending an ordinance that was passed prior to this Council taking office. So it
was done in an ordinance that was passed in 2022, I think. We’re amending
language to take the one and a half million. So where we taking that one and a
half—what—well, our part, right? We’re taking 500,000. Where are we taking
that? Where are we finding that money?
MR. PAUSE: Where’s the money coming from?
MS. EVANS: Yeah.
MR. PAUSE: It’s a good question for Finance. I think I heard someone speak
earlier that it was coming, not specifically from a bond, but there were numerous
sources. I don’t recall.
MS. EVANS: Okay, all right. Well, I’m going to close and saying that I really
encourage us to invite Governor Josh Green out here to experience the crawl.
Because once Linda Lingle experienced the Kona crawl, she started changing her
direction to her department heads about focusing on the Kona crawl. So I hope
we get Governor Green out here, because he needs to look at why did Ed Sniffen
pull the money from this community. I’m upset that we’re even having this
discussion that we have to vote on this.
MR. PAUSE: There are also a number of areas that the State has identified where
there’s needs, but I don’t know the status of funding. I mean, the Kona crawl that
you refer to is probably north of Kona, but the south of Kona is really bad.
Obviously, coming out of Puna is a challenge, and then obviously at one point
there was funding available that no longer is being considered for the DKI (Daniel
K. Inouye Highway) extension. And then I’ve talked to Senator Richards about
the Waimea bypass. So there’s a number of areas on the island that could
certainly use some additional funding and looking at to alleviate traffic
conditions.
What I’ve been told by folks from the State is that their primary focus is maintain
what they have, versus doing additional expansions and such. So I don’t know if
that’s an accurate statement for this current Administration, but clearly, we can all
sit here and say, yeah, there are tremendous needs to build additional roadway
infrastructure.
MS. EVANS: My experience in the past has taught me—I’ll just summarize. My
experience in the past, the senators and our congressional delegation asked the
Mayor what the priorities for the County are. And he submits every year to them
when it comes to roads. So I would—I don’t know what he has submitted, but
it’d sure be interesting to see what the priorities are. Thank you. I close. I yield.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Vice Chair Inaba.
MR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy and Council
Member Kierkiewicz, for bringing this forward, allowing this to be on the record.
I see there’s other documents before us accompanying Bill 107 today, but I’m
totally in support of this. And thank you to our community for coming out and
being a part of this process. Mahalo.
CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you so much. Wow. The last time we heard this it was
kind of confusing and we actually killed it, and then it got brought back. And I
kind of wanted to explain just a little bit to the public some of the things that we
navigate here. And I’m in full support of this resolution, entire support of this
resolution. And one of the challenges we face is that there’s an underlying belief
within our Administration and a perception at the Council that we’re obligated. If
the State gives us money, if we say no, we screw ourselves and they’re not going
to give us any more money. I don’t think that’s a fair or healthy way to have to
operate, especially if they’re funding things we don’t really need or want.
It’s become very apparent in the last few weeks that this is a project that,
unfortunately, did not take into consideration as forward thinking as it should
have, having been called “disrespectful” by some of the people involved with it.
That’s okay with me because I don’t understand why these issues weren’t
remedied moving forward. Council Member—and I realize I’m talking more
about Bill 107, so I want to get back to the Resolution, I apologize, 416. So I’m
in full support of removing the DHHL (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands)
parcels for the feasibility study.
My heart aches. The testimony that was given today, in my own lineage, my
family is responsible for the things that happened to the Hawaiian people. And
it’s one of the reasons I take this role so seriously in trying to remedy and
remediate and make pono for those things. It’s not completely possible, and for
that I just remain committed to serve, but it’s not okay that the lion’s share—
This is a story that’s been told throughout history, and it’s been told about native
peoples and host cultures everywhere. And once we know these things, we are
responsible for making decisions differently, and not perpetuating it.
And when I heard testifiers, I just thought it was really interesting. Those
speaking about this resolution used the terms “we” about your community. And
those speaking against it predominantly used the word “I.” And I think that says a
lot about how people think and about the fundamental value systems of our host
culture. And those communities are considering the “we,” the greater good, the
long-term resilience and regenerative capacity of communities, versus “I”: I
deserve. I am entitled to. I am owed.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
And the heart of—and I will say “our” people because it is my home—and our
people deserve better and our kama‘āina and our maka‘āinana and our mo‘opuna
deserve better. And we’re breaking cycles through these conversations and by
bringing forth legislation like this, and testifying and calling things out for what
they are, one circumstance and situation at a time. So I’m in full support of this
resolution. Mahalo for coming today. I know it’s a big lift. So mahalo to you. I
yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Council
Member Galimba.
MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. I can support this resolution, and I do hope that
there are alternative routes that can be found. I just want to say something that’s
probably going to be super unpopular, but I’m just going to say it. I kind of
would love it if there was a way for the Hawaiian Home Lands community to
come to this and sort of, how do I put this—I mean, I respect that they don’t want
it coming into any of the communities, but also I think there is also an opportunity
to come to this in the power that the land that they have gives them. And I’m just
going to leave it at that. Because, I think there is a lot of power here for the
Hawaiian community if they want to choose that route, and maybe they don’t.
But I just wanted to kind of look at it a different way. So, with that being said, I
can support this and thank the authors for bringing it.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member. Anyone else? Council
Member Evans, back to you.
MS. EVANS: Thank you. Council Member Galimba reminded me that
Micah Kane, when he ran the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, he went to
the different homestead communities and developed what I would call a
community development plan. So it’d be interesting to see kind of what he came
up with in terms of the vision for each one of those lands on Hawai‘i County. I
just happen to have the one out in my district, Kailapa. I have his community
development plan and he did that. Yeah, Micah did that probably 18 years ago.
But beautiful development plan for each one of the homestead properties. So it
might be worth talking to Kali Watson and DHHL and pull up the plans that they
had for the island and their vision. And I wanted to applaud my colleague
Kagiwada for continuing to point out that there needs to be these development
plans and the visioning by the community that’s driven by the community. And
there’s some missing in the area she keeps pointing out. I hope we get that
rectified. Thank you. I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Back to Council
Member Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, I just want to thank my colleagues for all of their inputs,
specifically their support, but also how the work really needs to continue. And I
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
wanted to try and speak to two things. One thing with Hawaiian Home Lands, it’s
hard to get Hawaiians to agree on something they want going forward, but what
they can agree on is something they don’t want. But to that point, you’re
absolutely right, Ms. Galimba, that there is power in their sovereignty and what
the trust provides for them with Hawaiian Home Lands. Could there be more
opportunities with an alternative study? Perhaps. But that’s a bigger
conversation for the beneficiaries of the trust, not only those on the lands but
specifically on the waitlist.
And to the point of missing studies, absolutely embrace a community
development plan. But the power that this homestead community has with their
own CDP is more powerful than being diluted into a larger community
development action plan. And I’m challenged with how do we find balance for
people who hold lands in trust, have funding to develop it, but have to coexist in a
community that frankly disrespects them. So those are the balances that I
continue to elevate.
My time on the Council is sunsetting, which is why I’m sharing this with all of
you, that some of you guys got to continue to take up that fight. I think the
alternative resolution on commercial facilities, medical facilities, other
alternatives need to be explored. This works. I’ve seen it work. When we didn’t
want a composting facility in Pana‘ewa, it worked. This resolution will work, and
it will be something that future legislators can lean in on and remind the
Administration.
Chair, I know you haven’t spoken but if we could please get to the vote because
we have other things and a whole other agenda we have to tackle. Thank you, I
yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Anyone else? Yeah,
just add my two cents. Happy to support this resolution and really want to thank
my colleagues Council Members Lee Loy and Kierkiewicz for working quickly to
basically solve a procedural problem. I think we were all—this came up with
some of the testimony. I think folks wanted clarity around this. Bill 107 is a
procedural bill of sorts.
Vice Chair Inaba has the budget here. Can you show everybody what the budget
looks like? It’s this big binder that has a bunch of basically Excel sheets that have
dollar amounts in it. And so, when we put a budget bill forward, we’re amending
those spreadsheets. We’re not creating laws. We would typically create law
within a Code. And as we saw with some of the other items on the agenda today,
oftentimes when we have a budget bill, we have a companion resolution that
explains the intention and the purpose. By creating this resolution and putting it
together so quickly, you’ve done that for Bill 107. And I really appreciate that
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
because I think we were all on the same page about this. The community has sent
the message loud and clear about what they do and do not want here. So thank
you for working on this and getting it put together.
I wanted to just make a note. Our Senators Schatz and Hirono have just recently
introduced a bill which is being called the Emergency Vehicle and Community
Planning Act. And what this is supposed to do is it’s—they’re directing Federal
DOT (Department of Transportation) and FEMA (Federal Emergency
Management Agency) to come up with some best practices around developing
emergency planning routes. I’m not sure if there’s going to be a funding
component with it or not; there’s currently not. But to our testifiers today, I want
to suggest to you that this is an opportunity at the Federal level to ensure that next
time they think about planning evacuation routes, they’re taking into account
historic injustice as we were talking about here today, right.
So they’re in the process of deliberating this legislation. So this is the time to
contact Hirono and Schatz and say, “Hey, I heard about this bill that you’re
putting forward. As you’re developing best practices for emergency route
planning, there needs to be consultations with the indigenous communities”—
because this is nationwide, not just for us here in Hawai‘i—“consultation with the
indigenous communities and consideration of past practices and historical
injustice.” So I encourage you to take advantage of that. It was just introduced
seven days ago. So now is the time to jump on that. And then you’ll be providing
guidance across the country about how to do this process better from the get-go.
So, with that, without any further comment, I’ll take the vote on that. All those in
support of Resolution 416-24, please say “aye.”
Vote on Res. 416-24: The motion to adopt Res. 416-24 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the
of Business: following item was taken out of order:
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Bill 107: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-51, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2023 TO JUNE 30, 2024
Adds the Public Works Puna Makai Alternate Route Study – County Project
($500,000) and the Puna Makai Alternate Route Study – State Project ($1,000,000)
to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be provided from General
Obligation Bonds, Capital Projects Fund – Fund Balance and/or other Sources
($500,000) and State Grants Receivable ($1,000,000), to identify an alternate route
to relieve traffic congestion and increase evacuation capacity, if needed.
Reference: Comm. 609
Intr. by: Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder (B/R)
First Reading: December 20, 2023
Postponed: January 10, 2024
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai‘i County Charter
(Note: There is a motion by Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz, to pass Bill 107 on second and final reading.)
(Note: Comm. 609.16, from Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy dated
January 10, 2024, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 107, was circulated.)
CHR. KIMBALL: Any discussion? Council Member Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. In light of our adoption of
Resolution 416-24, companion measure to this bill, which presents some
guardrails, scope, direction for the study, I will be supporting Bill 107. We need a
study done for an alternate route out of Puna, but we’ve also made it very clear
what lands should not be considered in that process.
I’ve worked very closely with our House Transportation Chair, Representative
Chris Todd, to let him know that we are moving this on the Council side. He’s
also made it very clear that an alternate route from Puna does not connect to
homestead communities. Rep. Todd has made that very clear over the years.
He’s also shared with me that, in light of the Maui situation, Transportation
Director Ed Sniffen, who’s really excellent at the work that he does, is keenly
aware of the need to have alternate routes in communities. And so he’s
committed to, after the study is done, working really hard to secure Federal
monies, including monies from Federal Highways to get the job done. So that is
great news for our Puna community, but we have to get the study done.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Today is that first step to unlocking the funding, and then the real work begins
with Public Works convening those meetings and engaging community within the
scope and process. So just want to encourage my colleagues to please support
this measure. Thank you, Chair.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Any further
discussion? Council Member Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. Unfortunately, Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder
can’t be here with us today. But something that really resonated with me, and the
first time we heard about this and were talking about it at Council, was his
concerns about it just being Puna Makai and not including Puna Mauka, which
confuses me, if we were really doing a study, that why wouldn’t it include? And I
humbly admit I am no expert about the terrain in that area and how it feeds
through, but learning more about the controversy related to this and that route
related to Puna Makai, I question the wisdom of it not including mauka.
I also have a question about why $1.5 million. It seems like a lot of money, and
we live in an era where all you have to do is watch a movie and it’s very
prevalent; we all kind of know how much money gets made off of government
contracts. So I heard that being asked by a number of people today. So why that
much money? Is that really necessary?
(Note: At this time, Public Works Director Stephen Pause came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MR. PAUSE: I do not know where the number came from. But as I’ve
mentioned a number of times, we still have not sat down and determined what
that scope is. It’s a lot of money. And there’s an opportunity here as we look at
bringing on a professional consultant, along with the resources that we have
within our department: engineering, traffic. There’s an opportunity to do a really
good study and maybe look at things that we didn’t think we had the funding to
do. So I can’t sit here today and tell you why we need $1.5 million. I honestly
can’t.
MS. VILLEGAS: It’s totally fair.
MR. PAUSE: But we only spend the money that we need, and then sometimes
there are opportunities to do a few extra items that maybe we weren’t thinking
about doing because we do have sufficient funding for it.
I wish I could give you a better question \[sic\]. But especially at this early stage,
and you’ve heard me talk about project management, right, this is such an early
stage in coming up with costs, not only just for the study but for what we might
end up with for solutions. It’s really early. As you develop the project, you
become better at it. But I can’t give you a really good answer. I’m sorry.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
MS. VILLEGAS: No worries. Thank you, Director. Corp. (Corporation)
Counsel, I have a quick question for you.
(Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MS. VILLEGAS: I am deeply grateful for the resolution we just passed, which is
asking for DHHL lands to be removed from any option. However, is that legally
binding? I mean, I do have concerns that we do the best we can sitting here today
and passed that resolution, but if we pass this bill, a resolution’s not legally
binding. And then it once again falls to the responsibility of the people
predominantly affected most drastically, that they would then have to continue the
fight through legal mechanisms or whatnot.
So I’m just concerned still about the potential for the resolution to not make the
difference and for, as this moves forward, whoever the people may be at the time
when this happens. Because, as was stated earlier, in our roles we come and go.
Directors come and go, Corp. Counsel, mayors. And I’d like to think we’d
continue to move in the direction of accountability and recognition of
disproportionate allocation of, you know, so much pilikia within Hawaiian Home
Lands. But the rest of the things that happen in the world leave me in grand
consternation and disappointed. And so I just am feeling a little uncomfortable.
MS. STRANCE: Good morning. Elizabeth Strance. What’s the question?
MS. VILLEGAS: The question is whether or not the resolution we just passed,
which I’m super grateful for, which is urging the Mayor and DPW to remove
DHHL parcels from the feasibility study, if that becomes legally binding as it
relates to Bill 107. Because, there were amendments that had been tried to be
made to the actual bill itself, but we were told it couldn’t because of its
connection to State and the terminology that was utilized there. So I still have
concerns that, moving forward, Bill 107, it could become up to somebody to
decide yes or no.
MS. STRANCE: There’s a lot wrapped up in that, so let me try to unwind just a
little bit. First, the focus on South Puna seems to have derived from the bill that
didn’t complete making its way through the Hawai‘i Legislature, because there’s
language in the bill that says, “Trips from Hilo to southernmost portions of Puna
would take up to two hours.” So, with that State bill, what happened is it got
referred to Ways and Means and then didn’t finish, and in the meantime, the
appropriations part passed. So there’s a—just like you were talking about the
resolution accompanying this bill, the bill didn’t accompany the appropriation.
So, the short answer of can an administration ignore a resolution, the short answer
is yes. The long answer is why would they, and that’s sort of what Mr. Pause was
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
talking about. Because, if the recommendation results in a County road, it comes
back before this body probably for approval if there is going to be any legal action
to acquire property, for example.
There’s been a lot of discussion about what the Hawaiian Homes Act says. And
the intention of that act is for the Hawaiian Homes community to self-govern.
There has been, since 2009, through the Pana‘ewa Regional Plan, opposition to a
connector road that would run through that area. And so it shouldn’t be too
surprising that if what was accompanying the bills to the State Legislature had
designs that were contrary to a public expressing for a long time that there is
concern.
So, as a matter of law, a lot of times if there’s not an expressed provision in the
law, you think of it as being open. You assume that if something is silent but
there’s another law that would prevent something from taking place, it doesn’t
need to be included in a law.
One of the testifiers this morning stated that she didn’t support the bill because
there’s no assurance that DHHL land will be excluded from consideration. And
so you have a community coming from experience of feeling like they have
certain entitlements and rights and feeling that they’ve been ignored. And so
there’s kind of a disconnect in how we would normally think about certain things
because we wouldn’t normally think to exclude something where normally you
would need to seek permission or have an agreement with Hawaiian Homes to go
on and develop. But you have a population that comes from a different history.
And so there is a disconnect when we’re talking about what would normally be a
pretty straightforward budget line item bill.
And so silence means yes to a group of people. And unless you say no, it means
yes. And so our standard way of oftentimes approaching some of these bills is
being tempered and challenged, not because of what the law says but because of
what a community’s experience with the law has demonstrated. And so, to kind
of get back to your question, Council Member Villegas, it’s difficult when you
have a community that has been historically ignored, or they feel that they’ve
been historically ignored, to say it’s going to be okay because we have a
resolution, and then knowing that a resolution is not binding. You have a budget
bill that it would be improper to put a policy statement in the budget bill, and it’s
a practice that implicates separation of powers and a whole different area of legal
concerns.
So I think the kind of treading softly is appropriate. This body could fail to adopt
this bill and send a resolution to the Legislature that there needs to be greater
clarification or commitment to the language of Bill 1403, which was making its
way through the Legislature. It had finished consideration in a committee and had
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
been referred to the Ways and Means Committee where it died, and we’re not
quite sure why. But we wouldn’t be here today if Bill 1403 had finished in the
form that it had been adopted.
And so the pressure that’s being put on this body is to complete the promises of a
State bill. But it’s not appropriately stated in a budget bill, and it’s not the proper
subject of a specific ordinance. And so what the study does is it envisions a
process. The County of Hawai‘i routinely works with Department of Hawaiian
Homes regarding projects. There would be no reason to think that it wouldn’t
unless the projects—most of the projects I think that were described were
primarily State projects. And I don’t have enough history to know exactly what
happened where it—there’s a certain momentum that I think has been generated
around this particular project by this particular study that make it unlikely that a
proposal that would go through Hawaiian Homes, or would expand existing roads
on Hawaiian Homes, would pass because of some other safeguards that are in
place, including this resolution, the comments of Director Pause, and the necessity
to work with Department of Hawaiian Homes when we want to enter their
property and consider infrastructure projects. So there are a lot of agreements that
the County has for projects, and this may be one of them.
So the short answer to your question is no. The broader answer to your question
is that there are a number of assurances in place that make it unlikely that that
choice would be selected. Having said that, I’m mindful of the history that’s been
communicated in the testimony, and appreciate that that really is difficult to be
lost on on this body.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for that. It’s clearly unclear but what that clarifies
for me is this didn’t happen appropriately at the State level. And while having a
million dollars offered to our County seems like this wonderful opportunity, it
wasn’t clarified appropriately there, leaving a community that’s been left with
other agreements with State entities for airports, sewage treatment facilities, the
harbor, the drag strip, just all the different things. I mean it’s just—it’s atrocious.
It’s so cliché. It’s revolting actually that it just keeps happening and has
happened here.
So I won’t be supporting this bill moving forward. I am asking for the State to go
back and rectify their issues. My district? You’re talking about the Kona crawl?
I had people crawling up my tuchus after the last hearing about the traffic, and
how dare I and how could I. And my response was “Do you know where I live?
Do you know the traffic I deal with? You know how much I’d like to see a traffic
study? We don’t have tsunami evacuation capacities, and they’re still approving
more development on roads that have no evacuation.” So I don’t want to be in a
competition with Puna. We have lots of needs here, and we have people that do
have needs. But I want to see this happen appropriately and equitably.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
And when we talk about adding in to OSCER trauma-informed decision-making
protocols, I feel that this is an opportunity to take something like that into
consideration. And right now, we’re navigating the experiences of a people who
have navigated generational trauma and have no reason to trust what would be
said in these rooms, because it can be so easily changed. And with the flip of a
word, then justified a way for why they would think in some future time that it
would be okay to tell you what you need. So I won’t be supporting this
legislation today, and I will be able to sleep well tonight. And something about
this job we all have to navigate are these decisions that we don’t always know
every “I” or “T” or perfect legal component, but we can go with what our na‘au
says. So that’s where I’ll be standing today.
CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Inaba.
MR. INABA: Thank you. Personally, I think this should be a State project. I
have concerns that we even have the capacity maybe after we do the contract.
The contract would be carried out but that’s our commitment to really taking this
on. I don’t think that’s the County’s job for such a huge road for such a huge
district.
Based on the testimony we received today and in the previous meetings, I’d only
support this bill with the amendment that we took up the last time regarding
specific language that excludes DHHL. So if we don’t get that language put in, I
won’t be supporting this bill. We do have an amendment, but I’d like to hear
anybody else’s thoughts on the bill. I’m happy to introduce it, actually.
Motion to Amend: Mr. Inaba moved to amend Bill 107 with the contents of
Comm. 609.16. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
MR. INABA: Thank you. So this is the same amendment that we had taken up
previously in Hilo, simply saying that “as proposed in House Bill No. 1403
H.D. 1,” (House Draft 1) “allotments for this project shall be made to any lands
on the Island of Hawai‘i owned by the County or State, excluding lands under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Lands owned by
private parties may be considered and site surveys may be conducted pursuant to
agreements with landowners.”
I did hear the opinion from Corporation Counsel that this is a more procedural
bill, but also noting that the resolution is nonbinding and we may all not be here,
including the testifiers who testified today in this realm. I will be asking my
colleagues to support this amendment to the bill to ensure that a commitment is a
commitment and that none of these lands will be impacted as expressed by the
community. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Any comments on the amendment? All right, I’m going to
make one, which is budget bills are a pretty set in stone kind of procedural
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
activity for us to do, budget amendment bills. And I don’t think that this is
something we should take—the process should be something we should make an
exception to by amending policy into a budget bill. Saying that, my preference
would be to vote against the amendment and do what was suggested by Vice
Chair Inaba: Send this back to the State to fix, and have them clarify, either by
reigniting the bill that’s in WAM (Senate Committee on Ways and Means) or
whatever. I feel pretty strongly that we shouldn’t be putting policy into a budget
bill. I think it sets a precedence that—yeah, I don’t think it’s good for this body.
So I’d rather not amend and vote “no” on the main motion. Thanks.
MS. STRANCE: Chair, may I?
CHR. KIMBALL: Go ahead.
MS. STRANCE: I just want to be clear that I’m urging the Council not to adopt
this amendment. I think there are some legal issues with it. The budget
provisions of our County Charter are simply a statement of projects. And the
descriptions of the projects by Charter would be explained in the program
description. And so what this amendment does is, in some ways, invades the
province of the executive who’s already submitted a program proposal.
And, secondly, from a standpoint of public notice on a policy matter, this
amendment hasn’t been published to the community that this body is going to be
taking up a policy consideration on a scoping that would normally take place in a
different public process. And, in that way, this body is, through the budget
amendment, addressing and limiting the Executive Branch obligation around
public involvement. And so there’s a potential of legal challenges for both those
reasons.
And then, on top of that, the way that the State legislation is drafted, this is for
matching funds. We match what they’re matching, and the amendment undoes
the match (inaudible). You see, they want fruit salad and you’re giving them
oranges, and that’s not what the ask is. Whether the State would consider the
amendment as invalidating the obligation for the match, I don’t know, but that
would be my concern.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. That’s my concern, is that we’re doing something
that is not procedurally appropriate nor potentially fully legal. So, again, I would
recommend that we not amend, and if we really want to see it—redirection,
clarification around the funds, we ask the State to do it in the bill. Council
Member Evans, on the amendment.
MS. EVANS: Yes. I really like that we’re—I really like this amendment. But I
hear your argument that in fact the way—everything goes back to title, right. So
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
the title of the bill that we’re listening to is very clear that it is a budget item that
we’re changing. So we can’t—what you’re arguing is you can’t go beyond what
the scope of the title is. Is that what I’m hearing?
MS. STRANCE: The request to the bill is to amend our budget and create two
line items: one to receive money and one to spend money. And so those are just
lines in the budget that were held up earlier. What the amendment is doing is
discussing scoping and policy considerations that are not proper in a budget
amendment. It’s seeking simply to identify the lines.
MS. EVANS: The reason I’m confused is because, at the State Legislature, they
do those notes, they call it, at the end of their budget bill that has all the line
items. They have all the line items. And then at the bottom, they have their,
like—I mean, they have language that actually you have to read at the bottom,
which is clarifying language to what they did up above when they did the line
item. I just don’t know why we can’t have clarifying language in our budget bill.
Just because we haven’t done it doesn’t mean we can’t do it. So who’s saying we
can’t add clarifying language to our budget?
MS. STRANCE: I’m saying that there’s legal risk in doing so for the reasons I
stated.
MS. EVANS: Well, the State Legislature does it all the time, so I’m kind of
confused why you can’t have clarifying language. Is there some—you said the
Charter? Or there’s something in there that says we can’t?
MS. STRANCE: I’m saying that the way that our Charter is set up is that the
budget comes to this body with line items and a program description. This bill is
simply to add a line item. I can’t comment on the practice of the State Legislature
and whether those footnotes, other bills, I can’t comment on that.
Normally, when this body is considering an issue of public policy, it’s clearly
stated in the bill so that any member of the public can come in and comment on
an issue of public policy. The hearing on this bill has been highly unusual where
it generated public testimony and introduced policy discussions on it. And so,
when you take a budget bill and you tell the public “We’re just voting on a line
item,” and then it turns into a policy discussion where you’re contemplating
amending it, it will have impact on another public process the Administration is
required to do as part of its implementation of a project. There are some due
process and separation of powers issues associated with those.
MS. EVANS: Actually, it’s very logical. It makes sense to me. Would it make
sense, then, to hear it in two weeks from now to give the public the opportunity to
consider any amendment, and then the due process is taken care of?
MS. STRANCE: The bill is the bill. It’s still a budget bill.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
MS. EVANS: Okay. Because of the title, okay. All right, thank you. I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Council
Member Kagiwada, on the amendment.
MS. KAGIWADA: Yeah, on the amendment. I’m not going to be supporting
this amendment for reasons stated. And I just want to say I didn’t get a chance to
weigh in on the main bill, so I would like to do that when we get back to it,
please. I was trying to get a hold of somebody from the Mayor’s office to be
available.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. Council
Member Lee Loy, on the amendment.
MS. LEE LOY: On the amendment. I hear it. Everybody wants some ironclad
determination. But I also hear Judge Strance saying we’re foreclosing on an
opportunity that the general public should have. I’m not into that. And I’m
hoping that is Deanna sitting in her seat in the back of the Hilo chambers. Great.
(Note: At this time, Managing Director Deanna Sako came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. LEE LOY: Deanna, sorry, Managing Director Sako, I have a question. In
having done these matching funds from the Legislature, I’ve done it with
Representative Onishi and others, I know that they get the money and then they
have to get it to the County, and then they have to appropriate it. So I’m looking
at what kind of time line restrictions we have, because I also hear my colleagues
saying we got handed kind of a mess and it’s not our job to fix it, while I do think
Council Member Kierkiewicz and I have really outlined a resolution providing
clear descriptions. Deanna, do you know the time lines?
MS. SAKO: So I thought when Representative Ilagan was here, or in Kona, a
month or so ago now, that he said the money lapsed in June of this coming year.
So, if that’s the case, then we’re on a very short time line. If I’m mistaken, I
apologize, but I thought that’s what I remember him saying. So we’re on a short
time line to finish up to accept the funds, ask the Governor to release. But I think
the resolution does lay out very clearly what is necessary. And I believe you
heard the Director of Public Works speak very clearly that he understands as well.
We don’t typically amend the budget bills, but I think it’s either we take the
money or we don’t. But it’s a very short time line. So I think we have to kind of
th
have encumbered the funds by June 30 of this year.
MS. LEE LOY: Deanna, thanks. I have my office kind of checking, too, at the
same time, what the time lines are. I’m really challenged because, again, DHHL
and Native Hawaiians got to over exceed some threshold, right, of assurances
while everybody else just goes through the normal strokes. It feels like, again,
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
we’re getting penalized. And so I don’t mind supporting this amendment; I just
don’t want to go down the slippery slope of doing things that just sets a new
standard again.
I guess, like I said, the resolution I know worked in the past. We had a situation
with a composting facility. They were going to put it in the back, Pana‘ewa. I
authored a resolution that basically said, “No, it’s not going to go in the back of
Pana‘ewa.” Till today, it’s not there. I don’t know how else to provide those
assurances. And I know one thing, one of my colleagues mentioned about
alternative studies. The resolution clearly articulates the opportunity to explore
all kinds of alternatives, not just makai of the road. And I think, with adding in all
the other money, provides us that opportunity to try all the other options. I don’t
want this to get so complex and convoluted that, in the end, our homestead
community is having to navigate a whole other issue.
I think, for my colleagues, support the money, don’t support the money. I’ve
pulled out every single tool in the toolbelt that I know of within the guidance of
Corporation Counsel. That’s where I’m at. We can also postpone this until
Deanna can provide us some guidance as to when the monies need to be
encumbered. And maybe, Judge Strance, really tell us if it’s illegal or not. I think
the communities waited long enough. I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. On the amendment,
Council Member Kagiwada.
MS. KAGIWADA: On the amendment, because Council Member Lee Loy was
talking about kind of some of the same things that I’m thinking about, which is
we don’t have ironclad assurances. But I was hoping to get a little more
assurance based on the fact that we just passed Resolution 416, urging the Mayor
and DPW to remove DHHL parcels from the feasibility study. We have the DPW
Director here saying, “Yes, I totally hear you.” And so, with Deanna, our
Managing Director over there, I was hoping we could also get some of those
assurances from the Mayor. And, specifically, will you be able to utilize
Jeannie Miskovich, who is, I believe, the liaison/lobbyist for the County with the
State Legislature, to follow any of the bills at the State level and make sure that
this information is clearly reiterated to the State on any step of the way, that we
clearly feel that this is the way that we want to go? Is that something the Mayor’s
office can do?
MS. SAKO: Yeah. I think the community has clearly spoken today. And so I
think that is a message that we’ll do our best to convey, as I know each of you
will, too, when you’re up there lobbying as well. So I’m thinking it can be a
concerted effort between the Administration and the Council. Happy to help do
that.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. And I think
that the resolution is clearly doing its job, and I feel comfortable voting “no” on
this amendment. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. Anyone else?
Council Member Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. The State fumbled and now we’re
having to pick up the ball and get it over the finish line. I don’t like being in this
position. I really don’t. We were told by Corp. Counsel you cannot amend the
budget ordinance. What can we do? Our tools are limited.
We passed the resolution that acknowledged community needs and issues and
also expanded the scope, because what the State said was just not enough. It
wasn’t meeting the needs of our entire Puna community. I’ll vote for the
amendment. I’ll roll the dice on the legality of it. But I also think that when we
pass resolutions as a body, yes, we acknowledge that they’re nonbinding, but
there is so much power in this body, which is elected by the people, representing
the people. There is weight in our unanimous policy directive. And I don’t want
the public or even members of this body to diminish the weight that these
resolutions carry. They’re important. They draw a very clear line in the sand, and
they take note of where we are in this moment of history, what we expect the
Administration to do.
We need the study for an alternate route. We were very clear in the resolution as
to what is off the table. That is understood by the Department of Public Works. I
need my colleagues to support what Council Member Lee Loy and I are trying to
do to unify our community. Please support this bill. We have the guardrails
articulated in the resolution.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Anyone else?
Council Member Evans.
MS. EVANS: I’m sorry. I’m confused. Member Kierkiewicz, are you
supporting the amendment?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes.
MS. EVANS: Okay. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Okay, anyone else on
the amendment? I have a couple of questions for Corporation Counsel. One,
from a legal standpoint, the meeting records around this bill, which are
documented and part of the public system, the meeting minutes from our
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
conversations today and the previous conversations in addition to the resolution,
what are those other documents? What other weight do they have from a legal
standpoint?
MS. STRANCE: Thank you. The minutes of this meeting constitute legislative
history of a bill. Legislative history can be helpful in a handful of settings,
primarily where the language itself of a bill is not clear as to intent. You look to
the legislative history to learn about what the intent of the legislative body is.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. My second question, I’m not sure if this is a
question for you or for the Clerk, but accompanying a budget amendment like
Bill 107 is a B-52 form. And there is a section there that allows for a background
and a justification. Would it be possible at this juncture to somehow have the
Finance Department—a B-52 is a Department of Finance request for Council
action—have the B-52 associated with this bill replaced with the B-52 that adds
this clarifying language? Because, that seems the more appropriate place for it.
Council Member Lee Loy, you have a response to that?
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. Thank you. Part of the reason why there was testimony
early on to amend the B-52. But it was clear, right, it’s just background. It’s
divorced from this budget amendment. I’m also thinking about amending the bill
to have reflect what we passed in Resolution 416-24. I see some nods around
here. I’m getting—again, how come Hawaiians got to set the bar so high for
everybody else when other things just keep moving along?
I know what the community wants. They made their concerns loud and clear. It’s
been captured in 416-24. I’m not—if we’re going to walk back to the B-52, then
let’s do it for everything. But we’ve received guidance twice now about it’s just
the background report; it really does nothing. And I really appreciate that
everybody’s trying to find a way. I just don’t know how to get to absolute
certainty in a budget amendment other than amending the description of that line
item that no longer says “Puna Makai Alternative Route,” but says “Puna
Alternative Route.” But that’s for another day.
CHR. KIMBALL: (Inaudible) bill.
MS. LEE LOY: And the budget’s coming up.
MS. STRANCE: The B-52 is part of the legislative record and would comprise
part of the legislative history of the bill.
CHR. KIMBALL: All right. Thank you. But I guess my question to the Clerk,
and I just want to get clarity on this just for future reference, if we want to swap
out a B-52 or amend a B-52, is that a possibility to have an updated B-52?
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
MR. HENRICKS: I don’t know. I would defer to our Managing Director,
although I just would think that, just sequentially, that could be considered
fraudulent almost. Because, a B-52 initiates an action; the action occurred. To go
back in time to revise it, it wouldn’t seem to be a good practice, procedurally.
CHR. KIMBALL: Yeah, okay, thank you. All right, I want to wrap up this. So,
briefly, again on the amendment and then we’ll move on.
MS. VILLEGAS: I won’t be supporting the amendment because I feel that, by
supporting the amendment, it would be justifying passing Bill 107. But as has
been described here, there are legal considerations with this actually even being
legal. In my history, sitting here in Council, I have seen—we’ve gone down these
corridors only under certain circumstances, and I don’t feel that this is a wise
corridor to go down. And I feel like we’re dancing on a razor’s edge trying to
make exceptions. The State screwed up. It needs to go back to them. This is a
bigger, broader issue, and there are opportunities and conversations happening on
the State level. A million dollars is a lot of money, but in the grand scheme of
things, it’s not enough money to compromise the sanctity, the trust, and the
potential for perpetual harm to come to a community.
So I won’t be supporting the amendment because I feel like it’s creating just a
means to justify the direction we’re heading in. And I don’t think we should be
going in this direction. I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member. Vice Chair Inaba.
MR. INABA: Based on Corporation Counsel’s advice and seeing how the vote’s
going to go, I’ll just I guess reaffirm my support for Council Member
Kierkiewicz’ stance regarding our statement via the resolution. I don’t think we
can be more clear than that. And if this isn’t a legal option—it really is
disappointing that we’re in this position, but I don’t want to put us in a place of
legal concern, so I’ll withdraw the motion right now.
Withdraw Motion Mr. Inaba withdrew his motion to amend Bill 107 with the
to Amend: contents of Comm. 609.16.
CHR. KIMBALL: We are back to the main motion. We have had quite a bit of
deliberation. I do want to get us moving. Council Member Kagiwada, did you
say you had something on the main motion? You’re good? Anyone else, back to
the main motion to approve Bill 107 at second and final reading? Seeing none,
let’s do a roll call vote on that, please, Mr. Clerk.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Vote on Bill 107: The motion to pass Bill 107 on second and final reading
(Failed) failed by the following roll call vote:
Ayes: Council Members Kagiwada and Kierkiewicz – 2.
Noes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kimball – 6.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
(Note: Mr. Inaba voted “kānalua” then “no.”)
Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for
ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading).
(FIRST READING):
(Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.)
Bill 126: AMENDS CHAPTER 14 OF THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983
(2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY ADDING A NEW ARTICLE RELATING
TO ESTABLISHING A REGISTRY OF REAL PROPERTY OWNER
INFORMATION
Requires owners of real property, or a designated agent of an absentee property
owner, to provide to the County the property owner or designated agent’s name,
mailing address, telephone number, and email address to allow the County to
distribute the contact information amongst County departments and agencies for the
purpose of notifying the property owner or agent of potential or existing impacts to
the property.
Reference: Comm. 690
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz
Waived: PCHSW
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 126 on first reading.
Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kierkiewicz.
th
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: On Wednesday, December 20, our office introduced
Bill 110, and that was to establish a registry of contact information for all
Hawai‘i Island property owners. This body provided really excellent suggestions
on what we could do to improve the bill. We made those changes, but those
changes went beyond the title of Bill 110. And so it’s being reintroduced with a
broader title as Bill 126. So we had the discussion on this registry bill back in
December. We have a broader title, and then also resolves some of the issues that
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
folks had with the original version, mostly that the ordinance was so short.
There’s a lot of definitions, so we weaved those definitions into the body of the
ordinance.
Again, this would establish a registry of contact information so that County
agencies can get in touch with property owners or their designee to communicate
regarding potential, impending, or current impacts to their property. There are a
number of situations where we’ve really needed to get in touch with the property
owner but the County has not been able to. Here are some of the reasons: There
was a potential squatter. We need to verify whether or not that tenant is
authorized to be there or not. There are also issues with Albizia that grow in
various communities, and we saw the impact of what Albizia does to communities
during Tropical Storm Iselle. So, by reaching them, we would be able to
coordinate removal. There is a program within our County Code that allows
Public Works to do this, but it’s very difficult to do if you’re not able to get in
touch with the property owner.
We also want to let property owners know if there are situations where there is
illegal vehicle dumping. And because we have experienced so many different
disasters in recent history, if there are ways that we can communicate with
property owners to let them know about eruptions or fires or floods or hurricanes,
we want to have every possible tool available to us to communicate to property
owners.
Finally, when the eruption happened, Real Property Tax office needed to work
very quickly to confirm folks’ properties being inundated by lava so that property
owners could get some immediate financial relief from the Federal Government.
That was very difficult to do because the only information that we have on record
at Real Property Tax office is a name and a mailing address. And it’s really hard
to communicate with someone when their mailbox is under lava.
And so this information would be something that is managed by the Real Property
Tax Division. It is not going to be publicly available or accessible to the public.
Real Property Tax office will be managing it, safeguarding it, creating a process
for different County governmental units—that’s departments and agencies—to be
able to access the information so they can do their business related to public
safety and law enforcement.
One of the changes that I do want to call out is related to failure to comply. What
we’ve done here is we’ve clarified that folks that do not comply with this section
of Code would be billed $100 annually. We are also giving Real Property Tax
office the ability to create a progressive fine schedule via director rules, up to a
thousand dollars. So, again, this gives Real Property Tax the flexibility and
ability to design what is the most appropriate sort of course of action fine-wise
when they roll this program out.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
I just want to emphasize, in closing, that more than 40 percent of our
Hawai‘i Island properties are owned by non-Hawai‘i Island residents. That is a
lot of folks that don’t live here that we are not able to get in touch with. So I urge
my colleagues to support this measure so that we can start working on developing
this registry and have another tool available to County departments to deal with
issues that are happening on real property across the island. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Anyone else on
Bill 126? Vice Chair Inaba.
MR. INABA: I want to mahalo Council Member Kierkiewicz for putting
everything in a clean version for us. It’s exactly as we discussed. So, look
forward to supporting it. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Council Member Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: I also want to express my gratitude for making this really clean
and understandable. And, yeah, it makes a lot of sense. I also had to look up the
word “appurtenances.” So I learned a new word, which is—yeah. I think this
provides another opportunity for us to remain connected. And just learning that
figure of 40 percent has really been mind-blowing to me and to other people that
I’ve shared that data point with. It has really blown their minds as well. And
kind of it’s allowing for a consciousness and an awareness that I think will be
deeply impactful. It also explains a lot about why things can and have been the
way they are. So thank you for including that information in your explanation
and reasons behind this. I’ll be supporting this.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Council
Member Evans.
MS. EVANS: I have a question for Corporation Counsel, and mine is specific to
the safeguarding of contact information. There’s a lot of litigation over privacy
and privacy of information, be it HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act), be it giving my information to Google or whatever. I mean,
there’s just so much litigation over privacy.
So this is referring to Section 92F-19, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes. Are we, at the
County level, being protected by State statute if in fact people’s private
information is somehow given out?
(Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MS. STRANCE: Elizabeth Strance, Corporation Counsel. The County doesn’t
have the same liability protections that the State does, so if you’re
juxtapositioning what you expect from the State. Having said that, there are a
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
number of other instances in government where contact information is required,
whether it’s in your business registration laws, other tax information. So this is
intended to be one more subset of information that is required to be submitted,
and it will be up to the County to do its best to make sure that there’s not any type
of unanticipated disclosure of public information. So there’s a State statute that
requires certain notifications if there’s any data breaches and things like that.
MS. EVANS: Yeah, the heartburn I have is it says it may be shared between
County agencies with no limitations on County agency. No real description of
intent. It can be—it’s shared. I’m just worried about our liability in case it gets—
you know, there’s a lot of domestic violence. There’s a lot of issues on child
custody. There’s all kinds of stuff that people—if it gets out into the wrong hands
and it got through a County employee and—what’s the safeguards? I’m just kind
of thinking it’s not quite enough protection is what I’m thinking.
MS. STRANCE: You can either draft something into the legislation or leave it up
to the creation of administrative rules and procedures on that. If that is a concern
of yours, then you may want to consider an amendment that describes the
circumstances under which it could be disclosed. But I think part of the intention
is that if there’s a fire, that the Fire Department be able to get information. If
there’s a police emergency, the police would be able to access that information.
You folks are considering another bill regarding your contact information for
registration of short-term rental agents and contact information. So I just think
that the—
MS. EVANS: The issue I have with this one is not tied to an action. Short-term
vacation rental, we know why the phone number’s there. This is just wide open.
Any agency can ask for it. So, to me, it’s just not—we’re going down that where
we’re just not tying it to a specific thing.
The other thing is now we threw in the language “It may be shared,” which means
the Police Department, because of their staffing, may not even get around to call
and see what the phone number is and contact that person because they just didn’t
have staff for it. So is that an implied sense of—a false sense of security to
people that, “Oh, if you don’t give us your phone number, we’re going to charge
you a hundred dollars. But guess what? It doesn’t mean we’re really going to
call you because we might not have staff that day to call you.” So it kind of
makes me nervous of the implied give and take. “You give us this. We’ll do
that,” and yet we’ve wiggled ourselves out of it: “We might get around to calling
you.” That’s the way I read the bill.
MS. STRANCE: You’ve described a couple of different things. For any
employee of the County to disclose to people outside the County information, that
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
would be an improper disclosure under any assessment. If your concern is that,
within the County, there should be limitations on how and when information can
be shared, then that would be a matter of legislation.
MS. EVANS: Okay, all right. Thank you. I just wanted to tell my colleagues I
talked to a group of 45 people about this bill. And what came out was an
interesting little twist to it, and that is if you have a mortgage with a bank, you
never get your tax bill. The tax bill goes to your mortgage company, who then
readjusts your PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance), whatever your
monthly bill is, and then you get notified. Guess what? Your bill went up
because your taxes went up. And so they don’t even know.
So, now, the bankers and the mortgage companies and loan companies are going
to be getting this notice that “Within 30 days or whatever, you have to give us
your contact information.” They’ll go “How are we going to even know?” So
there’s a little bit of a twist there.
The other thing is other people are saying—or my other concern is we have a lot
of foreign investors overseas. And so they may have hired local banks or trusts or
a banker, whatever, to manage. And so when you say “contact information,” are
we telling the bank or the trustee that, guess what, you’re going to be forced to
giving us your phone number, or we’re going to penalize the banker or the trust
person? So they thought that was a little bit of a—we won’t even know that
you’re asking us for—I mean, they were just kind of worried about the logistics of
how it’s going to play out, that it’s going to get out to them, that what you’re
trying to use it for. Because, the original intent of the bill, I can’t think of
anybody that doesn’t support the fact of trying to get noticed about squatters.
So, if it’s about vacant buildings and people being off-island and leaving a
vacancy, that’s one thing. But this is kind of morphed into more than just
squatters. It’s now any agency now asking for your number. Anyway, I guess I
ran out of time.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member. Vice Chair Inaba.
MR. INABA: I just want to point out Deputy Corporation Counsel Cody Frenz
did spell out for us the safeguarding of contact information. So the sharing of this
contact information between County agencies is in accordance with
Section 92F-19 of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes. It’s listed here in the bill very
clearly. So that statute is what governs when and how any information could be
shared between County agencies. And Finance did let us know as well that any
request would need to be in writing, in accordance with that statute. If not, they
won’t be sharing any information. Thank you.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Vice Chair Inaba. Anyone else? We have
Keita Jo and Lisa Miura from Real Property Tax at the table. You guys have
some comments to add?
(Note: At this time, Real Property Tax Administrator Lisa Miura and
Assistant Real Property Tax Administrator Keita Jo, Finance Department,
came forward to address the members of the Council.)
MS. MIURA: Thank you. Lisa Miura, Real Property Tax Administrator. We
just wanted to help answer some of the questions that Council Member Evans had
if it’s appropriate now.
CHR. KIMBALL: Yes, please.
MS. MIURA: Okay. So, currently—it was a couple of questions, but the one I
recall is regarding the bills. And she’s correct, that if you have a mortgage, your
mortgage company’s going to get the bill. However, this was intended to go out
with the assessment notices, which goes to every addressed owner that we have in
our system. And so it wasn’t intended to be with the tax bills. It also looks like in
this new—and I apologize because we missed the last meeting due to our tax
sales, so I’m not sure what was spoken about then—but in this new draft or
revision, there isn’t that they need to provide it to us initially in the first 30 days.
I believe if there’s only a change of the contact information, they need to provide
it to us. And I think if there was a deadline in the prior one, it appears that I
couldn’t find it in the new one. So it doesn’t seem like that’s there anymore.
And just to alleviate any additional concerns when it comes to providing this
sensitive information to the public, we already do get sensitive information and it
is protected by HRS (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes) 92F-19. It has been requested in
the past, and we do not provide it because it would cause additional issues. And
we have contacted OIP (Office of Information Practices) directly, even though we
did get the information from Corporation Counsel, to verify it with their attorneys
just to make triple sure because our attorneys changed over the years as well.
And the OIP attorney confirmed we do not have to provide that information.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Quickly.
MS. EVANS: I just wanted to say that if we’re going to vote on this today to
move it forward, I’m going to be voting “no.” I believe this should be an opt in. I
don’t think it should be mandatory with fines. Thank you, I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Evans. I’m going to summarize
up here and with a little story to tell you folks, which is I had a property with four
houses behind me in various states of disrepair that was foreclosed upon. And an
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
unsavory landlord started telling people, “Hey, you can move in up there.” The
landlord didn’t have any ties. He didn’t have any ownership to the property.
There was nobody to call.
Turns out that the folks that they invited up there were methamphetamine dealers.
And so, when the light was on on the porch, it was time to pick up. And so we
had all kinds of traffic from my neighborhood. Was there anybody to call? No.
There’s no record of ownership. Couldn’t get ahold of the bank. They were some
Mainland bank. They were never going to respond to my calls.
It got really bad when they started threatening to shoot my dog, threatening to
shoot me, threatening to shoot my family. I had to put a TRO (temporary
restraining order) out. Did I do anything about the property? Could I get
somebody to come in and evict? Would the sheriff come and take these people
out? No, because they cannot access the property owner. So, Council Member
Kierkiewicz, from my personal experience, having lost two years of my life
because we were afraid—we even went to a hotel one night because we were too
afraid to be at home, because we could not contact the mortgage company and get
them to respond to the situation. I am so grateful for this piece of legislation. So
thank you and you have my full support. With that, we’ll take the vote on this.
Mr. Clerk, roll call.
Vote on Bill 126: The motion to pass Bill 126 on first reading was carried by
(Approved) the following roll call vote:
Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada,
Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 7.
Noes: Council Member Evans – 1.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading).
(SECOND OR
FINAL READING): (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.)
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Bill 109: INITIATES AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE XIII, SECTION 13-8 OF THE
(Draft 2) HAWAI‘I COUNTY CHARTER (2022 EDITION), RELATING TO TERM OF
OFFICE OF DEPARTMENT HEADS
Proposes to revise the County Charter to require the Mayor to appoint department
heads within 30 days of taking office and within 60 days of any vacancy occurring
during the Mayor’s term of office, and further that the department head shall not
take office until confirmed by the County Council.
Reference: Comm. 627.13
Intr. by: Mr. Inaba and Ms. Villegas
First Reading: January 10, 2024
2/3 Vote: Second of three required readings,
Section 15-1(a), Hawai‘i County Charter
(Note: Comm. 627.16, from Council Member Jenn Kagiwada dated January 24,
2024, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 109, Draft 2, was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to pass Bill 109, Draft 2, on second
reading. Seconded by Ms. Villegas.
Motion to Amend: Ms. Kagiwada moved to amend Bill 109, Draft 2, with the
contents of Comm. 627.16. Seconded by Mr. Inaba.
CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kagiwada.
MS. KAGIWADA: Is Managing Director Deanna Sako still over there?
Basically, I had a good conversation with the Managing Director explaining why
she thought this was a good idea, and I’d like her to go ahead and explain. Thank
you.
(Note: At this time, Managing Director Deanna Sako came forward to
address the members of the Council.)
MS. SAKO: Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity. I tried to meet
with all of you, and I think I missed a few of you due to different scheduling
conflicts. But when you think about like a new Mayor coming in and starting in
office, being inaugurated that first Monday at noon and not being able to start
with his Cabinet, I know there’s provisions for holdovers. I think none of us can
really predict if people will stay or not.
So it kind of comes down to when a new Mayor is in office picking his Cabinet.
Something happens. It could be a short-term “something happens,” but they
cannot be at work. Then who fills in? And, ultimately, it would be the Managing
Director from a previous Administration if that person stayed on. If not, it would
go to the Finance Director who may or may not have stayed on. So I think having
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
a Managing Director in place is extremely critical. And I think just having
someone that’s affiliated with the Mayor and knows what that person’s wishes are
would best serve our community.
MS. KAGIWADA: Great. Thank you so much. So, just to clarify, this proposed
amendment changes Section 1(c) to “An appointee shall take office upon
confirmation by the council, with the exception of the managing director who
shall take office upon appointment by the mayor.” It still requires the Council’s
approval, but it would happen after potentially the Mayor appoints and the
Managing Director takes office in order to make sure, as Ms. Sako presented, that
the Mayor has their person there with them in case of an emergency and needing a
second in command. Thank you, I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. Vice Chair Inaba.
MR. INABA: In support of this amendment. I understand the logic shared by
Managing Director Sako, and it’s a very straightforward amendment that I worked
on together with Council Member Kagiwada. So, ask for my colleagues’ support
in making this change to ensure continuity of government at the beginning of a
term. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Any other comments on the amendment?
Council Member Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: Just very quickly want to express my gratitude to Council
Member Kagiwada and her office for putting together this amendment. Thank
you, Deanna, for having taken the time and coming to meet with me about this,
and giving a chance to kind of vet the concept and look nationally and statewide.
As when you get a president, you get a vice president and they’re right together.
So, if something happens, you have that next in charge. Even we get a governor
and a lieutenant governor.
It’s a little bit different on the County level. But we’ve already navigated the
beginning of a last term when our new Mayor had some health crisis and the
Managing Director had to step in in order to keep things flowing. And so I also
don’t have any issues with this, and feel that it is a wise decision to make. We
also chuckled, just in all honesty, that Deanna is now the Managing Director. So
just the elephant in the room. But thank you again, Deanna, for reaching out to
Ms. Kagiwada’s office and navigating the terminology for this simple amendment
that I think maintains the intention of the legislation. And now, we will put it to
the people in a Charter amendment. Thank you so much. I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Anyone else on the
amendment? Seeing none, all those in favor of amending Bill 109, Draft 2, with
the contents of Communication 627.16, please say “aye.”
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 109, Draft 2, with the contents of
Amend: Comm. 627.16 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball – 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder – 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. KIMBALL: Back to the main motion. Council Member Galimba.
MS. GALIMBA: I think that’s a good amendment. I voted for it last time, but I
have been considering it. And I do feel that this is going to make continuity of
government enter the—the Mayor, when he’s voted in, the entire County votes for
that Mayor. So I think that Mayor should be given the vote of confidence. Well,
he’s gotten the vote of confidence from the County, and so should be given the
tools to be successful at the beginning of his or her term. So I will—I’m toggling
back to being against this Charter amendment. So that’s all. Thanks.
CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. I took a minute to start to figure out what we were
solving for, and I recognized there was a potential for certain department heads to
not be approved by the Council, but they would have had a window to make some
business decisions. So I started to reflect on my time around the Council, and I
went through a few mayors. I went from Bernard Akana passing away.
Lorraine Inouye taking it up. Then on to Steve Yamashiro and then on to
Harry Kim, then Billy and then back to Harry. And I started to reflect on what
that transition was like and what the concern was by my colleagues as to what are
we trying to avoid, right. Is it just the clunkiness and the embarrassment of not
passing this body? Perhaps.
I’ve just been around a time where it’s in that transition when the outgoing
Administration tends to set in different hurdles or obstacles for the incoming
Administration, and I began to reflect on all those times. And so I understand
what my colleagues are trying to do, but I fell back onto the continuity of what
people want from government. And what we don’t need is a previous
Administration sabotaging an incoming Administration. Let them go through the
strokes of being vetted by the Council. That is what is provided to us. Hopefully,
they will advance great quality candidates so they’re not embarrassed.
And for those reasons, I’m not going to be supporting this because waiting for a
department head to come in while you have a senior civil servant member who
continues beyond that Administration, I think there’s a lot more opportunity for
unwanted things to happen in that interim while nobody’s sitting in those seats.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
So, for those reasons, I’m going to say no. I’m willing to listen at third reading,
see if my colleagues have other options or can convince me. It’s just that it’s
been my experience that it’s not the incoming Administration. It’s the outgoing
Administration that is trying to rush things through. Thank you. I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Further discussion on the main motion? Vice Chair Inaba.
MR. INABA: I would just ask for my colleagues’ support to send this to third
reading. I hear the concerns of not starting with the team that you want from the
get-go. But, first of all, the information and decisions that could be made right
now in the first 60 days, then the confirmation before Council that could or
couldn’t technically—I don’t know if our denial of an appointee would be an act
of termination by HR (Human Resources) purposes, but not providing that
opportunity but making it very clear. And we’ve had certain pressures in the past
since people are already in office, to keep them there. So that’s really the
intention behind this bill, and ask that we move this forward and ultimately let the
community decide during the election. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Council Member Kagiwada.
MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Corporation Counsel, may I ask you a question?
(Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance came forward
to address the members of the Council.)
MS. KAGIWADA: So, when we come into office, we are able to start paperwork
in motion for our staff before we’re actually on the job. I’m wondering is there a
possibility that once duly elected, a new Mayor could start in motion some
paperwork around their pick so that, or putting in names, so that it would be
closer to the time when they are actually taking office that these people could be
confirmed? So I’m just wondering is that possible, that a Mayor who is duly
elected could put their nominations of people forward and kind of start that clock
sooner than the first day on the job?
MS. STRANCE: Elizabeth Strance, Corporation Counsel. I think that that’s part
of the practice. There’s a pretty short period of time between the election and the
time that you all take office. I think it’s a little bit less than a month. And so,
within that period of time—and if Deanna or somebody from HR is on the line,
they may have more on the process. But my understanding is that paperwork gets
ready and then when the Mayor is sworn in, everybody except for Corporation
Counsel starts that day. And then, subject—it’s a temporary position until
confirmed. And so it’s kind of a hybrid situation. I think other counties call it a
commission, but it’s basically the same thing, that they come in as an appointed
official subject to confirmation. I don’t really know the (inaudible) process, but
it’s not like paperwork isn’t started. But things can’t be finished until the Mayor
takes office, and then again until there’s confirmation.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
MS. KAGIWADA: Right. I guess I’m suggesting that things could be, for
instance, agendized on the County Council agenda before the Mayor is sworn in,
but after they’re duly elected so that that clock starts ticking sooner, that 45 days
or whatever starts right when the paperwork is submitted or whatever. Would that
be possible?
MS. STRANCE: That might be awkward since the Mayor hasn’t technically
taken office, and then to agendize matters that she or he didn’t have authority to
submit to the Council. And then part of the confirmation process is to get input
from the community. So I guess this body would need to decide how much time
they want to allow for public input as well.
MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Just exploring a different idea. Thank you.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. Council
Member Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I’m going to be supporting this moving to
third reading, but I’ve been on the fence as to whether or not I will be supporting
it then, only because of the comments that Council Member Lee Loy made about
outgoing Administration sabotaging incoming leadership. That really unsettled
me to think that folks could be so petty. It makes me really sad, actually, because
when we step into this work, it’s such a privilege to serve. And your focus point
should always be improving quality of life for Hawai‘i Island residents.
I want to give incoming leadership the opportunity to build their team and start
with them from Day 1. But since I’ve been here, I’ve noticed that it’s really
incumbent upon our body, Council Members, which have the final say as to who
can serve in those department head positions, that we really have the best, most-
qualified people serving in those capacities. There’s a lot of internal tension
around what we will do here, but I will support it going to the next reading. I
haven’t made up my mind as to whether or not I will be supporting moving this
over to the voters. Thank you, Chair.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council
Member Villegas.
MS. VILLEGAS: I just had a little bit to add to the conversation in my
experiences being around County government, which aren’t as extensive working
directly in County government as some of the other members of this dais. I am,
however, very aware and I’m watching it already happen as we navigate our way
into another campaign season, that people running for especially the Office of
Mayor, there is a lot of jockeying and promises being made and offers being made
for people to fulfill those director roles. It’s usually pretty widely known before
the inauguration, and we get inaugurated the same day, who’s going to be put in
those different positions.
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Hawai‘i County Council-30 January 24, 2024
And so, yes, there will always be a vulnerability for department heads or people
that worked under a prior Administration to potentially do something nefarious in
that time frame before the new person is confirmed. However, those people
serving as those department heads would have been already approved by the
County Council to begin with in order to have started their positions. So it would
have been before whichever Council there was in order to approve them to begin
with. And then they would have fulfilled the term alongside the Mayor.
So, for me, having navigated the last mayoral election and what we were faced
with, it was counterintuitive to have somebody start a job, but it said they
shouldn’t start the job until they’re confirmed by us. And so, for me, this was a
means for removing a false statement in our County documents, and instead
aligning it with what really happens, and then ideally avoid misstatements about
the process. And so I’m asking for my colleagues’ support in moving this
forward to our third and final reading. And also want to just highlight that the
legislation does have support by the current Administration, and I think that says a
lot right there in and of itself. So, with that, I yield.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. I’ll just wrap up and
say I’m also going to vote to move this to third reading just to keep us on
schedule, but also have some of the similar concerns that my colleagues raised. I
don’t think that through—I think we’re going to have to give a little bit one way
or another on this. There isn’t kind of like the perfect thing except maybe to go
back to the documents that you were talking about or—and I don’t know where
this is. I don’t need anybody to answer my right now, but in a particular situation,
a particular department head nominee was not allowed to continue to work in that
field for a year because they had already taken the position. And I’m wondering
where that lives, if that’s in our Code. Is that in the Charter? Is that in ethics? I
don’t recall where that lives. But it’s like that might ultimately be the better thing
to fix. Because that was, I think, part of the initial impetus was that made you feel
pressured to support that nominee. So, anyway, I want to just suggest that that is
worth looking at as well.
One question I had is that the Mayor retains the authority to fire, essentially,
anybody working for them. So, even if there was a holdover from a previous
Administration and the Mayor had not gone through the appointment and
nomination process, if there was somebody doing something untoward them, the
Mayor would still have the authority to let that person go. They just would have,
then, a vacancy rather than somebody—am I correct on that?
MR. INABA: Yes, that’s correct. The authority of the Mayor to appoint or
release any directors isn’t in this section being affected by this bill.
CHR. KIMBALL: Thank you. Thank you for the clarification. All right, with
that, I will go ahead and do a roll call on this one, please, Mr. Clerk.
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Hawai`i County Council-30 January 24,2024
Vote on Bill 109: The motion to pass Bill 109, Draft 2, as amended to
(Draft 3) Draft 3, on second reading was carried by the following roll
(Approved) call vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Inaba, Kagiwada,
Kierkiewicz, Villegas, and Chair Kimball—6.
Noes: Council Members Galimba and Lee Loy—2.
Absent: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1.
Excused: None.
REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports.
(Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.)
OTHER The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Other
BUSINESS: Business.
(There were none.)
ANNOUNCE- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
MENTS: Announcements.
(There were none.)
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 2:21 p.m., Mr. Inaba moved to adjourn the
MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba,
Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Villegas,
and Chair Kimball— 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. KIMBALL: The time is now 2:21 and this session of the County Council is
adjourned.
Council Approval: MAR 2 0 2024
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