HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0893.004 2022-2024 P/council
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TESTIMONY ON BILL 168 - COST OF GOVERNMENT COMMISSION c',OMM.$g3
I am Neal Herbert, recently Vice Chair of the 2022 Cost of Government Commission (COGC) and
former member, County Transportation Commission; currently serving as Chair of the State
Campaign Spending Commission.
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The County Charter amendment before you, Bill 168, attempts to improve the COGC process," < -
based, in large part, on the many problems experienced by the 2022 COGC in its final report. -1(-7
However, the proposed revisions do not address the lack of accountability.
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To date, some 18 months after the 2022 COGC recommendations, no report on actions take .or
suggested by the County has been voluntarily submitted to or reviewed by the Council. Last-~ ---
November, Chair Konowicz discussed the need for a such a report with Chair Kimball, Council
person Cindy Evans and Mayor Roth. There was apparent agreement that a Council session on the
status of COGC's recommendations should be arranged, initiated by the Mayor. Chair Konowicz
and I were to be invited to a public meeting to review progress made, to testify and be available for
questions. We then offered, as concerned individuals not officially representing the 2022 COGC, to
assist the Mayor's staff with this follow-up report, including some of the Bill 168 amendments. The
result...a single issue amendment is now being assessed before Council gets to learn what, if
anything, has been done about the 2022 COGC report itself.
So that future COGC's (and Councils) don't have the same confusion and lack of response, I
strongly recommend that the proposed Bill include a requirement that a status report on COGC
recommendations be prepared and submitted to Council by the Mayor six months after the final
COGC report. The Council should then convene a session on the County's report, which ideally
should include COGC report recommendations that have been adopted, are being pursued or are
not deemed necessary.
However, I truly question the COGC's further viability. My view is that no matter what modifications
are made to COGC procedures via Charter revisions, nothing will really change. More than 260
recommendations have been made by five different commissions from 2006 to 2022 for an average
of about 54 per commission; 63+ alone in 2022. Although past reports are archived, no records
seem to exist regarding actions taken to adopt or decline recommendations; I think probably very
few recommendations have been implemented.
The charter mandate for what the COGC must review is way too broad, the commissioner's
workload is staggering and meetings are much too frequent compared to most other commissions,
not to mention other difficulties cited in the 2022 report. How many people have even bothered to
read reports? Further, the process creates a heavy burden on limited County staff which provides
the majority input to the COGC. Virtually the same evaluations and actions could be done by the
Mayor, without a COGC, through scheduled meetings with department heads, or by auditing, with
reports given to Council when appropriate.
The COGC has no inherent value for the work involved and limited response; it should be
eliminated. With all the constant, additional rules being imposed these days, it's about time we took
a cumbersome, unproductive entity off the books.
Respectfully submitted,
Neal Herbert
224 Paukaa Dr
Hilo HI 96720 Comm. No.
808-796-4401 Ref. To: ) t($it1911
Ref. Dote JI — 5 2024