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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2024/05/14 (2022-2024) Committee on Finance 36th Session Hawai`i County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai`i May 14, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 9:00 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Vice Chair (came in later) Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Bili-Jo Pike: , Bill 161 (Comm. 858), in opposition. Kristen Alice: Bill 161 (Comm. 858), in opposition. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Clerk, let's go to top of the agenda today. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 12.31: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: APRIL 1 — 15, 2024 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated April 26, 2024. Motion to Close File: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 12.31. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. FC-36 May 14,2024 CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, discussion? And noting for the body that we do have our Finance Director here in the Council Chambers. Any discussion? Okay,hearing and seeing none, the motion is on the floor. All in favor? Vote on Comm. 12.31: The motion to close file on Comm. 12.31 was carried by (Filed) the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Evans— 1. Excused: None. Comm. 95.5: THIRD QUARTER REALLOCATION REPORT: JANUARY 1 —MARCH 31, 2024 From Human Resources Director Sommer J. Tokihiro, dated April 17, 2024. Vote on Comm. 95.5: Mr. Inaba moved to close file on Comm. 95.5. (Filed) Seconded by Ms. Kimball and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Evans— 1. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 515-24: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I AT MANOA Allows the Department of Research and Development to enter into a five-year agreement to share the cost of funding two Extension Agent positions who will cover Indigenous Crops/East Hawai`i Master Gardeners and East Hawai`i Livestock. Reference: Comm. 872 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 515-24. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. Page 2 FC-36 May 14,2024 CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Mr. Sako, could you please just provide us with an overview of this project and the request before us? Thank you. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Economic Development Specialist Glenn Sako, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. SAKO: Good morning, I'm Glenn Sako, Economic Development Specialist with the Department of Research and Development(R&D). So,this agreement with the University of Hawai`i (UH), College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTHR) was the result of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge funding that we received about three or four years ago. And one of our contractors working with the University of Hawai`i sent out a survey, in which within 24 hours, we had about a 160 plus responses from our producers. I think the things that needed support with from the University of Hawai`i and having access to technical assistance, which is generally through the extension service, was one of the top vote-getters, I would say. And therefore, Director Adams felt that we could increase the number of extension agents here on this island by entering into a partnership with the University of Hawai`i CTHR, which was actually something that CTHR had been asking us for a number of years. Because that's where, as they say on the mainland, that's where you have the term, County Extension Agent, meaning that they're supported by the County. Typically,the support for extension service has been through the State. So,this is something that is new and quite exciting. The other counties are kind of watching to see how this also goes. MR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Sako. Thank you, Chair, I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Further discussion? Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you, Chair. Yes, I just wanted to sort of second what Mr. Sako has been saying. This has been something that's been discussed for a very long time in the agricultural community,way before this survey. It is really common on the mainland to have County support for these extension agents. And it's a way to support the agricultural sector, and particularly,these agents often are sort of the outreach to young people,the livestock agent, and the gardening agent. So, they're working in the schools with kids to expose them to agriculture and doing fun activities. So, definitely, also a sustainability effort. So,yes, I definitely support. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz. Page 3 FC-36 May 14,2024 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Aloha, Glenn, great to see you. Could you share with us what the County's cost share would be for these particular positions, a ballpark figure if you have it? MR. SAKO: It's going to be $86,000 a year,which is about half of their salary. So, what we're paying is for half of the salaries of the two positions, and also, some of the fringe benefits, and about$6,000 for their travel fund. The University of Hawai`i is kicking in approximately much more than that, I should say, it's about$100,000 that they'll be covering from their side. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you for that. How closely will they be working with you or anybody that works within food systems in the County, particularly, because we are investing in half of their salary? MR. SAKO: Well, I've been designated as one of the representatives on the search committee. I have experience as a former extension agent myself, so I'm familiar with what the job entails and what we should be looking for in a prospect. Also, there'll be quarterly and annual reports that will be submitted by the agents to the County for our review also. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: You'll let us know when they're hired so you can introduce them to us, and we can go make sure that we know who they are and connect them with our community. MR. SAKO: Sure. And also, one of the things that they had also requested was having access to some of our County facilities to hold their meetings and workshops. That is something that the extension service is very active in. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So, when you talk about hosting these workshops in our facilities island-wide,the cost to host if there are materials or equipment needed, is that a cost that the UH is going to be covering? MR. SAKO: That is something that, typically,the UH will be handling. We would just be providing the facility,the venue that they could host the event. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Excellent. Then once we adopt this resolution at Council, what's the timeframe then to start doing the search. MR. SAKO: We've actually kind of jumped the gun a little bit,because the process takes a long time. So,we've had a draft of the contract already in place. So, the search committee has started. One of the problems is,you know,this is a nationwide search. So, they have to put the word out. We have received some applications, but we have not met yet Page 4 FC-36 May 14,2024 to go over them and start interviewing. So, I think it'll be starting from the month of July. But the interviews are going to start earlier. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay,that's really helpful, thank you. And how many extension agents did you say we had here on our island? MR. SAKO: On this island right now? I would have to—I can't name all of them. I'm familiar with some of them,you know, and they've changed their titles. But I do know we only have one livestock agent right now, and that's in Kona. She has to handle the entire island, which is very difficult dealing with large ranches and the small producers. We do have some food system agents, one in Hilo; one in Waimea. There's a coffee specialist in Kona. There's a 4-H agent in Hilo, and there's a range management specialist in Waimea. Then also, an ornamental agent in Hilo, and a landscape—I don't know his exact title, but one in Kona. So,they're kind of spread out but it's been difficult, you know,having these agents replaced. Mike Dupont, the last East Hawai`i Livestock agent retired a few years ago, and that position was never filled. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you for the historical background. It's very evident that we absolutely need these positions,just kind of listening through the number of folks you have serving the entire island and their vast kuleana. We are clearly underserved. So,I'll be supporting this. One last question I had, the survey that you mentioned, where producers identify this as being a top need, are the results of that survey posted to the R&D website, or is that something that you can share with the Council? MR. SAKO: We can share that with the Council. I'm surprised if we haven't sent that out to you yet, but I will double check. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: It's been a while. Okay, thanks Glenn, I appreciate it. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. So, I just wanted to share with you, with this body, that the Youth Commission,two of their three priorities that they've selected for this year, are food sustainability and need of plant restoration. So, I will not speak for them,but I just wanted to share that with you and say that I am supportive of this as well. So, thank you so much for doing this,I think it's really needed. Page 5 FC-36 May 14,2024 CHR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Good morning, Glenn. I was just really curious about this indigenous crop, and how and/or what falls into this indigenous category because I'm just really curious. We have a lot of work being done by our fanners on DHHL (Department of Hawai`i Home Lands) lands, and I was just wondering how we could actually maybe partner, because we do have a lot going on there, and just opportunities for our farmers on DHHL lands. MR. SAKO: Well part of it was that with the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, indigenous crops was one of our focus areas, being very unique in our nation. So, we felt there was a need for more support in that area because the food crop agents tend to work with the commercial commodity crops; papaya, macadamia,those guys. So, there's been a movement in the indigenous crops of Hawai`i, and so we felt that there was more support that was needed for the outreach. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you for that because that was something we championed back in February with the farm bill. That's headed through the federal government and pushing very hard on our indigenous crops as it relates to flora and fauna and our hula plants. So, does this indigenous crop fall into that category, or are we just talking about, you know, `ulu or other crops? I guess I just want to have a real understanding of this because if our farmers really want to take on this space, and we know for us here in Hawai`i, as you mentioned is a very unique space, it's not only food indigenous crops, but hula plants as an indigenous crop for all of our cultural pieces. MR. SAKO: I understand that the initially,the emphasis was on food because of the need, especially in the post COVID (Coronavirus Disease) era. It's something that the agent, there's some leeway with the agent that when they incorporate or they set up their plan of work, I'm sure that there could be a certain percent of time that could be committed to an area outside of the food crop. Then it's up to how the demand for technical assistance is because some of the other crops, I'm going to say,you know, kalo, `ulu, although they need, and I'm just saying this just from the outside I'm not involved with the industry yet,but they have some organizations that are quite robust and active. So,that would also support the agent in the work. So,that might then make some time available for then going into an area that is outside of the food area. But also, because there is an ornamental agent,they would have to work together because it's not to say, "this is my area." But you know, certain agents have areas of expertise or training in which they could contribute. And that is something when we're going through the search process, that might show up also. Page 6 FC-36 May 14,2024 MS. LEE LOY: Thank you for mentioning that. On my notes, I had ornamental, indigenous, and I had drawn an arrow back and forth and saw almost kind of a supportive nature between those ornamental crops, which may, in these spaces, fit there. But in our indigenous spaces and some of the other things that we want to do in the forest. You know, those indigenous plants that holds space for so many other things too. Maybe when this starts to launch, we can actually meet them. I would love to get a deep understanding of where their space is under this indigenous crop label lands. Thanks, Glenn. I yield. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, seeing no further discussion, Mr. Sako, thank you for being here today. Question, I mean from what I'm understanding,technical assistance for the community, everyone you've listed so far is basically a small business in some sort or another, correct? MR. SAKO: I'm sorry, what was that regarding? CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I mean the technical assistance portion of this is going to be provided to— MR. SAKO: To the producers. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Producers, so small businesses. MR. SAKO: Small businesses. Could be as large as macadamia—well, unfortunately, I'm not saying that this agent is going to be working with the macadamia industry. But I'm saying that the extension agents have certain areas that they do crops that they do work with, and it could be as large as the macadamia industry or as small as a farmer with a half-acre plot. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good. I like that. I think all too often we forget the impact that small businesses have in the County of Hawai`i, and this just furthers that. And within the Department of Research and Development, it really is fitting. So,I appreciate it,thank you. MR. SAKO: You're welcome. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for your time this morning. With that, Mr. Clerk, we do have a motion on the floor to forward Resolution 515-24 to the Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Page 7 FC-36 May 14,2024 Vote on Res. 515-24: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 515-24 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Evans— 1. Excused: None. Res. 516-24: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAI`I, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PURSUANT TO HAWAII REVISED STATUTES 46-7, FOR A GRANT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Allows for the receipt of$200,000 of State funds to control green waste,palms, and other"host material"to minimize breeding grounds of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle. Reference: Comm. 873 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 516-24. Seconded by Ms. Kimball. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Members, discussion on the resolution. Mr. Inaba. MR. INABA: We have DEM (Department of Environmental Management)here if you folks want to chime in and just give us a quick overview on this one, please, especially in light of recent discoveries of the beetle on the island. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Environmental Management Deputy Director Brenda Iokepa-Moses and Recycling Specialist Craig Kawaguchi, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Thank you. Brenda Iokepa-Moses, Deputy Director for the Department of Environmental Management. And we have Craig (Kawaguchi) here that has graciously took the position of coordinator in our department as well as,he's in charge of the HI-5 (Hawai`i Deposit Beverage Container Program). So, he is doing this job, multi-tasking, and he's doing a seamless job about it. I don't think we need to hire anybody else. I think he can do both of these jobs. But anyway,he's here today and he'll talk about the details. Page 8 FC-36 May 14,2024 But definitely, as everyone has heard, there was the sighting at our west side of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB), and we had some scares about not spreading the beetle. So, we had the Department of Health come out with their sniffing dogs, and it was a big event. And I can have Craig talk a little bit about those inspections if you're interested in hearing what they did, or if you guys have questions. Craig, why don't you go ahead and tell them about the process. MR. KAWAGUCHI: So, the State Ag (Agriculture), Department of Health, DEM, and Big Island Invasive Species Committee, were on the island May 7th and 8th. So,prior to coming over, Department of Ag did a preassessment at the Waikoloa area, all the hot spots. They came in on the 7th and 8th to do outreach and education and also, to do treatments of the areas that the beetles were found; and also look for other detection areas. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Our site, when they left, was clear. MR. KAWAGUCHI: Yeah, our site was clear. So,the plan is that the contractor will put the grounded green waste mulch into wind rows. It'll sit for 15 days; it'll be turned at least five times and maintain a 131-degree temperature, and that basically kills any beetles, ants, pathogens. And they also put out, I think it was like five detection traps around the facility; two has cameras so that could monitor remotely. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: I think with this funding, we anticipate more green waste coming to that site, because Department of Health has encouraged this process to happen. So, with that increase of green waste and us having to potentially move that mulch because the West Side, for some reason, and I need to get the word out better that they can come and get that mulch for free at the West Side as much as they want to. But until that time, we need to dip into some of these funds to help with trucking that across the island. Some people think it's an easy task for us to just take the empty trucks that are going anyway to the East Side, but as most of us know, our truck drivers have to make three trips around the island a day, and that's without any unseen traffic jams or anything else. And that's what they do. When we add the trucking back mulch, now you're cutting back down to two trips a day because we can't make the third. So, we do need some assistance at this time, and this will help us with that. We could get some commercial truckers to help us mitigate that green waste and get it over to the East Side or other places. Even within the County agencies, Parks and Recreation, I think, were working with them to get some of the mulch to some of their sites as well. But that's what we intend to use some of these mitigation funds for. Page 9 FC-36 May 14,2024 MR. INABA: Thank you. And being that this contract or the grant period is June 1st of this year through May 31 st of next year, is it included in your department's budget for the upcoming fiscal year? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: That would be a Robin Bauman question. This just came about, so I imagine she needed to do the B-52. I'm not sure about that. MR. KAWAGUCHI: I think that was submitted. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Yeah, I think it was submitted. Yeah. MR. INABA: Then just to be clear. So, the B-52 is talking more so about public awareness campaigns and best practices on the Grant Summary sheet. But then, is that the main point of these funds,or are we actually using it for materials or things that actually come back? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: This was a timely allocation because this was talked about before we actually had the siting at our West Side. So, initially, of course, at any of our events, we're going to have the outreach and education to try to prevent the spread of this beetle. But we're going to be looking at modify some of the terms and conditions to allow us to get some of that mulch out. So, we don't create a hazard at that site, and we also can encourage more people to drop off their green waste, so we can kind of control the spread of that. MR. INABA: Okay, got it. Thank you. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha and thank you for being here. And thanks for highlighting already the challenges and demise that DEM has with trucking our waste all over the island at a massive expense to our taxpayers. Hopefully, we'll have some new opportunities for managing that coming up soon. So, if I understand correctly,the process of this is, people are bringing green waste to the site, which is what happened in West Hawai`i, and somebody brought green waste that had Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle. MR. KAWAGUCHI: I think they're not sure where it came from. But yeah. Because I think the initial finding was in October in Waikoloa, and they found the grubs. And then it was April when they found the detection at the WHOF (West Hawai`i Organics Facility). Page 10 FC-36 May 14,2024 MS. VILLEGAS: I kind of feel like that this is one of those scenarios where when I see a big Kona cruiser cockroach at my house cruising around, I know that I'm in trouble, because I might see that one, but it's an indication that there are a lot more in places I can't see. And that is the highlighted concern and crisis. It's interesting,the piece of legislation that we just passed before this talking about indigenous plants and hula plants. And if we look at the coconut tree, and to lose that would devastate so many facets of our island. So, thank you for doing everything in your power to ensure that the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle is—any potential spread through our mulching facilities stops. Then we really have to work with community to ensure that their sites are being checked. It sounds like there is a dog that can sniff this out. MR. KAWAGUCHI: So, part-of the grant funds will be for a detector dog and also for purchasing more traps. But the emphasis is on the outreach and just getting the information out there because I don't think people really know, I guess the effects of this beetle. Because it's not only the coconut palms,the regular palms; it's the papaya. MS. VILLEGAS: It's everything. Yeah. I have hopes that at some point, we'll stop importing these species accidentally to the demise of our agricultural industry and all of our native crops. But,yeah, I think the word is spreading more prolifically in the understanding of the urgency. So, I'm grateful that these funds are being allocated to each of the counties. I'm not sure it's going to be enough, and I hope we're not too late. But thanks for hitting the ground running and taking these on top of your already existing duties and the things that you manage for us. I remain hopeful that we can put an end to this, and that community will get on board and through the acquisition of a dog, that there can be more community outreach to snuff this out in any place that it's taking hold. So,thank you. I'll be in full support. CHR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. Thank you, guys, for being here. I wanted to just ask if you could briefly expand upon what the strategy is as far as the public outreach. I was recently having a conversation about CRB and the fact that it's fairly easy to identify, right? And it's not like fire ants,they're manini. These are big insects, and they're fairly easy to trap. But there doesn't seem to be a lot of public awareness about the risks and all the potential impact that they could have. So, can you elaborate a little bit on the intention as far as strategy? I ask because I just wanted to just tap in with what Council Member Villegas was saying, is this enough? Like do we need to invest a little bit more in this advanced prevention? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Never enough. Just want to go on record. Page 11 FC-36 May 14,2024 MS. KIMBALL: I guess that was a stupid question, right? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Well,you walked me right into that one. I'll let Craig expand on this. But we have always with our contractor been having traps out, waiting for this to come. We kind of knew it was going to eventually happen. And so, it's not just thatthere was a spotting and now we're starting to react. So, they've always been on top of that. And fortunately, it's not at our site right now, and we know how to mitigate that. Unfortunately, for the public,they need to understand that because—until it's de-mulched,until it sits there for 15 days. You can't just mulch it at home like that, it's a special practice. So, I think the Depai talent of Health, we're working with them and Big Island Invasive Species. They're the experts and they should really be getting that community message out. Because they can then follow-up with the answers and questions. So,we're going to be definitely coordinating with them. There wasn't a big turnout in Waikoloa when they had the outreach. So, we're going to have to be creative on how we get that; maybe have food; food at these events seems to help. But we do need work with them to see how we can get that message out. Whether it be a new jingle that we maybe create on the radio or something that people will take notice of. But I definitely think getting out to our schools, informing the kids so they can go back and tell their parents seems to be a really productive way to go about getting this information out and then being apprised of it. So, I don't know if you have any further on any? MR. KAWAGUCHI: So, it'll be like newspaper,radio, PSAs (Public Service Announcements), TV (Television); community events; working with the experts, like Big Island Invasive Species doing workshops. I'd also like to say there's getting the kids involved and reaching out and teaching them what to look for. Because they're the ones that's going to walk around and they go, "Hey mom, look there's a big hole in the coconut palm frond." MS. KIMBALL: Okay. Well, there's certainly there's a lot of research that's here on the dais too. As we go to community meetings and whatnot, if you guys have materials for us to share out or digital materials for us to share in newsletters, certainly access to TV channels, and radio, and stuff like that. So, we're here to help get that message out, and I think it's really critical because we still have an opportunity to get ahead of this at this point. So,thank you. I yield, Chair. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Let the record reflect that Ms. Evans has joined us. Thank you. Council, further discussion? Okay, questions for the department. So, we have green waste facilities,East and West, correct? And the reason that they came to the Waikoloa facility for green waste Page 12 FC-36 May 14,2024 was, that was an expected area for it to be found. It was found there, okay. And then where do we stand right now? MR. KAWAGUCHI: So, after the one found at WHOF, they found one about 12 days after at the Waikoloa Dryland Forest in one of the detection traps. And I'm waiting for confirmation. They may have found a dead one at Waikoloa Villas on someone's lanai. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Wow, okay. So, we are going to work with our contractor then, HER, Hawai`i Earth Recycling,to further their ability to compost, which is already something they're contracted to do, correct? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: To mulch, it's different. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Sorry, mulch not compost. Then, we'll be transporting from Kona to Hilo, and that's already in our contract, correct? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Right, and normally it's for fire mitigation only, it exceeds the Department of Health permits. But during this event, we're going to luckily have this $200,000 so we can invest in some trucking in addition to ours. We're working with Parks and get some mulch to the parks as well. The ones that have been cleared. Also, as we can with our empty vehicles,moving back, we're going to be taking mulch;this has already happened. It's already in effect right now. We've already started doing that. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Contractually,we have to backhaul it, correct? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: For fire mitigation, yeah. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is there a fire mitigation issue? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: If it exceeds the cubic yards that's on site,then we need to haul. We've been doing that anyway under that maximum Department of Health. But we anticipate more green waste coming in because they feel like if we grind it out, we can help better prevent the beetle from spreading. So, with that increase, we're going to try to get the inventory way down. So, we anticipate having more mulch coming in, so they can grind it as it comes in. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Is the grinding and the wind-rowing happening at the Hilo facility or the Kona facility? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Both. Both sides do that. Page 13 FC-36 May 14,2024 CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Both sides, okay. So, we'll be taking finished green waste or to be—? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: The finished mulch product will be hauled across. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Alright. Words matter. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Words matter,yeah. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes. We're taking the fmished mulch from the West Hawai`i facility to the East Hawai`i facility as it accumulates in large enough amounts to be a fire hazard, or to stop the fire hazard from happening. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Yeah, and just at this point, like I said, we're going to do an addition to that because we know that there'd potentially be more green waste coming to the site. So, we're going to make sure there's enough space to accommodate that. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So, my question then is, if we are contractually obligated to be backhauling our green waste or our mulch from the facility in Waikoloa to Hilo,then why are we spending additional funds from a grant for HDOA(State of Hawai`i Department of Agriculture) to, in effect, take care of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle problem if we forward your funding to do the backhauling to our facilities? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Okay, one thing. We only backhaul. We're not haulers, that's not our job. Our job is waste around the island. We backhaul for fire mitigation only. It's not just to move materials back and forth. And like I said earlier, on a good day, we can get three trucks around the island with waste. And we need that in order to keep up with the reload site. Because we'll get Department of Health fines down there when we have more than zero loads on the ground. If you add in that we're backhauling mulch,then we cut down to two loads a day with that one truck. Because it takes time to load, it takes time to unload. So,we don't just do it just to be backhauling. We do it for fire mitigation. At this point,we're doing it in excess of that because we want to make sure there's enough room to accommodate what we think is going to be an increase in green waste coming to the site just to mitigate the spread of Rhinoceros. So, I think the public is going to take care of their green waste more and get it to us in a larger fashion. So, we're going to be taking more loads off that. In order to do that, we need to get some additional truckers because we can't dip into our getting the waste around the island. We can't have all of our truckers Page 14 FC-36 May 14,2024 taking back loads and cutting their trips down to two. It's to help us get out of this emergency situation. On the normal we can do that. We take loads back and forth as we have in the past. But this one we need to get on top of it to make room, and we have to weigh our options here. And one is, get a Department of Health fine on this end or get a Department of Health fine on the other end. So, we need to make sure we're taking care of both sides, and I think the appropriate thing to do is to get some commercial truckers to get us down to a better position. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Interesting. Okay, so,you're saying that contractually, we only have to backhaul green waste or mulch when there's a potential fire hazard. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Yeah, it exceeds the Department of Health permit levels. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: For no other reason? MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: No. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. In an effort to be more proactive for this CRB issue,I would kind of share the sentiments of my colleagues that we need to be extremely careful in how we move things around the island. But I think more importantly,how long we let them sit in areas before we move them because in an effort to do better, we could end up doing more damage and spreading it faster. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Right. And I think that's why we're going to be requesting daily logs at our sites right now to make sure that they are being turned and to make sure that they are being taken care of. But also, doing the temperature checks, we'll ensure that there's no live activity in that mulch load. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I'll look forward to seeing what kind of output you do. Please include massive amounts of social media because that seems to be the preferred method of people transmitting information whether true or false around the island. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Yeah, I think we heard that social media is a super spreader. The mulch was going to be a super spreader. We're like, "Whoa, hold off, don't spread it." But we got confirmation that temperature check was the key to getting the clearance. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you, Brenda. And then also, I just wanted to mahalo the State for providing these funds to every county. I think they see the potential problem we have here. So,thank you. Okay, Council Page 15 FC-36 May 14,2024 Members, further discussion? Okay, hearing and seeing none,the motion on the floor to forward Resolution 516-24 to the Council with a favorable recommendation. All in favor? Vote on Res. 516-24: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 516-24 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Let's go to Bill 162,please. It's just a measure. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no object from the Council Members,the of Business: the following item was taken out of order. Bill 162: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 23-50,AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30,2024 Appropriates revenues in the State Grants—Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Grant account($200,000); and appropriates the same to the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Grant account,to control green waste,palms, and other"host material"to minimize breeding grounds of the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle. Reference: Comm. 873 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder(B/R) Vote on Bill 162: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend passage of Bill 162 on first (Approved) reading. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much for being here. MS. IOKEPA-MOSES: Thank you. Page 16 FC-36 May 14,2024 Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 161: AMENDS CHAPTER 19, ARTICLE 11, SECTION 19-90 OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO_ REAL PROPERTY TAXES Expands permitted uses of Residential Tier Two Property tax revenue to include the funding of County-sponsored programs designed to address mental health. Reference: Comm. 858 Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to recommend passage of Bill 161 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: At this time, I'll be yielding the Chair to my co-Chair. Thank you for being here today,because I am the maker of the bill. So, if you would, Council Member Evans? CHR. EVANS: Thank you. CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Please let the record reflect that I have relinquished the Chair at 9:48 a.m. Relinquish Chair: At this time, Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder relinquished the chair to Ms. Evans. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. This measure is in front of you today, we heard testifiers this morning, and I do appreciate their comments. I also spoke to our Office of Housing and Community Development Administrator yesterday at length, and if you want to come up, and Ms. Hirota as well. Thank you for being here this morning. I appreciate the comments we had this morning because those were real comments coming from the folks who are doing the work. Just as a quick background for my Council Members, as I've watched this fund, as I've watched our issues in Hawai`i County, I have realized that—and I don't say this,you know, frivolously, that mental health is intricately tied to homelessness. A lot of the folks that we deal with in the County, whether it's for our Police Department,whether it's for our nonprofit service providers, some of the folks Page 17 FC-36 May 14,2024 who testified here this morning, some of the outreach programs, a lot of these folks are dealing with people who have existing or pre-existing mental health issues. So, the intent here really was to address more aspects of homelessness and provide a backbone for our providers in the County through this fund that's administered by the department, to be able to address more aspects of homelessness and not to detract from existing abilities that are already in place. As I spoke to some of our nonprofit service providers in the last few weeks, a lot of them interestingly enough said, "We're already doing this work. And I talked to Administrator Kunz and she said, "We are too, we're already doing this work." So, the interesting thing here is, I don't think at this point it's a matter of arguing or you know, conversing not arguing,just conversing about whether mental health is tied to homelessness because we're already seeing it, and we're already providing funding to programs that deal with it. It's more so, in my eyes, delineating that this is actually an aspect of homelessness, and that this body could choose to address it in this form and really set some guardrails as far as how we want to make sure that administrations pass this one or pass our own seats continue to affect change in our community in the lens of homelessness, but in all the different aspects of what's driving the homeless issue. The more I've sat here, the more I realize that words do matter. And there are some amendments I'll be working on to this bill to further clarify the intention of mental health. And that really is to the comments of Administrator Kunz, who provided me some highlights yesterday that were very, very helpful. So,just to put that out there for the Council that there will be an amendment coming to this measure, should it make it, and I would be postponing it at the end of the day. One thing I did want to point out is, I was here when we created this fund, and Mr. Chung was the maker of this measure. It was very expertly crafted in the way that the funding is pulled from a certain sector of our Real Property Taxes, and more so how it is administered by the Office of Housing and Community Development in a way that would have the measure sunset in 2027,which gave us time as a Council and as future Council Members, us or someone else,to evaluate the effectiveness of this program in our community. I say that because the original bill itself was directed specifically to homelessness, and the addition of housing was done through an amendment. This body agreed, and there was discussion on how we wanted to address. And I think we can also say, without question,that Housing is an integral part of how we address the homeless issue,just as I would say that mental health is. So, I wanted to provide that background for some of the Council Members who were not here for the original beginning of this bill. To Mr. Chung's efforts, I mean his intent was to address homelessness because we're seeing so much impact in our communities from homeless issues, and he found a way to fund it. I • Page 18 FC-36 May 14,2024 do appreciate that because that was incredibly helpful in our community and we're seeing the benefits now, although we're still working through the ability of getting the funding out the door to programs. We've only had it for about a year now, actually doing the work. So, I don't want to bore you, but that is the background. The intent here is fairly simple. I would offer that I am working on an amendment to clarify the language in an effort to work together with the Office of Housing and Community Development,to find something that bring forth change that we need without being redundant. But at this time, Administrator Kunz, if you could come up. And I really do appreciate our conversation,thank you. So, if you could, give us some background; give us your thoughts. I mean, this can be both conversational as far as to the effect of this, and we've spoken at length, and I do appreciate your time. So,just your thoughts on the bill. (Note: At this time, Office of Housing and Community Development Administrator Susan Kunz, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KUNZ: Good morning, everyone. My name is Susan Kunz, I'm the Administrator for the Office of Housing and Community Development. So, Council Member,I really want to thank you for this opportunity to have this discussion. I think you're absolutely correct when you say, and we've had several discussions. You know, severe mental health illness, it is one of the driving impacts for chronic homelessness. I don't think that anybody disagrees with that. I want to share that we are already doing that work, as we've discussed. We currently have five contracts in place where service providers are doing exactly that service. On June 4th,when I come before this body to share our first impact report,I will be sharing with you information about the progress that those service providers have been making in this realm. My fear in the way that the language has been added to the Code is that it's so broad. We've had so many discussions about the need for mental health services, not just related to homelessness in general. I think that I would like to have further discussion, or I think we need to make the distinction that the Office of Housing cannot be responsible solely for mental health programs and services. It is not our wheelhouse. It's not my lane. I think that we have agreed to utilize this fund to provide resources for those who have this expertise, which we've already done. And I'm excited to share with you that data. Page 19 FC-36 May 14,2024 You know, one of the things you and I talked about was mental health definitely impacts, or it could be a cause for chronic homelessness. But not only homeless individuals are mentally ill, and not all those with mental illness issues are homeless, right? It's a bigger, broader issue for this community. What I want to make sure is that we're utilizing this fund to provide the service providers with resources to address homelessness related to the mental health, but that the funding is helping those to address mental illness and getting those people housed, specifically. It's not to provide funding for mental health services, in general. Does that make sense? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Completely. MS. KUNZ: Okay. So,those are some of the things that I am concerned about with the way that the language is so broad. The other thing I want to point out is, because the language is broad in the Code, we were directed by this Council to create a strategic roadmap. And the strategic roadmap outlines 13 priorities, which include the behavior health and mental health programs. I think that gives us the direction to make sure that we're incorporating these types of programs in our addressing homelessness. The other thing that we will be sharing on June 4th, I'll have a lot more information by that time is, we are seeking to secure a consultant to help us develop a Strategic Action Plan that's bigger than the current Strategic Roadmap. That roadmap has been really helpful for us to guide our allocations of funding, right, for the last two years. We're going to head into the third year of funding utilizing this Strategic Roadmap, but we're working on a bigger, maybe more detailed Strategic Action Plan to cover this County and our work going forward. So, I wanted to share that with you as well. I think that as we work with the consultant, our service providers, and members from the community, you know, I'm hoping to see that what we are thinking about the way mental health impacts homelessness will show, and we will be able to reflect it in detail in this Strategic Action Plan. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, can I? ACTING CHR. EVANS: Yeah,please. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. So,Administrator,the department then,your office, is and has forthcoming a report to the Council on June 4th? MS. KUNZ: Yes. Page 20 FC-36 May 14,2024 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: For homelessness, correct? Like a roadmap to our plan. MS. KUNZ: The impact report is going to reflect the performance of our work for the last year and the first two allocations of funding. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. MS. KUNZ: So, our progress with how we're addressing homelessness,the numbers that we're seeing, how many people we have served, etcetera, with this funding that has been provided. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Within that progress report, then, I'm believing that you would have some strong data to show us and provide us more of a background on what we're looking at in our community island-wide. MS. KUNZ: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Then, did I hear a piece that you've already taken on moving towards having a strategic roadmap for addressing mental health? MS. KUNZ: No,not mental health, for homelessness. So, right now,the only document that we have that provides guidance on the use of the fund is a strategic roadmap, which outlines 13 priorities. We are working to secure a consultant to take that document and go further; provide more detail; provide more of a broader action plan for the community in how we're going to continue to move forward with this fund and any other fund that we can secure. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's good to hear, and I appreciate that. So, it sounds like, even more so than that it would be good to wait until the next hearing to see what you folks come back with. So, it'd be the same day, Committees, Committees, to understand where you stand right now and what impacts you're seeing of mental health on homelessness or vice versa. MS. KUNZ: Yes, I would appreciate that opportunity to share that information before decisions are made to change the language in the Code. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's very understandable. Then, I really do want to take a minute to say mahalo to you, because you actually opened my eyes and educated me to not only that words matter in our bills, but more so the impact that the words would have and also what you folks are already doing. From what you just said, you're actually working on a piece for this. Page 21 FC-36 May 14,2024 So, against what was said earlier by our testifiers, and I do appreciate them, thank you, but when it's called redundant then it expresses at the same time that we're already doing it, and we are addressing mental health in our community. I just want to note that, and I'm not saying that to the plus or the minus of this bill, but I'm saying it because we are addressing it. It is tied to homelessness, and it just helps us get the conversation moving on how we do more in our community for our community. • MS. KUNZ: Make sure that we stay focused on the mental health that we are trying to address is directly related to homelessness. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I think that is the key. MS. KUNZ: It's mental health beyond that,that I cannot touch.. It's way beyond my capacity and my knowledge. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I completely agree. And that is what you taught me over the last three days, is that you've taught me that the mental health issue is broader. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay. Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, can we wrap up? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We can. Thank you, Chair, and I think this does help the body set the backbone of why this is in front of us, and the intricacies of the issue. Thank you, Ms. Kunz. I yield, Chair. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Having personal experience navigating the challenges of family members with mental health issues that then experience homelessness, I recognize the need for some added terminology to this bill. But what comes to mind, and why the testifiers, their statements don't resonate in alignment for me, is that if their organization's already doing the mental health services,then by having it codified and being allowed as a portion, if it's done accurately with the correct terminology, having it codified actually supports the continued work of these organizations. Can you tell me what agencies currently have grants through the County that specifically provide licensed mental health services? MS. KUNZ: Mental Health Kokua,the Hawai`i Island Community Health Center, BISAC (Big Island Substance Abuse Council), Lokahi Treatment Centers, HOPE Services, and Bridge House. MS. VILLEGAS: And they're all licensed? Page 22 FC-36 May 14,2024 MS. KUNZ: I believe so,yes. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. Then my other question is, is Neighborhood Place of Puna collecting mental health Data? MS. KUNZ: Yes, they are. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. You know,this likens to some long conversations I had with Going Home Hawai`i. One of the challenges they faced was, according to the State legislation, the money set aside for homeless services have to be Housing First Model, and they're not a Housing First Model. So,they get excluded from those finances. This is a lot of money. When this money was allocated for these services, it was specifically set by some of the providers. "Give us enough money, and we can fix this." To which I said,baloney. This is an issue bigger than just money. This has to be really navigated with savvy, and relationships, and intuition, and outreach. Otherwise, it becomes an industry like the cancer industry that perpetuates itself And we have allocated millions of dollars, and the issues I'm not seeing the issues being eased in my district. So, obviously, we've had these conversations and a lot of frustrations about this. So, I really like the addition of mental health, but the clarification, as it's related to, in this instance, being related to the circumstances of homelessness. You know, I had some challenges when Housing was added here,because now I've seen funding allocated to help people buy a house. And to me buying a house is very different than getting out of living on the streets. So, I already have concerns that we have accidentally broadened and moved some of the finances that really, for my intention, should be focused on those that find themselves with absolutely no shelter suffering from mental health issues; suffering from drug addiction or other addictions and living on our streets. You know,jeopardizing their health and safety daily. So, sounds like you're going to be postponing,which I appreciate for clarification. But I wanted to say that in order to express my firm belief that including the terms, you know, mental health issues in this legislation and codifying this actually should be considered by the providers as something that codifies their services and not something that jeopardizes their connection, allocation, or ability to receive millions of dollars from our taxpayers. So, with that, I yield. MS. KUNZ: Thank you. Can I make a comment? ACTING CHR. EVANS: Yes, go ahead. Page 23 FC-36 May 14,2024 MS. KUNZ: So, I just wanted to make sure that we're clear that we are clear, the Office of Housing,that whatever programs we are funding with this Homeless and Housing fund, has to address homelessness. So, if we are buying houses for people, it's to buy a house for a person who was previously unstably housed or homeless. I don't know that we have actually bought a house for a person in this program. I'm not 100 percent sure of that, and I would need to look at that. It kind of caught my attention. But if we did, it's because we are addressing specifically, a homeless individual getting housed. I want to assure you of that. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, I know that there was funding allocated to Habitat for Humanity to hire a full-time contractor to live on the West Side. Then there was funding for loans through another organization for purchasing of homes. MS. KUNZ: The down-payment program. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. It just feels a little bit like we're jumping the gun. MS. KUNZ: No. So, that's why the data and the recording is so important, because we want to make sure that this money that we're awarding to service providers are being used to house homeless or unstably housed individuals. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. Thank you for expressing that intention. MS. KUNZ: Sure. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, Ms. Evans. Thanks, Susan, for being here and thanks for really providing clarity around the impetus of what this money was for. And it was always to address homeless and housing for five years. To see this piece of legislation almost set a new goal, mid-stroke, really in my humble opinion, submarines and sabotages the goal of addressing homeless and housing. We decided as a body, five years. We'll start this program, show us what you can do in five years. And yeah, we're going to get some really great information. But to blindside this funding this way because we are seeing there is a need, really sets this program up for failure because now we've just moved the goalpost. I actually support this, and I think this bill is just in the wrong lane. A couple of months ago,me and Ms.Kimball introduced Trauma-Informed Mental Health policy writing to be introduced in OSCER(Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity and Resilience.). The State of Hawai`i is the very first state in the country to put Trauma-Informed and Mental Health issues at the Page 24 FC-36 May 14,2024 top of its Resiliency and Mental Health programs, which Susan, you and I both know, Mental Health is not just a housing issue. There're way broader strokes when we talk about Mental Health. I know, now that we have the OSCER office, we have opportunities to secure way more funding than what we're carving out on this two-tier tax,to the tune of $3 billion. And what we really need right now is legislation that lines us up between federal dollars, state dollars, so we can get them down here to the County. Susan, I'm not going to support this bill. I'm not going to support any amendment to this bill, because I think it's in the wrong lane. I need you guys to go get good with this money,take the data and information that we're learning, and push it back to us so we can filter it into other programs that we are doing here in the County, through other agencies, and back to the state, so that we can braid that money effectively and efficiently and lift everybody up,because I'm going to push again. Fifty years since we've developed housing for special needs families. Is there mental health with that? Absolutely. But I need housing for them, and they haven't gotten in 50 years. Thank you, Susan, for everything you do, Sharon, excellent job. I'm waiting for the Housing report. I'm not supporting this. It's in the wrong lane, and I hope my colleagues understand why I'm being so firm about it. Because to sideline this program or move the goalpost,really does nobody any good. Thank you, I yield. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you Chair,nice to see you. Administrator Kunz, thank you. Did you or Ms. Hirota, or your office ask for this addition to the Housing and Homelessness Fund program? MS. KUNZ: You mean add this language to this? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes. MS. KUNZ: No. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Were you involved in the development of the legislation? MS. KUNZ: I honestly had conversations with Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder regarding the impact of mental health issues on homelessness, but no, we did not talk about the bill. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. I think the bill as written really dilutes the spirit and intention of this program. I think back to when Council Member Page 25 FC-36 May 14,2024 Chung had coordinated all of those presentations regarding homelessness in our community, and then introduced the idea of, well,there are funding opportunities at the State and Federal level that are just not the right fit. How's about we have more flexible funding on the County side to provide some of that gap funding so that our providers on the ground can be a bit more creative in the sorts of programs they develop and implement? I introduced the amendment to add the housing component to that. Because one of the things that we were hearing from the community, from the folks that are boots on the ground, was you need someone's basic needs to be met. They need shelter,they need food. So, that was the intention, and not everybody supported the addition of that language, but I wanted to just make sure that there was emergency transitional housing to help folks that were experiencing homelessness. I like the idea of us making a short-term investment as a County in addressing this issue and at the end of five years or before the five years are up, that's when this program sunsets, evaluating; has it made an impact? Do we see a difference in our point-in-time count? Can we visibly see less people living on the streets, in forests, along the beaches, on our soccer field? Can we actually see tangible positive impact because of this program? I really do hesitate to tinker because the way the language is presented right now, it doesn't necessarily say that mental health for those experiencing houselessness is what this fund is supposed to support. So, I think that even if there's clarity, it's very clear that you folks are funding nonprofits to do that sort of work; to provide that service right now. You have a strategic roadmap to help guide how these funds are being deployed. I want to see the impact report, and I'd actually want to wait a couple of years to make a comprehensive decision on whether or not we keep funding this program as is, or if we want to make adjustments to the program. What is your sense? MS. KUNZ: I agree, and I thank you very much for that insight. I think that's the track that we have been on, and I think that's some of the discussion that Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and I have had recently. So, I'm hoping that we are on the same track on that. I cannot make an impact on homelessness without addressing all of these critical issues. I know that. I'm hoping that the first report and the ones that follow will provide you with some of that information on our progress. That is why it is so important that our service providers be able to give us the data that we're asking for, because we want to make sure that we can mark our progress on duplicated numbers that the service providers are touching folks and getting them housed. That's the bottom line. So, I thank you for that, and I agree. Page 26 FC-36 May 14,2024 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. I'm not going to be supporting the bill as presented today. I do want more information. Agan, I'm just going to reiterate that we need to make sure someone's basic needs of shelter and food are met so that they are able to really just self-regulate and be in a place to receive mental health support, and to heal, and to become whole again. Thanks for being here. Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, I'll be brief. Also, looking forward to seeing the clarifying language can't support here,just because it's too broad. I assume you're going to characterize this as relating to homelessness, in which case, I may be able to support it. With the leeway, Chair, since the issue was raised about hiring an additional consultant to do additional strategic planning around the homelessness issue, I'm going to strongly suggest you use our internal resource, Tyler Benner, our Auditor to audit the program as a way to dive deeper into the effectiveness and potential strategies. He's done an excellent job with other departments. I'd encourage you to initiate that yourself. I think we've talked about it on the Council side, but I think it would be even better if it just came from you to Mr. Benner. MS. KUNZ: Thank you for that suggestion. We've had some really good working coordination with him. And so,yes,thank you for that suggestion. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member. Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA. Thank you. Alright. Well, it's true I was not on this dais when this was passed, but I was really happy. I was working in the office, and I was really happy to see when it did pass. Huge kudos to my predecessor, Aaron Chung, for getting this done, and I believe I passed unanimously. I understand my colleague's sentiment that just throwing money at a problem cannot fix it, and I think the important thing here is the work you're doing with all the community organizations on our island is being coordinated, and strategic, and it's not a scattershot approach of throwing money in lots of different ways and just seeing where that falls. I think that is the only way we're going to start to make a dent in this issue. I have concern with the way the language is currently, and totally understand my colleague's point that this was done; it was a five-year pilot program, only one year into the community organizations actually having that funding and starting to do the work. I think the appropriate time to look at changes like this would be, you know, in 2027. Page 27 FC-36 May 14,2024 But understanding that you want to highlight this doesn't sound like you're really actually looking to alter the program in any way, but just to highlight this. I guess I have concerns when we start altering, we start trying to change even the wording because I know things have also been brought up like using this fund for security in our parks. I don't feel like that has anything to do with getting people into safe, secure, stable housing. So, I guess I will be willing to hear what you come back with. But my overall feeling is I believe mental health services, which is so key for us that have to do with homelessness are already included by those. You know, we already have six organizations that do this work that are getting funded for this, and there's nothing preventing us to do more in the future if that works on homelessness issues as well as mental health issues. So, changing the language, I just feel like that isn't necessary, and maybe does a disservice to the original group of you who passed this. So,I'm willing to listen, but really think that the way it is now and doing the whole amount of time that this body decided on till 2027, is really what we need to look and see if a coordinated effect for this funding can make a difference. So,thank you for all the work you're doing. Thank you for bringing this forward because I think it is an important discussion topic. I would love to figure out a way to find additional funding for mental health services that may or may not include homelessness issues. I think that's so important for our community, but I don't think this is the place to target that. So,thank you so much. Thank you, Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'll keep it brief. I appreciate my colleagues. The point of this, in some lights,was just to have a conversation, and the conversation is interesting, and it's intricate, and there's a lot of different pieces to this. Some part of my brain tells me,I've heard this before,mental health is not a county issue, it's a state issue. But the more I think about that, it's not, and the more I listen today, the more I realize we're already doing the work. So, including the language becomes an interesting conversation because when we say we're already doing the work but adding in the work that we're doing creates a problem or confuses the issue, it makes the conversation very interesting all of a sudden. It is a county issue. It's a county issue that we deal with on many levels and is extremely costly to our community, which I stated at the beginning; Police, Fire, different nonprofit service providers; everyone who interacts with our homeless; everyone who interacts with folks who have mental health issues. The real clarity for me, Administrator Kunz,was understanding the difference between homelessness and mental health as related to each other. That was Page 28 FC-36 May 14,2024 extremely helpful for me to understand. Because taking on mental health as a totality for every aspect in our community, does not make sense in this fund, and that was never my intention. That is what I really appreciate from our conversation. And for me to take that away and then potentially bring back amendments with it is extremely helpful. I do want to highlight two things. One,this fund is administered by the department. You are not the provider of mental health services and that needs to be clarified. I never thought of you folks like that because you're not. You fund the programs. Much so, like any other program we do, we provide funding; we provide a source; we administer two providers for those programs. We don't become the provider of the program. I don't see Office of Housing providing mental health services in our community. I wanted to clarify that, and you helped educate me on that as well. Secondly, I think it's important to provide a positive comment for this body and for the Administration to have the conversation today. If we don't have the conversation and we don't discuss it,then we can't address it. And sometimes that's just part of the hashing out the details. So,thank you for that. Then lastly, I think this is just food for everyone's brains as we think in the next two weeks. If mental health was to be added, and we say in our minds that mental health needs to be related to homelessness, if you read the words carefully in the existing bill,they actually say homelessness and housing. It does not say housing as related to homelessness, and I think that's a very important distinction. And when we say words matter,that could be an area that needs to be addressed, so we don't create duplicative efforts across multiple funds to address housing. And that the intent was, as it always was,to address homelessness in our communities through different arenas. Then we just be very careful with the way we word, and create, and administer the fund itself. So,that was another takeaway for me in this measure. I do have to say I love doing three-word bills because there's so much conversation that can happen within a simple change of three words, and that can bring out so much feeling from the community and from our own thoughts and opinions on the matter. So, thank you for working with me,Administrator. Thank you for the leeway, Chair and I will yield further discussion, and I'll go for a motion after that. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Okay. Member Inaba followed by Member Villegas. MR. INABA: Just would like to see that clarifying language. And I don't necessarily see how this is going to limit, and I don't expect us to go into the business of mental health. So,with that clarifying language, I think we can Page 29 FC-36 May 14,2024 ensure that our Code and our practices are lining up. So, look forward to seeing that in two weeks. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay, Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Just a quick clarifying question. Susan, how many of the six providers that you mentioned actually have current contracts? MS. KUNZ: I think I'm going to ask Sharon to come up. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Office of Housing and Community Development Manager Sharon Hirota, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. HIROTA: Sharon Hirota, with the Office of Housing and Community Development. Can you please repeat the question? I'm sorry. MS. VILLEGAS: Sure. Earlier, Administrator Kunz listed six organizations that are currently providing mental health services through their grant allotment. I wondered if you could clarify how many of those actually have current contracts. MS. HIROTA: So, of the six that she indicated, we currently have four on contract. So, our contract period ended for the first round on April 30t'. So, there are two contracts that we're still working through the details on. MS. VILLEGAS: Those details are related to their inability due to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) law to provide the organization that was contracted to manage all the data with the specifics that they're asking for, correct? MS. HIROTA: Without going into details, it has to do with the compliance with reporting requirements. MS. VILLEGAS: And the discrepancy between what is believed from a health and privacy standpoint versus what's been implemented by the organization that's managing the program and the data collection, which is Neighborhood Place of Puna? MS. KUNZ: I don't really understand the question. MS. VILLEGAS: You know,we have two organizations that you listed that no longer have a contract. So,they're no longer getting resources, and they are two of the organizations that are working in the mental health sphere with people. But what's come along with this and thank you for highlighting it, but what's come along and been brought to my attention by so many people is that there is the Page 30 FC-36 May 14,2024 information that providers are being required to ask, and there are challenges with the fact that a grantee was then awarded another grant by OHCD (Office of Housing and Community Development)to actually manage all the information coming in from the grantees. And the information there requiring these other grantees who work professionally in the health sector even outside are providing services to our houseless community prohibits them from providing this specific information, which then jeopardizes the anonymity of the clients as far as not using names, but instead using numbers and their other system. MS. KUNZ: So, when we embarked on this effort, it was made clear that there were going to be reporting requirements, and part of that effort is to be able to report back to this body,how many people we're serving and that these are unduplicated numbers. Like, I could come to you and say,we've served 5,000 people, but how many of them are duplicated. MS. VILLEGAS: Believe me, we've been through all of that. Point of Order: ACTING CHR. EVANS: I think we're drifting a little bit away from the bill, but we can do a communication? MS. VILLEGAS: Thanks for clarifying, but currently, there are two organizations that aren't funded, and there's some complications with this that still remain from a legal standpoint. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. I have some questions. A couple. So, words matter to me,too, but I wasn't here with the legislative history. So,the way I read it, it say's County-sponsored programs designed to address Housing and Homelessness. That's a pretty broad statement. So, if it was decided that you're the lead on it, it's not saying in the legislation that the Office of Housing is the lead on it. It's just saying this money is for County-sponsored programs designed to address Housing and Homelessness. So,you've kind of expanded it, because you said you'd bring in providers to deal with behavior. So,you do have some service providers that are addressing mental health for people that are homeless. MS. KUNZ: That's correct. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay. When you saw the language when it was designed addressing Housing and Homelessness, what popped into mind was the Community First program, which is what was being promoted around the time maybe this was drafted. They were in our State. They were talking to everybody to get people off the streets that are homeless,that are like drug addicts or having mental health issues. Until you can really address their mental health issues,you got to get them into housing. So,there was this huge push to do that Community Page 31 FC-36 May 14,2024 First housing to be able to address homelessness. So, I can see why it was written this way, because there was that huge movement that I think at that time. MS. KUNZ: I want to ask for clarification on the Community First Housing. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Housing First, sorry. MS. KUNZ: Housing first, okay. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Housing First. But,yeah,there was this big push about, we got to do the housing, go out and get the homeless people in there, and then we bring in service providers, and they deal with the drugs and all the other mental health issues that are going on. So, I'm just reading it, it's addressing housing"and", not housing"or." So,to me there's already the connection of housing and homelessness. So, to the writer of the bill, if there needs to be clarity, there may be other options to try to really crack the nut, and that might be maybe through even a resolution about urging the expansion of County-sponsored programs that really get into the service providers of homelessness. Because I think you already have the ability to do it and maybe what you're trying to do is maybe encourage them to do more of it. Because it sounds like they're doing it. That's how I interpreted it,that they can bring in mental health programs because of the way it was originally written. Like I said, maybe a resolution would give more clarity. Working on the language to try to wordsmith could take a little—I see that as being challenging. But it's just a thought. So, it's just a recommendation. You do have options, I think, in how to go forward with this. But thank you, and it sounds like you're seeing the "and", not the "or" like me. That's how I'm seeing it. MS. KUNZ: So, if I may make a comment? ACTING CHR. EVANS: Yeah,please. MS. KUNZ: If I remember correctly,the original bill was to address homelessness. As the discussion rolled out,the Council Members felt it was important to include housing,because at the time, that was the key to ending homelessness. So,that was incorporated. But this Council also required the Office of Housing to do a strategic roadmap. So, although there is very broad language in the Code, what guides us in the administration of this fund is the strategic roadmap. We hired a consultant. It was engaging fully the community through in-person and Zoom meetings, and it culminated in a one-day event, which all of the members were invited to. I think several of you did actually attend in us putting together the 13 strategies that Page 32 FC-36 May 14,2024 purely came from this community on how we thought we needed to address homelessness. So, I just want—you know, I'm not debating anything that you're saying at all, but just making sure that the public and all the Council Member are aware that there's another document that actually helps us to administer this program right now and it's the strategic roadmap. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Was that required by a bill. MS. KUNZ: It's not in the bill, but it was required by this body,the strategic roadmap and the need for performance reporting. ACTING CHR. EVANS: So, we could do a communication and have you come and go through the strategic roadmap. But you're updating it, so, you won't know when you'll have a new product? MS. KUNZ: We hope to have a consultant on board within the next month or so, and we want to begin working on this immediately. In the meantime,the strategic roadmap is going to continue to guide us. It was meant to provide guidance for us in the five-years of this fund. It's available on our front page of our website. I'm more than happy to send it out to you all again, if you'd like to review it. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Okay,this is really good to know because there is a history to this. Thank you very much. Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Something I forgot to say. It's just, I'm just wondering if we're going to start putting in all kind of contributing factors or influences that may have something to do with people being homeless, whether they're initially becoming homeless or their inability to get into stable and secure housing once they are homeless. I'm just wondering, are we going to start listing,you know, drug and alcohol addiction, domestic violence, some of these other things that we know also are major contributing factors here and what would be the difference then. I feel like I don't quite understand if this is already part, as we continue to discuss this, part of the services that are allowable, why would we single this out. I do agree, I don't know who it was that said that the housing addition maybe need some clarifying language to make sure that it is in relation to homelessness since we already have it in there, I think you may be right on that. But that's a question for the maker, for the body. Once we start listing these things, where do we kind of draw the line? Thank you. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. Member Kimball. Page 33 FC-36 May 14,2024 MS. KIMBALL: Chair, I'd just like to make the request that we move on. We're about 45 minutes behind schedule. The maker has offered to postpone, which I think will make a lot of sense with the report coming from Housing on June 4th, as well. So,just a request to move on. Thank you. ACTING CHR. EVANS: Thank you. So, Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Ms. Kagiwada, great question. Vote on Motion to Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to postpone Bill 161, to Postpone: June 4, 2024. Seconded by Mr. Inaba and carried by the (Approved) following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Evans-9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business on our agenda today, Acting Chair Evans MENT: adjourned the meeting at 10:43 a.m. Approved: I/0 ,1 vi Mr. Matt Ka -.li`i-Kleinfeld-. Chair (Date) Finance Commi -e MK/dt Page 34