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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GOEAC 2025/04/15 (2024-2026) Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs 8th Session West Hawai`i Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i April 15, 2025 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations and ORDER: External Affairs was called to order at 9:01 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Chair Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,Vice Chair(came in later) Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. James E. Hustace, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member(via videoconference from Hilo) Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, 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 individual registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Gayle Byrne Baber: Comm. 229, in support. CHR. KAGIWADA: Just for the record, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder has joined us. Mr. Clerk, can you please read in the first item. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. GOEAC-8 April 15,2025 Comm. 226: NOMINATION OF ALEXANDRIA"LEXI"AYERS TO THE LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION From Mayor C. Kimo Alameda, dated March 27, 2025, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 10, 2025 (Section 13-4(k), Hawai`i County Charter) (Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Micah Alameda and the nominee came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Vote on Comm. 226: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend confirmation of the nomination (Approved) of Ms. Alexandria"Lexi"Ayers to the Leeward Planning Commission. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kagiwada—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Mr. Alameda provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Comm. 227: NOMINATION OF DAVID F. BRUNO TO THE BOARD OF ETHICS From Mayor C. Kimo Alameda, dated March 27, 2025, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 10, 2025 (Section 13-4(k), Hawai`i County Charter) (Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Micah Alameda and the nominee came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 2 GOEAC-8 April 15,2025 Vote on Comm. 227: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend confirmation of the nomination (Approved) of Mr. David F. Bruno to the Board of Ethics. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Kagiwada—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Villegas— 1. Excused: None. Mr. Alameda provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Comm. 228: NOMINATION OF DARDE M. GAMAYO TO THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CULTURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION From Mayor C. Kimo Alameda, dated March 27, 2025,requesting the Council's. review and confirmation. (Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Micah Alameda and the nominee came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Vote on Comm. 228: Ms. Kimball moved to recommend confirmation of the nomination (Approved) of Ms. Darde M. Gamayo to the Hawai`i County Cultural Resources Commission. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi,Villegas, and Chair Kagiwada—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Mr. Alameda provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Page 3 GOEAC-8 April 15,2025 Comm. 229: NOMINATION OF MAYA K. GOODONI TO THE PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMISSION From Mayor C. Kimo Alameda, dated March 27, 2025, requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 10, 2025 (Section 2-215(j), Hawai`i County Code) (Note: At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Micah Alameda and the nominee came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Vote on Comm. 229: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend confirmation of the nomination (Approved) of Ms. Maya K. Goodoni to the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kagiwada—8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1. Excused: None. Mr. Alameda provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Comm. 230: NOMINATION OF KIM L. LIN TO THE REAL PROPERTY TAX BOARD OF REVIEW From Mayor C. Kimo Alameda, dated March 27, 2025,requesting the Council's review and confirmation. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 10, 2025 (Section 13-4(k), Hawai`i County Charter) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend confirmation of the nomination of Ms. Kim L. Lin to the Real Property Tax Board of Review. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. KAGIWADA: We do have Mr. Alameda here. I believe the nominee is not able to be here because of a work conflict today and will be coming to full Council. So, I don't know if you want to save your major introduction for the full Council when she is present. Page 4 GOEAC-8 April 15,2025 MR. ALAMEDA: Yes. CHR. KAGIWADA: Yes. Unless you have anything else to add. MR. ALAMEDA: I'm saving it, right, I'm going to save the intro. I just wanted to say this is something that I'll never plan to do, right, like I don't intend to waste any of your time. But for in this instance, I am really grateful for the required two readings that it takes these nominees through. So, mahalo you folks, and Ms. Lin will be here on May 7th in Hilo. E kala mai. Back to you,Madame Chair. CHR. KAGIWADA: Okay, with that, we have a motion on the floor to close file on Communication 230. All those in favor, please say "aye." Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 230: The motion to recommend the confirmation of the nomination (Approved) of Ms. Kim L. Lin to the Real Property Tax Board of Review was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi,Villegas, and Chair Kagiwada—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Mr. Alameda provided a brief narrative of the nominee's background and experience. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you for your time today, Mr. Alameda. Alright,we have one remaining item on our agenda this morning, Resolution 121. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 121-25: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I OFFICE OF RESEARCH SERVICES Funds in the amount of$25,000 from the Department of Research and Development would be used to conduct GoFarm Hawai`i,the university's comprehensive agricultural education program. Reference: Comm. 208 Intr. by: Council Member Kagiwada(B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 121-25. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. Page 5 GOEAC-8 April 15,2025 CHR. KAGIWADA: Alright,we have the Deputy Director in here to kick us off, I believe. Please introduce yourself and share this resolution's content with us. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Deputy Director Dennis Lin, came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. LIN: Deputy Director Dennis Lin for Research and Development. This resolution basically is because we've granted the impact grant to GoFarm; it's required that we do an intergovernmental agreement because it's County and State Government entities. The $25,000 goes towards helping with their GoFarm program, which is a program that helps train beginning farmers. People who may not have any sense of how to farm can go through this program. It starts them off with, you know, classroom style courses first for the first section. Then they go on to learn about hands-on technical skills being out in the acreage and learning how to farm. And then the third part is to teach them how to run a small agricultural farm for profitability. We fund these types of projects because we need people to react. You know, we want to make sure we're giving a good breadth of funding to programs across the island with different varying capacities and skillsets that they can learn. We also fund smaller training programs like Ho`ola Farms and Ho`ola Veterans Services that they do a smaller backyard type of classes,but GoFarm is one of those, more of a larger scale. They take somewhere between 20 to 25 farmers per cohort per year. And it is a very competitive process. They have a waiting list, sometimes they get over 60 applicants, and they only can take 20. So, we're happy to support their program. CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you very much. Alright with that, do we have any questions or statements from the dais? Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here, Deputy Director Lin. So,this is on top of what UH (University of Hawai`i) Hilo already does, is this just to supplement? MR. LIN: So, GoFarm is actually externally funded. So,they don't get much funding from UH at all. They go out and try to fundraise their own to fund their program. So,part of the $25,000 that we're providing them is to help with supplies and bringing in the trainer. The trainer stays at the farm, and throughout the whole program is the one teaching them how to do it. As well as any travel that needs to be done to bring people to and from the farm. Page 6 GOEAC-8 April 15,2025 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So,UH Hilo doesn't have its own funding. MR. LIN: This is not UH Hilo. This is CTAHR(College of Agriculture and Human Resilience),University of Hawai`i. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'm just reading the first Whereas clause, "The Department of-Research and Development wishes to enter into an agreement with the University of Hawai`i, Office of Research Services." And then provide $25,000 to the University of Hawaii to conduct GoFarm Hawai`i. MR. LIN: Although it says conduct. It's to supplement. So, they do run the program or help them supplement the program. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, so they don't have enough funding to do it themselves? MR. LIN: No. Because the first two portions are basically free to attendees. And then not until they attend the third portion, do they pay $500 to $700 for tuition to attend that portion. So, they have partners at Kamehameha Schools and Ho`ola. So,the Food Basket and Hilo Food Hub. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I get that. I'm just stuck on the University of Hawai`i CTAHR, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience. This is their program, but we're supplementing them because they don't have enough to run their own program that's fully operational. And they have that beautiful site on that Pana`ewa stretch. I'm guess I'm just wondering out loud. Okay, thank you, I yield Chair. CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Deputy Director, would you happen to have any information on how many folks go through GoFarm's program? MR. LIN: So, since 2012,they have over 250 farmers going through the program. And because they're only limited to 20 per year,you know, it's limited right? So, we'd like to see a program expand just because it does provide a course for East Hawai`i, specifically. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, so max of 20 a year. And then does CTAHR or GoFarm kind of track what happens after individuals go through the program? MR. LIN: They do. Page 7 GOEAC-8 April 15,2025 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Try to understand success rates and what kind of barriers folks that are interested in farming are facing. MR. LIN: So, in their program, they track the following: Attendance and Completion Tracking; Knowledge and Skill Assessments; Workforce Transition Monitoring; and Participation Satisfaction Surveys. And then through the different—we also do outreach events. So, we also do outreach and engagement metrics. Then finally, as we go through the final portion in that program,they track the sales and business plan goals. So, as each person is developing their small farm, how are they doing in the future after they've created it? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Maybe at Council, if you don't have the information now, of the 250 farmers that have gone through the program over the last decade, it would be good to know if folks are successfully operating; if they've been able to scale up, or if other factors such as,the inability to secure land; or equipment is too cost prohibitive; or inability to find workforce. Folks that may have had to close up shop,just so that, as we think about really truly increasing our ability to be more food secure. But folks that are going through this program have all the tools that they need to continue to be successful. MR. LIN: Absolutely. And I know that Council Member Onishi has also expressed his concerns regarding,you know,the University of Hawai`i CTAHR and how the County's participation in that program help how we can better go through that relationship. So,we'll provide that as well going forward. Then in regards to your question regarding the, you know, if you have land or not. This program actually connects farmers with land and, you know, if it's compatible with what they want to do for their farm. So,they have those resources as well. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Thank you so much. I yield, Chair. CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Council Member Onshi. MR. ONISHI: Thank you, Madame Chair. Adding to that, I would like to see if you can provide the information to all of us. How much of the production is going into the communities. Because, well, I don't know what sizes are these farmers, and what they are doing with their products. So, if you can have that for us also. Thank you, I yield. Page 8 GOEAC-8 April 15,2025 CHR. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Council Member Onishi. Anybody else? Alright, with that I just want to say that I'm very supportive. I've supported several of these virgining farmers by purchasing their boxes over the years of vegetables, and it's been a wonderful process. I've also been invited out to tour the site, and it's a great program. What I love about it is,people are learning to make a living off of a very small piece of land to do this very intensive Ag. So,I think it's a great program and glad we can support. Alright with that, all those in favor of approving Resolution 121 and sending it to full Council with a favorable recommendation,please say "aye." Any opposed? Vote on Res. 121-25: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 121-25,was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kagiwada—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused:' None. CHR. KAGIWADA: Alright,thank you so much. With that, we're at the end of our agenda. I did just want to mention, I think it was stated that our next Committee and Council meetings on May 6th and 7th would be Hilo. But due to all the extra budget meetings we're doing in Hilo this month and next,we will be back here in Kona on May 6th and 7th. Thanks so much everybody. The time is 10:42, and we are adjourned. ADJOURN- Seeing no further business, Chair Kagiwada adjourned the meeting at MENT: 10:42 a.m. Approved: . Jenn ag ada, Chair (Date) Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs JK/dt Page 9