Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2025-04-02 2024-2026 Hawaii County Council 101h Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii April 2, 2025 INVOCATION: Kahu Daniel Kawaha of Haili Congregational Church gave the morning's invocation. CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaii County Council was called to order at ORDER: 9:05 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Vice Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. James E. Hustace, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of ALLEGIANCE: Allegiance. (At this time, County Clerk Jon Henricks led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.) PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Petitions, MEMORIALS, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence. CERTIFICATES OF MERIT, AND (Note: At this time: EXPRESSIONS OF 1) Mr. Inaba presented the April 2025 Haweo Award to Officer Jason Lin of the CONDOLENCE: Area I Puna Patrol Division, Hawaii Police Department; 2) Ms. Kierkiewicz presented a Certificate of Merit to Dennis W. McCartin for his contributions to disaster preparedness and response in Hawaii County; and 3) Mr. Onishi presented Certificates of Merit to the Kamehameha Schools Hawaii Girls Soccer Team and Boys Soccer Team for claiming the 2025 Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II Soccer State Championship titles.) Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 (Note: A recess was called at the conclusion of each presentation.) (Note: At this time, Ms. Kierkiewicz stated that schools are regularly invited to observe Council meetings as well as visit various County departments, and thanked Christopher Holtz for his efforts in coordinating these visits.) STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Hope Alohalani Cermelj: Res. 109-25 (Comm. 187), in support. Roy Valera: Res. 110-25 (Comm. 188); and (representing D.A.R.E. Hawaii) Res. 116-25 (Comm. 194), in support. Armando Rodriguez: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), comment. Cory Harden: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), comment. (See Comm. 125.48) Lynda Williams: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. (See Comm. 125.89) Janice Palma-Glennie: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. (See Comm. 125.75) Chuck Flaherty: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. Victoria Magana: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. (See Comm. 125.64) Deirdre Roney: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. (See Comm. 125.78) William McGregor: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. Nadine Ebert: Res. 117-25 (Comm. 195), in support. (representing `O Ka`u Kakou) Babette Morrow: Res. 117-25 (Comm. 195), in support. (representing `O Ka`u Kakou) Page 2 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Liza Ryan-Gill Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. (representing Hawaii Coalition for Immigration Rights) Anna Marie Smith: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. Eric Paul: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. (representing Church of the Nazarene) Elizabeth Dunn: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. Patti Cook: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), comment. (See Comm. 125.40) Phaethon Keeney: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition; and Res. 95-25 (Comm. 164), in support. Janet Matlock: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. (See Comm. 125.66) Peter Matlock: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. (See Comm. 125.67) Antu Harvey: Res. 74-25 (Comm. 125), in opposition. (See Comm. 125.49) APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval OF MINUTES: of Minutes. Chair Inaba announced that the Minutes of January 31 and February 5, 2025, were approved. REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports. GOEAC-26 NOMINATION OF JANET R. BRITT TO THE PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN (Comm. 176): SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMISSION Requires Council Confirmation by: April 12, 2025 (Section 134(k), Hawaii County Charter) Page 3 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Vote on GOEAC-26: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Governmental Operations and (Adopted) External Affairs Committee Report No. 26. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions. Res. 74-25: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENTS WITH FEDERAL AND STATE PARTNERS TO SUPPORT THEIR CONTINUED COOPERATION WITH THE HAWAI`I POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR THE SAFETY OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I Authorizes the Police Department to enter into two agreements with the Department of Homeland Security relating to immigration and customs enforcement and one agreement with the Federal Bureau of Investigations relating to the Safe Streets Task Force. Reference: Comm. 125 Intr. by: Council Member Kagiwada(B/R) Negative: GOEAC-27 (Due to a vote of 4-ayes, 3-noes, 2-absent) (Note: Comm. 125.31, from Council Chair Holeka Goro Inaba and Council Member Jenn Kagiwada dated March 31, 2025, transmitting proposed amendments to Res. 74-25, was circulated. Also Comm. 125.32, from Council Member Michelle M. Galimba dated March 31, 2025, transmitting proposed amendments to Res. 74-25, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kagiwada moved to adopt Res. 74-25. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. INABA: Would you like to withdraw your motion? MS. KAGIWADA: Yes, I would. Sorry. CHR. INABA: All right. Withdraw Motion Ms. Kagiwada withdrew her motion to approve Res. 74-25. to Approve: CHR. INABA: Can I get a motion to approve Resolution 74-25? Page 4 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Motion to Approve: Mr. Onishi moved to adopt Res. 74-25. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. CHR. INABA: Members, discussion? We have Police and Deputy Corporation Counsel here today. We'll start with you, Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. We have an amendment for this resolution that I'd like to bring forward. Motion to Amend: Ms. Kagiwada moved to amend Res. 74-25 with the contents of Comm. 125.31. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. And thank you for working on this amendment with me, or I was working on it with you I guess I'd say. So this amendment has a couple parts. The first one is just cleaning up how the exhibits and the attachments are noted and attached. The second one is talking about if any changes to these agreements are made, that HPD (Hawai`i Police Department) would bring them back before Council for reconsideration. The third one is talking about how I'll read it directly because this is a new "WHEREAS" clause: "WHEREAS, none of the Agreements contained in Exhibit A authorize Hawaii Police Department officers or other personnel to take any enforcement action against administrative violations of federal immigration law; now, therefore." The next one is just about—it was just a wording change once again about the exhibits. And then the final piece is just noting the three MOUs (Memorandums of Understanding) attached. So this is the amendment that we are asking to put in place. I will note that working on this amendment doesn't necessarily mean I'm in favor of the resolution overall, but I wanted this to be in place in case it does pass. I don't know, Chair, if you want to say anything about(inaudible)? CHR. INABA: Nothing to add right now. Anything further from you? MS. KAGIWADA: I would just, yeah, like to reach out to HPD here and just thank them for working on this amendment with me and just ask if, or just verify that all the pieces of this amendment are indeed something that you are okay with going forward. (Note: At this time, Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz and Assistant Police Chief Sherry Bird came forward to address the members of the Council.) Page 5 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Good morning. Chief Moszkowicz with the Hawaii Police Department. Yes, absolutely. Thank you for the opportunity to work on the amendments moving forward. We can definitely work within the constraints of the amendment. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. And specifically speaking to the new "WHEREAS" clause where we are stating that we will not be doing enforcement actions having to do with Federal immigration, do you want to say anything more about that? We heard a lot of testimony. We've got a lot of community members who are very worried. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Yes. They are clearly listening to all the testimony today. There are a lot of people in fear, and I can completely understand that. And actually, I think this amendment and something that we tried to express at the last Committee meeting is an opportunity to kind of, to say it again, to reinforce in concrete or solidify this into what our intent is. We have had task force officers with Homeland Security Investigations for several years. And into each of those previous MOUs was the same language that officers who are TFOs, task force officers, are not authorized to enforce any type of administrative violations of immigration law. In addition to the MOU, there's also this HSI 73-001 form that's referenced in the MOU. That form is kind of amy understanding is it's kind of a one-form-for- everybody form that HSI(Homeland Security Investigations) and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) uses in any kind of task force arrangement with any kind of local police department. So there are certain authorities that are granted if boxes are checked. There are certain restrictions that are in place if other boxes are checked. In all of our task force officers' form 73-001's and all of the future ones that we intend to do under the authority in the MOU, specifically with the guidance in the amendments, is to make sure that that box is checked. So that is kind of another layer of stating the same thing again. So in our base MOU that authorizes the form 73-001, it says we're not granted any authority to enforce administrative violations of immigration law. And then inside each individual officer's TFO agreement, that box has always been checked and will continue to be checked under the guidance of the resolution. The other thing that, briefly if I could address, specifically because you mentioned some of the concerns that the testifiers brought up. One of the other limitations that has also been checked in all of our existing TFO forms and will continue to be checked in future TFO forms is that the TFOs are authorized to wear bodycams (body cameras). And they use their bodycams under the language in the forms Page 6 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 is under the parent policy. So it's under our Police Department policy if they're equipped and they're using bodycams, then they're authorized even when they're engaging in task force operations to continue to use those bodycams. So, while the Federal agents themselves may or may not have them or be authorized to have them it's specifically written into our contract, into our individual arrangement with each officer, that they are authorized to use bodycams under our existing policy. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much. I'll have some more questions when we get to the main motion but I'll yield for now. CHR. INABA: Thank you. On the amendment. Seeing no further discussion, all those in favor of amending Resolution 74-25 with the contents of Communication 125.31,please say "aye." Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Res. 74-25 with the contents of Amend: Comm. 125.31 was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kimball —2. Excused: None. Vote on Motion to Ms. Kagiwada moved to suspend Council Rule 23 to waive Suspend Council the holdover for the substantive amendment of Res. 74-25. Rules: Seconded by Mr. Onishi and carried by the following voice (Approved) vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Kimball —2. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. I did want to note that I put an amendment in, but it covers part of what this your memo. So I will—do I need to withdraw it? I can just CHR. INABA: You don't need to. Page 7 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MS. GALIMBA: Just don't bring it up? CHR. INABA: Yes. MS. GALIMBA: Okay. So, on the main motion and the amendment—well, now both of them are together. I wanted to ask a few questions about the TFOs. We're learning new acronyms as we navigate this. I was wondering are these officers given special training before they become TFOs and fill out the form? MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Yeah, so the TFO programTFO, short for Task Force Officer—so these are officers that are Hawaii County Police Department officers. They went through our academy. They have the authority that any Hawaii County police officer would have. In addition, they've been selected by the department and nominated to a Federal partner to become a Task Force Officer. And basically, their role is to work with the law enforcement authorities in the other agency and collaborate on things, generally speaking. So our TFOs specifically with Homeland Security, they have under the previous MOU and under their Form 73-001, they have certain authorities granted to them. They have certain restrictions placed on them. And they are also vetted by the Federal agency. So, to be a police officer, we do a lot of local checks, and we check all the places you've ever lived and you've ever worked. But when you're applying for a TFO position with the Federal agency, it's a different level of security clearance. So the Federal partner then kind of vets and background checks the person to make sure that they don't pose some sort of security risk. And then once that is done, they get some training from the Federal partner, and they also are sworn in and now have the authority to not only enforce Hawaii Revised Statutes and County Code in Hawaii, but they also have the authority under our current TFO agreement to enforce Title 18 and Title 19 of the United States Code. So the United States Code is broken down into all these different sections. Titles 18 and 19 deal with criminal offenses, drug trafficking, enterprise corruption. I don't think we have any public corruption authority outside of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. There are some robbery, violent crime authority that these officers have. Basically, the benefit of the arrangement for the Police Department and for the County is that these TFOsagain, we're generally speaking these TFOs have now the authority to initiate criminal Federal prosecutions. So they can call up the assistant U.S. (United States) attorney. They can confer a case. They can sign out an affidavit or a search warrant for a Federal prosecution. And then when the Federal system adopts the—Department of Justice adopts these cases that they're working on, then those cases can be prosecuted in Federal court. Because, the Page 8 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 officers—our officers with this Federal TFO authority have checked all the boxes that a Federal officer would have checked in the same criminal case because they have the authority to kind of act on both sides of the system. And realistically speaking, with the overcrowded situation in our State prisons, if we can take the worst of the worst out of the State criminal justice system and into the Federal criminal justice system, especially Title 18 and Title 19 serious crimes, we're talking about real punitive time and these folks actually being taken off of our island either to the FDC (Federal detention center) or some sort of Federal detention facility to serve out any conviction time that they have for Federal offenses. It's a much bigger stick, so to speak, on the Federal side of the criminal justice system than there is on the local side. So we use that strategically. We use it in certain situations; and other situations, not. But we pick and choose where we're going to use that Federal authority based on where we feel the community is going to get the best bang for the buck, where we can make sure that the person, if convicted, is held accountable and responsible and segregated from the rest of society to protect the rest of the community. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. I can completely understand how useful that would be in normal times, like recently. I guess the next follow-up question: About how many officers or officer hours do you generally, you know, in previously per year, how much time for officers? MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Hours per year would be difficult. I can tell you that under the HSI MOU we have now, we have a total of five officers who are task force officers. I think two are part-time, which is basically as-needed. If there's some sort of Federal criminal investigation going, they might devote a part of their workday to that and the rest of their workday to Hawaii County duties. And then the other three I understand are full-time in that they are still working in Hawaii County. They're still working on Hawaii County Police Department investigations, but they're looking at those investigations using the Federal lens as opposed to the County lens. So, while it would be very difficult for me to tell you how many hours that is, I do know that when there's extra expenses, like when the officers who are acting as a TFO incur overtime, then that overtime is reimbursed back to the County. So there is a bit of kind of a payback for that. Sorry, I don't have the exact number of hours but it's two part-time, three are full- time, and five is where we are. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. And so you're saying that overtime, you get funding from the Feds for that particle part of their expenses. But the other time, the regular time that they're working on this, we're paying them out of our County budget. Is that correct? Page 9 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MR. MOSZKOWICZ: We are. MS. GALIMBA: And is there a special line item for those officers when they're working on Federal things or non-Federal things? MR. MOSZKOWICZ: I think it's contained in our budget in the grants section for each of the Federal partners that we work with. There's a Marshalls section. There's a Marshalls service line. There's probably an HSI line. That would be my guess as to where to look. MS. GALIMBA: Okay, so like grant money would come into the department as a whole, and then go into payroll as a whole. So it isn't direct from this grant to this particular officer when he's working on this particular (inaudible). MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Correct. There are a lot of—every police department, except in Hawaii where we're all the same, but in the Mainland or in different places, there are different rules about how many hours officers work and what type of premiums they earn and whether overtime is double or one-and-a-half and Sundays and holidays and all these things. The rules change. So the local department administers the pay in accordance with whatever the agreement is with the employer the bargaining unit, and then we get reimbursement from the Feds for that line item. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you very much. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: You're welcome. MS. GALIMBA: The reason I'm asking this is sort of trying to think about ways that we could, if things—if sort of a dystopian option arrives,potential levers to resist basically. I noticed in the agreement that these MOUs are subject to basically our budget. That seems to be in there. So I was just wondering how and if we might be able to do that. Just—not doing it in a negative way to you, but as long as things don't get that crazy. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Sure. MS. GALIMBA: Yeah. So just kind of poking around in there. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Yeah. Transparency in government at the County level is much different than transparency in government at the Federal level. I think it's much better where we're sitting that I can talk to you about almost everything we do and explain to you why we do things and why we don't do things, and how and when we communicate with the community about things that we're doing right now. So I don't—without putting myself too far out on the ledge, the one thing I do know is that the MOUs themselves, there are escape clauses built into the MOUs. So if we the County decide, look, we're going to withdraw from the Page 10 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MOU, then the parry that signs the MOU, the Mayor or the Chief, says, "Look, we want to withdraw in 30 days and that's it,"then the MOUs just kind of comes to a close. As to the other strategies, I'll leave that to you. Sorry. MS. GALIMBA: One of the testifiers brought up that, or a couple of them, that basically, Federal, they have authority over everything. So, even if we don't agree to this, they basically could embed themselves anyway? Or could you talk to that about not— MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Sure. Yeah. The MOU basically gives us there are three, right. Two of them have to do with task force officers; one with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and one with HSI. And the third one has to do with office-based in one of our facilities. So the MOUs that have to do with task force officers, if we decide any office space and (inaudible) as well, if we decide we don't want to play and we're not going to cooperate or participate in whatever, then we just stop participation. They don't in any way own or control or command our resources, our officers. They don't fall under the—maybe in a very narrow like tactical situation someone at the scene might be moving people around at a crime scene, but aside from that they don't fall under the supervision or control or guidance of the Federal department. I remain the appointing authority for the officers and as such, I, as the Chief, and HR (Human Resources) is kind of overseeing that, control what they do and what they don't do. And if it came to a point where the County or the Police Chief or the Mayor or the Council disagrees with what the Hawaii police officers are doing, then I would hope that we address that concern through me as the Chief, and then I handle it internally. And there is all kinds of backup. If you don't like what I'm doing, then the Mayor and the Police Commission. There's all kinds of levels of checks and balances in that system. But one of the nice things about the TFO system is we're not sending someone off somewhere to just work for another department, and we don't know what's going on. They're here 95 percent of the time, unless there's a TFO operation on Kauai, or there's a fugitive on Maui and they get activated to go help with that kind of thing. But other than that, they're here. They fall under our rules as well as the Federal rules. And ultimately, at the end of the day, I'm the one accountable for whether or not they're following the rules and whatever happens as a result of that. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL I just wanted to kind of follow up on that because I had the same questions. I guess you've heard the testimony. We've been hearing kind of like the same testimony over and over, and they, in their minds, are thinking that the Page 11 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 department is going to be really involved with all of these operations. And you already mentioned before what your role is; Hawaii County, right. And basically you explained the situation of what happened in Kona and how the officers had to do certain things, right, that were required by the department. But you folks didn't do the other parts of that, arresting or transporting these people away. So, for me, if you can again to kind of clarify what your role as the Hawaii County Police Department is, but also maybe simplifying where people can understand. And then after that then I'll ask Corporation Counsel to come up to make sure that we are following what we need to follow. Okay? So go ahead, Chief. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Sure. Any time we look at our role in the community, whether it's enforcing State law or assisting Federal partners or enforcing Federal law with a TFO or just responding to something that's not criminal in nature, we kind of have the same three. This is a dramatic oversimplification, but that's what you asked for. There's kind of these three core principles, right. And the first is to make sure that people are safe, and that breaks down into a whole bunch of steps: having officers not drive crazy on the way to a scene to make sure they're safe, that they can arrive, that they can provide care. When we get to a scene, the first thought is always who's injured at the scene, how can we provide assistance, is it safe to go provide assistance, do we need to address another threat first to make it safe. All those kinds of things surrounding keeping people safe is our No. 1 primary goal. The second primary goal is to make sure that people's rights are upheld. That's where being a Police Chief is a little bit different than—well, a lot different, I guess, than being a County Council person in that my own personal politics I would hope you can't guess because that means I'm doing my job right. To take another not-immigration-based scenario, if there is a clinic that's performing abortions and there are people that want to protest what's going on inside, then the police show up and we protect their rights. If the people at the abortion facility want to turn around and have a counter protest against the people who are protesting them, then we show up and we make sure everyone's safe, and we protect their rights. And we make sure that people's rights in terms of free speech and all the constitutional amendments, constitutional rights, State constitutional rights are upheld. So keeping people safe, ensuring people's rights are protected. And then the third thing is kind of the catch-all. I swore in eight new police officers yesterday, and I pointed out to them the last couple lines of their oath was basically to perform any and all other duties devolving upon me, so help me God. And so the way we interpret that is to provide whatever type of humanitarian support we can, after everyone is safe and we're making sure people's rights are upheld, then to do whatever else people in Hawaii County do. And it's not exclusively Hawaii County. Hawaii County certainly exemplifies it, right, that spirit of aloha, that spirit of wanting to make sure that people are as comfortable as possible, given whatever is going on with the safety and the constitutional rights question. Page 12 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 So, in a very small nutshell that I've overexplained way too much just now, that's kind of our role. And you're also correct; The Hawaii Police Department does not have nor do these MOUs give us any type of immigration enforcement authority or responsibility. Immigration enforcement is a Federal responsibility, as several of the testifiers mentioned. And that's kind of why I think the MOU and the forms are phrased, and the resolution, are phrased the way that they are, to make it really clear in all of these documents repeatedly like that's not our role. Yes, we'll help and participate and we'll expect their participation in investigating robberies and drug trafficking organizations and violent felons, the taking in of hundreds of pounds of drugs every year and sending dozens and dozens of violent criminals to Federal penitentiaries, but that particular part of another agency's authority doesn't devolve onto us. MR. ONISHL Okay. And I guess,just to reassure the public, or the testifiers, if ICE is going to be doing, what they call that, arrest or whatever, if they would ask the department to come and help assist with arresting these people, with the MOU agreement that is not included, correct? MR. MOSZKOWICZ: No. The MOU doesn't cover that. And we would weigh any such request against those first three things that I talked to you about. If there's a safety concern, might we go to make sure the people are safe? Perhaps. If there is a constitutional rights concern, might we go to make sure that the rights of the citizens and the people in Hawaii County are yes, maybe. And then the third would be, if there is some way that we can provide additional protection outside of those first two realms, might we respond? Perhaps. But there certainly would be no responsibility on us to assist with that. MR. ONISHL Okay. Before I move to you, Corporation Counsel, I just wanted to give an example that I just had a meeting like maybe a week and a half ago, and this is in regards to Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, their property. So enforcement is basically within the department, within their enforcement unit, also with the sheriff's office, okay. Hawaii County police helps assist them. They don't—is it—first like responders, right. So there's a process that it goes through. So, if you look at that scenario or that picture, that's what we're looking at kind of like with the Federal Government, okay. So I'm just hoping that we can understand the process, right. And so now—or if can kind of clarify I guessoh, go ahead. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Like a cent and a half, at the risk of belaboring your point, the way we handle DHHL (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands) stuff with layers of tiered responsibility is similar. But in the case of DHHL, police have the authority to respond first if the sheriffs aren't responding or absent and there's a 911 call. We're going to go because that's our responsibility. So it's actually this HSI arrangement actually further insulates us and further kind of sets up that "that's not us." Page 13 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MR. ONISHL Thank you for clarifying. I guess I was talking, too, more about evictions, right. Yeah. But go ahead. (Note: At this time, Deputy Corporation Counsel Dakota Frenz came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. FRENZ: Good morning. Deputy Corporation Counsel Cody Frenz. So, specifically to that point, if you look at Communication 125.31, the specific MOU that had the attached Form 73-001, the ICE form, if you look at provision No. 3, the second full paragraph. The last sentence is italicized: HSI is not conveying the authority to enforce administrative violations of immigration law. There is just, I mean, no other way to understand or interpret that. It speaks for itself, right. There is a lot of misunderstanding and concern and fear. And as the Chief already indicated, we understand why and where it's coming from. But it speaks for itself, right. It's very clear. There is no intent or backdoor efforts to involve the Police Department in something that it legally cannot, even if it wanted to. Nor has he ever indicated that. But it explicitly prohibits that. So I think that speaks directly to your question, Council Member Onishi. And like the meeting that you just asked about in reference, I think that meeting provided a good opportunity for me as the Police Department's attorney, Prosecutor's attorney, at that meeting to identify kind of the separation of powers and how it relates to even something as simple as DHHL lease issues, eviction issues, and arrest for trespass. Whose kuleana is what. And even at that level, at the State level, there are still separation of powers that limit what our Police Department can and should be doing or would do even at that level. This is no different. MR. ONISHL Thank you. Let's see. I had something else I was going to mention, but I'll come back again. But thank you very much for your explanations. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Chief, Assistant Chief, Corporation Counsel. I appreciate your time and attention to this. In listening to my colleagues here as well as the community and the public about this, we've kind of danced around this a little bit. I had a question for you, Chief, last time about the benefits of this to the community. I think, in speaking to Council Member Galimba and your response, I don't see the benefits. But then speaking to Council Member Onishi, I see the benefits. So there's pros and cons to this MOU. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder asked about it last time around, about the financial transactional pieces in there. And Council Member Galimba asked about that as well, where there's not really that much of a cost. You answered Page 14 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 that question last time. There's not really much of a cost, and it's part of the cost of the County that we take on for the TFOs. But I don't really see any sort of transaction that's happening. I know the Feds are cutting other funding. They're not giving funding for this sort of support from local government and local police force. So not really seeing any support coming across in that direction. With the concerns from community and our workforce, I have to support what's happening in our community, the concerns and the fear that's in the community. Can't really step away from that. So I don't know. I'm not really supporting this here. The concerns that I have are what's happened at the Federal level. And, yes, we set up these guardrails and these rules, but there's a lot of overstepping of some of those rules happening nationwide. So that's where my concerns are. The question I had for you last time, and maybe you could address it again, is there is that escape clause in here. What, in your mind, do we see is, this is something that we have to break away from? What would happen nationwide, statewide that's kind of coming down that's put upon you,put on officers that have to go out into the field and are tasked to do certain jobs that they're not supposed to be doing? This says they're not supposed to be doing certain things, right. But the Federal Government comes and says, "We need you to do these things on our behalf." MR. MOSZKOWICZ: So I guess the answer boils down to we have a procedure in the Police Department about unlawful or improper bias in public safety. And I just want to read you one little paragraph, and then this is directly addressed to your question. So Section 4.1 of this procedure says, "Unlawful or improper bias in public safety. The application of police authority based on a common trait of a group, including but is not limited to race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, immigration status, disability, housing status, occupation, or language fluency." If we are asked to violate our own policies or our own procedures, to me that's a signal that the relationship isn't going to work. As long as our Federal partners are willing to honor our authority to have our officers act in a certain way and in conformance with the policy that specifically prevents them from acting on the basis of immigration status, or take a different example: specifically prevents it from acting on the basis of someone's sex or sexual identity or gender or race. If we were asked to do that, the answer is, first of all, no and the second of all is maybe we need to look at dissolving the relationship if that's what they're going to ask us to do. I feel like the policy protection is based on constitutional protections. And going back to that second nugget of making sure people's rights are protected, if we're asked to violate people's constitutionally established rights, and a lot of this goes to legal advice and/or what's in our policy, to me that's the breaking point. Page 15 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MR. HUSTACE: Thank you for that. At the behest of the Police Commission and the role of the seat you sit in, I mean this would be kind of—the challenges that we have there are who steps into the seat sometimes, too, and who takes on. So I really appreciate your thoughtfulness, your kindness, and your respect that you have for the role. And then these documents, they kind of uphold community guideline and policies. The transition of those roles, I was worried about who could sit in that seat and how they approach these sort of rules and regulations, and what they tell their officers to kind of step forward and do. Yeah. And I also think about your police officers too, and what it means for them to go into the community and kind of that relationship and the trust that they have with community members. So this is the fear that I carry with these sort of agreements about the relationship that you and your officers so heartily kind of work towards in building that comradery and that partnership in community with your community policing officers and the relationship we're building. So these things kind of create some fractures I see in that relationship that we're trying to gain and build. I'll leave it at that for now, Chair. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Villegas and then Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. First off, thank you, Chief Moszkowicz, and thank you, Corp. (Corporation) Counsel Cody Frenz, for your diligence and work on this. I really want to recognize that you have dug in, and you are doing your due diligence. They're arenas that are your expertise, which is handling these I's and T's and these MOUs. I also want to thank Council Member Kagiwada for those amendments, and appreciate your sentiment that they in no way indicate that you support these MOUs. I was doing some reading last night and this morning. And something that struck out to me was a statement that authoritarianism arrives not with tanks but with legal memos, precedence, and a scared public hoping that someone else will stop it. When I look at the history of Hawaii and the illegal overthrow of the sovereign nation, it baffles me how anyone could be expected to trust right now what's happening. The system of checks and balances is being disregarded at a Federal level. This concept of ensuring that people's rights are upheld, while that is your truest intention, undocumented immigration into this country, it's my understanding, is a misdemeanor. Correct? MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Honestly, I don't even know. I could answer just about any question you have about HRS (Hawai`i Revised Statutes) and most of them about(inaudible), sorry. Page 16 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MS. VILLEGAS: No worries. In my research, it is a misdemeanor. However, people are being treated like felons, and it has been changed to be regarded as such. It's also my understanding that the two immigrants, the mother and her children and the father and the son who community—school policing had to help be removed from school, neither of them had criminal records. So this false narrative that's being spread that ICE and HSI are only targeting criminals is a false narrative. I'm kind of baffled. I suppose that HSI and ICE, as we've heard through experts that work in these fields that we don't work on the front lines in testified to the fact that HSI and ICE are not abiding by the law or the Constitution. So it seems insane to me to be dissecting I's and T's of this MOU when the underlying intention, strategy, and purpose of the current directive of these organizations is nefarious and, quite frankly, does more harm than good. Our Federal justice system has been compromised. I mean, what's happening is just—it's heartbreaking. I feel like the comments, and I appreciateI mean, this is your job and you've done it fantastically under any normal circumstance. But an escape clause won't help us escape the ramifications of the agenda of this president, which it's being pointed out by experts, historians, and people all over, that martial law and the potential of the Insurrection Act is quite possible. And an escape clause won't help us under those circumstances. So, for me, this is an opportunity to say no to the things that otherwise I don't have control over, and how they impact our community, our migrant community. The backbone of much of our agricultural industry, our visitor industry, our construction industry. So I just want you to know I greatly appreciate that you guys are doing the right thing when it comes to ensuring these I's and T's are all crossed, but based on what's happening in the Federal Government right now, I firmly believe this exposes us to more harm than good it would do. And I can't support these MOUs. And I don't believe that there would be any negative repercussions that would outweigh the negative repercussions of passing it. And I want to make sure that history someday reveals where I personally stood on this, which is in support of you but utter resistance and protest against what's happening in our country and also within this State right now under the actions of organizations like HSI and ICE. I have such empathy for people whose jobs are to work in those departments and organizations, and for the struggles they must be navigating personally and professionally. So I humbly yield and thank you for your endurance of my passionate perspective on this. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and then Council Member Kimball. Page 17 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here. Sorry, Cody, you talked about there there's three MOUs in the packet that we have. You talked about Exhibit A, but 26A, which is an original from Paul Ferreira. Are we upholding the language in the Paul Ferreira one, or are we talking about the new one that was provided that references Chief Moszkowicz? MS. FRENZ: The language I read to you was from the former Police Chief Paul Ferreira agreement. We're not even working on updating that at this time. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That one's out the door. It's gone, right? MS. FRENZ: It's not gone. It's in place. We're not looking to update it or amend it. We're not doing anything with it right now. It stands. The point of contact, which is the second MOU in your packet, under that communication the MOU between HPD/HSI regarding embedding, that's updating the points of contact to Chief Moszkowicz. That is the current one that spurred this discussion in the first place to obtain Council authority for this agreement to be executed. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So I'm understanding you, the first one that's in here that Paul Ferreira signed in 2017, we're still holding that same language but we're updating the point of contact to be our Chief now with a new MOU. MS. FRENZ: No. They are completely different. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: They're completely different. MS. FRENZ: That's correct. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Which one guides us into the future? MS. FRENZ: All of them currently are in place, theoretically. The agreement that updates to Chief Moszkowicz is currently also in place but with a different point of contact. There's no end date for the MOU. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. That's what I was looking at because I don't see an end date. We can end it within 30 days, but we haven't ended the Paul Ferreira one. I'm just going to call it the "Paul Ferreira"because it's easier. MS. FRENZ: That's correct. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So we have Paul's one and then we have the new one, which goes into effect which is now between Chief Ben and the agent in Honolulu. Page 18 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MS. FRENZ: That's correct. And then we have the Honolulu Safe Streets. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, I'm not really taking in that one. That's separate, in my eyes, from what the main point of the conversation is today. Okay, I'm going to yield for now. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Yes, thank you. I do have a couple more questions for you folks, but I'm actually going to request that Managing Director come up just because, and I apologize, Managing Director, for not giving you a little more time. This just kind of came up as a thought because we're talking today. The last hearing that we had, there was brief discussion around the fact that the Council approved this resolution for the Mayor to enter into those agreements, but then we abdicate any future authority to actually say that we want to get out of those agreements. That falls to the Administration and the administration side. We could propose a resolution that would say, "Hey, we don't like the way things are going. Would you please get us out of this." But then it would come to the Administration. So it occurred to me,just like based on hearing some of the testimony and the comments here on the board that since the authority, through this resolution, is now designated to the Administration to get into this agreement between HPD and ICE and Homeland Security, it would be helpful for us to have a little perspective from what the Administration, how they review this relationship and what might be—we've had a question about like what are the deal-breakers. At what point would the Administration start to have concerns. Given that I just—from this I knew by text within the last half hour. If the answer is "I don't really know right now,"that's fine. I think we would maybe want to wait until we had more time for you to have a more thorough response. But if you do have a response available, I'd like to have the opportunity for the board to hear that now. (Note: At this time, Managing Director William Brilhante came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. BRILHANTE: Good morning, Chair Inaba and Council Member Kimball and all the other Council Members here. Thank you very much for having me here to attend today's meeting. We've had numerous discussions with the Administration and with the Police Chief regarding this issue, and it's a very important issue. I'm sure, as you all are Page 19 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 aware and you know, and if you don't I'll just reiterate the Mayor's position is that public safety is first and foremost his No. 1 agenda item as far as moving the community forward. And when we look at a situation like this that's coming before us, we know a lot of this has to do with what's happening on the national perspective and the national front, and that's concerning regarding immigration. And it's unsettling to our residents, documented and undocumented. And I think, you know, that's always in the back of our mind. But when you look at a proposal like this, I think we have to look at the larger picture is the the Mayor's perspective is that, you know, we always balance what's the greater good. Enabling our police officers and our police force to have the best resources and the expansive technology and expertise from Federal partners is something that's very important. Otherwise, we see the cities; the evidence is there. These cities that become sanctuary cities, the big cities Chicago, Los Angelesdefund the police and all those, I guess, avenues that a lot of these cities were moving towards, we see the failures. And the failure is the impacts and the hurt and the harm that falls on the citizens. That's something we do not want to see here. Your question, Council Member Kimball, is what would be a trigger for us to say no. Well, this is not our area of expertise. We're going to rely on what HPD has to say, what Chief Moszkowicz has to provide to us. We're in continuous dialogue and discussion with him as it relates to these matters. And he's the expert in the field. It's not for us to step on his shoes. He's qualified. He's trained. His personnel are qualified and trained. And I think we have to allow them to do their job and to do it with the best and most amount of resources possible because they're what we have and they're the best that we have. They're not called Hawai`i's finest for nothing. And I think, in that regard, I can assure you this Administration would not make any decisions without getting the blessing and getting the full support of the Police Department moving forward as to what a trigger would look like. I'm not sure if that's the answer you wanted to hear, but that's our position as far as the Administration goes. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Managing Director Brilhante. I appreciate the thorough answer on short notice. I'm going to yield now in case anybody else has questions for the Managing Director just because I want to be respectful of his time. But thank you again for your input. CHR. INABA: Questions for the Managing Director? Council Member Kagiwada. Page 20 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Thank you, Managing Director Brilhante, for being here on such short notice. I guess I'm just going to ask that you maybe try to get a little up to speed because there are things happening on our island now. So there have been ICE deportations, picking people up, children involved. And so, hopefully, we're not I mean, it would be great if all parts of Administration in the leadership can be well aware of what's going on and participate in leading us in that way. So I just wanted to put that plug in. I know a lot of things are changing rapidly and things are happening quickly. But if we can make sure that we are all trying to be as much aware of what's going on as possible, I think that's really key. MR. BRILHANTE: I appreciate that. And just to provide you assurances, the Mayor is very involved and he's very informed. He's very engaged into what has been going on, you know, on the west side of the island. I believe there were several incidents which you alluded to. And our position is if the Feds are coming in and they're going to do any activity on the Big Island, we want to ensure and we instructed, you know, discussions with police is to ensure that the proper procedural protocols are in place: due process, warrants, everything of that nature, which allows the individual or the suspects or the proposed individuals the opportunity to ensure that constitutionally their rights are protected, especially the due process. We're not going to go in there. We're not going to, without a warrant, allow our people to separate a family or to take somebody away from their home. Before something like that happens, we've had discussions and we just want to ensure that the proper procedural mechanisms are in place. Absent that, we won't be supportive. Our position is we won't be supportive of whatever Federal action is taking place, transpiring. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Thank you, Managing Director. I don't know if you've been following this particular resolution and these MOUs, but a question I was going to have with the Chief but I also do want, since you're here, want to ask you as well is, given your commitment to this community around their constitutional rights and not being violated, I'm trying to figure out because I think this is a little bit tricky, is it better to have something in place with the Feds so that they maybe tell us what's going on, or since we don't really have control over what they do it seems like, is it better to resist, which is what the community is really asking us to do? So I guess do you see us having any input on what happens on our island with Federal deportation actions? MR. BRILHANTE: Very good question. I'm just going to fall back to our position, the Administration's position, as it relates to open and transparent communication. It's our firm belief that if we can communicate, if we have open dialogue and if we can effectuate trust between the Feds and HPD, I think in the long run that'll better service us and our community. Page 21 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 You're absolutely correct. We see time and time again that oftentimes the Feds, they're going to do what they want to do. And if we have these MOUs in place, at least we have some type of guideline. At least we have some type of dialogue, some type of, I don't want to say rules because it's not essentially a rule, but at least we have documentation in place so that we can fall back on it and say, "Hey, look, this is how we're supposed to be engaging with each other." Again,just like in a marriage, nobody's ever going to be happy a hundred percent of the time well, maybe other marriages but we want it majority of the time. And I think without communication, I can assure you we're going to be in the worst place. And if we can get that, at least maintain open communication with the Feds, and we have such great representatives here from HPD, let's rely on them. And let's give them the power and the authority to do their job with the best and most resources we have available. And I think going forward, that would be our best course of action. MS. KAGIWADA: What can this Administration do to really ensure those constitutional rights when the Feds are coming in to our island, to our county, and doing these? What are the steps we can take? Because my understanding, and I just want to add this to what Council Member Villegas was saying before, is that these are civil issues that when you overstay your visa, it's a civil issue. It's not criminal. And that's why our HPD generally does not deal with any immigration enforcements, because they're civil proceedings. And so what can we do when the Feds are showing up and maybe not following all correct procedures, maybe not providing judicial warrants or allowing people to see their attorneys or things like that? MR. BRILHANTE: That's a really good question. That's something that I'm so happy and so proud that we have such a great Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen. She'll definitely—if that situation develops and if it becomes problematic, that's something that we're going to have to circle the wagons; and we're going to have to bring the Chief in, we're going to bring the Mayor in, and we're going to have discussions with Corporation Counsel Schoen and with Cody and the like. And we're going to see on a case-by-case basis because it just seems too hypothetical to me right now for me to come up with a clearly defined answer. But I can assure you if those types of situations develop, we will address it properly and we will, again, engage the expertise from our County. That's why we have such a qualified Police Chief. That's why we have such a qualified Corporation Counsel. And that's why we have a Mayor who's really proactive. It's an unfortunate situation that's occurring, but I think we have a great team to address it if it gets out of hand. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Thank you. I'll yield in case other people have questions. Thanks. Page 22 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and then Council Member Kimball. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for being here, Mr. Brilhante. Sorry, I don't have a question for you. Sorry. CHR. INABA: Sorry, any last questions for Managing Director before he leaves, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder? Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thanks, Chair. So it was discussed earlier, if this body approves moving forward to signing the MOU, Mayor working with the Chief will talk, agree, sign. Right? In case any of the Council Members in their districts, they hear things that are not happening how it's supposed to be, we can come back together as a body, do a resolution, send it to the Administration saying we should terminate this contract. Is that—we could get your guys' support if that should happen? MR. BRILHANTE: Definitely. Council Member Onishi, I noticed on this form I got for the three resolutions, there's a column here for termination, which outlines the procedural steps that are in place in order to effectuate that. And that's something we definitely would be supportive of. MR. ONISHL And the Mayor has the authority to just sign off and terminate within that 30 days' notice, right? MR. BRILHANTE: If the need arises, correct. Yeah. MR. ONISHL Okay. I just wanted to kind of clarify all that. Thank you. MR. BRILHANTE: Thank you. CHR. INABA: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha, Managing Director Brilhante. Thank you for coming down and answering this. And thank you for assuring us of the intentions of the Mayor and this Administration. I honor that and I believe that. Unfortunately, I don't think we're in normal times where that kind of rational "will follow the process" is going to work. Unfortunately, my concern here is just the statement"if it happens." It's already happening. It's happened. People are experiencing this now. And that's what we're seeing happening at a national, state, and now a local level; those who are honest, who operate with integrity, who abide by the law, and who are prioritizing the normal, rational processes to follow in order to ensure that people have their rights respected and the law followed. Unfortunately, we're in a time that that's not what's happening and with other people, right. Page 23 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 And so it's this hard thing of like, okay, we can cover our ass by making sure all of our documents are in line and our I's and our T's. But if in doing that we're accidentally laying down on a land mine because what's coming, they're not going to respect and they already aren't respecting and they're defying the laws of our land and doing direct harm to the people in our community. So that's where this is the real hard thing for me. And I don't want to be overly dramatic and all these other things, but every day is another episode of the Twilight Zone in this dystopian nightmare where those who have higher access to potential power, which is the Feds, right, doesn't that trump our authority anyway? And so whatever they say—we can say we want an escape clause, but if they come in and say "Nope, you can't do that" CHR. INABA: Council Member Villegas, sorry, I just want to be respectful of Managing Director (inaudible) MS. VILLEGAS: Gotcha. Thank you. CHR. INABA: So, if you have a question? MS. VILLEGAS: Those are my concerns, is that it's already happening here. And so it's not hypothetical. We can go over the legalese of it, but what's happening to the people in communities here, it's tragic. History keeps repeating itself and that's what breaks my heart the most. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. I think we have discussed this matter as best as we can, and I think Members do know how they intend to vote. So unless there's any last comments, we can—Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Deputy Frenz, what happens if we say no to this agreement? Because, I look at the title and it talks about continued support and cooperation between HPD, County of Hawaii, State, Federal partners. A lot of this conversation has been revolving around immigration. This resolution does not give our police officers any capabilities,powers to enforce immigration law. What comes to mind is if we say no to this, does that mean any collaboration we have with State, Federal partners for drug trafficking, human trafficking, breaking a Federal law, what happens there? I want to understand what happens if we say no. What happens with the working relationship? And what are other ways that our County may be compromised or put at risk of other resources that are necessary to support the department and keep our community safe? MS. FRENZ: That's a great question. With a couple of thoughts that I'll share, but to directly answer to your question is, the MOU is in place. So there won't be an updated MOU that changes the point of contact. That's the end result. If this were to be not passed by the body today, then the MOU that's currently in place will remain in place, and the point of contact will be outdated. That is the reality. Page 24 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 The second point, and I'll let Chief chime in; I'm sure he may have his own thoughts about collaboration. There's been a lot of things said here today and a lot of the public testimony, a couple of the points I wanted to touch on from various Council Members this morning is what's the intention of the MOU? I think you just touched on it, that the purpose of the MOU is not to provide the Hawaii Police Department or the County of Hawaii, as we are one county, it is not to provide the Police Department the ability to go and begin administrative immigration enforcement. That is abundantly clear, yes. That seems to be the focus. That seems to be a misplaced understanding and belief that if this MOU is signed, that one equates to the other. And it just doesn't. And so I wanted to clarify. Anybody's political beliefs aside, legally what does the MOU provide the Police Department to do? And it is not what Council Members Kagiwada or Galimba or Villegas are concerned about. It does not provide them that authority. In fact, it expressly prohibits it. So we're talking apples and oranges is what it feels like to me, that the concerns that the community, and even Council Member Hustace, I want to touch on his point about what benefit does it really provide the County. I'll give you a very good example of that, but concerns being raised by members of the public that have testified and some Council Members today are completely unrelated to what the powers, duties, and authorities that the MOU would even bring to the Hawaii Police Department. So, again, apples and oranges. And I think that that's an unfortunate distraction from the purpose of the MOU. The concerns being raised are not something that can be in fact effectuated merely by executing the MOU. When you talk about, and I think Council Member Villegas talked about, these are law-abiding citizens, I'm not going to get into whether they are or they aren't. I don't have any of that information. Hypothetically, someone who overstays a visa is in violation of that particular law. So this is not about the Police Department picking and choosing what laws it is enforcing or is not enforcing. They're not enforcing the Federal laws. That's what the Homeland Security personnel are doing, the FBI are doing. That's not what the Hawaii Police Department are doing. When we talk about benefits, I think Council Member Hustace is asking what's the real benefit here, and that goes to your question about collaboration. The Hawaii Police Department has collaborated on so many different levels with the Federal Government, whether it's Homeland Security, FBI. I'm sure there are a lot of other facets of Federal Government that I don't know the acronyms for. There is collaboration on so many levels that you're probably not even aware of. But the most instant benefit that I think we can all remember was the manhunt that occurred not that long ago. The very first entity, as I understand it, that jumped in saying, "All hands on deck, bring in all of our resources,"was the Federal Government; Homeland Security and the FBI. "What can we do?" "How do we help?" "We'll be there immediately." Page 25 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Before any of our other fellow jurisdictions were—we had to do some paperwork and other things like that. They were all—everybody wants to help, right, but they were the first. So that's a benefit, a huge benefit. I can't speak as to, nor will I try to guess, what would happen if this body were to shut down the Police Department's ability to update a point of contact. The collaboration is critical. Collaboration is key. Our ability to work well with other jurisdictions, whether it's City and County of Honolulu, Maui, Kauai, whether it's you guys with other states, it all matters. Ensuring that the MOU that we're talking about today provides the limitations, are steps that we've done to rectify the concerns about what people think might be occurring. And no matter whether we say it's not going to happen, this doesn't give us the authority to do it. It never did. We won't. And even, I believe, Council Member Kagiwada said specifically that it's civil not criminal, which is why HPD doesn't do immigration. She said it herself. That's exactly what we're talking about here, right. We are talking about staying within the confines and the bounds of what Hawaii Police Department does, exactly that. And I think everybody seems to know it, but we're getting distracted by very real, very scary times at the national level. But that is not what this MOU or any of the three MOUs before you today are for. That is not the intention of them. So I just want to make sureI'm just trying to bring it back to the intent of the MOU that's before you now. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: (Inaudible) said it very well, yes. Unless there's something specific you wanted me to address? All right, thank you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No. Thank you, Chair, and I just want to call for the question. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, roll call vote, please. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, I've been waiting since CHR. INABA: Oh, sorry, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Cody, thank you for that. That was very helpful. I think that needed to be said. And, Chief, I think you appreciated the comment as well. Cody,just looking at the two MOUs, I'm just trying to follow the difference, okay. 2017 is in place and has been since 2017. So nothing changes and I think Ms. Kierkiewicz pointed that out. That's a big distinction. That's like saying everything that we've heard today is already in place, so this isn't new. So then my question is, why the difference between the two MOUs besides the point of contact? The only thing that I can see is in the Page 26 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 authority clause, which references different sections of and different titles within the United States codes for our Federal codes. What are the main differences that are being covered? MS. FRENZ: They're completely different agreements. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: They're completely different agreements? MS. FRENZ: Yeah. The one where we're updating the point of contact, the second attachment or the second MOU in the stack is a completely different agreement from the first. So I have an old one. We have an old one that shows the prior point of contacts for the one that we're updating. So they're completely different agreements. Theoretically, I think we've covered in Kona that there is a miscite in the law, right, for the Unite States Code as typed in I believe by, I'm assuming, Homeland Security; provision No. 2 under "authority." So, theoretically, if this were to pass maybe it would be a good idea to clean that up. But that's currently not on the table for updating. It's just that second one. Different agreements. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Sorry, 2017 is in place. We're not touching that. That stays. MOU No. 2, Chief Ben's one, does not amend the original. Correct? MS. FRENZ: It would be amending the currently-in-place one by updating the point of contact. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Just the point of contact. MS. FRENZ: That's correct. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's it. MS. FRENZ: Yeah. We have designated office space for the Homeland Security agent that generally works on the island. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Which, to me, was kind of covered in the original MOU. But this kind of formalizes that they will have a space, which is chairs, desk, and some filing cabinets? MS. FRENZ: That's correct, as Chief explained last time. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Fair enough. Okay. That's very helpful. I think to the community it has been very emotional. I think you mentioned ICE; that's going to bring people out. I think it's important that they come in. That is great. Page 27 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 And some of the testimony today was haunting. I don't want that to happen here. What I do know about our island is that we're special. Hawaii is special and it's important that we keep these relationships strong within our community. We're a little bit different than everybody else. And I thought about it this morning because I've had so many phone calls regarding this MOU and emails. But really, if I boil it all down to what I can see in front of us, understanding this has been in place since 2017, we're updating a contact, that really takes away this fear value, like you explained earlier. The other part of it, for me, is I'd rather have our officers being the people who are addressing anyone in our community rather than people that I don't know, because I know our officers and they know our community members. And the story you explained about the child in elementary school and the parents, and the way that was handled, that highlighted how unique we are here in Hawaii and why I'd rather see this done at a local level than a Federal level, by officers from Honolulu or from the Mainland that don't know anything about our community and would handle it with less respect and aloha than we do here. So, for that reason and a lot of the reasons that you pointed out, Cody, I'll be supporting this today. I appreciate the amendment by Council Member Kagiwada. That was important to highlight. And I just thank you for your time. And to the community, I hope that we've assuaged the fears that have been presented. And I really do lean on this department and their track record of treating us with respect as a community and propelling that into the future, and not emphasizing the fear value of this MOU and what it does or does not do. So thank you for your time. I yield, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Council Member Kimball then Council Member Galimba. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Deputy Frenz, for really narrowing down the impact. So, as I understand it, I'm just going to reiterate, this means that the MOUs in place that are already existing will have the wrong contact information on the second one for the (inaudible). MS. FRENZ: That is correct. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. I want to speak to one thing, which is I think a little bit of a mischaracterization about what the concerns are from the community. I heard less about HPD being conferred additional responsibilities than I did a concern about HPD facilitating potentially illegal actions by Homeland Security and ICE. From the first hearing we had on this to now, we've had in one case of an incident that I particularly like to highlight, I'm not kind of on the same dystopian future as some of my colleagues here. I'm a cockeyed optimist and do believe that bureaucracy in the courts will save us, ultimately, but they're slow. Page 28 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 And in one of those cases, we had a Maryland man, a legally protected resident, deported under the aliens act of 1798 and sent to El Salvador. The Trump administration has currently determined and admitted that was a mistake; he should not have been deported. But he's there in El Salvador, they can't find him, and there is no legal mechanism to bring him back. So what I'm hearing as far as concerns is, and you mentioned due process, Chief, and ensuring that the folks that are being pursued by these Federal agencies would be given that due process. Are there any assurances that you can give that our department will not be facilitating these kinds of activities coming from the Federal Government where the participants are not being afforded due process? MR. MOSZKOWICZ: I think that, actually, my response is going to speak to the heart of the question that Council Member Galimba asked the Managing Director that she said she was going to ask me, which is I would, and this kind of parrots something that was spoken about earlier as well, I would much rather have our officers there to make sure that people's rights are protected than to not have any communication and have things occur that are occurring on the Mainland here in much fuller force because we're not involved. I guess that's about as simply as I can put it. Our officers, regardless of their TFO status, are required to follow the rules that the department had set up, which will require them to treat people the same without discriminating against any of those protected classes that I talked about earlier. So regardless of whether it's a task force officer or an officer who was just called by a neighbor who saw something suspicious at their neighbor's house and the officer responds. Our response is not necessarily always over, you know, however long this lasts, it's not going to be limited to ICE or HSI picking up the phone and saying, "Hey, we want your help to come do xyz,"right. People throughout the community, members of the community call us all the time about all kinds of things, and that's our job. We respond and we address whatever we find when we get there. So I trust in the officers who are going to respond to these cases, whether they were notified or not, regardless of their TFO status. I trust that they're going to act in the best interest of people involved, and act to protect people's rights and make sure the people are safe and that the aloha spirit is broadcast as loudly as they can. That's what they do every day. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for that. I will say, in my experience here on the Council and even as just a citizen prior to that, I do think that HPD is different than what we see in the Mainland police forces. And I do think that they'reI do see value in what you're saying about the relationship with regard to having somebody there to ensure that things are happening properly. I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point because you've made it clear, actually, Deputy Director, this is largely a symbolic vote one way or the other. And I think ICE, Homeland Security will be able to find your contact information even if it's not in Page 29 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 the MOU. I suspect they know where you live. But I'm going to think about this a little bit and hear the rest of the questions, because this could be an opportunity to make a statement even though it's relatively symbolic. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kimball MR. ONISHL Chair, I want to call for the question, please. Vote on Motion to Mr. Onishi moved to call for the question. Seconded by Call for the Question. Ms. Kierkiewicz and failed by the following roll call vote: Failed Ayes: Council Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, and Onishi —3. Noes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—6. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Yeah, I just feel like we weren't there yet. CHR. INABA: All right, let's proceed, folks. We're getting through half the day, and we've had a lot of discussion on this at Committee. I think we—Deputy Frenz has tried to explain, and I feel that we generally have an understanding. And if you're not in support, you're not in support. But if you have new questions, please proceed. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. And I really appreciateI mean, you've expressed before, Deputy, that the motive for this was you just wanted to keep our I's dotted, T's crossed,just update this thing the way it should be. And we a hundred percent appreciate that because we don't want to have outdated material that we're working on. So I just wanted to sort of bring that in, yes,just sort of follow up with what you raised. And I also a hundred percent want to support our current police force and our current Police Chief, who I have absolute faith in in making this your three pillars, I very much have a lot of faith in that. And thank you for expressing that multiple times for us. I just have one little question, a practical question. So the TFO officers under our current agreement, those guys work only on Federal criminal cases. Correct? MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Yes, that's correct. Page 30 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MS. GALIMBA: Okay. And so when ICE comes to you folks and asks, I don't know exactly what they ask, or they let you know that something is happening and you send them out to help, are those TFO officers or are they just general officer that are there and on duty at the time? MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Yeah, those two things aren't mutually exclusive. It could be either or. MS. GALIMBA: So there might be two and two or however many happens to go. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Yes. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. I just wanted to clarify that. Thanks. I think, for me, I wanted to ask, or having these MOUs I pretty much know the question [sic] but I want to ask it anyway. Having these MOUs in place are going to help you protect the rights of our folks here on this island, yes or no? MR. MOSZKOWICZ: That's the police interrogation question tactic; yes or no. I think having them helps, not having them hurts; without an absolute yes or no. MS. GALIMBA: Say that again? MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Not knowing everything there is to know, I think having the MOUs helps. I think not having the MOUs does not help. Is that simple enough? MS. GALIMBA: Yeah. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Okay, thank you. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you very much for that. I definitely understand as a nation there's whole states that are having this whole conversation going on. So I understand Council Member Villegas' desire to make a statement, and perhaps we should also do that in a separate resolution, to let it be known where we as a Council, as representatives of our County, stand on this issue. I'm going to be supporting the MOU, but also I just want to say that these are scary times. And so we're really digging in on this one because we need to be super careful. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. We're going to move on. Council Member Hustace and then Council Member Kagiwada. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Thank you. The only question I have is yesterday we had a good discussion about a different MOU, and that one was very clear and cut dry. I appreciated that. What the challenge (inaudible)with this resolution is that there are three MOUs in it, and it's led to confusion here with Page 31 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 my colleagues and in the community. So my request will be to kind of separate these out, if at all possible, to kind of really dive down into why each of them are kind of being presented. I know it's maybe a little bit more efficient to bring them forth; maybe there's some connectivity between them. So that's just kind of my request. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Hustace. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. I don't want to beleaguer these points, but I do want to, Chief, one more time just get your commitment to the community regardless of what happens on this resolution today as far as keeping people informed, trying to answer questions when people are really scared, and doing whatever we can as a whole County to keep people safe, as you've stated many times, but especially that communication piece. And just would love to just have you reiterate that one more time just so we because I do think fear is what is the key word here. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: Yup. Fear. What's the term? Fear abhors a vacuum, right, or thrives in a vacuum I guess is better. A vacuum of information allows fear and misinformation, or disinformation or masinformation, to spread and propagate more fear. So the commitment of our Police Department and my commitment since the day I sat here in December of 2022 trying to apply for the job in the first place was to be as open and honest and transparent in our communication as we can. And there will be times when we can't tell you something. And thankfully when those times have occurred, I think the trust that the Police Department has built in the interim has helped, so that when there are times we can't talk about something or we'd rather not talk about something, the trust in the community allows us to move past that and then share again what we can. I want—very, very short—we have the officer who got shot, right, in the head and the arm and he was taken off to Queens. Within a day or within a few hours after he got out of surgery, I had talked to him on the phone. At that point, it became pretty apparent that he was going to recover. He wasn't going to die. And the officer asked me, he said, "Hey, Chief, I know that"this is what he's thinking about by the way, if you know who we're talking about—he says, "When I get back to work, there's cases. I've been under cover and I've done all these things, and I hope that you can do what you can to limit my picture from being plastered all over the place because I'm essentially going to be useless to you in that role," which he's very good at by the way. And I said, "Well, you know what, I think that's the right move, and I'm going to have to ask." So I, within a day, was on the phone with the newsrooms of every media outlet in the State, all of our local journalists, and explaining to them "Here's what we're going to ask of you,"because the name is out there. And if you get the court Page 32 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 records and the court documents, the officer's name is there. But to date, I can't find a single reporting of it because we've been so—and some of the comments I got back were "You know what, we're going to do this for you. We normally wouldn't but here's why." And it's because we share things that we can share, even before you ask,potentially. And that kind of stance I think builds trust and helps us through the times when there are certain very sensitive things that we'd rather or we can't talk about. But that's absolutely my commitment. I know I belabored your simple question very much. That is my style. MS. KAGIWADA: That's okay. Thank you. MR. MOSZKOWICZ: I absolutely the commitment to open, transparent (inaudible) of communication is that's what you're going to get as long as I'm the Chief. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much. And, DCC (Deputy Corporation Counsel) Frenz,just understanding that this specific reso (resolution) is about these specific MOUs. But the perception in the public you can see is very different, and perception matters, right. And the trust the people have in the County matters. So I'm going to be voting against this, and know that it probably doesn't make a very big difference it sounds like anyway, but yeah. But I want to help build that trust with HPD and the community whenever I can. Thank you, I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. With that, I worked on the resolution's amendment along with Council Member Kagiwada, with the assistance of the Police Chief and Deputy Corporation Counsel Frenz. I feel more comfortable with the new agreement, especially with the exhibits, rather than the existing with no exhibits and not as much guidance. I'm going to be in support, and I do understand the concern of community. I think there's more to be concerned about if we don't pass the updated agreement. So with that, Mr. Clerk, a roll call vote. Vote on Res. 74-25: The motion to adopt Res. 74-25, as amended to Draft 2, Draft 2 was carried by the following roll call vote: (Adopted) Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—5. Noes: Council Members Hustace, Kagiwada, Kimball, and Villegas —4. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 33 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following items were taken out of order: Bill 30: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-33 (CITY OF HILO ZONE MAP), ARTICLE 8, (Draft 3) CHAPTER 25 (ZONING CODE) OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE ZONE MAP CLASSIFICATION FROM SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL— 10,000 SQUARE FEET (RS-10) TO NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL— 10,000 SQUARE FEET (CN-10) AT WAIAKEA, SOUTH HILO, HAWAI`I, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 2-2-036:113 (Applicant: Jack Vanderhoff, Jr. and Sau-Yin Yeung) (Area: 19,500 square feet) The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for the requested change of zone, which would allow the applicant to convert the existing dwelling to use as an accounting business office. This property is located at 900 Manono Street. Reference: Comm. 157.5 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball (B/R) First Reading: March 19, 2025 (Note: Comm. 157.6, from Council Member Jenn Kagiwada dated March 28, 2025, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 30, Draft 3, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to pass Bill 30, Draft 3, on second and final reading. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. I have a very simple amendment here. Motion to Amend: Ms. Kagiwada moved to amend Bill 30, Draft 3, with the contents of Comm. 157.6. Seconded by Ms. Kimball. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Just we're removing the State Department of Transportation from the list of people involved because these are not State roads near here. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Before we proceed on the vote, Mr. Arai, is there any opposition to the amendment? And we have the applicant here as well. (Note: At this time, Land Use Planning Consultant Daryn Arai and Jack Vanderhoff, Jr., applicant, came forward to address the members of the Council.) Page 34 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MR. ARAI: Good afternoon. Daryn Arai along with Mr. Vanderhoff, the applicant. We have no objections to the amendment as presented in Communication 157.6. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Any discussion? Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder, on the amendment. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. On the amendment. Mr. Arai, thank you for being here and for your patience this morning. I was in the bathroom with the applicant, and we were talking about his patience because we've been here about three, four hours now. Is there no tie-in at all to the State agency, DOT (Department of Transportation)? MR. ARAI: No, sir. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: No requirement. Sorry. MR. ARAI: The condition is tied to just the review and approval of a TIAR (Traffic Impact Analysis Report) traffic report. Because it's not a State highway, Manono is County, they will not be participating in any review to a County facility. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, understood. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of amending Bill 30, Draft 3, with the contents of Communication 157.6, please say "aye." Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 30, Draft 3, with the contents of Amend: Comm. 157.6 was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Villegas —2. Excused: None. Page 35 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Vote on Motion to Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to suspend Council Suspend Council Rule 23 to waive the holdover for the substantive Rules: amendment of Bill 30, Draft 3. Seconded by Ms. Kimball (Approved) and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Villegas —2. Excused: None. Vote on Bill 30: The motion to pass Bill 30, Draft 3, as amended to Draft 4, Draft 4 on second and final reading was carried by the following (Adopted) voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Villegas —2. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Arai. MR. ARAI: Thank you for the accommodation. Res. 108-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT FOR THE 2025 OUTSTANDING OLDER AMERICANS MONTH AWARD LUNCHEON Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Office of Aging, Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 186 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 108-25. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I just want to thank the Office of Aging, their patience. Please go ahead and you may speak to the resolution. Page 36 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 (Note: At this time, Administrative Services Assistant Christine Nguyen, Office of Aging, came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. NGUYEN: Aloha. Christine Nguyen, Admin Services Assistant I for the Office of Aging. Thank you for allowing me to be here today. I appreciate you guys and all that you guys do. I sat here for the last three hours, and it was some heavy stuff. But I appreciate you guys advocating for us and the community, so thank you for making those hard choices. CHR. INABA: Thank you. MS. NGUYEN: So in regards to the Older Americans luncheon, May of every single year is designated as Older Americans Month. And every year, we hold an Older Americans luncheon in Waikoloa. It serves 250 to about 300 kupuna and we recognize and honor our kupuna because, as you know, they're vital to our community. So we have 12 nominees this year, and we will be recognizing one male and one female. Once they are recognized in Waikoloa, then they go off to Honolulu and represent the Big Island at the State luncheon. CHR. INABA: Wonderful. Thank you so much for that update, and I encourage our Council's support of this event every year. Thank you, Council Member Kimball. All those in favor of approving Resolution 108-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 108-25: The motion to adopt Res. 108-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Villegas —2. Excused: None. MS. NGUYEN: Thank you. Res. 109-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT FOR THE ANNUAL OUTSTANDING OLDER AMERICANS AWARD LUNCHEON Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 6); and credits to the Office of Aging, Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 187 Intr. by: Council Member Galimba Page 37 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 (Note: At this time, Administrative Services Assistant Christine Nguyen, Office of Aging, came forward to address the members of the Council.) Vote on Res. 109-25: Ms. Galimba moved to adopt Res. 109-25. Seconded by (Adopted) Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Villegas —2. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Mahalo for being here. MS. NGUYEN: Thank you so much. That was painless. Thank you. I appreciate it. Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business. of Business: Res. 95-25: AUTHORIZES THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE ACQUISITION OF ALL OR A PORTION OF THE PROPERTIES IDENTIFIED AS TAX MAP KEYS: 2-7-011:001 AND 2-7-010:027, SITUATED IN THE AHUPUA`A OF KAWAINUI AND ONOMEA, DISTRICT OF SOUTH HILO, UTILIZING THE PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND The County seeks to acquire approximately 81.19 acres of land to protect and preserve cultural and natural resources and open certain areas of the property for educational, gathering, and cultural practices. The parcel is listed as priority number two in the 2024 Annual Report of the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission. Reference: Comm. 164 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Approve: LAAC-11 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 95-25 and Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions Committee Report No. 11. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Yes,just asking for my colleagues' continued support. We had an excellent conversation, and there was a lot of great testimony around this in Page 38 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Committee. I think that this area will be a tremendous asset to the County both for environmental protection as well as access to cultural resources. Thank you for your support. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 95-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 95-25: The motion to adopt Res. 95-25 and Legislative Approvals (Adopted) and Acquisitions Committee Report No. 11 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Villegas —2. Excused: None. Res. 96-25: AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF A LATER FISCAL YEAR AND OF MORE THAN ONE FISCAL YEAR FOR MULTI-YEAR LEASES FOR NINE MID-SIZE 4X4 TRUCKS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION Authorizes the Mayor to enter into five-year lease agreements with an approximate total monthly cost of$10,000, to transport staff between base yards and park facilities to perform maintenance and cleaning duties. Reference: Comm. 169 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Approve: FC-31 Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 96-25 and Finance Committee Report No. 31. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. We had good discussion in Committees for this, and thank you for your patience this morning. Do you have anything to add? You don't have to. (Note: At this time, Business Manager Charmaine Felipe, Parks and Recreation Department, came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. FELIPE: I'm just here for any questions. Page 39 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 96-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 96-25: The motion to adopt Res. 96-25 and Finance Committee (Adopted) Report No. 31 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Villegas —2. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Thank you for being here. Res. 103-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE ARTS AND SCIENCES CENTER FOR ITS DRIVER'S EDUCATION TRAFFIC SAFETY FAIR IN PAHOA Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 179 Intr. by: Council Member Kierkiewicz Vote on Res. 103-25: Mr. Onishi moved to adopt Res. 103-25. Seconded by (Adopted) Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Villegas —2. Excused: None. Page 40 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Res. 107-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HAMAKUA HARVEST, INC., TO CONDUCT EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS REGARDING AGRICULTURAL TAX CLASSIFICATIONS AND RELATED REAL PROPERTY TAX PROGRAMS Transfers $10,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Research and Development, Agriculture Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 185 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 107-25. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. This contingency relief program is to support explanation and training and services around helping people understand how to comply and fill out the forms related to the agricultural tax programs. Obviously, there was a lot of concern and misunderstanding about that as they went through. We have a whole bunch of materials available for folks. So, if there is interest in providing similar resources in your district, I'm happy to help facilitate that type of program. But I want to thank Hamakua Harvest for offering to do this within District 1. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Any discussion? Council Member Kimball, checking in on what involvement the Real Property Tax Division has had with this education outreach. MS. KIMBALL: We're using all of their forms and their FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) sheet, which I think isif you have folks in your district that have questions, direct them to the Real Proper Tax fact sheet. I think that really spells out—it's a two-page document, very simple terms—about what's required. Additionally, the farm plan form is now available on that website. It's a three- page form, and I think that also provides a lot of clarity about what the expectation is with regard to these programs. So that's the involvement of RPT (Real Property Tax), is providing the paperwork that we're providing to folks in these trainings. CHR. INABA: Okay. I have concerns. I would hope that the Real Property Tax Division can review any presentation material or other outreach beyond just our own forms, because I don't want to see a nonprofit giving any kind of advice that might not be approved or might be in conflict with the Real Property Tax Division's advice and procedures and policies. So I'm hoping Administrator Page 41 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Miura and the team are willing to work with this funding and this nonprofit to get this done. With that, Council Members, we're going to proceed with the vote. I'm following rules, that no further discussion after my comment. So, all those in favor of approving Resolution 107-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 107-25: The motion to adopt Res. 107-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Villegas —2. Excused: None. Res. 110-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO D.A.R.E. HAWAI`I TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATING TO ITS 2025 D.A.R.E. DAY CELEBRATION EVENT IN EAST HAWAI`I Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 2); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 188 Intr. by: Council Member Kagiwada Motion to Approve: Ms. Kagiwada moved to adopt Res. 110-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thanks. Just looking for everybody's support. I know a lot of other people have already donated and know about the program. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Any further discussion? Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: I just have a quick question for Corp. Counsel. Renee, sorry to bother you. My office was working on contingency relief funding for the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) event but hit some hiccups and some questions about the person that works with the D.A.R.E. program having direct connection to the nonprofit that does the event. And so my contingency attempts were kind of put on hold. So I just would like clarification because it's something I very much want to also support. But unfortunately, this has happened in the past where my office has looked to support certain things and been given pushback, and other Council Members are able to put through funds Page 42 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 for the same event or organizations, or similar. So I'm just looking for—and in no way questioning this. I'm in full support. Yeah, I just want to be able to also contribute funds. (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. SCHOEN: Renee Schoen, Corporation Counsel. I'd be more than happy to talk with you after this just to look, and to the specifics of why that didn't happen. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, great. Thank you. Council Member Kagiwada, perhaps I could pick your brain in order to also figure out the best way to proceed with the contributions to this event from my office as well. MS. KAGIWADA: Sure. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. This was also an issue that was raised to us, and so we did reach out to the board president of D.A.R.E. and asked him to please file a request with the Board of Ethics around this because they are a County employee. So I believe that is in process already. But because several people had already got theirs through, there didn't seem to be a holdup as far as going ahead and starting the process. So my understanding is that that has already been filed and will be heard. I don't anticipate any issues. They just needed to go through the process. Thank you, I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kagiwada. And for Corporation Counsel, Deputy Corporation Counsel Frenz had been working on this regarding the Code of Ethics. So she can be helpful in your research. With that, all those in favor of approving Resolution 110-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 110-25: The motion to adopt Res. 110-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. MR. ONISHL Mr. Chair? CHR. INABA: Yes, Mr. Onishi. Page 43 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MR. ONISHL Would we be able to table Resolution 111-25 to the end of all the resolutions because, I guess, sports coordinator Mark Osorio is not here to help explain this whole thing? CHR. INABA: Sure. We'll come back to that. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following items were taken out of order: Res. 112-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO MAKAHANALOA FISHING ASSOCIATION FOR ITS ALOHA `AINA PROJECT Transfers $6,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 190 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 112-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Just asking for my colleagues' support to continue to support these Aloha `Aina efforts. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 112-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 112-25: The motion to adopt Res. 112-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. Page 44 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Res. 113-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION'S SUMMER FUN PROGRAMS IN COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Summer/Intercession Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 191 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 113-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I think Mr. Osorio may have been here to help support this program too, but this is, I think, the fourth year we've partnered to provide some really innovative summer fun programs in District 1. I just want to thank him and his recreation staff for all of the great work they're doing. Mahalo. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thank you, Chair. Charmaine, can you come up, please? (Note: At this time, Business Manager Charmaine Felipe, Parks and Recreation Department, came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. ONISHI: You can introduce yourself. MS. FELIPE: Charmaine Felipe, Business Manager for Parks and Recreation. MR. ONISHI: Thank you for coming. I just have one question. So the funding will be used to purchase folding tables and chairs and so forth, right, for District 1? MS. FELIPE: Yes. MR. ONISHL In recreation division's budget under summer fun, there is an account, right, for purchasing supplies and so forth? MS. FELIPE: Yes. MR. ONISHL So my question is, in that account right now, do you folks have a balance yet, or you guys spent everything? Page 45 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MS. FELIPE: There is some balance left. MR. ONISHL How is it divided among the nine districts? MS. FELIPE: It usually goes to the district that has the most need at the moment that identifies something that they need or is in need of. MR. ONISHL Okay, so this is just basically extra funds to the district, like District 1, which the allocation from that wholeI guess what was within the original budget wasn't enough to help them. MS. FELIPE: Not necessarily. It's to supplement what that district needs, and then makes funds available for other districts that may need additional items as well. MR. ONISHL That's what I thought that I read, that this money that Ms. Kimball's giving can go islandwide. Right? No? MS. FELIPE: Well, we will focus her funds to her district— MR. ONISHL Right. Correct. MS. FELIPE: Which will make funds in our regular budget— MR. ONISHL Oh, within the General Fund. MS. FELIPE: Yes, available for other districts. MR. ONISHL Okay. Because, what I would like to see is General funds being spent first and depleting that account within the districts, and then Council Members give more towards our districts to help supplement by purchasing other equipment or supplies for our districts. That's what I would like to see happen first. MS. FELIPE: Sure, we could do that. MR. ONISHL Because when we go through the budget, then we can see and you guys can show that the money is needed. But if you always come back with a balance, then to me, and I don't know about other Council Members, but that means you guys have a surplus and you guys don't need that money. MS. FELIPE: Well, because summer fun is towards the end of the fiscal year, as of right now it shows a balance because we don't want to deplete it early on. And when the program is near, then we don't have funds for what they need. Page 46 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MR. ONISHL But then that's when the Council Members can come and get involved, right? Main thing is the recreation division contacts the Council Members in the districts to help out, right? MS. FELIPE: Yes. MR. ONISHL That's what I'm trying to say. And the thing is, even if you folks do run out in your General funds, then you folks can always request more for the next year because it's a needed funding to help our keiki, the program itself. Right? So kind of thing about that, and making sure that the General Fund money is being used first, and then come and ask the Council Members for help. MS. FELIPE: But we're always grateful for any contribution that's given to our program. So thank you. MR. ONISHL Thank you, I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 113-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 113-25: The motion to adopt Res. 113-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. Res. 114-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HAMAKUA HEALTH CENTER, INC., FOR THE 2025 HONOKA`A WESTERN WEEK FESTIVAL Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 192 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 114-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. Page 47 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MS. KIMBALL: I'd like to call everyone's attention to this resolution specifically because it is in the format that we will be moving towards with respect to contingency relief funds, working through a standardized form across all offices. So you'll note that it looks like the fund transfer resolutions that we typically get from Finance to move funds from one account to another. And then as an attachment, as an exhibit, you have the details about the program and the funding and the budget. So these will be all entered as standardized components by the applicants for the contingency funds. The resolution will be automatically generated, and the exhibits and budget will be attached. So this was our first attempt using this new standardized input mechanism. That aside, I also want to say this is a great program. I hope you will come up to Honoka`a for western week. It is one of the big revenue generators for the town and revitalizing Honoka`a. So thank you for your support. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kimball. So we'll be looking to change over to this system with the new fiscal year; Council Member Kimball and myself testing it out right now and getting out any of the kinks. All those in favor of approving Resolution 114-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 114-25: The motion to adopt Res. 114-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public. PUBLIC ON RES. 115-25 The following individual registered to speak and came forward when called by (COMM. 193): the Chair: Sylvia Dolena: In support. (representing Aloha Animal Advocates) Page 48 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Res. 115-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO ALOHA ANIMAL ALLIANCE FOR ITS CAT MANAGEMENT PILOT PROGRAM Transfers $20,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Animal Control and Protection Agency account. Reference: Comm. 193 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball (Note: Comm. 193.1, from Council Member Heather L. Kimball dated March 31, 2025, transmitting a PowerPoint presentation regarding Res. 115-25, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 115-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I ask for my colleagues' patience. I know it's already been a long day here, but I do have a brief presentation from the Aloha Animal Alliance. Hopefully, it will be no more than 15 minutes. It's contained in Communication 193.1. Because of Sunshine Law and our inability to talk about a program unless it's before us, I did want to use this opportunity to kind of share some of the things that we are working on with respect to a pilot project. It is, I want to make clear, a work in progress. It does, as the testifier was speaking about, require coordination among a lot of different organizations and agencies. The location is somewhat set but also not set. We're still having dialogue about that. So, at this time, I'd like to ask, I'm not sure if it's Lisa or Lauren who's going to be presenting at this time, but again a brief presentation. If we can keep it to 15 minutes, thank you very much. We've already had quite a lengthy day. (Note: At this time, Lauren Turnbaugh Foo and Lisa Lane Cardin of Aloha Animal Alliance came forward and attempted to provide a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Council. However, due to technical difficulties, Resolution 115-25 was tabled.) Page 49 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Vote on Motion to Ms. Kimball moved to table Res. 115-25. Seconded by Table: Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Kierkiewicz and Onishi —2. Excused: None. Recess: At 12:49 p.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 12:56 p.m. Vote on Motion to Ms. Kimball moved to remove Res. 115-25 from the table. Remove from Table: Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following (Approved) voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—6. Noes: None. Absent: Council Members Hustace, Kierkiewicz, and Villegas —3. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Handing it back over to Lauren to proceed with the presentation. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Lauren Turnbaugh Foo and Lisa Lane Cardin of Aloha Animal Alliance came forward and provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Council. For viewing of the subject presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office or navigate to the Council's video archives from the County's homepage at www.hawaiicounty.gov. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record; see Comm. 193.1.) CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. So,just to reiterate, it's a fairly complicated project. This is just a first phase. It has been developed out of meetings with community members across the whole island. This location was identified because of the particular problems. We have near-shore area, so there's concern about marine wildlife, safety for residents as well as the nene population there in Page 50 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 the park. It also has some pretty significant challenges in terms of collaboration between State partners and different parts of the County. So we have a working group which includes Matt Runnells from Animal Control, Park and Rec. (Recreation), DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources), and other nonprofit organizations. Thankful for Aloha Animal Alliance. Excited to get this started so that we can start to have some real data about this sort of intervention and whether or not it's something we can successfully implement in other parks. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, ladies. Thank you, Council Member Kimball. If there are any questions regarding the specifics of the presentation, Council Members, please reach out to the presenters after the meeting. Thank you. Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have—as Ms. Kimball mentioned that there is a working group that's helping out the stakeholders, and especially like in my district is Banyan Drive. I would really recommend that if we can postpone this until that working group can kind of have an idea of how they want to move forward, then funding can be provided to the different stakeholders to help with the program. Because now you're providing funding to them, but then what if whatever that group that you folks have organized has little bit different philosophies? So now there's a conflict, right? And so, to me, I would recommend that. That's up to you. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Vice Chair Onishi. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. I just wanted to mention another couple unique things about this place and why we were looking at it. And it does extend over a couple districts, including mine. The hotels that are there on the peninsula also want to participate and want to see this happen, so they've been very supportive in trying to work with us. So I thought that was good because we have this kind of public-private partnership thing going on. And just to speak to—I'll just make one comment on Council Member Onishi's comments, which was just that we have met and I think the first few items that are in this first and second stage kind of have been the agreed-upon point. So it's kind of like, what, after that we're still discussing? So I don't see any problem in passing this one today. Thanks. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I'll just tinker with what Council Member Kagiwada said. A lot of—there are still some decision points about how the program will proceed, and I have the intention of funding some of the other participants and the stakeholders through the contingency relief program. But one of the things that I think there is Page 51 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 consensus on among all stakeholders is we need some initial data to make sure that we set our metrics that we will use to assess success in a meaningful way. Until we have baseline data, we're not going to be able to do that. So that's part of what we're providing funding for at this stage. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 115-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 115-25: The motion to adopt Res. 115-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—7. Noes: Council Member Onishi — 1. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. Res. 116-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO D.A.R.E. HAWAI`I TO PURCHASE KEIKI I.D. EQUIPMENT Transfers $1,509 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 6); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 194 Intr. by: Council Member Galimba Motion to Approve: Ms. Galimba moved to adopt Res. 116-25. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. INABA: Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. Just asking for my colleagues' support. My local police station reached out and said this could help them since they won't have to drive long distances to borrow this Keiki I.D. equipment. So thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor, please say "aye." Page 52 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Vote on Res. 116-25: The motion to adopt Res. 116-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. Res. 117-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TWO KA`U KAKOU FOR ITS 2025 SUMMER FUN FEST AND INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 6); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 195 Intr. by: Council Member Galimba Motion to Approve: Ms. Galimba moved to adopt Res. 117-25. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. INABA: Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. Babette and Nadine came in as representatives of `O Ka`u Kakou to talk about this event. This organization also does just a lot of community service, like helping old folks in their homes. So beyond these sort of celebrations, they're also out there daily just helping people. Thanks. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. All those in favor of approving Resolution 117-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 117-25: The motion to adopt Res. 117-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. Page 53 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Res. 118-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO KONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY FOR ITS "FROM HUMBLE HIVES TO GLOBAL IMPACT: THE STORY OF KONA'S BEEKEEPING" VIDEO PRODUCTION Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Research and Development, Agriculture Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 196 Intr. by: Council Member Inaba Motion to Approve: Mr. Onishi moved to adopt Res. 118-25. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. INABA: Similar to Council Member Kimball's, this is in the new format from my office, and it's a project from the Kona Historical Society on beekeeping. I ask for my colleagues' support. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Just wanted to thank you for this. I think I'm also—my office is also working on funding it, and this particular museum is actually in District 6. Thank you very much. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 118oh, sorry. Council Member Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: No worries. Thank you, also, to both of you for helping support this project and initiative. For anyone that may be in the area this Saturday, there will be a viewing of this video production for the first time at 4:00 (p.m.) at the Kona Historical Society. So it should be wonderful. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Villegas, for sharing that. All those in favor of approving Resolution 118-25,please say "aye." Vote on Res. 118-25: The motion to adopt Res. 118-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. Page 54 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Res. 119-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE 62ND ANNUAL MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL Transfers $10,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 197 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 119-25. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. I had a meeting with Aunty Luana and Aunty Kathy to kind of nail down what the costs were. Given the economic impact of the Merrie Monarch Festival here in Hawaii, you cannot reference anything else that does what Merrie Monarch does for both culture and economy here in our County specifically. But on the backside of that, there's a huge amount of cost that they take on as an entity to ensure that the Merrie Monarch happens. So she reached out to us with a funding need, and I'm happy to oblige. I think some of my Council Members here are doing the same. I would urge any of you who have extra funds to jump on and just assist. This is just an amazing opportunity for our County. And I want to keep it here, because there's been discussions in the past that it might, if we don't help, given the cost of halaus to fly in, airfare, hotel, it just gets so expensive that it's almost to the point where they can't come anymore. So in any way that we can help ensure that this has longevity in our County, we should. So, happy to give. Look for everyone's support. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Just seconding that. I will also beI'm trying to rush through some funding right now for Merrie Monarch. They are very humble and didn't really come forward asking for this. And I think it kind of, I think, is best to say, "What can we do? Do you need this," in order to get them to say, "Yeah, we do actually need it." So I just, yeah, second Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder's statement if you have any extra funding and are willing to put it towards this, I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, I yield. Page 55 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 CHR. INABA: Thank you. Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to say that my previous Council Member Sue Lee Loy, she also had given money to P&R (Parks and Recreation) for Merrie Monarch, and I think it was $12,000 or so. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Yeah, thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 119-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 119-25: The motion to adopt Res. 119-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business. of Business: Res. 111-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO ASSIST THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION WITH PURCHASING GOALS AND SCOREBOARDS FOR THE 2025 HAWAI`I INTERNATIONAL FUTSAL CUP Transfers $4,300 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Recreation Division Equipment account. Reference: Comm. 189 Intr. by: Council Member Onishi Motion to Approve: Mr. Onishi moved to adopt Res. 111-25. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. INABA: Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thank you, Chair. So,just to let Council Members know, when I got in, and previously, I always supported sports activities. And I also now want to see where we can do statewide events to help our economy either on the east side or the west side. And so I got to meet with Parks and Recreation Division Administrator Lindsey Iyo and also sports coordinator, islandwide, Mark Osorio. So I asked them what events do you folks have that kind of attracts outer islands also, but like the Mainland or anyplace else. So then they said they had this Page 56 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 event, which is called Hawaii International Futsal Cup. They have a team you can correct me—well, what I'll do is give Mark the floor because he can explain more, let us all know who is participating, and what are they looking at in the future. Go ahead, Mark. Introduce yourself. (Note: At this time, Recreation Specialist Mark Osorio, Parks and Recreation Department, came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. OSORIO: Aloha. My name is Mark Osorio with the County of Hawaii Parks and Recreation, Recreation Division, the islandwide sports specialist. So, in reference to this Hawaii futsal tournament, it's an international event. We partner with a group from Japan, and there's teams from Japan, from the continent, from all over the State, and of course from Hawaii Island. This will be our third annual that we will have this year. The original one was in Waimea; moved to Hilo at Edith Kanaka`ole, the Civic, and Pana`ewa. We had over 40 teams this past event, that we're looking to expand to be even more large this coming August. Hoping to get as much as 60 teams from both internationally and from the continent at all levels, from youth-to professional-level athletes. So it's really exciting, a new and upcoming sport that's growing fast, maybe not as fast as pickleball but definitely fast. So we appreciate Mr. Onishi's contributions for new goals and new scoreboards. MR. ONISHL But maybe you can explain to the Council Members what is this. MR. OSORIO: Oh, okay. Futsal is basically indoor soccer. So the courts are smaller. There's less participants on the courts at once. And so the game is more high-paced, more high-scoring typically. And aesthetically, as a sports spectator that's not focused so much on soccer, it's really fun to watch. So I think it's something that has potential to grow and expand going forward. MR. ONISHL Thank you, Mark. So with this if we can expand it, we can go into different districts as this tournament I guess expands, right. I mean, it's not going toI mean, I'm looking at revenue source, but, generational revenue, but a lot is going to go back to the State, right. Like they're going to be renting the hotel rooms. So that's TAT (Transient Accommodations Tax). I mean, they're going to be purchasing a lot of food, but they're going to be helping like stores, right, our drive-ins, our restaurants and so forth. But the GET (General Excise Tax) is going to go back to the State. But at least we're having guests or athletes coming here and filling up our hotels, our vacation rentals, our Airbnb (Air Bed and Breakfast) and so forth. I'm looking at this to see this is the start, and to expand this, like Mark was saying, to 60 or even 100 teams. And just to let you folks know, when I was with Page 57 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 the Hawaii Police Activities League, we had a winter basketball tournament, which started from December 26 h to the 30''. We had close to 95 teams statewide, and we had 1 team that came from California. It was a four-day tournament, and it just packed Hilo. Naniloa was just filled with just one organization; Manoa Athletic Association. They used to bring in about 15 teams to Hilo with about 200-300 spectators. So, if you guys know about Hilo Armory, on the mauka side of the bleachers up on the top was all filled with Manoa fans. We had so much people that were coming to that event. So I'm asking my colleagues—do you have anything else to add, Mark? CHR. INABA: We're running a little late. You can just provide that with Council Members afterwards. I want to stick—since we're on Resolution 111. MR. ONISHL Okay. So I'm just asking my colleagues to be in support of this. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Vice Chair Onishi. Any further discussion? Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: I just want to express my gratitude to Council Member Onishi for the support of futsal. There's a very healthy and active community of teams on the west side as well. And the sport is especially great for—it doesn't utilize as large of a space to play a game that is so similar to soccer. I'm very grateful for your provision of this. And I know that the island as a whole and our local teams are really excited for this tournament to come back to Hilo. I yield. CHR. INABA: Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL I just wanted to mention this is age-grouped. You can mention what are the age groups in this participation. MR. OSORIO: We have multiple age groups spanning from like ten-and-under all the way to adults. So tens, twelves, fourteens, high school, to adults, yeah. MR. ONISHL Adults (inaudible) open? MR. OSORIO: Yeah. There's open level. Professional athletes are participating in this event, yeah. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Vice Chair Onishi, and thank you, Mr. Osorio, for being here today to share a little bit more. Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder. Page 58 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Just quickly. I totally support this. My kids played futsal for years. In Hilo, when it's dumping rain and you can't be outside, to have the ability to do an indoor soccer tournament, which it's really a quick, fast, high-paced game, is a tremendous opportunity for our kids, especially on the Hilo side. So, really support this. Good job, Dennis, and thank you for your work too. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. All those in favor of approving Resolution 111-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 111-25: The motion to adopt Res. 111-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Mahalo again for being here. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading). (FIRST READING): Bill 35: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 24-32, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2025 Appropriates revenues in the State Grants —State Substance Abuse Prevention Coordination Grant account($7,100); and appropriates the same to the State Substance Abuse Prevention Coordination Grant account. Reference: Comm. 170 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Approve: FC-32 Page 59 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 Vote on Bill 35: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 35 on first (Approved) reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 32. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading). (SECOND OR FINAL READING): (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.) Bill 28: AMENDS CHAPTER 6, ARTICLE 2, SECTION 6-12, OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO PROHIBITED HIGHWAYS FOR COMMERCIAL BICYCLE TOURS Adds Old Mamalahoa Highway, from its intersection with Mauna Loa Street in Honoka`a to 46-4265 Old Mamalahoa Highway at the Department of Water Supply water tank. Reference: Comm. 121 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Postponed: March 7, 2025 First Reading: March 19, 2025 and Comm. 121.4: From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated February 27, 2025, transmitting recommendations from the Public Works Department regarding Bill 28. ; and Comm. 121.5: From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated March 11, 2025, transmitting recommendations from the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation and Hawaii Police Department regarding Bill 28. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to pass Bill 28 on second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: We've had many discussions about this. We have the feedback from DPW (Department of Public Works). Acting Director is here to answer any questions as well as HDOT (Hawai`i Department of Transportation) and HPD. I Page 60 Hawaii County Council-10 April 2,2025 will take this moment to acknowledge the concerns of some of my colleagues about us prohibiting bicycle tours in some areas, and the perception that that might lead to people that live in the area being excluded from biking in their own areas. I do acknowledge that and I've always had my challenges with this. But I do think this particular area is not well-suited for tour operations with bicycles. So I ask for my colleagues' support with the official adoption of this location. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kimball. Acting Director, anything to add at this time? (Note: At this time, Acting Public Works Director Neil Azevedo came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. AZEVEDO: Acting Director Neil Azevedo. No. CHR. INABA: Thank you for being here in case there were questions. All those in favor of approving Bill 28 at second and final reading, please say "aye." Vote on Bill 28: The motion to pass Bill 28 on second and final reading was (Adopted) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. OTHER The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Other BUSINESS: Business. (There were none.) ANNOUNCE- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, MENTS: Announcements. CHR. INABA: Council Member Hustace, take us away with our announcements. MR. HUSTACE: Thanks, Chair. I'm just going to announce one, if that's okay. Thank you. This evening, myself along with a few of our State legislators led by Senator Richards, Representative Tarnas, Senator Kanuha, Representative Lowen, Representative Kahaloa, we're all going to be in attendance on a coconut rhinoceros beetle. We're having a virtual talk story about the coconut rhinoceros beetle impacts to Hawaii Island. And then, really, the conversation will be led by some of our State agencies and BIISC (Big Island Invasive Species Committee). Page 61 Hawai`i County Council-10 April 2,2025 So some good conversations about that and what community needs to do and can do, and the support we need to have and provide going forward. That's this evening and I look forward to being there. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Hustace. Any other announcements? No? All right. Well, mahalo everyone. We will have our special finance meetings starting next Tuesday, April 8th,beginning at 9 a.m. every day, four days in a row, where the Mayor and the departments of the County will come before the Council to share their budget for the upcoming fiscal year. So we encourage you to watch and participate in those hearings. ADJOURN- There being no further business, Chair Inaba adjourned the meeting at 1:37 p.m. MENT: Council Approval: JUN 0 4 2025 CO TY JH/dg Page 62