HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0334.006 2024-2026SIERRACLUB
HAWAVI ISLAND GROUP
June 13, 2025
Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee
c/o Hawai'i County Council o
25 Aupuni St c icy
Hilo HI 96720
74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway Q. C)--c
Kailua Kona HI 96740
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Re: Opposition to Bill 64 �
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Aloha Madam Chair and Committee members,
The Hawai'i Island Group of the Sierra Club of Hawai'i (HIG) opposes Bill 64.
HIG believes the text of the following article from the July 2019 issue of the National Society of
Professional Engineers monthly magazine best expresses HIG's reasons why Bill 64 should be
given a negative recommendation. The article can be accessed at
https•//www nspe org/career-cirowth/pe-magazine/July-2019/pe-action-ensures-license-
requirement-hawaii-public-works.
"PE Action Ensures License Requirement for Hawaii Public Works Position
An effort to remove the PE requirement for the director of public works for Hawaii County
was recently thwarted by the Hawaii Society of Professional Engineers' Big Island Chapter.
In June, the Hawaii County Charter Commission held hearings about 28 proposed charter
amendments for the 2020 ballot, including a proposal to remove the PE requirement. The
proposal (CA-26) placed only one significant requirement on the position: five years of
administrative experience. The current department director David Yamamoto and deputy
director Allen Simeon are both PEs.
Commission Chairman Doug Adams, sponsor of the proposal, believes that a lack of a
professional license in a technical field doesn't necessarily mean the director can't manage
those who have one, according to a Hawaii Tribune Herald article. "I think that it helps with
identifying, increasing, expanding the potential for directors, good people, solid people that
will have had experience in [a] public works department whether it is here or in other
locations, and not necessarily create this small niche of those with a PE degree," he was
quoted as saying in a June 9 article.
Under the leadership of Big Island Chapter Director Curtis Beck, P.E., F.NSPE, chapter
members spoke against the commission's proposed amendment. Ten chapter members,
which included former directors of public works, provided testimony to the commission. The
commission was also presented with a letter addressing the critical need to have a licensed
P O Box 1137 Hilo, HI 96721-1137 1 hawaiiislandsierraclubC@-gmail.com s_ierraclubhig.org
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engineer in responsible charge of decisions that directly affect the health, safety, and
welfare of county citizens. Nearly 60 PEs and architects who opposed the amendment
signed onto the letter.
The commission responded to this outreach and testimonies by voting down the
amendment, 7-2. "It felt good to make a difference," Beck stated on an NSPE Communities
post.
NSPE is aware that the practice of appointing nonengineer administrators to positions to
perform functions that involve the practice of engineering has accelerated at an alarming
pace throughout all levels of government. This practice, says the Society, is inconsistent
with the goal of state engineering licensing laws to protect the public.
NSPE recommends that government officials recognize the importance of the engineering
function within the government departments and agencies through the selection of qualified
licensed professional engineers to positions having responsibility for making engineering
decisions and exercising engineering judgment."
The removal of the requirement that the county Department of Public Works Director be a
licensed Professional Engineer has already been duly considered by the 2019 Charter
Commission. There have not been any changes since that time to justify the removal of this
qualification from the county Charter.
Please opposed Bill 64 and give it a negative recommendation.
Mahalo for this opportunity to testify.