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HomeMy WebLinkAboutREP GOEAC 081 2025-12-02 2024-2026REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS DATE: December 2, 2025 PLACE: Council Chambers Hilo, Hawaii TIME: 9:00 a.m. Council Chair and Members Hawaii County Council Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Re: Comm. No. 622 Your Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs, to which was referred Communication No. 622, reports as follows: Communication No. 622, transmitted by Mayor C. Kimo Alameda, dated November 12, 2025, requests the Council's review and confirmation of the nomination of Wesley R: Segawa as Director of Public Works. Mayor Alameda was present in the Hilo Chambers to introduce Mr. Segawa, who was also present in the Hilo Chambers, to the Committee. Committee Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz asked Mr. Segawa to lay out his vision for the Department. Mr. Segawa said he has only been in the Department of Public Works for a couple of weeks and there is more that he wants to look into, and is in the assessment phase and looking into the permitting system. Mr. Segawa said that he wants to get away from being a reactive department and be more proactive. He also highlighted that he believes customer service is important. He stated that he can give a better update in a couple of months. Ms. Kierkiewicz asked him to share his methodology on how he will be making decisions regarding identification of priorities for improvements and upgrades. Mr. Segawa replied that he first wants to see what is already in the queue to be addressed, he wants to collect data to see where money, timing, staffing, and funding are allocated, and check in with the Mayor and see what the priorities are. Ms. Kierkiewicz asked Mr. Segawa to explain how he sees the Department's role in affordable housing development. Mr. Segawa said that it's the permitting process and the regulatory process, and that some concessions within the standard of care were considerations. He farther explained by giving the example of how the State would have aligned with the standards of the International Building Code (IBC) and that doing so would have increased costs of construction. Mr. Segawa said that the Governor said that they would stick with the current code rather than adopting the IBC. Mr. Alameda added that each district might have different priorities but it's important to consider the entire County's infrastructure and needs. Ms. Kierkiewicz asked how he would ensure cross collaboration within departments. Mr. Segawa mentioned that the Mayor brings the departments together through regular cabinet meetings and GOEAC Report No. 81 GOEAC-81 Page 2 December 2, 2025 that they have their "pods" to collaborate with each other. Mr. Segawa and Mr. Alameda gave multiple examples of cross -departmental collaboration, including the Coconut Island Bridge collapse and the fires in Hilo. Committee Member Michelle M. Galimba asked if he could highlight some of his accomplishments from his time at the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and provide an update on the Administrative Order on Consent regarding Wastewater. Mr. Segawa explained how he had to weigh in on the Hilo Wastewater project decisions immediately upon stepping into his position and that everything was on track and there were no delays or time extensions at this point. Mr. Segawa commented that regarding; the Kealakehe situation, they are working with the State Department of Health on an agreement aril rehabbing the site while dealing with impossible deadlines from the settlement agreement. He kighlighted some of the other sites and said they are all moving forward despite various challenges: Ms. Galimba asked the Mayor's Office to share with them about their search process. Mr. Alameda said that those they asked all responded no, and that they were contacted by one applicant from the outside, but ultimately, they felt that their vision was different for a variety of factors, including the salary and the environment. Committee Member Dennis "Fresh" Onishi thanked Mr. Segawa for stepping up and stated that he will be supporting his confirmation. Mr. Onishi added that it is important that they work to move projects forward to not jeopardize losing free State funding that has already been appropriated. Mr. Segawa agreed. Mr. Alameda wanted to highlight that usually the money comes with a match, it's not free. Committee Member James E. Hustace asked Mr. Segawa about the transition from departments and how he would be helping with the transition. Mr. Segawa and Mr. Alameda both stated that they would be working together on the transition with the new Director of DEM. Mr. Hustace asked about the internal structure within the department and what the priorities and engagement will look like moving forward. Mr. Segawa said it is moving along as he is expecting with the internal meetings and trying to get a handle on things. He said, "If it works, I'm not going to change it." Member Hustace commented that infrastructure investment is a major issue, and this is something that may need to be a policy shift in the future. Mr. Alameda said that to have housing developments we need to have roads, water, and waste -water, and that through the Community Development Plan and the General Plan they are looking into which sites and projects can meet and address all of these needs. Committee Member Rebecca Villegas asked if Mr. Segawa had helped write the DEM comments on Bill 83. He said that he was not involved in that report. Mr. Segawa addressed her concerns regarding consulting contracts and conflict of interest by saying that he is following the Board of Ethics recommendations and that his company has not received any new contracts upon his appointment and that he has been hands off with his business, as he has been busy dealing with wastewater issues. GOEAC Report No. 81 GOEAC-81 Page 3 i December 2, 2025 Committee Member Holeka Goro Inaba mentioned that recently there has been more trash on the side of the road and asked what he thought about a County level Adopt -A -Road program. Mr. Segawa said he would be supportive. Committee Member Heather L. Kimball asked if he had seen the permitting audit report and mentioned that it contains steps for improvement and she wanted to know how he would be following that road map. Mr. Segawa said he would like to review it and get back to her. Ms. Kimball asked for clarification regarding replacing the EPIC (Electronic Processing and Information Center) system with another system. Mr. Segawa said there's a contract for two years and he will be assessing it and deciding from there. Mr. Alameda said that the idea that maybe we shouldn't use EPIC came from him, but upon further investigation he realized that it was not the software, it was not having enough people behind the software. Ms. Kimball asked about strategies around bringing non -compliant structures into compliance with current codes. Mr. Segawa said that would be a staffing issue and potentially cost prohibitive. She also asked about Federal funding opportunities and Mr. Segawa said that was an area he needed to look into further. Ms. Kimball asked if he had time to review the bill passed last year regarding the Department of Public Works doing road work on private roads. Mr. Segawa said he had not looked into that yet. Mr. Alameda explained that they were working on the criteria and selection process for approving the roads before they begin to do any work. Committee Chair Jenn Kagiwada asked what could be done to support our small business owners with getting their permits approved. Mr. Segawa said that there may be specific reasons they are being held up and that increasing the number of clerks and staffing at their office has been helpful. He also shared that they have a triage process at their office they have implemented that helps move permits through much quicker. Mr. Alameda added that if permits are taking an unreasonably long time, it may be due to other reasons and not the fault of the County, he offered to look at specific examples. Ms. Kagiwada asked a follow-up question about the vision of the department and explained the director's responsibility to share expertise, and also that by sharing his vision it can help shape the direction of the department, and encouraged Mr. Segawa to articulate his vision further at the next meeting. Ms. Villegas asked Mr. Segawa if he would be bringing any governmental contracts to the Board of Ethics before accepting them on behalf of his personal company. Mr. Segawa explained that he believed that there were mechanisms in place to mitigate her concerns and that the Board of Ethics concerned County conflicts of interest, not State issues. Ms. Villegas asked if there was a County contract in negotiation with his business would he go to the Board of Ethics for a ruling and abide by that ruling. Mr. Segawa said yes, and regarding a potential State contract, he would defer to Corporation Counsel. Pursuant to Article VI, Chapter 2, Section 6-2.2 of the Hawaii County Charter, the Director of Public Works is appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council. GOEAC Report No. 81 r a GOEAC-81 Page 4 December 2, 2025 Your Committee on Governmental Operations and External Affairs is in accord with the purpose and intent of Communication No. 622, and recommends confirmation of the appointment of Wesley R. Segawa as Director of Public Works. SIM AYES NOES ABS EX GALIMBA X HUSTACE X INABA X KAGIWADA X KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER X KIERKIEWICZ X KIMBALL X ONISHI X VILLEGAS X Respectfully submitted, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS JEM KAOfW,46A, CHAIR GOEAC REPORT NO.: 81 ADOPTED: DEC 17 9095