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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2025-12-17 2024-2026 Hawaii County Council 291h Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii December 17, 2025 INVOCATION: Pastor Brian Keiser of Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity gave the morning's invocation. CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaii County Council was called to order at ORDER: 9:03 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, 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 Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member(via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (came in later) 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, a moment of silence was observed for the passing of the EXPRESSIONS OF former Fire Chief Kazuo Todd) CONDOLENCE: CHR. INABA: Council, we will be taking up a resolution in our early January meeting for Chief Todd. 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: Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Lynn Ryan: Res. 399-25 (Comm. 625), in support. Cory Harden: Res. 399-25 (Comm. 625), in support. K. T. Cannon-Eger: Res. 419-25 (Comm. 647), in support. (representing Friends of Lili`uokalani Gardens) Kencho Gurung: Res. 399-25 (Comm. 625), in support. Armando Rodriguez: Res. 399-25 (Comm. 625), in support. (representing Aloha Latinos) Noelle Lindenmann: Res. 399-25 (Comm. 625), in support. (representing Aloha Latinos) (See Comm. 625.73) Ron Musch: Res. 397-25 (Comm. 618), in support. (representing Hale Kipa) Hope Alohalani Cermelj: Res. 397-25 (Comm. 618); Bill 103, Draft 2 (Comm. 593.4); Bill 109 (Comm. 620); Bill 105 (Comm. 602); and Bill 106 (Comm. 603), in support. Deirdre Roney: Res. 399-25 (Comm. 625), in support. Tina Sablan: Res. 399-25 (Comm. 625), in support. (representing The Legal Clinic) Patti Cook: Res. 399-25 (Comm. 625), in support. (See Comm. 625.67) Tina Marie Evan: Res. 399-25 (Comm. 625), in support. (representing VegaBlast.com) Steve Evans: Res. 411-25 (Comm. 639), in support. (representing Boys to Men Mentoring) APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval OF MINUTES: of Minutes. Page 2 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Chair Inaba announced that the Minutes of September 17, 2025, were approved. REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports. GOEAC-81 APPOINTMENT OF WESLEY SEGAWA AS DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS (Comm. 622): Requires Council Confirmation by: January 16, 2026 (Section 13-8, Hawaii County Charter) Motion to Approve: Ms. Galimba moved to adopt Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee Report No. 81. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Good morning, Director Segawa. Would you like to make any statement before I open it up to members of the Council? (Note: At this time, Wesley Segawa, appointee, came forward to address the members of the Council.) CHR. INABA: Please activate your mic and identify yourself for the record. MR. SEGAWA: Good morning, Council Members, Chair Inaba. Glad to be here today. Before I receive questions, it's been an interesting four weeks for me learning a new job or position. I wanted to just clarify one thing that came up during the government operations committee meeting, and that was a question from Council Member James Hustace wondering how I was planning to engage the Deputy Director. If it's okay with you, I just wanted to share a few thoughts, that Deputy Neil Azevedo has actually done an excellent job. He's really exceptional. Right now, he oversees and manages DPW's (Department of Public Works') operations effectively. He is respected, organized, and mission-focused. I expect him to continue as Deputy at the department. For myself, I have over 50 years of engineering knowledge, training, and experience primarily in the County of Hawaii. So I feel I bring technical expertise to the department, because I have been planning, designed, and constructed numerous projects that include wastewater treatment plants, solid waste transfer stations, buildings, commercial buildings, residential subdivisions, all kinds of infrastructure, bridges. I've also done engineering studies involving this County. I've been serving on Code committees throughout the years; this was earlier. So I have historical, or legacy, knowledge of where we were and where we are today. Page 3 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 I've served also in organizations as president; the Structural Engineers Association of Hawaii and the Hawaii Society of Professional Engineers. I've ended my years, 25 years, of service with the national council of examiners for engineers and surveyors at the national level. So I just wanted to share with you that I plan to keep Neil Azevedo on as Deputy, because he provides that operational component. I, as an engineer, will provide that technical component of the position, as well as overseeing the entire department administratively. So with that, I will turn it over to you, Chair Inaba. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Director Segawa. Members, questions or comments? Please speak directly into the mic if you do. Seeing none—Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Thank you for being here, Director. I guess I just have the same question I've had before times when you've been before us. And the last time that you were here, I asked that you please be prepared to really articulate your vision for the Department of Public Works. Because, as you've noted, Deputy Director Azevedo has been doing a great job with operations. So with you coming in, I can see that leadership position really bringing the vision for the entire department. So could you please share with us your vision for DPW? MR. SEGAWA: Okay. As far as my vision, I'm just breaking it down to three simple pieces at this point in time. I'm still assessing where the department stands, learning what people do, what the department does. Based on that, I may revise it. But let me share with you three vision items, okay. The first one is I want to break down interdepartmental silos. That means sharing and building a central department GIS (Geographic Information System) database for our departments to access, okay. I want to be able to share skilled personnel to fill temporary deficiencies between departments, such as inspectors that the department may have that other departments may want temporarily until they can build up their personnel workforce. Also sharing equipment operators, including equipment like—simple things like mobile generators when we have public events. We have the Merrie Monarch, Ironman. We have other activities, that a power failure could be catastrophic for the event. So we're looking at things like that. But as far as working toward myself working with other department heads to kind of create this team effect of working together. The second thing I'd like to do is enhance our technological capacity. This will be to promote adoption and enhancement of new and existing technologies for efficient and sustained delivery of public services in cooperation with other departments. What that means, such as investing in GIS technologies that give Page 4 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 real-time data for decision-making, including equipment management. Currently, our Highways Division employs the ArcGIS platform for their work. And I see potential in expanding it to other divisions and perhaps other departments. We should invest in asset management technologies to track and assess real properties, which include not just land but buildings and other improvements we have, to assess and track equipment, tools, computers, hardware accessories, and software status. Also promoting hardware technologies like robotics and drone capabilities. We're just starting out, as I understand, in the drone, I guess, sector. And I think we are in the process of already trying to figure out how we can use LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) software to advance our capabilities, not just for topography, which is one of the original purposes for LIDAR, but also using it on our highways, our roadways, to determine conditions and to set up asset management plans for repair, replacement, and maintenance, and to also have real-time data of what's out there in the field. The third I have is to enhance the internal and external customer experience. This can be according to the Office of the County Auditor; they had several findings. Unfortunately, there's so much information in those audits that I'm still going through them, but I would like to use that as a basis for assessing our deficiencies and implementing corrective action initiatives where appropriate. I'd like to possibly add a Code enforcement module to our EPIC (Electronic Processing and Information Center)platform, building permits, so we can immediately prescreen permit applications as they arrive. And permit applications now is 24/7, right. We want to participate in the legislators' PIG that stands for permitted interaction group—and their SPEED Task Force,which stands for Simplifying Permitting for Enhanced Economic Development,their discussions which have been ongoing, which has the intended goal of accelerating permit processing times with basically the state historic preservation and wastewater branches, which seem to be the logjam in the permitting process. And this will help all counties. I'd like to collect feedback about our EPIC building permit system from users to include designers, contractors, drafting services, suppliers, and public users; promote skills, skill training for department staff at all levels. And I'd like to adopt metrics for measuring our progress. I'd like to also, if possible, move toward creating a centralized control center that receives, disseminates, tracks, and closes the loop on all complaints that we receive. We've got some initial experience with this, and we're testing the reliance on these technologies. But I think it will be the right direction for us to head in. Page 5 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 So those are my three immediate goals, objectives that make up my vision statement. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, thank you so much. I guess I just have one follow-up question, that you mentioned the SPEED Task Force and the PIG. They've been up and running already. Are you participating in those? In the SPEED Task Force? MR. SEGAWA: The SPEED Task Force, our representative is our temporarily assigned at this time is Aaron Spielman. He's the Building Division Chief. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So he's been participating. MR. SEGAWA: And I believe we do have a report in hand. MS. KAGIWADA: Yeah, that's right. Okay, thank you so much. I appreciate you coming prepared with that information. MR. SEGAWA: You're welcome. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Segawa, good to see you. Why are you leaving DEM (Department of Environmental Management)? MR. SEGAWA: Well, one reason I guess is I'm needed at Department of Public Works. The Mayor and the Administration have found a person that probably can fill that position, is able to fill that position. He has more wastewater-type experience than I have, and I believe he'll be a better director there at this point, is all I can think of. Is that okay? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It's okay with me if the Administration sees fit to do so. I appreciate you stepping up. I do appreciate your comments regarding Mr. Azevedo. I think he's done a tremendous job in lieu of there being a director. And if he had the engineering degree, which is a requirement per our Charter—which we did try to change, to no avail—if he had a degree, I think he'd be a tremendous director as well. But the two of you as a combination I think will do well, and I look forward to seeing what you do from the Public Works seat. If I could,just listening to your breakdown of what you hope to accomplish, the audit was very thorough. They had a number of good findings that could propel our Department of Public Works into the future. I've had some recent experience with our permitting. And I think my big takeaway and my big concern was not the Public Works Department; it was the Department of Health. The time that it took to process the wastewater aspect of the permit was nearly three months. And the permitting department for our County side I think in total was about two Page 6 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 weeks. And the tremendous push by different entities to increase our permit output time, I think it's heavily weighted by the DOH (Department of Health) approval time. That needs to be translated to the community as well as any of our State partners who hope to better our permitting system. That is also a compliment to our Public Works Department in what they've been able to accomplish. I've been here seven years, and they have done tremendous things in seven years. From what you've stated, we always need work. But I do feel like the permitting department has really done a tremendous job in getting permits out the door faster, as directed by multiple administrations and with the good oversight of the people who are in charge now. Is there anything else that you want to address within the department itself or that really speaks to you, other than what you've stated? MR. SEGAWA: Was that a question? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes. CHR. INABA: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, can you repeat your question, please? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Are there any other big items that really speak to you when it comes to the Public Works Department, that you're going to address or take on walking in as the Director? MR. SEGAWA: Not at this time. I'm sure in the days ahead, as I learn more about what the department does and who's involved, things may come up. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Mr. Segawa, we'll be watching closely to make sure that everything's running well, and that Mr. Azevedo and you are working together as a team. We look forward to seeing what you guys do. Thank you, I yield. MR. SEGAWA: Thank you. CHR. INABA: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Thank you for being here again, Mr. Segawa. You've had so many opportunities. You've endured so many sessions of sitting here in front of us—not an easy thing to do. It's always amazing to me anytime we have to sit at a little desk and look up at a circle of people, how that can impact us. So I empathize with that experience and how kind of trepidatious it can feel. Are you hearing me okay? The acoustics are really bad in here. MR. SEGAWA: Yeah. I hear you okay. Thank you for your comments. Page 7 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, sure. I'll try and stay close to the microphone. During our last opportunity to talk to you in Hilo, one of my questions had to do with if your engineering company was ever in line for State or County contracts, if you would take it to the Board of Ethics to get approval and ensure that there's no conflict of interest. And were you able to determine whether or not? Your answer was a little less than the yes or no that I was looking for. So I'm wondering where you stand. MR. SEGAWA: I guess my answer was yes in the sense that I will be following the decision from the Board of Ethics of the County of Hawaii. And if anything else comes up, I will seek their advice or the advice from our Corp. (Corporation) Counsel. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, thank you. The Department of Public Works has the largest number of staff. Very complex. I, myself,was very grateful for the prior Director and his ability to hold people accountable, especially in my district, who were in direct violation of laws, codes, zoning, whatnot. And unfortunately, I haven't seen much follow up on that since then in the last year. I guess I'm sort of wondering what your intention is as far as holding people accountable, especially when communityI mean, I have one particular landowner, where my stack of documents related to notice of violations, fines and fees, not following up and not coming back and clearing things up and just stalling. And so, I'm wondering what your vision and intention is as far as holding people accountable who are in violation of the policies, not only created here, but with the Department of Public Works. MR. SEGAWA: That sounds like I need your help. I need the help of Council Members because you represent each district. You know what the, I guess, concerns are, the complaints. And sometimes it doesn't reach the Director level for whatever reason, and it stays at the staff level. So that's one of the reasons why a central location for complaints makes sense to me, so it can be put on paper where the Director knows and the Director can assure or make sure that things are being followed up. If things don't get followed up on to closing the loop, that the Director needs to get involved and find out what's going on. Is it the process? Is it individuals or whatever? And make appropriate correction. When it rises to that level, if I know about it, if need be I will go and check it out myself. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, thank you. I appreciate that answer. There's been a lot of incestuous nepotism and cronyism surrounding this particular case. As I step into my final term in office, I have concerns that things will never get followed up on this. So I will be reaching out to you. In an era where things continue to come out in the press of Council Members basically being told by people in administrative positions, "Vote my way or I'm going to take your funding" or "Vote my way or I'm going to blackball you" and I Page 8 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 don't believe in that. And unfortunately, I won't be supporting your nomination again today for just some reasons in my na`au. But I do trust that you can respect that and honor the challenge that I have sitting in this role. If the vote is the same as it was last time, I will probablyI may be the lone but I will be reaching out to have a meeting. I have already met with Mr. Azevedo and Merrick about this particular case and am looking for—I'll do my best to educate you with the vast folder of documents that I have in my office. I yield. MR. SEGAWA: Thank you for your honesty and your forthrightness. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Aloha, Mr. Segawa. Happy holidays to you. Thank you for being here. I appreciate you stepping forward and working with Administration to fill the role that we have for the vacancy for Public Works and the Director role. I value your past work in the community, that you can bring that insight into DPW. The first question I have isreally grateful to have Deputy Director Azevedo step forward in the time where we did not have a Director. And want to recognize, as you did and my colleagues also recognized, the work that he has given to the County and the communities above and beyond in both that temporary administrative role and as Deputy in keeping that department moving forward during this time. So, really the question is what more will we see from Deputy Director as you take on the leadership role for the department? I mean, I'm just curious to see what is unshackled from Mr. Azevedo going forward, and what can be brought forward for the department itself as you take on that leadership role yourself, Mr. Segawa. MR. SEGAWA: What more can you expect from Deputy Director? That guy has so much energy, the Energizer Bunny. He's a deputy that I think is an envy of other directors in the County. This guy wakes up in the morning with a mission. He knows what he wants to do. He stays up at night, plans things out, executes the next day, keeps me informed. Pretty much, he's always on the go. As far as what more can we expect of him? He's got a good vision himself. He's bought into my vision on expanding our GIS, responding to public complaints, closing the loop on things, holding people accountable. I couldn't ask for more at this point in time. As we develop our relationship and understand our strengths and weaknesses, I think as a team we can support each other and make this a truly successful responsive department. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Mr. Segawa. I think that's critical to the department. As one of our larger agencies in the County, what has been shouldered by Mr. Azevedo and what you can take off of his shoulders now in Page 9 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 terms of that partnership, and working with your different divisions in the department is, I think, critical moving forward. And we had that discussion here at Council previously about what that could look like for alleviating some of that strain from the department itself. But grateful for the leadership that you can provide there and the partnership with the team as well. One other specific question I had, and this is something that will be forthcoming, and it's really a specific question to Chief Spielman of course, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the international building codes and that forthcoming change. At the moment, there's an emergency proclamation by the Governor to stay any of those changes. So I'm curious—and there's also potential legislation at the State level coming forward about extending that turnover and that time between updates. So I'm kind of curious on your thoughts as we look at amendments at the County level, that rotation of updates. What are your thoughts on that, Mr. Segawa? MR. SEGAWA: Just briefly, I guess codes get, I guess, updated about every three years building codes, electrical plumbing codes, fire codes. And what I'veI guess my perspective is that when codes come out with a new edition, we should identify those revisions and see how it impacts the design and construction and development going forward of our projects, okay. For example, way back, we never had Code requirements on stairways that had to—we wanted to stay within a certain rise and tread width. Well, those things had to come into the Code. When you go to a shopping complex and you're on the second floor, one time there wasn't any Code on how large the railings, how high the railings needed to be, or the space between the pickets the vertical. People used to do six inches and put up pretty nice railings. Well, one day we realized that, hey, children were falling through those railings and getting hurt or dying. Same thing with escalators. So there are escalators—between the sides of an escalator, children were getting trapped there and falling through. So there were reasons for these Code amendments. So what I'm saying is that because I've seen through the years how we develop codes and how the Code process works, not all Code amendments, even though they increase the cost, may save lives. One time, because my specialty is in structures—we always designed structures based on the yield strength of materials, okay. So that made very conservative designs in engineering for buildings. Today, we design buildings or construct concrete or wood based on ultimate strengths of the material. So we've given way from a more conservative design to a less conservative, which means the price goes down. Of course, there are always consequences whenever we try to make things more efficient going forward. Page 10 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 I guess my answer is, as these Code revisions come through, we need to look at what those revisions are and how it impacts our public, our people we're trying to protect, and choose the right ones. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Mr. Segawa. I definitely recognize the health and safety purposes of the Code. There's also the opportunity to provide amendments and provide our own insight from our County viewpoints when it comes to farm dwellings or warehouses. These things in particular that maybe are costing more than they should, and maybe shouldn't have that's a consideration we should be making about how does that impact the end user on some of these things as well. Particularly in our ag sector, on our greenhouses, how does that play into those Code amendments as well. As well as even warehouses for some of our own County vehicles, when we're looking at our Fire vehicles and emergency vehicles, do we really need all these things? And that's really what we're going to be looking to you and your division chief about as we have those conversations, and how we can alleviate some of those costs on municipal, on the County, as well as in our housing sector as well. So I appreciate your insight into that as well. Thank you, Chair. I appreciate the time. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for being here, Director. I'll echo my colleagues in mahaloing now Deputy Director Neil Azevedo for all your hard work over the last year. I want to ask a similar question to what my colleague Council Member Kagiwada asked. She asked about your vision. I'd like to ask more succinctly, what are your priorities for the department in terms of tangible actions? Priorities for the department? MR. SEGAWA: For building permits? MS. KIMBALL: No. For the department as a whole, what are your priorities? MR. SEGAWA: I guess what I was trying to convey is these are my priorities. MS. KIMBALL: Okay. So the Department of Public Works is arguably the most important department in the County. From the standpoint that—in terms of what our constituents and the citizens of this County care about, the residents of this County care about the most, are usable roads, potholes, public health and safety with bridges, culverts, flooding, all of that. And so, the discussion around the building codes and the concepts of public safety there are important. From my Page 11 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 standpoint here on the dais and thinking about how we are responsible for the department's actions through legislation and funding, public health and safety is No. 1 in terms of priority. In terms of the vision that you mentioned, speaking first to reducing the silos, what advantage other than staffing, which you mentioned in sharing staffing where there are deficiencies, what advantages do you see to the reduction of siloing between divisions and departments in the County? MR. SEGAWA: How we can facilitate MS. KIMBALL: What are the benefits to providingI'm not going to do this. You and I are going to have a conversation offline, and I am not going to support your nomination today. I apologize that I cannot do that, but I am actually horrified. I am not going to share with my colleagues because I think it's a waste of time to explain why, about some of the they are either already being done, they have been done for years. There are structural barriers to having it be accomplished. What I'm hearing in the vision statement is—and I grant you've only been in here for a montha distinct lack of understanding about how processes within the department, HR(Human Resources), Information Technology work. I cannot support your nomination based on that. I'm going to leave it there, because otherwise I think I'm just wasting everyone's time. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Checking back in Hilo, any final comments? All right. Here in Kona? Seeing no further discussion, Mr. Clerk MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, actually I do have one question for Corporation Counsel. CHR. INABA: Quickly. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. CHR. INABA: Go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is Ms. Schoen in ? CHR. INABA: Yup. You can go ahead with your question. She's approaching. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Corporation Counsel, given what I'm hearing for the potential of the vote, is there any repercussion for the department if a director is not appointed? Page 12 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Renee Schoen came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. SCHOEN: If I understand your question, if a director is not appointed today, the Mayor still has an opportunity to submit a person for confirmation for the director position. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I know we have a requirement to put a director in who must meet the qualifications per the Code, but should one not be appointed today, is there any repercussion for Public Works or for the County? MS. SCHOEN: Not that I can see. Not today, no. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you, Ms. Schoen. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Segawa, thank you for being here. I was honestly hoping to be much more impressed today. I think there were a lot of questions raised in Committee that still haven't been addressed here today. And so with that being said, I cannot be supporting your nomination, although I do wish you the best of luck. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, roll call please. Vote on GOEAC-81: The motion to adopt Governmental Operations and (Adopted) External Affairs Committee Report No. 81 was carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Onishi, and Chair Inaba—5. Noes: Council Members Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, and Villegas —4. Absent: None. Excused: None. (Note: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder voted "kanalua"then Ic aye. GOEAC-82 APPOINTMENT OF DANIEL GIRVAN AS DIRECTOR OF (Comm. 623): ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Requires Council Confirmation by: January 16, 2026 (Section 13-8, Hawaii County Charter) Page 13 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Motion to Approve: Mr. Hustace moved to adopt Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee Report No. 82. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. INABA: Let's see. Director, any statements before we open it up to the Council? (Note: At this time, Daniel Girvan, appointee, came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. GIRVAN: Good morning. I do not have an opening statement, but I'd be pleased to take any questions. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Mr. Girvan. I appreciate you being here and your willingness to step forward. Curious on your thoughts with our cesspool conversion task force, and if you've had any conversations with them at the time. MR. GIRVAN: I'm sorry. I can't hear very well. MR. HUSTACE: That's okay. The cesspool conversion task force,you're familiar with their work? MR. GIRVAN: Yes, I am. MR. HUSTACE: And have you been in any of their conversations or meetings as of yet? MR. GIRVAN: Not yet, but I will be in future meetings. MR. HUSTACE: Okay. So one of the questions that I'm hearing from constituents is they're not sure what is progressing through the cesspool conversion task force that the Mayor stood up. So at some point, I think it would be prudent to have that conversation here in front of Council, if not at larger settings. But as that kind of develops, it would be great to have that conversation as to see what's been going on. I know you're new stepping in the role. And Deputy here can also attest to the work going on there. But really see that—what the progress is going there for the task force. So that's my recommendation and encouragement here, to bring it back to the Council at some point to just have that discussion. Page 14 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 MR. GIRVAN: They have issued a rather large report, which I am currently working my way through. But I intend to be personally involved in that effort sometime after the first of the year. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Mr. Girvan. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Hustace. Any further questions or discussion? Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thanks for being here. Thanks for stepping out of retirement to lend a hand and your years of expertise to our Department of Environmental Management. These are trying times when it comes to anything related to our environment and managing our waste efficiently, effectively, and with authentic concern and care. I'm looking forward to and hoping for an opportunity to continue to support as our County transitions to reduction of single-use plastics incorporation of the plans that have been written out for almost decades now. So how to activate those with composting and our wastewater systems and all the different things, because we are at such a tipping point. And I'd like for my grandson to be able to swim in this ocean and not get MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), and for him to not walk the shores and have them be riddled with plastic debris. So I'd just like to see support for the Department of Environmental Management for enforcement. I've talked to Craig a couple of times in the last few weeks, going to a specific restaurant that is just blatantly disregarding the plastic bag ban. I think that that's shameful on them, and it's an insult to the community and all the work that's been done and was done prior, to be just completely disregarded. So kind of similar to, Mr. Segawa, our conversation bit about following through and holding people accountable, and I think that's okay to do. And that is in the best interest of the collective good for our community, because for so long one of the side comments around went, "Oh,you know, rules apply to some but not to oddahs,"translated "Rules apply to some but not to others." It shouldn't be that way. The rules are there for a reason, and they're for the health, safety, and well- being and the future of our community. So I'll continue to support your nomination today, and I look forward to collaborating and supporting the work of DEM. So I yield. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for coming again to be here before us. I'm wondering how familiar you are with the Environmental Management Commission. Have you been to any of their meetings? Or do you understand their role? Page 15 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 MR. GIRVAN: I'm not very familiar with them yet. I understand who they are, what they are, and what the role is. I have not attended one of their meetings yet. Again, that's something that I'll do after the first of the year. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Do you have any thoughts on how, as Director,you'll be kind of collaborating and listening to the Environmental Management Commission as they are kind of eyes and ears? They are people from each of the districts around the island that are appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by us. And they're supposed to be advising you on issues relevant to the department. Do you have any thoughts? Because,just looking at our very short past here, we saw with Bill 83 a letter of strong support coming from the Environmental Management Commission. And yet, a letter from the department really hemming and hawing and saying, "Why?"—dragging their feet on the issue. So it didn't seem like there was any collaboration or even conversation between the commission and the department on that particular issue and there have been others. But I'm just wondering if you have any thoughts moving forward on how you can best engage with them, and also provide a better product because you have input from around the County. MR. GIRVAN: I can't make a specific comment,because I haven't dealt with any specific issues with them yet. In general, the way I operate is I assume that I know parts of the story, and there are other people that know other parts of the story. And the more parts of the story we bring together, the better product that we wind up with. So I apply that to most of what I do, and I can only say that I would apply that also to relationships within the environmental commission. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Great. I really hope that you utilize them as a resource, because they are a lot of voices from different parts of the County. And I think it's a good resource there. So I'll be supporting your nomination today. I yield. MR. GIRVAN: Okay. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you, Chair. So you're having to learn on the job in a very extreme way. And I just wanted to ask you were just talking about having parts of the story and that story then being how you move forward. Since the last time we saw you, what parts of the story have you learned and has that changed, or not,your overall vision and plan for the department going forward? MR. GIRVAN: I think, as I have come to know the department better, my confidence that the department can meet the challenges that are before it has improved. I have a little better understanding of where the individual projects are, specifically the mandated projects, but other projects also. I have a better Page 16 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 understanding of what talents we have within the department. My faith in the commitment of the people in the department has just increased the more I work with them. So I'm even more confident that we can meet these challenges. It's going to take a few years of hard work and a lot of money, but probably the only thing we're missing is just more talent. We still have open positions, and we're working hard to fill those. The people that I have available right now, they can do this, and I have confidence that they will. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. I have been asking for a synopsis and update on the mandated projects, and I believe we have a date, the second Council meeting in January. Still, I'm hoping that you'll take an active part in providing that update, especially I want to see where the projects are. And I would also love to hear about the financial side of it as much as possible. Thank you. MR. GIRVAN: To speak to that date that you're referring to, we already have a team of people working on a presentation for you. I need to clarifyI'm a little confused—I thought it was going to be on the 6 h, but now is it—is that on the 6 h or some later date? MS. GALIMBA: Yeah, it's going to be two weeks after the 6 h. I don't know the exact date, but yeah. We'll be here in Kona but I understand you'll be presenting from Hilo. MR. GIRVAN: Yes. MS. GALIMBA: Thanks. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Aloha, sir. How are you doing today? Can you hear me okay? MR. GIRVAN: I'm sorry, is he speaking to me? I'm sorry, I'm having trouble understanding. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: How are you today, sir? MR. GIRVAN: I am well. Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: My questions are fairly simple. You're taking over a very large department with an incredible scope of duty in the next five to ten years. Have you been properly versed walking into the door? MR. GIRVAN: Have I been properly versed for what? Page 17 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Walking into your position. Walking in the door. MR. GIRVAN: Well, I have been, yes. But I have not walked in that door alone. I have people from the department, Craig here, and other people who have walked through that door with me and are helping me to fill in the voids. So I've had an amazing amount of support to end. So far it's going very well. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Are you up to date with the Hilo wastewater treatment facility and the scope of the project? MR. GIRVAN: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What is your understanding? MR. GIRVAN: Say again, please? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What is your understanding? MR. GIRVAN: I understand the project. I understand what Phase 1 of the project intends to accomplish. I have inspected the site. I understand the problems that are there. I think, for the time that I've been here, yes, I have a good understanding of the Hilo effort. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Just wondering out loud, because I've wondered this before, do you feel that the previous Director has given you the information needed to make the transition comfortable and professional? MR. GIRVAN: Very much so, yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. What are your thoughts on waste to energy and incineration? MR. GIRVAN: Oh. I've been part of waste-to-energy projects in the past. They are complicated. You're taking two disciplines—waste management and power production—attempting to marry them together. The projects that I've been involved with in the past, which were large county-wide waste-to-energy projects, they did work. They did do volume reduction on the waste. They did produce power, electrical power and thermal power. But they are difficult to run, and they require extraordinary amounts of maintenance. Rubbish is hard on a boiler. And the ongoing maintenance requirements for the power production equipment is extreme because of the nature of the rubbish. In addition to that, by definition, you can't control what goes into the rubbish; and therefore,you have difficulty controlling what comes out the exhaust stack. Page 18 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Everything from tire weight to lead tire weights, from used car tires to organic chemicals, it's hard to control it. So they have a place, but nobody should think that they're an easy solution to the problem. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. Can you provide me one way in which you would reduce the waste stream of Hawaii County into the Pu`uanahulu facility? MR. GIRVAN: One way? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yup. One good way. Make it good. MR. GIRVAN: Yes. To be absolutely honest, I think the very best way is public education. As long as we continue to buy single-use products or short-life products and then dispose of them, it's hard to know how we would reduce the waste volume. The public, the consumer, plays a very big role in this problem. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's fair. And finally, what are your thoughts on composting or recycling not recycling; what is the word I'm looking for—composting. MR. GIRVAN: Well, composting is a part of the solution. It gets complicated when you get down to the details of how do you do it. How do you take that paper plate and pull it away from all the rest of the rubbish so that you can compost it? Or how do you not get it mixed in with the rest of the rubbish in the first place? Those details have to be worked out. But composting has a role to play here also. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I agree. Okay. Thank you very much. I yield, Chair. CHR. INABA: All right, with that, we'll take the roll call vote on the confirmation of the DEM Director. Vote on GOEAC-82: The motion to adopt Governmental Operations and (Adopted) External Affairs Committee Report No. 82 was carried by the following roll call 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 19 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following item was taken out of order: Bill 103: AMENDS CHAPTER 19, ARTICLE 7, SECTION 19-53, OF THE HAWAI`I (Draft 2) COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO REAL PROPERTY TAX Applies the homeowner classification's three-percent annual assessment increase cap to a property's agricultural assessed value under certain conditions, including if the property is no longer assessed according to its agricultural use; expires on December 31, 2029. Reference: Comm. 593.4 Intr. by: Council Members Kimball and Hustace Approve: FC-112 (Note: Comm. 593.5, from Council Member Heather L. Kimball dated December 11, 2025, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 103, Draft 2, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to pass Bill 103, Draft 2, on first reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 112. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I believe Administrator Miura and Assistant Administrator Keita Jo are in Hilo if folks have any questions. I do have a minor amendment, so I'm going to start with that. Motion to Amend: Ms. Kimball moved to amend Bill 103, Draft 2, with the contents of Comm. 593.5. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: This is just a language-clarifying amendment, in the process of sharing this bill with some community members. It can read clearly that you only need to submit an application if you were already out of the program, and now you want to apply for this benefit. Folks that go out of the program within the time period that this program exists will not have to apply if they—after the bill passes. So this is just language to make it clear that that's the only situation in which an application to participate in this program is necessary. So I ask for my colleagues' support. Thank you. Page 20 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 CHR. INABA: All those in favor of amending Bill 103, Draft 2, with the contents of Communication 593.5,please say "aye." Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 103, Draft 2, with the contents of Amend: Comm. 593.5 was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Kagiwada— 1. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Back to the main motion. Further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor of approving Bill 103—Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, briefly please. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Sorry. You're so good at seeing my light. You never saw my light today; I was waiting. CHR. INABA: Okay, let your light shine. Go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much. It is Christmas. Ms. Miura, if you could just for me, I missed this bill at Committees. What is the importance of removing in the bill itself under "(g) Limitation on homeowner assessment,"the date "as of January 1, 2004"? (Note: At this time, Real Property Tax Administrator Lisa Miura and Assistant Real Property Tax Administrator Keita Jo, Finance Department, came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. MIURA: Good morning. Lisa Miura, Real Property Tax Administrator. So I believe the intent, and Council Member Kimball can clarify that, for us, removing it was just because this is language from when it was enacted, the ag program, a while ago. And so, it doesn't do anything for how we operationally do anything currently, and for purposes of this bill. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, so regardless of when they entered, basically it's just if you're in the homeowners class now, versus if you're in the homeowners class as of January 1", 2004. So there was a homeowners class before January 1st, 2004, or there—what is the importance of that date? MR. JO: Keita Jo, Assistant Administrator for the Real Property Tax Division. I think, at the inception of this language back in 2004, they wanted to provide clarification that that would be the first year that properties that were in the Page 21 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 homeowners class would get the 3 percent cap. Because, I believe that was an add-on to an existing homeowner's classification at that time. And so, what this is is just a cleanup to remove that old language. It doesn't affect how we calculate or interpret the Code as we see it. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Were there properties in the homeowner class before January 1st, 2004? MS. MIURA: There was no homeowner tax class back then. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Oh, there wasn't? MS. MIURA: Yeah. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So it's just redundant. Actually, it's unnecessary. MS. MIURA: It was in its own tax class, I should say. So yeah. It was just an exemption. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you very much. I yield, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Mr. Clerk, a roll call vote on Bill 103. Vote on Bill 103: The motion to pass Bill 103, Draft 2, as amended to Draft 3 Draft 3, on first reading and adopt Finance Committee (Approved) Report No. 112 was carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business. of Business: ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions. Page 22 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public. PUBLIC ON RES. 397-25 The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by (COMM. 618): the Chair: Keala Hill: Comment. Mona: Comment. Echo Wyche: In support. (representing Project Vision Hawaii) Res. 397-25: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TO AWARD GRANTS FOR PROGRAMS ADDRESSING HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS Proposes 12 grant awards to 8 different nonprofit organizations for a total of $6,000,000 in funding derived from Residential Tier Two property tax revenues, pursuant to Section 19-90(f) of the Hawaii County Code. Reference: Comm. 618 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Approve: FC-111 and Comm. 618.2: From Housing Administrator Kehaulani M. Costa, dated December 10, 2025, transmitting the Homelessness and Housing Fund Supplemental Packet No. 3 in support of Resolution No. 397-25. Motion to Approve: Mr. Hustace moved to adopt Res. 397-25 and Finance Committee Report No. 111. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada. CHR. INABA: We can welcome the Office of Housing and Community Development, if there's any statements you'd like to make prior to discussion. (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Kehaulani Costa came forward to address the members of the Council.) MS. COSTA: Good morning. Kehau Costa, Housing Administrator. I'm just going to do just a quick recap of our application process and the programs that came through,just a broad overview. There were 23 program applications from 16 applicants. Five of them were new organizations. Two of those new organizations came from off island. We looked at providing grants across four program sectors: outreach, shelter, long-term housing, and support programs. Page 23 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 The application process and the RFGA, the Request for Grant Applications, was provided in a communication. There's a total of 140 points awarded to the applicant. Ninety-eight was the minimum point award, which was 70 percent. The categories that we scored by were provided, and there was a panel of five individuals reviewing from three County agencies. The panelist themselves, individually, by their job descriptions or within their role within their agencies have island-wide responsibilities. Eight programs did not meet the minimum eligibility level. And that's not an indication of the program or the organization. It was just how it aligned with our homeless strategies and the scoring criteria. Fifteen programs qualified for funding. We went through the rank scoring, and partial funding was available to cover 12 of the programs, based on that rank order. There were a few questions last week, or two weeks ago, in Committee. I know you may continue to have questions that we'll do our best to answer today. Some of the particular questions that I wanted to either respond to or just let you know that I've looked through is geographic area. So in one of our communications, 618, the original packet, Exhibit C does talk about program and service areas. I did go through each award personally and ask for service area. I think particularly Council Member Hustace was concerned about North Hawaii, and we have actually carved out North Hawaii and West Hawaii outreach through a separate RFP (request for proposal) to cover Kohala through Captain Cook. So, although you may not see an award here that covers outreach, funds are being allocated specifically for the West Hawaii outreach program. Chair Inaba asked questions about double-dipping, and I'd like to just spend some time talking about our process. As part of our application process, we prescreen for completeness. That includes the total program budget, including all funding sources, the breakdown of each budget line item, and how much is charged to each funding source. We ask for a budget narrative, including detailed descriptions of all of the expenses, the org chart of the organization. As part of the application process, OHCD (Office of Housing and Community Development) does an additional review, line by line, of each nominated program identifying the areas of potential duplication or uncertainty. So that's done as part of the selection process, clarification of budgets,prior to coming to Council. And that's done around the end of October. And particularly, part of our application and screening process and award process, and then additionally since questions arose, we did a third review of the program budget. The organizations that had two programs that were recommended for awards are—and I'm just going to go through them and let you know what we reviewed. Going Home Hawaii is being recommended for awards for their Reentry and Recovery Housing Program and their Justice Navigator Program. The particular Page 24 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 duplication there is rent. So we took a look at the rent lease agreements for both of those programs and their particular allocation per program, which we did for all of the organizations and programs that I'll discuss. So Going Home Hawaii rent was reviewed for Reentry and Recover Housing and the Justice Navigator Program. The HOPE Services (Hawai`i, Inc.). We looked at their support service program and their long-term housing program. Specific areas that were reviewed were insurance, telecommunication, rent, and utilities. Neighborhood Place of Puna— Family and Youth Street Outreach was Program 1. Neighborhood Place of Puna resource center, Program 2. We compared rent and utilities, software and telecommunication expenses for both of those programs. Big Island Substance Abuse (Council). The detox center versus the family resource center; there were no admin expenses charged off the top for those particular proposals. We looked at their electronic health records software, insurance, lease, rental of space, telecommunications, and utilities. I personally reviewed with our staff. She asked for specific documentation, insurance policies, leases. I sat with her and reviewed those documents. I can attest to the work that was done. I'm a little uncomfortable about publishing that level of detail as a communication to the Council right now,just at this point. I don't think it's consistent with the level of detail that's asked from other grant programs. And so, our testament is that each cost charged to each project corresponds to a separate, distinct, and verified expense. There were questions about prevention services. I just wanted to point out that in Communication 618, Exhibits C and D, C is a spreadsheet of the program services; D is what we call "baseball cards." Each program that is being recommended for an award is completely laid out. And how you define prevention servicesI would say that every program that we're putting forward has a prevention component. Those are some of the areas that we looked at. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Administrator Costa. We'll start over in Hilo. Any questions? Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for being here today, Administrator Costa. I am looking over Communication 618.2. From what I can see, we have there's some key graphics in here that were submitted to us: 536 households no longer unsheltered. I believe it says 175 families, 636 family members, have been helped to date by all the programs in this year, or in the last three years? MS. COSTA: Are you looking at Exhibit H, the homeless engagement hui? Page 25 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: This is in Communication 618.2, the Hawaii County Engagement Hui Data Presentation, Exhibit 1. MS. COSTA: Sorry, I'm getting technical assistance here. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Actually, it says at the top, August 2023 to October 2025. CHR. INABA: And for the record, this is Exhibit I. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Oh, Exhibit I. MS. COSTA: Yup, homeless engagement hui. Yes. So that, in particular, was in response to Council Members Kagiwada and Villegas' question about just overall outreach numbers. So the homeless engagement hui is a coalition of outreach organizations that, through a coordinated effort, are trying not to duplicate outreach efforts, and be more efficient in their outreach work. So this is not indicative, per se, of the HHF (Homelessness and Housing Fund) awardees. This is kind of the ecosystem of homeless service providers that participate in the homeless engagement hui. So the greater group of organizationsgrassroots, nonprofits, and volunteers that do outreach, those that participate in our homeless engagement hui, these are the numbers that we collect from them. And HHF is a subset of those numbers. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. So what I'm reading here, then, is between August 2023 to October 2025, the engagement hui is saying that we have helped shelter 536 households. Is that right? MS. COSTA: Yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What was the total amount of funds spent from August 2023, or 2023, to present? MS. COSTA: You're asking the total amount of funds spent from August 2023 to October 2025 for homeless and housing funds—from the Homelessness and Housing Fund specifically for housing navigation? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Correct. Because what you just said would then enable this slide to be functional in my brain. If the engagement hui is saying that they have helped this many households from these dates, I'm trying to figure out what amount of funding was spent to help that many households, so I can understand what the return on investment is for the taxpayers of Hawaii Island. MS. COSTA: So not every organization that participates in the engagement hui has been awarded funds from the Homelessness and Housing Fund. So the Page 26 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 536 households that were stably housed does not necessarily represent HHF. So we'd need to do an analysis of the coordinated services that were involved in housing those individual families: what services they were connected to, how complex their journey to housing was, what services did they come in for. Was it simply housing navigation and rental assistance? Or were these families that went through Project Vision showers in order to engage in trust-building and resource navigation? Did they stay in cots sleeping? Did they go into an emergency shelter? So we'd have to do an analysis of each individual and their pathway to housing, and each of those costs, an analysis of the total cost. Not all of these individuals were completely funded through the Homelessness and Housing Fund. And I'm not sure if I'm answering your question, but I'm speaking to the complexity of the question that you're asking. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. That's fine. My concern, then, is this slide is presenting an image for me of what the return on investment is for the amount of funding that we're putting to the HHF fund to help people in our community experiencing homelessness or houelessness. But from what I just heard, there isn't actually an ROI(return on investment) tied to that, that the engagement hui is bringing back to us. If we wanted to figure that out, we'd actually have to dig deeper or dig into a different channel to get the information back. That's what I just understood from what you said. Is that right? MS. COSTA: Yeah. I would say that, yes, this slide is not specific to the Homelessness and Housing Fund. This was information provided to address geographic outreach and outreach efforts not specific to this fund in and of itself. I think what you're looking for is our impact report. We have Years 1 and 2 impact report on our website, and that would be more specifically to this fund. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I appreciate the information from the engagement hui. But in parallel with the conversation we're having with specifically Resolution 397, I think I'm going to put that off to the side for now, because that information doesn't accurately portray what HHF is doing here, its impact that it's having. Does that make sense? MS. COSTA: Yes, that's fair. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Now, along that line of thinking, I have had my concerns over the past few years, since we've implemented these funds, about what the return is for the taxpayers. And that's stemming from what I see in our community as far as homeless activity, what we're doing with the funds, and also ties into the discussion that I can see in the resolution and the attached communications regarding how we broke down each applicant's application. And administrative expenses being taken, operational expenses, and what the actual program does and how much it's costing to provide what services. Page 27 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Without being able to actually break that down because the information isn't provided with this resolution, it makes it difficult to really understand what our impact is and what$6 million a year is doing. Is that a fair assessment? MS. COSTA: I accept your pathway to analyze the return on investment and what you need to determine whether this fund is financiallyI guess you're looking at the finances and whether the return on investment is of value. I accept that that's what you're stating. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I think, more succinctly, my understanding is based on what I see in my community, and how much funding is being spent for the activities that we are hoping will address the problem. And also an understanding of what I'm hearing from the community, as far as what they see and what the expectation is of the amount of dollars we're putting aside to address homelessness and housing in Hawaii County. They're not meeting, in my mind, as far as what expectations are and what we're doing. This is not against you, Ms. Costa, and I don't want it to be portrayed that way. It's merely how much funding is going out the door, and what are we doing with it. MS. COSTA: Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Where can I find that information? MS. COSTA: The impact report. It's on our website under Homelessness and Housing Fund. Under the tab for Homelessness and Housing Fund, we have our impact report and the communication that we've provided. But I can also have our staff email it to you directly. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'll find it. Another CHR. INABA: Council Member,your time is expired. We'll come back to you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. CHR. INABA: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Thank you for being here, Administrator Costa, and your team that's here supporting you. I kind of want to echo what Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder said. Because, this is what's getting very clear to me here, is you guys are doing the job you've been tasked with doing based on the systems at hand, the information you have, the processes and procedures as they have been outlined for you to follow. Council has decided to give and allocate millions of dollars towards the services needed to support and remedy people experiencing homelessness, houelessness for a myriad of reasons. Page 28 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 What I personally,just to break it down, is the lack of trust in the organizations that get the funding, which doesn't mean you're not doing your job. Because they fill out the forms. They have all the paperwork. They know the system. They created some of the systems. And so, of course, they get the money. And organizations that are very effective in action aren't as good at paperwork, aren't as good at navigating bureaucracy, and get left out in the cold. And yet, they're the ones that get called consistently by those working for the organizations that are getting the lion's share of the funding. So I just want to make this very clear that this is the challenge. I recognize and want to validate and say how much I empathize with you. Because, how do you navigate that? You have this money. This is the process. This is where, "Okay, based on these parameters, we need to give the money here." But you've got people like me and constituents and other service providers who are standing there with their hands up saying, "We're doing the work and being way more effective, and somehow we can't get these funds." So there's a distinct imbalance. It is something innately broken in our system. I was sad to hear about the confusion in the prior the last time we met about funds; it being perceived that funds could not be used for air travel. And I don't know where or how that got misconstrued but it's really tragic. Because I know in District 7, that's one of the key successful components and programs that's been utilized by specifically 808 Homeless Task Force. I do hope to be able to work with them with some contingency relief funding. And I'm hopeful that— yeah, I don't know how to fix this. I've spoken to news reporters. I've spoken to lawyers. I've spoken to investigators because of the tragic mistrust of organizations that do exist and get the lion's share of the funding. There's a lot of concerns around that. But I just want to let you know that I see that your job is to abide by and follow the principles and protocols. It's been perceived that then I would be opposed to continuing to fund these services. And it's like, no, I just want I want organizations like the Salvation Army's organization that got money for 25 beds and didn't spend it all, and were able to double the number of beds. Not buy 4Runners and condominiums and make six-figure salaries, but to actually put the money towards serving the people. So I stand conflicted. But I just want you guys to know that I recognize this hotspot you've been put in. So I yield at this time. CHR. INABA: Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Administrator, Assistant Administrator. I appreciate your time this morning. Also, grateful for the conversation I had with Ms. Hirota about the engagement hui, learning a little bit more about that. You mentioned something, Administrator, about the data within the hui. I had a concern when I was talking to Ms. Hirota about some of that data Page 29 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 is not being freely shared from our partners in the community. Is that correct? That it might be only data from the HHF partners and those that have been awarded funds. Or are there others? Because, you mentioned, I believe, that others in the community that provide these services are also providing some of that data that are part of these reports. Is that accurate? MS. COSTA: Correct. So the goal of the engagement hui is in particular to past Council concerns about duplication of services. So we require that all HHF- funded outreach organizations must participate in the engagement hui, so that we are seeing the outreach data and we are coordinating outreach efforts with the programs that we fund. We invite other organizations to participate as well, even if they're not receiving HHF funding. And there are other organizations outside of that that choose not to participate in the homeless engagement hui, and that's by choice. It's not a requirement. This is a voluntary program for outside organizations that don't receive the funding. MR. HUSTACE: Are they unwilling to share because they weren't awarded? There might be some because it's voluntary for them to participate, but it would give us a better picture of who they're connecting with in the community, who they're supporting, what they're investing from their side of things. MS. COSTA: So the engagement hui was a pilot program just two years ago that we funded in the first year of the Homelessness and Housing Fund. It's being improved upon each year. So we're in the third year. We're moving that engagement hui into OHCD's programs administered by OHCD. We're working with our software vendor to ensure that the software is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)-compliant. For some of our providers that are working in substance abuse and in healthcare, we're making sure that we're using software consistent with the industry for HIPAA-compliance. And then, also, consent has to be given by the individuals for their information to be put in. So it's a little bit more complex than just who wants to participate. I think we're trying to build a system that meets all of the compliance criteria and security, so that we can ensure that those that want to participate, particularly from healthcare, feel good about the system. And we're working with another organization or a consulted with another organization that does this for the City and County of Honolulu. And so, we're working through some of those steps to build a better software system. MR. HUSTACE: That's great to hear. Thank you for the work on that and improving that system. We sort of talked about that management information system. So, looking forward to seeing how that unfolds, and providing a new wheelhouse for all of that information. One of those data pieces that I did recommend to her that may provide some other insight is on our mass transit usage by individuals that are affected by Page 30 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 houelessness and homelessness. Because they are—maybe they have a job on the west side, and they call in early for that shelter and that bed on the east side. But they're transiting across the island constantly, may not know if they have a place to go back to on the east side. So maybe more of those resources for beds, for shelters are needed on the west side, and trying to understand that balance between the island. And I recognize—in the last conversation we had, it was about the rural communities. So thank you for addressing that. And I recognize the numbers for our urban communities, our urban centers—Hilo and Kona, specifically. So we're not necessarily seeing it as a great and large impact to our rural communities, but that support is always needed. I appreciate the effort the team members are doing to provide in those different areas. A couple of other questions here really is on HHF itself. If you could just speak to some of the challenges that the panelists, that the team reviewing the applications have, and looking at the different programs. If you could just share a little bit about that. Because, they're looking at the programs. All the providers, all these community service providers, are looking for opportunities to support community one way or another. So it really puts a lot of pressure, I would assume, on those reviewing the applications. MS. COSTA: First of all, it's a huge time commitment. I've served on the review panel for the past three years before I became the Housing Administrator. So I know the work that's involved in reviewing the proposals. It's extremely time-consuming. We got 23 proposals this year. The past three years, we had about 30. You're spending one to two hours just reviewing the proposal, the budget. And then the meetings with the entire team to review the questions that you might have about the program or the budgets, and then asking staff to follow up on some of those questions that come through. I think that the challenge also is that we look for the best people to serve on the panel that can meet the time commitment, and have an understanding of the situation of homelessness, what causes someone to enter into homelessness. What are the general programs on the island in general that are addressing homelessness. But we're not experts. The panelists are not experts. And they are not—we don't have the solution. So they're reviewing proposals. And they're doing their best with their own areas of expertise, to determine whether these programs will indeed make a difference, right, make an overall difference. I'd also say,just personally, it is really challenging to read proposals from organizations that you know that they are doing good work. You know that they're doing the work, but the proposal just wasn't strong enough. The measurements for the metrics weren't there. The proposal, it was not strong enough to be competitive with other strong proposals. Page 31 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Just personally, I've always been challenged because I understand what it is. I've worked in small nonprofits where you're the grant writer. You're the executive director. You're the fundraiser and you're doing the programs. You're doing it all. And so, I do feel for those organizations. Some of those organizations have two programs that are funded by HHF. So it is a little bit challenging that the grant, Chapter 2 of our Code, we're not able to provide for professional development, travel for conferences that build the capacity of these organizations. So it's like a double-edged sword. We've heard from Council. We want to build greater capacity in our community, so it's not the same organizations that are doing all the work and receiving all the funds. But at the same time, some of these smaller organizations have no funding to go to receive no funding for capacity-building. We see that in the proposals. MR. HUSTACE: I want to touch on that in just a moment too. You have adjusted in a sense of the partial awards, though. Right? That was a conversation we had here a year ago, more or less, about full awards versus partial awards. So that has been kind of met in some capacity. Correct? MS. COSTA: Correct. MR. HUSTACE: Okay. So back to your other point about those not being awarded, or those that don't receive the full award. What are they doing? What are you seeing them do to go out for other opportunities? MS. COSTA: Honestly? Cut services. MR. HUSTACE: So they're cutting their services entirely. So if they're not being fully awarded or if they are not awarded at all, they're completely cutting that program, you're seeing? MS. COSTA: Not completely, but reducing services. And you will probably hear about other services that are being reduced in our community, that we rely on, that have not been awarded this year that will be eliminating programs. MR. HUSTACE: Are there other sources of funds that they're even attempting to look at? State level? Elsewhere? MS. COSTA: It's hard to know. I mean, some organizations are able to do medical billing. Some organizations have State funding. Some organizations are large enough to have Federal funding. For some organizations, this is the opportunity for them to be funded—contingency funds, which are minimal. I don't know if Waiwai helps, but sometimes that's more supplemental to an overall budget than a full program. Page 32 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 One thing that we've done, we are carving out from the total HHF fund itselfwe are carving out funds for direct services, which is what we've talked about. And so this grant-making piece is reduced from last year. In the past three years, all the funds went directly to grant-making, short of what we need to run our two staff people that run the program to pay our two staff people that run this program. So we have carved out funds for direct services. So programs that are really needed and community say that they really need, we are able to write an RFP for a competitive process to ensure that that service continues. Because we see, with the grant-making, if they had a bad month and they didn't get their proposal in on time, they haven't been awarded. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Administrator. The last question I had is about the future of HHF. We talked about this previously, about having these conversations with these providers in community, that end date on HHF. And you shared with me that they're cutting services if they're not awarded or they're partially funded, or there are no other funds out there. So if this fund goes away in a year, are they prepared to continue on? MS. COSTA: That's a question for each of the providers. But I can see,just personally, as we've not awarded, as organizations have not received these awards, the grants, the struggle that they have to continue necessary programs. We've seen emergency shelter beds reduced. We're going to see outreach programs reduced because funding was not available through HHF this year. So I think those are questions for the Council to ask their respective nonprofits and the organizations that are providing services, "What will you do?" And we're seeing it because, within our own program, we have reduced the grant making and we're giving partial awards this year. So we are having those conversations. And I will tell you that some of the organizations will be reducing services. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Administrator. I appreciate your responses. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here and providing all this information. I guess without—I'm not trying to question your process and everything, but we did have a few testimonies about a certain type of service that was not awarded anything. And I'm just wondering if you can speak to this. I know you had, this year,you had a much more kind of directed areas you wanted to make sure got funded. Page 33 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 And so I'm just wondering, since we heard from some of the folks that were supporting 808 Homeless Task Force and the issue about helping people return if they want to do that. I know there's been a lot of talk that there should be room for that somewhere. But I'm just wondering if that type of service falls within the categories or not, or if that is something that, for other reasons, didn't get funded. Like I said, I don't need you to go into your confidential details or anything. But does that fall outside of some of your targeted groups? Is that one of the issues? Or was it more based on the application that didn't rise to the very top? Are you able to answer that? MS. COSTA: I won't talk about the proposal. MS. KAGIWADA: Yeah, absolutely. More of the type of MS. COSTA: But we have heard repetitively that this program is needed. Personally, as the Housing Administrator, we have reserved funds. And I would like to design a strong family reunification program to ensure that there's case management, and ensure that the recipients of the travel awards are being indeed connected with families that are receiving them or treatment that's receiving them on the other end. And then follow up to determine the effectiveness over time. And I'd like that program to participate in our engagement hui, because one of the challenges with that program is—when the family reunification program is not part of the engagement hui, it's hard to determine whether those that are recipients of the travel have been connected to services, and this is indeed the most effective service that they needed. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for that. Yeah, I also agree that there's a place for this type of service around the island. We have so many needs, right. And just speaking of that, is there anywhere in the State or in the country that you know of that has actually solved homelessness? MS. COSTA: I think that's a rhetorical question. MS. KAGIWADA: It is a bit. But it gets to my point that I guess the discussion about ROI and some of these issues I think are a little bit misplaced here. This is a human service. We don't have a human service department in our County. You're doing the best you can out of Housing to help with this, which is really in most places, my understanding, having participated in the National Association of Counties, is something that counties do. Counties have departments of human services. They run these programs themselves. They don't count on community organizations to do their jobs for them basically, which is what we end up having to do here because we don't have a Department of Health and Human Services for our County. Page 34 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 And when I think about things like meals for kupuna, public education for our keiki, and housing for our homeless folks, I feel like these are not things we normally put an ROI on. These are things we do because they're the right things to do for the people in our community. So I have concerns if we continue to just only strictly go down that route of dollar per return on investment without considering that some of these things are actually just human services that we need to provide for our communities. I hope that we do really take a hard look at where the dollars are going and how they are supporting what we need to be done. I think that is extremely important. I know there's some things in the works that are going to help us do that. It's really important. At the same time, I think it's really important that we think about this in the right framework, which is this is not something that we necessarily put$1 in and we get$1 back. It's not buying a car. It's not fixing a bridge. It's human services and social services. So I hope we look at the complexities involved here around these issues. My understanding is it's a lot more expensive to stand up a department of social services and provide these services in that way, than it is the way that we do things. And so, we should probably be looking, if we really care about the way we're spending our dollars and if we're spending them right, that we look at what it costs to do something like this fully in-house, versus having a fund that gets disbursed into community organizations that do the work for us, and I have to say on a pretty thin dime that they're doing this. I do want to make one comment because I think it's very unfair for us to sit up here and cast dispersions at organizationsI'm just finishing this last thought— for our people that do this hard work without any proof, without having to back it up, and just say things that really are designed to make those organizations look bad. It is our job to look into them and make sure that we are doing things correctly, and that money is not being misspent. But it's not okay for us to just, out of the blue, say something and then that person's not even there to respond. So I apologize to the community on behalf of this Council when that gets done. I don't think it's fair. My very last thing is there was an article in the paper today about Street Medicine being discontinued. Is there anything you can tell us about that? Is that a program that applied for funding through this program? MS. COSTA: Yes. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. And they were not funded? MS. COSTA: No. Page 35 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 MS. KAGIWADA: All right. Thank you. There's so much here. Appreciate your whole team and all the work that you've been doing. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thank you, Chair. I guess it's still morning. Good morning. After hearing so many discussions about this and going through the awarding and so forth, I had to look back on how this was created. We found something back in 2018 that was kind of similar to what was happening, but it got postponed to the call of the Chair. Then in 2022—and you guys can correct me if I'm wrong, because it's all new to mein 2022, the Council brought this back up. And then it was like a homeless fund. Then they added housing and homelessness during that time. But in those draftsI think it went to four drafts or something like that. But then there were really no guidelines for Housing to follow and what were their goals to hit. And that's where it kind of was hard because then they had to be, through discussions, through the Council and Housing, "Okay, this is what we want to see," dadada, this and that and whatever. And then it was up to Housing to determine, "Okay, how are we going to use these funds?" Am I on the right page? MS. COSTA: You're on the right page. On the first year, we did do a community convening with the consultant to build the strategic road map to end homelessness. And that was our best road map to the services that needed to be provided to address homelessness. But again, that in itself needs to be revisited. MR. ONISHL Yeah. And in talking to former Council Member Aaron Chung, he mentioned to me that—because I guess somebody made a comment about if we had more funding, then we can solve homelessness. So now, I had to think back; so looking at all that was created and so forth. And then now, I'm hearing discussion. To me, this funding because it's supposed to have a sunset date at 2027. Correct? So I think the intent, to me, what former Council Member Chung wanted was that the services that are being provided at that time, to give this funding to them to help them solve the homeless problem. But what I see here is some of the programs are kind of new ones. We had discussion about—to me, I don't mind supporting any program, but they have to have a timeline of when they've got to stop getting money from the County. They've got to start working on their own to see how their resources of funding can help them survive. And so, that's what I don't see. Because, I looked back—and I wasn't really going to mention anything—but I looked back at the applicants that got awarded. For example, one organization got$80,000. With their administrative costs and their program personnel, it was like $73,807, okay. So what's going to the program is only $6,193. Page 36 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 So it went to administrative costs. It went to salaries, wages, payroll taxes, and fringe benefits. So we're giving $80,000. The $80,000, how is that helping with the homeless? I know this is to help with providing staffing. It has portions for, I guess, annual salaries, adjustoh, I'm sorry this one is a Navigator. But then what is the outcome from this money—and it's a portion that they're getting from other funding resources to run this program but what is on the County side? How is this helping? And I don't knowI'm not expecting you to give me numbers, but I'm just wondering because I just was looking at all these different ones. Any comments? MS. COSTA: It's just a comment. It's not in defense of that particular program or that budget. But a lot of the work that is done by our service providers, it's humans doing the work. I mean, for a lot of our outreach programs in particular, it's literally a person that is doing the outreach. So, if we don't fund that person, we don't have that person as the boots on the ground walking the downtown area doing the outreach. So we can cut back on salaries and make that an ineligible expense, but that is the bulk of the expense for social service and human service programs. And that's just what it is. But it really is what is considered to be the program. If the program is a person going out and providing resources to homeless individuals, then that person is the program. MR. ONISHL Right and I understand that. But then, there's another program that got$900,000. It's long-term housing. So you're figuring it's more for housing people there long-term, rental whatever assistance. So, from all the expenses again—administrative costs, salaries, payroll taxes, fringe benefits came out to $758,433. Now, $141,564 went to the program. From the program, you've got to eliminate utilities, telecommunications, supplies, staffing, training, repair—well, repair maintenance, I could see that for the place that they're renting. Publication, postage, mileage. But they have lease of space. They have lease of equipment and insurance, maybe for the building which is okay. So that I can see going towards the housing part. But then to me, I believe—like I said, looking back at how this was created, was to have where this extra money was going to go to these services existing, to help them with these funds to curb homelessness and housing problems. I don't know what all the discussion was when the bill was going through, and I know you folks have to kind of take notes of, okay, this is what the Council Member wants. This is what this Council Member wants. And then you guys compile everything. So I can understand where you guys are coming from. But like I said, this sunsets in 2027. We don't know how that Council is going to be. So these nonprofits, these groups, could lose everything in 2027. Then what are they going to do? Because, some of them are existing anyway, and some of them are doing what they're doing. And like yesterday, Hawaii Island United Way came in front of us, giving us, I guess, an adopt date about proposed not proposed, but they had about working with Aloha United Way with the 211. So, Page 37 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 when the president met with me at my office, I told her, "Did you know that there's a nonprofit on the island that's kind of doing a call center?" And she didn't know. And so that's where too, like yesterday how we were talking about, they've got to connect, especially Hawaii Island United Way. Because, they are another funding source to our nonprofits. And if they don't know what other nonprofits are doing, then we're failing. And I can expect Housing to be doing that. That's their job to be connecting. So that's also (inaudible). She needs to reach out. Because then, now, the money that we're providing for the call service can go to other uses. Because, now we can just depend on Aloha and Hawaii Island United Way in doing the 211 services. Okay, I'm sorry. One more;just one fast CHR. INABA: I'll come back to you. I want to give Council Member Kierkiewicz a try here. Council Member Kierkiewicz in Hilo. MR. ONISHL Okay, thanks. I yield. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Since our last Committee hearing, I've taken some time to really reflect on what our role is as a Council. One is to set policy, so we set the direction. And two is to really be a check and balance to the Administration and provide oversight for every single appropriation that's requested. I'd like to think that we're not rubberstamps. And so, my office got calls about the Committee hearing being very intense, and others really liking the line of questioning, the nature of the discussion by the Council. Because, I believe we have a responsibility to carefully evaluate the justification and the effectiveness of all of the programs that are brought forward to us, particularly when these projects are new or expanded programs for a singular focus. There is no other County program that receives the scale of funding as the Homeless and Housing Fund. In running the numbers from fiscal year 2022, we awarded $7.5 million; the following fiscal year, $9.7 million. Fiscal year 2024, $10.1 million. This year there's $6 million in this particular resolution, and we're inching closer to $40 million just on this one particular issue. To put that into perspective, the Council has an annual grant-in-aid program, Waiwai, where we appropriate $2.5 million to nonprofits across a number of different issue areas island wide. And the Department of Research and Development is just shy of half-a-million dollars to allocate for economic development. And so, I think with funding at this particular magnitude, OHCD clearly has a kuleana to come forward and justify and defend every single dollar that is being requested, because these funds are generated by taxpayers who work incredibly hard. I want to take a moment to mahalo nui Administrator Costa and Assistant Page 38 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Administrator Mercado, because you folks are inheriting a program. This is not something that you are building from scratch. And so, you're having to build the plane as you fly it, as we like to say. Vice Chair Onishi, I also reached out to former Council Chairman Aaron Chung, who introduced the original legislation about this program. And he reminded me that the original intent was to prioritize how we might support law enforcement efforts and vertical housing solutions, alongside outreach and services. In retrospect, I loathe to think that we passed an ordinance that was so thematic in nature that did not have appropriate guardrails nor direction for the Office of Housing. So maybe we're a little bit to blame here, too, for not setting that specific direction. I really appreciate the data that's been shared by the office through Communication 618.2. A lot of information there; still kind of digesting. A lot of sensemaking to do. But I will say again, data can tell one story. But I continue to be concerned about whether that story fully aligns with what we're seeing on the ground when we walk through our downtown centers, when we go to our County parks, when we drive and we look at public lands and different facilities. It just begs to tell a different story. I want to clarify that my comments at Committee were not in any way to dismiss the work of the office or our nonprofit partners, because we are all working really hard on behalf of the County and our residents. I'm just trying to understand how the County can continue to effectively use limited resources to support outcomes that have lasting stability. I want us to go beyond counting the beds and services provided to more tangible outcomes, such as exits to permanent housing, reduction in repeat homelessness, and again sustained stability over time. I'm also curious if we've looked at how we can strengthen coordination between law enforcement, healthcare, behavioral health providers, housing developers, and our nonprofit service providers so that we are avoiding siloed investment. I also want to urge the office to look at how we might build the capacity of the smaller nonprofits that have applied but don't get funded, or at this point just don't bother to apply. Please reach out to the recovery division; they have created a technical assistance program to support nonprofits in Puna for this last round of the Kilauea Recovery Grant. I think we have a responsibility to help support our small and up-and-coming nonprofits to be more successful in securing funding. Because this faucet that we have for the HHF, at some point it's going to dry out. We never designed this program to be a permanent entitlement. It was always temporary in nature. And this is based on what nonprofit providers shared at this Council when Council Chairman Aaron Chung convened conversations about this. They said, "If you give us the money, we can work ourselves out of a job. We can solve homelessness." And I know that's probably not going to happen. Page 39 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 But I don't think that, with all the money that we've spent so far, and taking a look again when you go through these downtown areas, it's just hard to see if we have really made a meaningful impact. And so, I just want to continue to urge the Office of Housing to work with members of the Council to figure out how we make best use of the remaining funds for this program. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Coming back to Kona. Let's be brief and we can get to the vote based on how each Council Member feels. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I just have one question for the Administrator. With respect to the applications when you score them, is there any component of that scoring that is based on past performance? Or is it all just entirely based on the applications themselves? MS. COSTA: We do take into consideration past performance. However, it's not part of the scoring, the initial scoring. It is something that we take into consideration on how to improve outcomes, and work with our nonprofits so that performance is improved. MS. KIMBALL: So what are some of the metrics that you use to evaluate past performance in that respect? MS. COSTA: If you recall when we brought our consultants here in July, this is the—we talked about building our evaluations. So Year 1 and Year 2 are complete. We learn from Year 1 and Year 2; it's in that recommendation report. We're currently in six months of Year 3. We're launching Year 4 awards, and we're building the evaluation piece for Year 3 so that, at the end of Year 3, there is a report card. And like Council Member Kierkiewicz said, we're building this plane as we go. So, while it's not part of the scoring, we are aware of performance. MS. KIMBALL: Houston is probably the best example of a place that has been fairly successful. Nobody's ended homelessness as mentioned, but probably the most successful example is Houston. And one of the key structural modifications that they made is in their money-granting processes. They significantly looked at past performances and coordinated the activities of the nonprofits that they were partnering with, that they also focused on housing first—get them in a house, no conditions. So that's another discussion for another day. But I do want to just—if I may just make one comment, because I think it's important for the next conversation we have about this, is that former Council Member Lee Loy and I, after the initial ordinance was passed, passed a subsequent resolution in 2022 which was 442, which set forth the requirement to develop the strategic road map. And there was quite a significant discussion by the Council at the time about what some of our expectations were. Page 40 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Further, communication also from 2022, (Communication) 986.2, indicated a set of data indicators which she and I had worked to put together to give to the Office of Housing at the time, to be the types of measures that nationally are looked at to seeI agree with Council Member Kagiwada, the ROI is not necessarily a hundred percent applicable here, but there are data indicators that are useful. So I did want to share with everybody that those discussions had been had. Those data indicators are out there. And we're looking for feedback on the success of the program. Those are the measures we're looking for. MS. COSTA: I'm well aware of that communication and those data points that you've requested. MS. KIMBALL: Yeah. So, I think toI think it was Council Member Villegas' point, how do we ensure the public transparency, that there's trust and everything. Chair Inaba and I have drafted, and will present shortly, a resolution that would audit the program, which I think this is the time for that if we are looking at whether or not to re-up it beyond 2027. We do need to know that the funds have been used effectively, legally. And I know you've been made aware of this, but I'm just making the rest of the body aware. I think that is the appropriate step for us to take right now to address the trust concerns, to address the evaluation concerns. I'd also like to get at what percentage of the funds that have been expended so far, which Council Member Kierkiewicz mentioned, how much of that was actually capacity-building that makes future investments more effective. That's going to be a really hard number to get at. But I think it's an appropriate time for us and the public to have a transparent accounting of how effective the program has been so we can make decisions in the future. MS. COSTA: I agree to that. Earlier this year, the County Auditor Tyler Benner spent some time with our office reviewing. That was just a really good exchange between us and I welcome it. We want to build this program to be better if it is continued (inaudible). MS. KIMBALL: I appreciate your perspective. Sometimes people go "Auditor, aaah!" Well, in this case, since it's auditor, good! That lets us know what we've been successful at, where we can improve, and just builds the public transparency. Because, these are tax dollars at the end of the day. MS. COSTA: Absolutely. Agreed. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. CHR. INABA: Council Member Villegas. Page 41 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 MS. VILLEGAS: I'll keep this very short. Chair, I just wanted to thank Council Member Kierkiewicz for recalling the statement that was made in Council when we first heard about this bill. To me, that was one of the greatest red flags, is that any there was an amount of money that could fix homelessness, because it's been around for thousands of years. But I want to make it very clear that that statement was not made by Housing. That statement was made by a homeless service provider who has garnered more than 30 percent of these funds over the last three years. So we did our part, and we will continue to do our part. But I just am grateful because I started to kind of"Wait. Yes, yeah, that was said." And that was a huge red flag for me because anytime that gets stated based on an issue as broad and complex as serving our unhoused, that's when I call, "Baloney!" So I'll yield at this time. CHR. INABA: All right, we'll do Vice Chair Onishi, then Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. And then, I'll make my comments and we'll take a vote. Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHL Thanks, Chair. I was going to mention about what former Council Member Chung mentioned, about the funding was supposed to go towards help with police enforcement and homelessness. But in the last two weeks, I got calls of texts from the Prosecutor's office and the Police Department about how 808 Homeless Task Force and, especially on the west side, how helpful they have been with their problems. And so, we have today here Regina Weller. So, Chair, I hope you can give me a little bit leeway if I could just call her up, and she could maybe explain just a little bit of what she has done here. CHR. INABA: I think we've known what's gone on here, but I would like to move this along. Her organization is not a part of the award. MR. ONISHL Okay. So, but then, they're claiming it's working for them on the west side. And so, I knowor, correct me if I'm wrong, were there any funding in the past that was awarded to 808 to help with their program? MS. COSTA: Yes. MR. ONISHL Okay. Do you know how long ago this was? MS. COSTA: Last year. MR. ONISHL Last year. And so, for funding for the upcoming fiscal year, they never got, I guess, approved? Oh, okay. And do you folks help these nonprofits that don't get approved, and work with them to let them know why they didn't get approved? Page 42 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 MS. COSTA: Yes, we do. MR. ONISHL You guys do? Okay. So you guys did reach out to them and let them know what happened. MS. COSTA: Yes. And we provide assistance to them in the reporting process when they are funded, to ensure that we are receiving adequate reports. We also do a field audit where we send our OHCD account into the nonprofits and pull samples of reports and receipts to ensure that the funding is being spent appropriately. MR. ONISHL And then, you mentioned earlier about you might have some surplus that you might be looking at doing this relocation. MS. COSTA: Yes. MR. ONISHL Okay, good. MS. COSTA: Family reunification. MR. ONISHL Yeah, okay, good. And then, so is 808 the only nonprofit that's doing this work, like getting people to connect back on the Mainland? MS. COSTA: The State has a program as well. I'm not sure if it's still funded. I know they did it last year as a pilot program. So I don't believe 808 is the only in the State. They're the only ones that have applied for funding through HHF. MR. ONISHL Okay. And then, for me, I mean if the State is doing their thing, they're State-funded, I wouldn't want to see our County funds going towards the State. I would rather see it staying here and helping whatever nonprofit that is doing that same job, getting the funding to help with our homelessness over here. So, Chair, I'll yield at this time, but I guess if I can keep in contact with you guys about that. Okay, thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. To the housing department and to the nonprofits, my expectation is when the County puts $30 million roughly in three years towards addressing homelessness and housing, that there is (inaudible) evident. I don't think that they are. That's my expectation. If anyone was to ask me, "Matt, let me give you $30 million. I want you to address something." At the end of three years, I'd better well damn be able to show you what I did with $30 million. When I have questions about what was done with $30 million, because it's not evident to me of what happened, that points to a problem. Page 43 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 California spent$24 billion in five years addressing homelessness, yet they've had an increase in homelessness. I am concerned about throwing money at an issue that we're not able to fix. For whatever reason we choose to do so, there has to be an outcome to spending $30 million in taxpayer funds, or we're in a bad spot. I looked over the impact reports, and it's very hard to make heads or tails of how many people we're serving, what is duplicated and unduplicated, and whether the transactional services are showers that we're providing, and thousands of them. When we look at 2,400 services provided but 1,200 of those are showers, it becomes this numbers game that's complex, hard to follow, and it gets really hard to show what are—if you want to use return on investment, that's fine. It's "What is the outcome of spending $30 million?" We gave 1,200 showers, or 4,000 showers. That's great but there has to be a way of presenting the data back to this body and to the public that is clear. The impact reports that I am reading, I have a hard time breaking it down. I spent 30 minutes looking them over, trying to understand what is what. That needs to be better from the department of housing. My underlying concerns when I drive through Hilo and in listening to our police force describe them, more than 50 percent of their calls are homeless-related, I feel like we're moving towards being California. We're going to spend $50 million, $60 million in five years, but our homeless problem is increasing. If we can't show the public and this body that we've actually decreased the amount of folks experiencing homelessness and it's visible, then we haven't done our job. And it's going to be hard to come back and say we need to extend this funding source into the future without looking like fools. So, to the department, please come up with a way of identifying clear data that's not duplicative or overlapping other funding sources or other agencies or multiple agencies' numbers that shows us exactly what we've done. Or schedule a time with me to sit down and walk me through understanding these reports and how it's tied to the fiscal impact for each year: $7.5 million, $9 million, $9 million again. It's not laying out clearly to me and that's frustrating. I continue to have concerns about the expenses laid out in the applications that are being brought into this County for this fund. I brought this up for two years, and I still have that concern that there is duplication amongst the administrative expenses and the programmatic expenses, as well as some of the line items within the programmatic expenses for things like fringe benefits and retirement benefits for staff. That starts to cross the line for me between providing funding to support salaries and wages that lies outside of what is actually addressing homelessness and just providing a stable income for nonprofits to support staffing. Page 44 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Understanding that staffing is key to running programs, but when we're providing retirement benefits and fringe benefits and 401(k)programs to staff when we're addressing homelessness, to me lies outside of the scope of what we're trying to do with this money. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member. Your time has expired. With that, I'll make my comments. I did have concerns regarding the double-dipping across awards to the same nonprofit. I did take time last week to meet with Housing. I have not been able to see, for myself, the numbers that can show. So in the future, those numbers should be provided. If there is concern regarding confidentiality or putting any of the organizations at risk, that information can be provided to us in confidential packets so that the Council has a better understanding. But I cannot support this resolution today without that information. So with that, Mr. Clerk, a roll call vote please. Vote on Res. 397-25: The motion to adopt Res. 397-25 and Finance Committee (Adopted) Report No. 111 was carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kimball, and Onishi—5. Noes: Council Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—4. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: We're going to take a quick 13-minute recess. We'll be back at 12:30 p.m. Mahalo. Recess: At 12:17 p.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 12:31 p.m. 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 107: AMENDS CHAPTER 17 OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO THE FIRE CODE Adopts the State Fire Code as the County Fire Code; and adds administrative procedures relating to fire code enforcement, including permits, reviews, and inspections. Reference: Comm. 604 Intr. by: Council Member Hustace (B/R) Approve: PCPWMT-8 Postponed: December 3, 2025 Page 45 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 (Note: There is a motion by Council Member Hustace, seconded by Council Member Kagiwada, to pass Bill 107 on first reading.) ; and Comm. 604.1: From Council Member Heather L. Kimball, dated December 2, 2025, transmitting a proposed amendment to Bill 107. (Note: Comm. 604.2, from Council Member James E. Hustace dated December 17, 2025, transmitting proposed amendments to Bill 107, was circulated.) Motion to Amend: Mr. Hustace moved to amend Bill 107 with the contents of Comm. 604.2. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. CHR. INABA: Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. We're joined hereby Chief Henderson and DCC (Deputy Corporation Counsel) Wong here in Kona. They're going to provide some insight after some further review here on Bill 107. So I'm going to pass it over to Chief and DCC Wong here (inaudible). Thank you. (Note: At this time, Battalion Chief Royd Henderson, Hawaii Fire Department, and Deputy Corporation Counsel Keyra Wong came forward to address the members of the Council.) MR. HENDERSON: Perfect. Thank you, everybody, for having us here. First of all, I just wanted to say one thing: I really appreciate everyone that has reached out about our chief's, Chief Todd's, untimely passing. We appreciate all the warm, kind regards and everyone stopping by and reaching out. So I just wanted to say that right off the bat. In terms of Bill 107, willing to take any questions or clarifications that you folks may need about it. MS. WONG: Good afternoon. Deputy Corporation Counsel Keyra Wong. I just wanted to say thank you to Council Member Hustace and LRB (Legislative Research Branch) for helping our office with these proposed amendments after Bill 107 was introduced. So the purpose of Communication 604.2 is really to clarify that the fire department does not issue permits for fire safety plan review. It's a simple approval. So you'll see in Communication 604.2 the necessary corrections to make that clear. It's not an issuance of a permit. It's an issuance of approval. So thank you. I can answer any questions if you have any. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Ms. Wong. Thank you, Chief Henderson, on the clarification here and working with the office to bring this forward. Thank you, Chair. Page 46 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of amending Bill 107 with the contents of Communication 604.2,please say "aye." Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Bill 107 with the contents of Amend: Comm. 604.2 was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Any further discussion? Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Yes. There is another amendment that's on your agenda with respect to this bill, but it's not, again, not quite right yet. So I'll be working with Deputy Wong and fixing that yet again for second reading. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Perfect. Thank you, Council Member Kimball. All those in favor of approving Bill 107, as amended, at first reading please say "aye." Vote on Bill 107: The motion to pass Bill 107, as amended to Draft 2, on first Draft 2 reading and adopt Policy Committee on Public Works and (Approved) Mass Transit Committee Report No. 8 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 410-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT OF AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS THE SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO RETURN FUNDS AWARDED BY RESOLUTION NO. 249-25 Transfers $10,000 from the Department of Liquor Control —Public Programs account and returns funds to the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account. Reference: Comm. 637 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Waived: FC (Comm. 637.1) Page 47 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Vote on Res. 410-25: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 410-25. (Adopted) Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business. of Business: Res. 398-25: AUTHORIZES THE EMPLOYMENT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES RELATED TO WORKERS' COMPENSATION MATTERS AND AUTHORIZES THE PAYMENT OF FUNDS OF LATER FISCAL YEARS TO ENTER INTO A MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT THEREFOR Authorizes the employment of Leong Kunihiro Brooke and Kim as special counsel for workers' compensation matters for a three-year period with an estimated total cost of$720,000. Reference: Comm. 624 Intr. by: Council Member Kagiwada(B/R) Approve: GOEAC-83 Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire membership, pursuant to Section 6-5.5, Hawaii County Charter Vote on Res. 398-25: Ms. Kagiwada moved to adopt Res. 398-25 and (Adopted) Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee Report No. 83. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 48 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Res. 399-25: URGES THE STATE OF HAWAI`I TO PROTECT ITS CITIZENS AGAINST UNCONSTITUTIONAL ACTS COMMITTED BY FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AGENCIES Reference: Comm. 625 Intr. by: Council Members Kagiwada and Villegas Approve: GOEAC-84 (Note: Comm. 625.1, from Council Member Jenn Kagiwada dated December 16, 2025, transmitting proposed amendments to Res. 399-25, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kagiwada moved to adopt Res. 399-25 and Governmental Operations and External Affairs Committee Report No. 84. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. I have a small amendment here contained in Communication 625.1. May I go ahead? CHR. INABA: Please. Yeah, go ahead. Motion to Amend: Ms. Kagiwada moved to amend Res. 399-25 with the contents of Comm. 625.1. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you so much. This is just an amendment to the wording of the title, changing "its citizens"to "individuals." Just kind of little bit of an oversight there, but just wanted to be really clear that this resolution is pertaining to all the individuals that live on our island—are on our island. Yeah. Anybody else want to add anything? I'm happy to take questions. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: I just want to thank Council Member Kagiwada for taking the initiative to process this amendment. I know I myself saw a lot of testimony asking for this change in terminology, and words matter. And so, transitioning this I think is wise and sends an even stronger message. So I'm in full support. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of amending Resolution 399-25 with the contents of Communication 625.1,please say "aye." Page 49 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Vote on Motion to The motion to amend Res. 399-25 with the contents of Amend: Comm. 625.1 was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Vote on Motion to Ms. Villegas moved to suspend Council Rule 23 to waive Suspend Council the holdover for the substantive amendment of Rules: Res. 399-25. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by (Approved) the following roll call vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: Council Member Kimball — 1. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Council Member Villegas, on the main motion. MS. VILLEGAS: I want to start off by thanking the testifiers who consistently show up to speak up, lean in, hold hands, and stand in the gap for those who are being tormented and unlawfully targeted. I'm grateful to get to play a part in this piece of legislation. I am cautiously hopeful that the State and our State Representatives will lean in, speak up, step in, and take a stand. We are in, I want to say, unprecedented times, and yet we've seen this happen before. Let's go back to World War 11, Germany. It's no secret. And the depth and breadth of maliciousness seems to know no bounds. A testifier here today, Armando, and his personal account of what he has endured. And as he is now a citizen who owns a ranch, who continues to serve his community with integrity and discipline and consistently showing up. And yet, even he and his family have concerns that they will be targeted. I will call it out for what it isatrocious! It's repugnant that we're having to navigate this again. And the irony is that as we enter this holiday season in which many celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, in today's day and age Jesus Christ, Mary and Joseph are exactly the people that this national administration is targeting to deport, and that is unacceptable. So I stand firmly in support of this. And I am grateful to be able to sit in this seat in these challenging times, and speak up and lean in and do what we can, and hold hands and contribute. I want to encourage everyone in our community to Page 50 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 continue to do that, buying food,providing financial resources, ensuring that we're all communicating. I am hopeful that at some point we can navigate the path to reverse the MOUs (Memorandums of Understanding) that our County police department got kind of wrapped into—well, not"kind of," got wrapped into. Because, we areI want to be proud of what we do as a community, and to be able to look my grandson in the eyes and tell him that I did something. So I ask for continued support of our Council. I yield. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Yeah, I just want to take this opportunity to also thank the community for their continued support and input and feedback. I think it's really critical on issues like this. So I was happy that we could make the change that was suggested. I do want to state very clearly that I am in disagreement with some of the statements around the fact that we do not I want to be very clear, we do not have any 287(g) agreements in this County. That has been stated in many of the testimonies. That is untrue. We do not have any 287(g) agreements. I also want to just state, for the record, my confidence and appreciation for Acting Chief Mahuna and his team for their willingness to partner with community around these issues, and try to provide a safe and secure community for everybody who lives here. I think that he's been very open and available when we have questions within the community about what's happening on a particular day at a particular time in a particular place. He and his staff have been able to assist with getting real information out to people in a timely manner. And I think we need to continue to build those relationships within the community and our police force. And I'm really happy to try to support those relationships. Finally, I do hope the State will be able to really take up something that is meaningful this legislative session. And I have confidence that our State will try to do that. These are the items that are State-level issues. They do not belong at the County level; therefore, there's nothing that our body can really do about most of these. The State also really has the expertise and the legal depth to make sure that they put forward things that are going to hold up against this administration and be defensible, and not cause harm to our immigrant populations by putting something forward that we can't defend and may be overturned and set precedent that could then be used to take down other such supports in communities across the country. So I just want to emphasize that, based on our conversations with the experts who have been working on immigration policy day and night, this was really kind of the way that we decided to go based on their input. So I hope we can all get behind this, and looking for everybody's support. I yield. Thanks. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. Page 51 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. First of all, absolutely in support of the intent of the resolution. And I'm going to preface the remainder of these comments with the "Do not shoot the messenger,"because I think it is important for the public to understand that this is a nonbinding resolution and does not actually obligate any action by anyone. I raise that because the comments were made about(inaudible) and standing up and doing the right thing and blah, blah, blah. I want to make it clear that this Federal administration has put us in a bind where we are choosing between the immigrant community, who obviously have been treated poorly across the country and particularly in our State. And you don't have to look to Germany. You can just look here in the United States at World War II, what we did to Council Member Kagiwada's father. He was in the internment camps in California. We are putting that community we have been in a position where we're putting that community against the significant number of members of our community that receive Federal funding. This State receives over 25 percent of its budget from the Feds that goes to Medicaid, to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), to education, to transportation, workforce development. And through what is probably an illegal but not tested executive order by the President, he has said anybody who is functioning as a sanctuary city is not going to get any of that money. And so, what our State legislators are put in a position of, is saying, "Are we going to potentially put ourselves in front of this scrutiny by the Federal Government or not?" And I don't envy them that decision, because I think it is a very fine line to walk. And one of the comments Council Member Kagiwada said, is we don't have the resources of like Chicago, from a legal standpoint. If we are brought before the Supreme Court around something that we do with immigration and that becomes a precedent-setting action that affects the whole nation, we don't have the same resources from a legal standpoint to defend ourselves and defend that action. And that could have seriously grave consequences across the country. Now, I only bring this up, and I'm going to be voting for this resolution wholeheartedly, but I do want the public to understand what position the Federal administration, particularly President Donald Trump, has put us here at the County level, the position that they have put us in in terms of making these decisions. And I think it's, in most cases, probably illegal but it's certainly unethical and it's inhumane. That's all I'm going to say. And again, don't shoot the messenger. Just sharing the facts. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kimball. With that, all those in favor of approving Resolution 399-25, please say "aye." Page 52 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Vote on Res. 399-25: The motion to adopt Res. 399-25, as amended to Draft 2, Draft 2 and Governmental Operations and External Affairs (Adopted) Committee Report No. 84 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 406-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PAY FOR THE USE OF THE KONA TROLLEY FOR THE WEST HAWAI`I COUNTY BAND FOR COMMUNITY PARADES Transfers $1,689.20 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Hawaii County Band Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 633 Intr. by: Council Member Inaba Vote on Res. 406-25: Mr. Hustace moved to adopt Res. 406-25. Seconded by (Adopted) Mr. Onishi and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 407-25: 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 FRIENDS OF THE PALACE THEATER TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATING TO ITS `TIS THE SEASON EVENT 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. 634 Intr. by: Council Member Kagiwada Page 53 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kagiwada moved to adopt Res. 407-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Happy to support this event, a free event for families, that will be this Saturday at the Edith Kanaka`ole Stadium. Families that want to come by, it's all day from 6 to 9, a free event to come enjoy a walk through Christmas Town. So, happy that the Palace Theater could support this as well. Looking for everybody else's support. I yield. CHR. INABA: All those in favor of approving Resolution 407-25, please say Ic aye. Vote on Res. 407-25: The motion to adopt Res. 407-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the of Business: following item was taken out of order: Bill 108: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 25-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2026 Increases revenues in the State Grants —State Emergency Medical Services account ($1,750,000); and appropriates the same to the following Emergency Medical Services accounts: Salary and Wages ($749,000), Other Current Expenses ($90,000), and Equipment($911,000). Funds would be used for the opening of ambulance operations at Makalei Fire Station in Kailua-Kona and six new positions. Reference: Comm. 619 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) Approve: FC-113 Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 108 on first reading and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 113. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. Page 54 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 (Note: At this time, Emergency Medical Services Specialist Aaron Mitchell, Hawaii Fire Department, came forward to address the members of the Council.) CHR. INABA: We have Fire Medical Specialist III Aaron Mitchell. Is it "captain"? MR. MITCHELL: It is. CHR. INABA: Yes, it is captain. All right. MR. MITCHELL: Good afternoon, Council Members. My name is Aaron Mitchell, Captain with the EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Branch, Hawaii Fire Department, more specifically on the west side. I just want to come and say mahalo for your time. Thank you for letting me come up and just say aloha. For us in the fire department and for the community, this is an excellent opportunity to provide another ambulance service specifically to the Kalaoa area, but it's going to benefit the community in general. We should be able to speed up response times, make a little bit less of a workload on our overworked medics in town. And yeah, I just wanted to come up and say a big mahalo for recognizing this bill. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Captain Mitchell. All those in favor of approving Bill 108 at first reading,please say "aye." Vote on Bill 108: The motion to pass Bill 108 on first reading and adopt (Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 113 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 55 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Res. 408-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO LOKAHI TREATMENT CENTERS TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATING TO ITS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES IN HILO Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 2); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 635 Intr. by: Council Member Kagiwada Motion to Approve: Ms. Kagiwada moved to adopt Res. 408-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Just looking for your support as I try to lend my support to L6kahi Treatment Centers. We're often talking about the need for behavioral health services on this island, and this is just a small way that I can help with some district funds. So, looking for your support. Thank you. CHR. INABA: All those in favor of approving Resolution 408-25, please say Ic aye. Vote on Res. 408-25: The motion to adopt Res. 408-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 409-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HILO DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT FOUNDATION TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATING TO THE 29TH KWXX HO`OLAULE`A Transfers $8,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 2); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 636 Intr. by: Council Member Kagiwada Page 56 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Motion to Approve: Ms. Kagiwada moved to adopt Res. 409-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. KWXX is having their ho`olaule`a in Hilo in January, and they are getting a jump start on trying to do reduce waste events. So this is some funding to help them go ahead and do that, and hopefully reduce the amount going into our landfill from this event. It's a very large event. Anyway, looking for all your support. Thank you. CHR. INABA: All those in favor of approving Resolution 409-25, please say Ic aye. Vote on Res. 409-25: The motion to adopt Res. 409-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 411-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO BOYS TO MEN MENTORING NETWORK OF HAWAI`I TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES FOR ITS GROUP MENTORING PROGRAM Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 639 Intr. by: Council Member Hustace Motion to Approve: Mr. Hustace moved to adopt Res. 411-25. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. CHR. INABA: Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. I appreciate my support from colleagues here for this one. I also want to mahalo Mr. Steve Evans who joined us earlier today in providing some testimony on the work they do to support our youth men in the community, teenagers, and looking for a good role model. So thank you for your consideration. Page 57 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 CHR. INABA: All those in favor of approving Resolution 411-25, please say Ic aye. Vote on Res. 411-25: The motion to adopt Res. 411-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 412-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PURCHASE WREATHS FOR THE WEST HAWAI`I VETERANS CEMETERY-PUU HO`OMAHA O NA PO`E KOA O HAWAI`I KOMOHANA FOR THE NATIONAL WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA DAY Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 640 Intr. by: Council Member Hustace Motion to Approve: Mr. Hustace moved to adopt Res. 412-25. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. CHR. INABA: Council Member Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Just joining you and fellow colleagues in supporting our veterans during the holiday season and recognizing them. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 412-25: The motion to adopt Res. 412-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 58 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Res. 413-25: 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 LO`I COLLECTIVE FOUNDATION FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE 2ND ANNUAL DAGGER SOFTBALL YOUTH TOURNAMENT Transfers $913 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 641 Intr. by: Council Member Onishi Motion to Approve: Mr. Onishi moved to adopt Res. 413-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Just asking for support. Thank you. CHR. INABA: All those in favor,please say "aye." Vote on Res. 413-25: The motion to adopt Res. 413-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 414-25: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO FRIENDS OF THE PALACE THEATER FOR THE 6TH ANNUAL "TIS THE SEASON—A WALK THROUGH CHRISTMAS TOWN" EVENT Transfers $1,295 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 642 Intr. by: Council Member Onishi Motion to Approve: Mr. Onishi moved to adopt Res. 414-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. Page 59 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 CHR. INABA: Vice Chair Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Just asking for support. CHR. INABA: All those in favor,please say "aye." Vote on Res. 414-25: The motion to adopt Res. 414-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 415-25: 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 HILO DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT FOUNDATION FOR THE 29TH ANNUAL KWXX HO`OLAULE`A Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 643 Intr. by: Council Member Onishi Motion to Approve: Mr. Onishi moved to adopt Res. 415-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. MR. ONISHI: Just asking for support. CHR. INABA: All those in favor,please say "aye." Vote on Res. 415-25: The motion to adopt Res. 415-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 60 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Res. 416-25: 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 TO PURCHASE DECORATIONS FOR THE MAGIC OF THE SEASONS, HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE EVENT Transfers $500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Culture and Education Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 644 Intr. by: Council Member Onishi Motion to Approve: Mr. Onishi moved to adopt Res. 416-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. MR. ONISHI: Just asking for support. CHR. INABA: All those in favor,please say "aye." Vote on Res. 416-25: The motion to adopt Res. 416-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 417-25: 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 FRIENDS OF THE PALACE THEATER FOR THE 6TH ANNUAL "TIS THE SEASON—A WALK THROUGH CHRISTMAS TOWN" EVENT Transfers $1,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 645 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball Page 61 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Vote on Res. 417-25: Ms. Kimball moved to adopt Res. 417-25. Seconded by (Adopted) Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 418-25: 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 HILO DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT FOUNDATION TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATING TO THE 29TH ANNUAL KWXX HO`OLAULE`A Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 646 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 418-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. This is coming up January 17'', which is probably in like a week. Given what's going on this time of year—are we okay? Can you still see us? CHR. INABA: We can hear you,yes. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Just want to mahalo Kathy and Chris Leonard. This is 29 years of lighting probably one of the most attended and well- loved events, besides our beloved Merrie Monarch, in Hawaii County, specifically to Hilo and for our people on this side of the island. Just an amazing event and amazing couple, and started by Chris's dad. So, mahalo to them. And I hope this provides another beautiful ho`olaule`a next year. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 418-25, please say "aye." Page 62 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Vote on Res. 418-25: The motion to adopt Res. 418-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Galimba, Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Res. 419-25: 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 FRIENDS OF LILI`UOKALANI GARDENS TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES FOR THE GARDEN ENCHANTMENT, A CHRISTMAS IN THE PARK EVENT Transfers $7,500 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. 647 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 419-25. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: This is for the event coming up next week. It's an actually amazing event. K. T. (Cannon-Eger) came in in support of, and she waited about three hours. And then we, Ashley and I—she suggested that maybe she leave because we were in a pretty heavy discussion with other bills and legislation. Regardless, K. T. really is the amazing component of the event, and it wouldn't be what it is without her. So, happy to be a part of it. Last year's attendance was between 10,000-15,000 people. I'm expecting this year to be more. And with the Alameda administration, Parks and Rec. (Recreation), and all the different entities involved, I think this is going to be an amazing event going into the future. And I look forward to seeing what it is in five, ten, fifteen years. So thank you for your support. I appreciate it. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Yes, absolutely mahalo to K. T. and Friends of Lili`uokalani Gardens. But I also just want to take a moment to say thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, to you and your `ohana. I've seen you every single year at that one big tree at the entrance of Lili`uokalani, Page 63 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 literally two hours before the event starts,putting finishing touches on all of the lights and just creating a really beautiful space for our community members. So thank you so much for all that you do to make that an incredible event for our community. I yield. CHR. INABA: All those in favor of approving Resolution 419-25, please say Ic aye. Vote on Res. 419-25: The motion to adopt Res. 419-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Galimba— 1. Excused: None. Res. 420-25: 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 HILO DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT FOUNDATION FOR THE 29TH ANNUAL KWXX HO`OLAULE`A Transfers $6,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation, Administration Other Current Expenses account. Reference: Comm. 648 Intr. by: Council Member Kierkiewicz Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 420-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Happy to be joining my colleagues in supporting this really iconic event. I remember attending when I was a much younger person. So it's really fun to now be attending as an adult and bringing my kids, and establishing those core memories with them. So mahalo nui to the KWXX `ohana, specifically Chris and Kathy and all of their supporters, in making this free event happen for community every year. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 420-25, please say "aye." Page 64 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Vote on Res. 420-25: The motion to adopt Res. 420-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Galimba— 1. Excused: None. Res. 421-25: 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 FRIENDS OF THE PALACE THEATER FOR THE 6TH ANNUAL "TIS THE SEASON—A WALK THROUGH CHRISTMAS TOWN" EVENT Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account (Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public Programs account. Reference: Comm. 649 Intr. by: Council Member Kierkiewicz Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 421-25. Seconded by Mr. Hustace. CHR. INABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Really appreciate Gary Napoleon and his crew for hosting this event. Again, it's going to be a lot of fun with kids and giveaways and food and entertainment. I'll be there. I'm not sure if I'm going to be a reindeer or an elf, but looking forward to making merry with everyone. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: Thank you. All those in favor of approving Resolution 421-25, please say "aye." Vote on Res. 421-25: The motion to adopt Res. 421-25 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Galimba— 1. Excused: None. Page 65 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading). (FIRST READING): (Note: Items in this category were taken up previously, out of order.) Bill 109: AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10, DIVISION 5, OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO NO PARKING AT ANYTIME Prohibits parking at any time on Hina-Lani Street, from Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway to Anini Street. Reference: Comm. 620 Intr. by: Council Member Inaba Approve: PCPWMT-9 Motion to Approve: Mr. Hustace moved to pass Bill 109 on first reading and adopt Policy Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit Committee Report No. 9. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. CHR. INABA: This is my bill and I ask for my colleagues' continued support. And also want to extend my mahalo to Housing and to HPD (Hawai`i Police Department) for their active involvement in trying to address the safety issues along this street. All those in favor of approving Bill 109 at first reading,please say "aye." Vote on Bill 109: The motion to pass Bill 109 on first reading and adopt (Approved) Policy Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit Committee Report No. 9 was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Galimba— 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): Page 66 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Bill 105: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 25-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2026 Appropriates revenues in the Fund Balance from Previous Year account ($16,515,493.51) and appropriates the same to the Housing Production account. Reference: Comm. 602 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) First Reading: December 3, 2025 and Comm. 602.1: From Housing Administrator Kehaulani M. Costa, dated November 25, 2025, transmitting information regarding Bill 105. Vote on Bill 105: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 105 on (Adopted) second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Galimba— 1. Excused: None. Bill 106: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 25-45, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2026 Appropriates revenues in the Federal Grants —Emergency Rental Assistance Program COVID-19 (Emergency Rental Assistance 2 Pass Through) account ($1,494,623.34) and appropriates the same to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program COVID-19 (Emergency Rental Assistance 2 Pass Through) account. Reference: Comm. 603 Intr. by: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder (B/R) First Reading: December 3, 2025 Page 67 Hawaii County Council-29 December 17,2025 Vote on Bill 106: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 106 on (Adopted second and final reading. Seconded by Mr. Hustace and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Hustace, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Galimba— 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. (Note: At this time, Council Members made announcements regarding community events, activities, and other unofficial business.) ADJOURN- There being no further business, Chair Inaba adjourned the meeting at 1:16 p.m. MENT: Council Approval: MAR 1 8 202 CO RK JH/dg Page 68 {