HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0158.005 2002-2004 t~ Y N
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AL KON1SHl ti CONS ANC ER K1RIU
JAY MENDE .~~i%«'i~''
Uepuh~ ('ounh=Clerk
County of Hawai `i
Office of the County Clerk
25 .4 upuni Sureei
/lflo. Haµ~n!'i 9670
li~[ephon« IRORI )h7-8386 fncsimi7e: 18081 96/-N57'
April 2, 2003
TO: Aaron S. Y. Chung, Chair
Committee on Finance
FROM: AI Konishi, County CIer6~
Constance R. Kiriu. Legislative Audittv`'!^-~
RF,: Response to Cost ofGovernment Commissions Report-February 20, 2003
Thank you for requesting a response to the Cost of Government Commission's Report dated February 20, 2003, as it
pertains to the County Council and Office of the County Clerk.
Organization and Responsibilities of the Legislative Auditor's Office:
The Legislative Auditor's Oftice also (I) conducts research for the enactment of legislation and drafts bills
and resolutions therefrom; (2) assists individual council members by facilitating contact and correspondence
in response to constituent concerns; and (3) processes personnel and accounting matters for the Office of the
County Clerk.
Findings:
#8. As with all proposed ordinances, those providing for the acceptance of grants require twu readings
before the Council.
Response: Grants are accepted by resolution regufring one reading for adoption. Perhaps the Commission
was referring to an uppropriation ordinance, which doer require [wu readings.
Recommendations:
l . The Clerk's OfFce should put the County Code on the Internet and in loose-leaf fiinders.
Response: The Cournr Code is em•rendy w~ the Interne[. The problem has been !wo field: (/I timeliness qJ
the supplemental updates and (2) timeliness of converting the updated Cude to a ~reh-friendlv.jorma~.
The Office of [he Corporation Counsel, which bylaw is responsible for the County Code. is working frith the
County Clerk's Office-I,egislative.9udrtor'.r Office to tarn over that cask to the Legisla[ive ~{uditor's Qffice.
/nstead ojcontrac[ing the updates m be prepared and printed by a prirate company, the Legislative
Acrditor's Office will pupate the anna~al supplements in-house. We helieve the preparation and distribution
gJ7he supplements can t~roceed with nunimal lag time. Comm. No. ~S S S
File No. ,r ~
Ref. To:
Ref. Date~~ ~ ~ ~uuJ
2. The Clerk's Office should explore the use of volunteer help, including University of Hawaii-Hilo shident-
interns, to computerize County records, starting with records covering the last ten years.
Response: The Clerk's Office has altenipled [o use volunteer help to scup and begin indexing its records.
Ti~arnrng, continuity, consistency, oversight, and supervision were needed O~roughout that help.
Furthermore, as errors were found. its cos7-benefit was gues7ionahle and actually, frustrating. This situatio~z
coupled with [he plurmed migrcrtiun qff the Wang coneputer syetem. Dias necessitated the C'lerk's Office !o
budge! fir coniracRnglhase sewices out to assure (I) preservation ofdocuntenls: (21 eas:v research of
his7oricnl data: (3) cnnsislenry gfdaua rnput,lor the Council's records manugemen~ sys7em.
3. The Clerk's Office should consider eliminating gavel-to-gavel coverage of Council and committee meetings,
and polling the hearing-impaired to ascertain their willingness to accept more cost-effective ways, including
post-meeting written summaries, to communicate the substance of proceedings.
Response: This policy de~ernination should be made by the Council.
4. The County should consider requiring that all streets, including private roads, be named or numbered.
Response: hi May 200_', dm Counci! purred a law slating that the planning director has the authority and
responsibility to name ull private and public streets within the Counrv. The mandatory house numbering
component of the bill was removed aI the request gJ7he Mayor with the understanding that the Mayor would
forward a.repurate biU covering Thal policy°. To date, no bill has been received.
5. The County should consider conferring tenure on the Legislative Auditor in order to depoliticize the position
and thereby facilitate the Auditors study of possible cost-savings and efficiencies in County government
operations.
Response: The charge of the auditor to review budgets and programs is' by Counci/Rules q~ Procedure. If
[he Council wishes to utilize /he Legislatdve Auditor's Office onlvfor auditing, anv change to the tenure of
the /egislatire auditor shou/d be amalyzed in relalkn to the funclionul pulicies the Counci! wishes !o achierr.
Tenure would he one face( of the broader_finctiona! policy. The Council Chair hac requested a charter
amendment be drafted in response m This recommendation.
6. The County should consider amending the County Charter to eliminate the requirement of two readings for
ordinances calling for the acceptance of grant funds in "routine" (to he defined) circumstances.
Response: The hvo-reac(ing requirement applies to all approprrcNion ordinunces. The beneJi~ of
distingui.vhing grant fmading, from other funding in the Charter should be further analy_ed as io its overall
police impact.
To rnrreare e~ciency uric/ lessen paperwork, an effort was made !o combine the resolution authorizing the
application and acceptance of gran! funding with the appropriation ordinance. GVhile opined u, be IegaQv
sound. [he Council chose not ro canhine the legislation, opting instead to act on rw~u separute measm•er.
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the Cost of Government Commission's recommendations.
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