HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0804.001 2002-2004
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Harry Kim lafy Jane H. Testa
Mayor Director
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County of Hawaii
DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
25 Aupuni Street, Room 219 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720-4252
(808) 961-8366 • Fax (808) 935-1205
E-mail: chresdev@interpac.net
October 12, 2004 _
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The Honorable James Arakaki, Chairman,
And Members of the Hawai'i County Council
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County of Hawai'i
Hilo, Hawai'i 96720
Dear Chairman Arakaki and Members of the County Council:
SUBJECT: GENERAL FUND BALANCE REQUEST
Pursuant to the October 7, 2004, letter from Mayor Kim on the above subject
matter, this letter is written to expand upon the need to fund the Deputy
position within the Department of Research and Development.
As you may be aware, the Department of Research and Development (R & D) has
been going through a number of changes since the beginning of 2001, among
them the:
• Creation of the Hawai'i County Resource Center;
• Expansion of our Tourism Grants to the community via a new partnership
with the Hawaii Tourism Authority;
• Creation of program area strategic plans;
• Redesign of our contracting process;
• Reorganization of positions and office operations;
• Assistance to communities in their planning efforts island wide;
• Provision of various workshops and trainings island wide.
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Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer ;'_f, L0te Q .1+T Q 2
Council Chair James Arakaki
General Fund Balance Request
Page 2
There are still many, many things the Department can be doing to build capacity
within communities that encourages economic and entrepreneurial endeavors,
strengthens families, and enables collaborative planning and activities toward a
preferred future. There are missed opportunities to work more closely with the
University Of Hawai'i at Hilo, the Hawai'i Community College, the Pacific Basin
Agricultural Research Center, Kamehameha Schools, The Kohala Center, and so
many others. There are enormous opportunities to facilitate businesses,
agricultural commodity groups, energy projects, and the film industry, and
provide them with technical assistance and grant writing resources. And of
course we must more earnestly pursue international relationships with China,
Taiwan, japan, etc. to build bridges for economic opportunities.
In order to position the Department to be more effective for our various
constituencies, R & D must have the ability to do such things as:
Create Department publications, including statistics, forecasts, and
projections useful to businesses, students, government entities, non-
profits, and community groups;
Create a High Resource Think Tank to address responsible growth;
Collaborate with the Planning Department to establish a community
based template for the development of Community Development and/or
Regional Plans;
Work more closely with statewide groups such as the Hawai'i Rural
Development Association and the Hawai'i Association for Community
Based Economic Development to identify broader opportunities for
appropriate funding resources;
Focus on the work of the Resource Center, especially as regards
o Completing the island wide communications network;
o Establishing the volunteer resource pool;
o Securing more grants for communities to work against drugs;
o Enhancing our community based economic development
effectiveness;
o Providing better connectivity between communities and county
departments, as well as more technical assistance to both.
Council Chair James Arakaki
General Fund Balance Request
Page 3
Noting that the department is relatively small with no depth, when any program
specialist is absent for any length of time, the enormous workload of that
specialist falls upon the Department Head, impacting the ability to carry out
expected executive responsibilities.
Given this and the desire to address the issues and challenges above, the need
for a Deputy appears easily justifiable. The Deputy would not only share the
current workload of the Director, but will also provide program specialists with
closer supervision, guidance, and assistance to maximize their effectiveness in
areas noted above. The Deputy will free the Director to focus on the broader
vision for the Department and the County, as well as take on special projects as
noted above.
The Deputy will greatly enhance the department's overall effectiveness. I would
be happy to elaborate on any of the above items if needed.
As I thank you for the opportunity to share the above thoughts, I also want to
thank you all for your much appreciated support that enabled us to accomplish
so much in a few short years.
Aloha,
C~
Jane Testa
Director
Cc: Mayor Harry Kim