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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0095.000 2004-2006 MYY Os y~ NRP.D C. HOLSCHUH ~ Phone: (808) 961-8264 eimn~innruiner FAX: (808) 961-8912 • " HAWA/`1 COUNTY COUNCIL kCC[I V CD Counh~ of Ha nwii ~ ` ~,p dime _ g _ !~1 Hnuvui Coun(r Budding S Aupuni SO~eet ~ ~ O Niln. Hnmuii 96730 February 2, 2005 MEMORANDUM TO: Gary Safarik, Chairman and Councilmembers FR:2'~ed C. Holschuh, M.D., Chair Human Services and Economic Development Committee RE: FY2005 - 2006 Nonprofit Grant Review This communication is to apprise Councilmembers, applicant nonprofit agencies, and the public of the upcoming grant review process undertaken by your Human Services and Economic Development Committee and to delineate the role of your HSEDC Chair, Vice-Chair, and support staff in evaluating applications for County grants. I. The Law The Hawaii County Code ("HCC"), §2-139 (Procedure for awarding grants), states: (a) All grants made to a nonprofit organization by the County shall be made in accordance with the following procedure: (1) Annually, before November 30, the director shall, for the purpose of soliciting applications, establish a sum of at least $900,000 to be available in the ensuing fiscal year for funding requests by nonprofit organizations. The director shall publish a notice soliciting applications in two newspapers of general circulation within the County of Hawaii by November 30. (2) All applications for grants shall be submitted to the director on or before January 31 preceding the County's fiscal year, which begins on July 1. Applications shall be prepared on forms provided by the director. Applications not in conformance with the requirements of the County Code may be rejected. (3) The director shall submit to the council all qualifying applications for its review and appropriation of funds. Site visitations of nonprofit organizations submitting complete applications shall be conducted after January 31 but prior to final action on the operating budget by the council. These site visitations shall be conducted in a manner that allows flexible councilmember participation and designated staff support. Comm. No. ~1 Ref. To. L Hau~ai'i Counm is an Equal Opportuni(r Provider and Emplgrer Ref. Uote II. Grant Review Process Copies of signed and eligible applications received by the Department of Finance will be forwarded to all Council members in the form of a spiral-bound booklet. All supporting (or pre-qualifying) documents such as financial statements, current audit, IRS Forms 990 and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt verification, current liability insurance certificate, articles of incorporation and by-laws will be maintained in the Department of Finance, but shall be available for inspection. The booklets will be distributed prior to the March interview/site visit dates. As in past years, publicly noticed interviews/site visits with eligible nonprofit applicants will be held in Hilo and in Kona. For FY2005-2006 cycle, the scheduled interview dates are Thursday, March 10, 2005 beginning at 8:00 a.m, in the Council Chambers at the Hawai i County Building in Hilo, and Thursday, March 17, 2005 beginning at 8:00 a.m. in the Kona Council Conference Room at the Kona council office. However, these dates and times may be changed and/or extended, depending on need. Site visits, if any, will be scheduled on the day following the interviews, as time allows. Generally speaking, the site visits will be limited to new programs/agencies. Historically, the purpose of such site visits has been to inspect facilities as needed, inquire about program objectives, and clarify any information not readily understood upon summary review of the application. Accordingly, a site visit is afact-finding undertaking, not a "meeting" or "decision- making" deliberation of a board. However, in conducting site visits, it is necessary for Council members to thoughtfully comply with relevant requirements of Chapter 92 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes ("HRS"), -Permitted Interactions of Members ("The Sunshine Law"). III. "The Sunshine Law" §9Z-Z. S, HRS, in pertinent part, states: (a) Two members of a board may communicate or interact privately between themselves to gather information from each other about official board matters to enable them to perform their duties faithfully, as long as no commitment to vote is made or sought. (b) Two or more members of a board, but less than the number of members which would constitute a quorum for the board, may be assigned to: (1) Investigate a matter relating to the official business of their board; provided that: (A) The scope of the investigation and the scope of each member's authority are defined at a meeting of the board; (B) All resulting findings and recommendations are presented to the board at a meeting of the board; and (C) Deliberation and decision-making on the matter investigated, if any, occurs only at a duly noticed meeting of the board held subsequent to the meeting at which the findings and recommendations of the investigation were presented to the board; or (Z) Present, discuss, or negotiate any position which the board has adopted at a meeting of the board; provided that the assignment is made and the scope of each member's authority is defined at a meeting of the board prior to the presentation, discussion or negotiation. (c) Discussions between two or more members of a board, but less than the number of members which would constitute a quorum for the board, concerning the selection of the board's officers may be conducted in private without limitation or subsequent reporting. For the purpose of assuring compliance with this section of Chapter 9Z, HRS, our HSEDC meeting of February 15, 2005 shall serve to notice °assignment" of the fact-finding group convened by the Human Services and Economic Development Committee. The fact-finding group shall be comprised of the undersigned HSEDC chair and HSEDC Vice-Chair Stacy Higa. HSEDC Committee Clerk Amy W. Miwa and Finance Committee Clerk Susan Caseria will provide support staff. A list of the scheduled interview/site visit dates and times will be provided to you prior to March 10, 2005. Because the agencies will not be appearing before the full council or committee, if you have questions or concerns regarding one or more of the agencies, you may wish to participate in their interview(s) and/or site visit(s). In order to comply with the Sunshine Law, I request that each Councilmember provide me sufficient notice of your intent to be present at any interview or site visit held during the period of March 10-19, 2005. With the consent of the Chair and the Council, I wish to reserve the right to deny the presence of five or more Councilmembers at any interview/site visit. Traditionally, this has never been a problem, as members have limited their presence during this assignment. IV. Recommendations from the November 23, 2004 HSEDC Committee Meeting: The following comments and recommendations were made during the November 23, 2004 HSEDC Committee meeting, wherein the FY2003-04 Final Report was summarized and discussed: (a) Identify those programs that are funded primarily through State purchase-of-service contracts and, if they are under-funded, make known the Council's support for full and necessary funding by the Legislature. Need to strongly indicate to the State that the County historically has "gone out on a limb" for many State-mandated programs and that we are the only County to do so. By Hawaii County's continued support of these programs, it is too easy for the ones who should provide the service to say that it is taken care of already. Perhaps HSAC should play a role in identifying the issue to the State. (b) Develop a focus and prioritization for grantee programs. Programs that focus on youth oriented activities and drug use prevention must be given the highest priority. (c) Need to be tougher on those agencies that have submitted incorrect and/or late reports in the past, and prevent such laxity by any agency from occurring in the future. (d) Refer transportation programs to Mass Transit, with the proviso that Mass Transit will be including the programs in its future budgets. (e) Mandate that agencies no longer depend on the nonprofit grant program for monies. The agencies should became self sustaining, and if not able to do so, the agency must show proof of strong and viable fundraising efforts and its attempts to become self sustaining. (f) Provide workshops and /or other educational forums for agencies. Without education and other ways to build up programs, it is self-defeating. (g) Reduce focus on homeless and stop giving handouts. Instead, focus on programs that aid and/or benefit the hardworking poor, those who try hard and work, but still need help are deserving of recognition and assistance. As in past years, all findings and corrected application information gathered by the fact-finding group will be assembled in a single communication to Councilmembers for its committee meeting on April 19, 2005 to deliberate on recommended FY2005-2006 nonprofit appropriations. I hope this procedural announcement is helpful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. FCH/awm 3