HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0597.002 2008-2010
KENNETH G. GOODENOW OF RODNEY OSHIRO
County Clerk Deputy County Clerk
Mailing Address: •+f•t~'~~`
(Former County Building) ~Tt oF'i+?~ Business Address:
25 Aupuni Street 333 Kilauea Avenue, Second Floor
Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Ben Franklin Building
County Of Hawai `i Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Office of the County Clerk
Telephone: (808) 961-8255 Facsimile: (808) 961-8912
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November 12, 2009
J Yoshimoto, Chair
and Council Members
Hawaii County Council
25 Aupuni Street ;
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Re: Resolution 267-09
Dear Chair Yoshimoto and Council Members:
Thank you for this opportunity to provide my comments relating to Resolution 267-09 which would
amend your Rules of Procedure and Organization by replacing the requirement that the Council hold an
equal number of Committee and Council meetings in East and West Hawaii (subject to meeting
location availability in West Hawaii and adequate personnel, equipment, and support services to
comply with statutory, legal and processing deadlines) with the provision of County Charter section 3-7
which mandates that the Council shall meet at least quarterly in the judicial district of North or South
Kona.
The Office of the County Clerk provided the average cost of our meetings in Hilo and Kona to
Councilmember Ikeda at his request. These figures were based upon the actual costs incurred in Fiscal
Year 2008-09 for twelve meetings in Hilo and twelve meetings in Kona. The following chart provides a
breakdown of the average meeting costs per site:
Hilo Kona
Lodging: $633 $2,765
Meals and per diem: $186 $1,291
Mileage: $ 32 $ 291
Travel Related Overtime: $ 0 $ 334
Meeting Room: $ 0 $1,122
Extra Video-Recording Costs: $ 0 $1,362
TOTAL: $851 $7,165
Comm. No..~ q 7, Z
Serving the Interests of the People of Our Island Ref. TO:
Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Ref. Date NOV 18 2009
Testimony Re: Resolution 267-09
November 12, 2009
Page 2
These figures do not include flex-time used by Council district appointed staff for travel. Travel to
Kona in our Clerk's Office van and other County vehicles are not incorporated into the expenses listed
above.
Given the figures above, the approximate cost savings of reverting to four Kona meetings per year
would be $51,000. This represents approximately 5% of our non-salary-and-wages expenses for the
current fiscal year.
On average 3.6 persons traveled to Hilo and stayed two nights in a hotel for Hilo meetings. There
were on average 13.5 persons who traveled to Kona for Kona meetings, however not all stayed
overnight both nights. For example the Committee and Council Services employees typically only
spend one night in Kona. Also, district staff from Waimea and Ka`u travelled to Kona and generated
mileage and hotel costs which are part of the 13.5 average person figure and the expenses listed above.
While the Office of the County Clerk takes no position on this resolution, I do note that substantial
costs were incurred to provide video-conferencing equipment and connection to our various sites so that
meetings could take place via video-conferencing and our State's Sunshine Law provides for multiple
site video-conferenced meetings. I also offer the following comment: Hypothetically, if an agenda
listed Kona as the main meeting site and properly noticed the meeting as having video-conference
member participation from Hilo, the Chair and Hilo staff could conduct the meeting form Hilo and still
meet the Kona meeting requirement.
Thank you again for this opportunity to comment.
Respectfully,
Kenneth G. Goodenow