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REPORT OF THE <br />COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS <br />DATE May 31, 2011 <br />PLACE Council Chambers <br />Hilo, Hawaii <br />TIME 10 37 a m <br />Council Chair and Members <br />Hawaii County Council <br />Hilo, Hawaii 96720 <br />Re Comm 208/Res 77 -11 <br />Your Committee on Governmental Relations, to which was referred Comm 208 (Res 77 -11) <br />reports as follows <br />Resolution 77 -11, transmitted by Councilmember Brittany Smart, via Communication No 208, <br />dated May 26, 2011, recommends approval to establish a Sister City relationship between Ormoc <br />City, Philippines and Hawaii County <br />Councilmember Smart noted that Comm 208 1 contained supplemental documents including a <br />Letter of Support from Mayor Cordilla of Ormoc City, a Letter of Support from Mayor Kenoi <br />and a copy of the day's PowerPoint presentation Ms Smart also discussed Comm 208 2 which <br />were non - substantive amendments that among other things deleted typographical errors and <br />provided citation sources After the County Clerk confirmed that the amendments were <br />non - substantive in nature, a vote of 7 -0 approved the set of amendments <br />Committee Chair Pilago introduced the Filipino presenters including Jane Clement, President of <br />the Coalition of Visayan Organizations, Edgar Francisco, President of West Hawaii Visayan <br />Civic Club and Lrto Ilagan, member of the Hilo Visayan Civic Club Ms Clement and her team <br />then elaborated on the PowerPoint presentation <br />Councilmember Ikeda expressed support for the resolution and so moved by the example of <br />Ormoc City being almost 100% reliant on geothermal energy that he wanted HELCO to buy <br />100% of the electricity that geothermal energy could provide for Hawaii County He encouraged <br />the formation of a high school student exchange between the Philippines and Hawaii County <br />Council Chair Yagong expressed his support for this resolution and noted his Visayan and Cebu <br />heritage Councilmember Blas voiced support for this resolution and noted the cultural <br />connection between Guam and the Philippines <br />Committee Chair Pilago noted that there is one mayor impediment to implementation which was <br />a Hawaii State Association of Counties (HSAC) guideline limiting one Sister City relationship <br />per County for the Sister City signing presentation to be held in September at the 2011 Asia <br />Pacific Clean Energy Summit & Expo He referred to the Kumejima, Japan Sister City resolution <br />passed earlier this year and noted that a lobbying effort for Ormoc City should begin Following <br />the discussion a vote was taken with the vote recorded as 7 — 0 <br />