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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0908.001 2010-2012 ,s Phone: (808)323-4277 BRENDA J. FORD - •:�` ''" */, _• Council Member _ r Fax: (808)329- 4786 District 7- Central Kona ••4'o.•�:� E-Mail: bford @co.hawaii.hi.us HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL County of Hawaii West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy. w , Kailua-Kona,Hawaii 96740 DATE: November 20, 2012 TO: Dominic Yagong, Chairperson, • And Members of the Hawai`i County Council co FROM: rBrenda J. Ford, Council Member v`� SUBJECT: Resolution No. 323-12 Attached please find an email testimony from James A. Kawachika, Esquire that I am submitting into the record regarding the above-referenced resolution. Please number and distribute at tomorrow's council meeting. Thank you. BJF/ • Comm.N- � • • Ref.To: • Ref.Date • f I 1 t: Serving the Interests of the People of Our Island Hawaii County Is An Equal Opportunity Provider And Employer Page.l of 2 Murashige, Laura From: James A. Kawachika[JAK©opglaw.com] Sent: Tuesday,November 20,2012 2:02 PM { l E ��` �` To: 'counciltestimony©co.hawaii.hi.us' Subject:A RESOLUTION REQUIRING IMMEDIATE PAYMENT FOR LEGAL SERVICES RENDERED IN GOOD FAITH TO THE HAWAI'ICOUNTY COUNCIL Dear Hawaii County Council Members: I write in full support of and urge your passage of Council Member Brenda Ford's proposed "Resolution Requiring Immediate Payment for Legal.Services Rendered in Good Faith to the Hawai'i County Council", which I understand will be heard by you this Wednesday,.11/21/12, at 9:00 a.m. The payment of my,invoice to the.Hawai'i County is,among other things,the subject of the resolution. In January of this year,I was contacted and employed by County.Clerk Jamae Kawauchi and Chair Dominic Yagong to provide certain legal analysis and advice to them and presumably the County Council. While I am constrained by the attorney-client privilege to disclose what I was employed to do and did,I can tell you that I was asked to perform my services in a compressed period of time; namely,my analysis and opinion were being sought on virtually need-to-know- immediately basis. I'therefore rearranged other things that were on my job plate at the time in order to accomodate this assignment. I was then further asked to come to Hilo to meet with the Chair and the Clerk and possibly the County Council to discuss my analysis and opinion. While I hesitated to.do so because of other urgent matters pending in my.office at the time and did so inform the Chair and the Clerk and suggested instead that I would make myself available by telephone,because of their continued insistence, I reluctantly flew to Hilo and spent the better part of the day there,all at my own expense. Needless to say, at all times, I was, of course, acting in the good faith belief that I had been properly employed and would be paid for my services and advanced costs if I undertook the assignment. The Chair and the Clerk certainly had apparent, if not actual,authority to hire me. Had I been told that either the status of my employment for this assignment or the payment of my'fees and any advanced costs was in doubt, I would not have undertaken the assignment. To say the least, I was therefore very dismayed and disappointed to hear much later, after all of my work had been completed,that my invoice for services and costs was being rejected because of some problem over the procurement of my services. That is understandably an issue over which I had and have no control; it involves presumably a dispute between Chair and the Clerk and.the County Corporation Counsel. I do not know the ins and outs of that issue or problem nor do I,quite frankly,particularly care. I did the work that was asked of me upon the clear understanding and reliance that I would be paid for my services. 'The Clerk and Chair benefitted from those services and yet I stand now totally uncompensated and actually further in the hole for having advanced costs to come to Hilo at their behest. I think you can readily see what's wrong with this picture and the point need not be belabored further. I can only hope that the County,Council and the administration will now do the right thing. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to provide you with this testimony. Very truly yours, James A. Kawachika 11/20/2012 , rage 2 of 2 James A. Kawachika, Esq. O'CONNOR PLAYDON &GUBEN LLP Pacific Guardian Center—Makai Tower 733 Bishop St.—24th Floor Honolulu HI 96813 Telephone: (808) 544-8609 Fax: (808)531-8628 Email Address:jakaopalaw.com Website:www.opg law.com CONFIDENTIALITY: The information contained in this e-mail message is confidential and is intended only for the intended recipient(s). This e-mail message may be an attorney-client communication and, as such, is privileged and confidential. If the reader of this e-mail message is not the intended recipient(or the person responsible for the delivery of this e-mail message to an intended recipient),you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error, and that any reuse, review,,printing, dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail message in error, please reply to the sender that you have received the message in error and delete it without printing it or making any copies of it. Thank you. 11/20/2012