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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0010.005 2012-2014 DENNIS "FRESH"ONISHI Mt�:of N �p�•��, � PHONE: (808)961-8396 ; •5* FAX: (808)961-8912 Council Member .; �•;i. '�:«' �.. EMAIL:donishi @co.hawaii.hi.us District 3 HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL 25 Aupuni Street,Hilo,Hawai`i 96720 MEMORANDUM .., Qn 0 DATE: May 7, 2013 TO: J Yoshimoto, Council Chair .41 `in And Members of the Hawai`i County Council rf. FROM: ' Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Council Member SUBJECT: Minutes of the April 26, 2013, Hawai`i State Association of Counties Executive Committee Meeting. Attached are the minutes of the Hawai`i State Association of Counties Executive Committee meeting, held April 26, 2013, in Honolulu. Please place this item on the agenda for the next available Committee meeting. DO:ps Att. Comm. No., /0, 5 Ref.To: 67 f2-f O C Hawai`i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Ref. Dote MAY 0 7 2013 Hawaii St&:tte Association of Coun.ts Counties of Kauai,Maui and Hawaii,City &County of Honolulu / 61M�• tiff 'p MINUTES HSAC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING April 26, 2013 Honolulu Hale, Council Committee Room Honolulu, Hawaii F§ ii spppppp p I. CALL TO ORDER t The HSAC Executive Committee was called to order by President Mel Rapozo at ii ii 10:08 a.m. The following members comprising a quorum were present: 4 County of Kauai: President Mel Rapozo County of Hawaii: Vice President Dennis "Fresh" Onishi i ti ti City and County of Honolulu: Secretary Stanley Chang County of Maui: Treasurer Michael Victorino Others Present: Maui County Council Chair Gladys Baisa Honolulu staff Kimberl y Ribellia Honolulu staff Steve Uyeno Honolulu staff Denisse Gee Kauai staff Ashley Bunda , Maui staff Kirsten Hamman Christian Andersen, Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES) ' John Hamilton, PISCES 0 Rob Kelso, PISCES i t II, APPROVAL OF AGENDA The Committee approved the agenda. �. !_i H 1 ��' 3t3'or'§+Lt"4Sis9YG.�t".3fIDi,'#Y ":2.-m,.. '..::.:nwwe�n m[.w'1:�3&'T.w: 3'r"EYymu :...,,1R3°.P:.s'o:?i.. ..v,::.19// A/-'1'' :-.✓✓,/.LSp..... TM�Zi':,.%v nrP ,,,,._'du';'.,G/,,,zfliE2.d:'.. sTaf.E".fo- .&"...1.1v6S.2'.�_.,,.n.., OCS/050113/08:18/CT III. MINUTES The Committee approved the minutes of the March 19, 2013, Executive Committee meeting. IV. REPORTS A. Treasurer's Report The following item was approved by the Executive Committee: 1. Treasurer's Report for March 2013, as submitted by the HSAC Treasurer. Treasurer Victorino proposed that the Committee schedule a future agenda item to discuss the use of a HSAC credit card by the corporation for HSAC related expenses. President Rapozo agreed that the Committee should discuss in depth the policies and procedures that should be in place before the issuance of a HSAC credit card. B. County Reports 1. Maui County Report. Treasurer Victorino reported that the Council is in the midst of budget deliberations. 2 Hawaii County Report. Vice President Onishi reported that the Council has been conducting departmental budget hearings and highlighted for the Committee that public safety related agencies have the largest new FTE and related expenses budget requests. He concluded by reporting that the County's Department of Information Technology is proposing a significant County IT system upgrade which is estimated to cost between $1 to $2 million. 3. City and County of Honolulu Report, Secretary Chang reported that the Councilmembers have submitted their proposed CD2s to the budget bills for consideration by the Budget Committee. He further reported that Council passed and the Mayor signed Bill 72 (2012) which bans smoking at certain beach parks He stated that there are two follow-up bills to Bill 72 (2012), one of which makes a technical, conforming change recommended by Corporation Counsel for implementation purposes and one sponsored by Honolulu Councilmember Ikaika Anderson which proposes to ban smoking at all City parks. He concluded by reporting that the Mayor signed into ordinance Bill 3 (2013) which addresses property blighting by encouraging compliance with City laws relating to the clearing of weeds, garbage, trash, and waste from property. 2 4. Kauai County Report. President Rapozo reported that the Council is deliberating on the Mayor's proposed budget which increases the property tax, fuel tax, registration tax, and commercial tipping fees to generate revenues totaling $14 million. He noted that the Mayor's budget did not reduce any personnel FTEs or costs. He stated that he personally informed the Mayor that he would prefer if the Mayor's budget had included a 20 percent reduction in personnel or duplication of services rather than burden Kauai's taxpayers with increased taxes and fees. C. NACo Report. There was no NACo report. D. WIR Report. Vice President Onishi requested the Committee to transmit a letter to Hawaii County Council Chair J. Yoshimoto attesting that it is mandatory that Vice President Onishi attend the WIR annual conference being held May 22 — 24, 2013, in Flagstaff, Arizona in his capacity as a WIR Board of Director. In response to a query, he responded that Hawaii County Council Chair Yoshimoto has yet to approve his request for Council monies to attend the WIR conference. V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Discussion and approval of a Communication from Treasurer Michael P Victorino regarding a Bylaw Amendment to include ground transportation under the definition of"travel expenses." This item was approved. B. Presentation by the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES). Mr. Rob Kelso, PISCES Executive Director, informed the Committee that PISCES is a state agency based in Hilo and organized administratively under the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) to develop alliance programs between the state and federal government, private corporations, and the international community at-large as related to the state's burgeoning aerospace industry. Mr. Kelso provided an overview of PISCES°s internal organization, FY 2014 state legislative proposed budget. and current private-public partnerships within the state: business community, and the international 3 community. He identified the emerging opportunities that PISCES has identified, as follows: 1) Advanced communications technologies; 2) 3-D Printing enabling technologies; 3) Robotics; 4) Construction materials research; 5) Prospecting/mining technologies for planetary surfaces; 6) Education and public outreach; and 7) Aerospace Technology Park. He concluded by requesting Committee support for the PISCES-hosted 2013 Hawaii Aerospace Summit to be held in November in Kona. He outlined the five proposed plenary panels, as follows: 1) Political Commitment and Direction; 2) Economic Development; 3) Education and Skills Curriculum Development; 4) Cultural Impact; and 5) Technology Industry Growth. Specifically, he requested Committee members to outreach to their respective communities to propose speakers, plenary panel members, and attendees for the Summit. Vice President Onishi informed the Committee that he intended to schedule PISCES to present to all four Counties' Directors of Emergency Management in regards to its civil defense related projects and use of solar panels in the event of natural disasters. Mr. Kelso stated that although PISCES is based in Hilo, the strategic partnerships and projects that PISCES develop have significant relevance to the entire state and Vice President's Onishi's proposed presentations to the Counties is a prime example of PISCES's statewide impact. This item was received and filed. C. Communication from Maui County Clerk Jeffrey T. Kuwada relating to the Maui County Council's appointment of Maui Councilmember Michael P. Victorino as its HSAC representative, Maui Councilmember G. Riki Hokama as his alternate and nomination of Maui Councilmember Michael P. Victorino as a NACo Board of Director. This item was received and filed. D. Communication from Kauai County Council Chair Jay Furfaro approval of Kauai Councilmember Mel Rapozo as its HSAC representative, Kauai Councilmember Ross Kagawa as his alternate, Kauai Councilmember Gary L. Hooser as a NACo Board of Director, Kauai Councilmember Mel Rapozo as a WIR Board of Director, and its approval of the FY 2014 HSAC proposed operating budget. This item was filed received and filed. 4 E. Communication from HSAC Vice President Dennis "Fresh" Onishi relating to Hawaii County Council's approval of the FY 2014 HSAC proposed operating budget. This item was received and filed. F Discussion relating to the FY 2013 state legislative session and future state legislative sessions. Maui County Council Chair Gladys Baisa provided an overview of her experience in legislative matters on the state and county level. She stated she has been a Councilmember for Maui County since 2007 and has observed the declining trend of the Counties' lobbying influence over the state Legislature. She stated that she believes that the Counties and HSAC are at a critical point in time to revive and reclaim its influence and position at the state Legislature. She proposed that the Counties collectively meet to discuss and determine the Counties' 2014 state Legislative package shortly after this year's sine die. She further proposed that the Counties meet collectively with the four Mayors to discuss the 2014 Counties' legislative package. She emphasized that a coordinated effort between the four County's legislative and executive branches is a necessity to strengthen the Counties' lobbying efforts on the state level. She concluded that HSAC has incredible power that has not yet been effectively organized and utilized. She stated that the two critical issues facing the Counties are the transient accommodation tax (commonly known as "TAT') and federal sequestration. She emphasized that if the Counties do not present a united front at the state Legislature with a comprehensive legislative package that protects the Counties' interests, then the state will pass along the financial burdens imposed by federal sequestration and continue to reduce the Counties' share of the TAT. She stated that Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa may be open to the use of Maui County's de facto lobbyist, former Maui County Council Chair Danny Mateo, at no charge to represent HSAC at the state legislature. President Rapozo agreed that HSAC's potential power has yet been effectively harnessed, but stated that the sticking point has been the identification and hiring of the right lobbyist. He stated that Kauai County hired a contract lobbyist to represent its interests this legislative session with extremely disappointing results. Treasurer Victorino pointed out that current HSAC bylaws stated that each Mayor is an ex-officio, nonvoting member of HSAC. Maui County Council Chair Baisa and President Rapozo both agreed that the four County 5 Mayors should be invited to attend and participate at future HSAC meetings and in the development of a coordinated 2014 County legislative package. This item was received and filed. G. Discussion relating to the policy for the use of the funds estimated in the "NACo Prescription Drug Marketing Fee" line item in the FY 2014 HSAC operating budget. This item was deferred. VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Schedule next meeting. The next Executive Committee meeting was scheduled for May 6, 2013 at Honolulu Hale. B. Other Announcements. There were no other announcements. VIII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:16 a.m. Very truly yours, /111e111=217 STANLEY ANG Secretary Hawaii State Association of Counties 6