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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0010.008 2012-2014 •Y Ofp '•, °"•'l'''' .,' PHONE: (808)961-8396 DENNIS "FRESH"ONISHI ` � le; FAX: (808)961-8912 Council Member EMAIL:donishi @co.hawaii.hi.us District 3 _oF M►'�� HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL o 25 Aupuni Street,Hilo,Hawai`i 96720 n C) MEMORANDUM Ev c =£ --� ,—G DATE: August 23, 2013 -ter Fri TO: J Yoshimoto, Chair And Members of the Hawai`i County Council FROM: ;'Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Council Member SUBJECT: Hawaii State Association of Counties Executive Committee minutes for July 26, 2013. Attached is a copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Hawai`i State Association of Counties Executive Committee that was held July 26, 2013, in Honolulu. Please place this on the next available committee agenda. DO:ps Att. Comm. No. 10. 2 Ref.To: et/204 _ Hawai`i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Ref. Dote AA 6 Z ZOO d(awaii State Association o Coun 'e9 Counties of Kauai,Maui and Hawaii,City &County of Honolulu 1 to otitti 9 aS F MINUTES HSAC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING July 26, 2013 Kalana 0 Maui Building 200 South High Street, 7th Floor Wailuku, Hawaii L I. CALL TO ORDER li The HSAC Executive Committee was called to order by President Mel Rapozo at g' 10:10 a.m. The following members comprising a quorum were present: I County of Kauai: President Mel Rapozo County of Hawaii: Vice President Dennis "Fresh" Onishi i City and County of Honolulu: Secretary Stanley Chang i County of Maui: Treasurer Michael Victorino Others Present: Maui County Council Chair Gladys Baisa Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa o. Honolulu staff Steve Uyeno Honolulu staff Denisse Gee Kauai staff Ashley Bunda f' Maui staff Kirsten Hamman Maui staff Danny Mateo Maui staff Joseph Pontanilla i 1 II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA ,f The Committee approved the agenda. 4'd III. MINUTES r, The Committee approved the minutes of the June 20, 2013, Executive x ,"*" '°4., Committee meeting. YN,. 11 . / .‘ .4:4«<oxx. .� ,..�. . .�°c ...«n..,.,«n-,>,«_,- ..e..,.,.�.� u�, .,,.,�-;.a:..-.,�• IV. REPORTS A. Treasurer's Report The following item was approved by the Executive Committee? 1. Treasurer's Report for June 2013 as submitted by the HSAC Treasurer. B. County Reports 1. Maui County Report. Treasurer Victorino reported that the Council and the Mayor's office have been working collaboratively on its combined 2014 state legislative package. He further reported that the Mayor and the Council Chair have been instrumental in formulating a cohesive and cooperative County legislative package to advance during the 2014 state legislative session. 2. Hawaii County Report. Vice President Onishi reported that the Council recently held a public hearing on Bill 79, which bans the propagation, cultivation, raising, growing, sale or distribution of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in the entire County that lasted two days because of the number of testifiers on both sides of the issue. He informed the Committee that another hearing on Bill 79 is expected to be scheduled next Monday. 3. City and County of Honolulu Report. Secretary Chang reported that the Council has been deliberating on a number of measures, including 10 first reading bills initiated by the Mayor which make notable changes to Honolulu's property tax structure and third reading Bill 65 (2012) to adopt the Ewa Development Plan. He concluded by informing the Committee that the Mayor signed Bill 25 (2013) and Bill 28 (2013) which prohibit smoking at all public parks. 4. Kauai County Report. President Rapozo reported that the Council will be holding a public hearing on July 31 to take public testimony on HB 2491 relating to GMOs. He informed the Committee that the Council expects over 1,000 testifiers at the public hearing. He concluded by reporting that, similar to the City and County of Honolulu, the Council is expected to deliberate on its own series of real property tax restructuring measures. C. NACo Report. Secretary Chang reported that Maui Councilmember G. Riki Hokama was sworn in as NACo 1st Vice President at the most recent NACo annual conference held July 19-22 in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas. He further reported that El Paso County Commissioner Sally Clarke from the state of Colorado won the most recent NACo 2"d 2 Vice President election. He concluded by informing the Committee that "The Next Generation Network," of which he is Vice President, became an official affiliate of NACo at the most recent NACo annual conference. D. WIR Report. Vice President Onishi reported that he attended the May 22, 2013, WIR Board of Directors meeting held in Flagstaff, Coconino County, Arizona. He further reported that the primary topics discussed were Land Use Management, National Parklands and the broad effects of federal sequestration on county government. V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Discussion relating to the policy for the use of estimated funds derived from the "NACo Prescription Drug Marketing Fee" line item in FY 2014. This item was deferred. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Communication from President Rapozo and Kauai County Council Chair Jay Furfaro regarding the 2013 HSAC annual conference report. President Rapozo summarized the written annual conference reports submitted by Kauai County. He highlighted that the 2013 HSAC annual conference made a profit of$22,082.97 which will be remitted to the HSAC Treasurer. This item was received and filed. B. Discussion relating to the HSAC Lobbying Plan for the 2014 state Legislative session, as approved by the Executive Committee on May 6, 2013. Maui Mayor Arakawa and Maui County Council Chair Balsa opined that the most critical component of any successful lobbying plan for a county- driven state legislative package is the close collaboration between the counties' executive and legislative branches. They proposed that the four Council Chairs, four Mayors and four Committee officers meet and discuss their united lobbying strategy prior to the start of the 2014 legislative session, Mayor Arakawa opined that the primary mission of HSAC is to provide a united and collaborative forum through which the four counties may advance their state legislative proposals. Vice President Onishi stated that Committee members are the most effective representatives to lobby cross-county legislative proposals and emphasized the importance of the availability of HSAC funds to pay for the 3 travel expenses for Committee members to travel to Honolulu to lobby state and federal elected officials in person. President Rapozo added that it can be easier for individual counties to push their legislative proposals through the state Legislature because a single county's package will be smaller and more focused than HSAC's cross-county legislative package which must represent the length and breadth of all four counties' interests. Secretary Chang proposed that the Committee re-examine the hiring of a full-time, permanent HSAC Executive Director (ED) who would also serve as HSAC's primary lobbyist. He opined that the expense to hire an ED would be a worthwhile investment for HSAC when balanced against the potential lobbying presence at the state Legislature. Vice President Onishi proposed that each individual county contribute to the cost of hiring an ED or lobbyist along with HSAC. Secretary Chang proposed that the monies or a portion thereof, derived from the NACo Prescription Drug Marketing Fee Program be used to hire an ED or lobbyist. Maui County Council Chair Baisa informed the Committee that when Maui County researched the cost to hire a private lobbyist, estimated contract costs totaled $30K to $40K. Treasurer Victorino emphasized that the most important take-away from this discussion is the importance of a united four county effort. He further opined that a single point person to represent county interests would be an invaluable lobbying tool at the state Legislature. Vice President Onishi reminded the Committee that the HSAC Legislative package should represent a collaboration between the four counties and opined that the 2014 package should be tightly focused and with fewer individual legislative measures than prior years. President Rapozo reminded the Committee that it has already approved Maui Mayor Arakawa and Maui County Council Chair's joint proposal regarding the HSAC Lobbying Plan for the 2014 state Legislative session on May 6, 2013. He proposed that Maui Mayor Arakawa and Maui County Council Chair create a HSAC Legislative Liaison job description, including a proposed compensation package, to submit for the Committee's discussion and approval. This item was received and filed. President Rapozo requested that this agenda item be scheduled again for a future Committee meeting to discuss further. 4 VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Schedule next meeting. The next Executive Committee meeting was scheduled to be held on August 23, 2013 at Honolulu Hale. B. Other announcements. There were no other announcements. VIII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:25 p.m. Very truly yours, STANLEY CH Secretary Hawaii State Association of Counties 5