Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 291 Draft 01 2012-2014 �JM<Y oc M,yY1 COUNTY OF HAWAII' / STATE OF HAWAII RESOLUTION NO. 291 14 A RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE RULES OF PROCEDURE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII BY AMENDING RULE NO. 2, MEETINGS, RELATING TO ROLL CALL. WHEREAS, the Rules of Procedure and Organization of the Council of the County of Hawai`i ("the Rules") govern the affairs of the Council of the County of Hawai`i ("Council"); and WHEREAS, the Rules were duly adopted as provided in Resolution No. 4-12, Draft 2, during the initial convening of the Council on December 3, 2012; and WHEREAS, the Council currently only acknowledges the Hawaiian language in its meetings by allowing a Council Member to vote "kanalua," to communicate that the Council Member is voting with"reservations, pro or con" ; and WHEREAS, other than registering his or her vote, a Council Member is only obligated to speak in response to the roll call; and WHEREAS, Council Members most often respond to the roll call by replying either "present" or"here"; and WHEREAS, the Hawai`i State Constitution, Article XV, Section 4 "Official Languages" states that English and Hawaiian are official languages of Hawai`i; and WHEREAS, the Council wishes to further recognize that Hawaiian is the host culture and is the official language of the State of Hawai`i; and WHEREAS,the Rules do not provide guidance on acceptable responses to the roll call; and WHEREAS, to clearly define acceptable responses to the roll call and as a matter of deference to the host culture, the Council finds that the Rules should be amended to state that a Council Member may respond to the roll call by replying "eo," "present," or "here"; and WHEREAS, language of Rule No. 2 to be deleted is bracketed and stricken and language to be added is underscored, as indicated in the attached Exhibit A; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that Rule No. 2 of the Rules of Procedure and Organization of the Council of the County of Hawai`i is hereby amended as indicated in the attached Exhibit A. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall provide to all appropriate parties those pages of the Rules that have been amended to replace the pages of the Rules made obsolete by the adoption of this resolution. Dated at Kona , Hawai`i, this 19th day of February , 2014 INTRODUCED BY: 1/.... 11 2 ' ' Allr . ' C$ CIL\ME BER,COUNTY OF HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL ROLL CALL VOTE County of Hawai`i AYES NOES ABS EX Hilo, Hawai`i EOFF X FORD X I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by ILAGAN X the vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the KANUHA County of Hawaii on February 19, 2014 X KERN X ONISHI X ATTEST: POINDEXTER X WILLE X YOSHIMOTO X f 9 0 0 0 _.— Reference: C-650/Council COUNTY CLERK CHAIRPERSON & PRESIDING OFFICER RESOLUTION NO. 291 1-4 2 EXHIBIT A RULE NO. 2 MEETINGS 1. Regular Council Meetings. The Council shall meet regularly at least twice in every month at the place and time designated by the Council. Whenever possible, the meetings will be scheduled on the first and third Wednesday of each month. The Council shall hold an equal number of meetings in East and West Hawai`i. To the extent possible public testimony shall begin at the designated time on the agenda. Absent extenuating circumstances, ceremonial and other matters customarily handled in advance of Statements from the Public shall be handled prior to the time stated in the agenda for public testimony and shall be placed on the agenda. 2. Special Meetings. Special meetings may be called by the Chairperson or a majority of the Council. (a) Notice of any special meeting must be filed in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor or the Office of the County Clerk at least six calendar days before the meeting, and also meet all other requirements of HRS 92-7. (b) An agenda for the special meeting shall be posted on the official bulletin board for the Council for public inspection, and, if possible, on the website. 3. Committee Meetings. Except as otherwise provided, those Standing Committees having referrals shall meet on the day preceding a regular Council meeting or at other places and/or times designated by the Council. 4. Executive Meetings. (a) Allowable Purposes for an Executive Meeting. The Council may hold a meeting closed to the public: (1) For one or more of the purposes set forth in HRS 92-5, which are: (A) To consider and evaluate personal information relating to individuals applying for professional or vocational licenses; (B) To consider the hiring, evaluation, dismissal, or discipline of an officer or employee or of charges brought against the officer or employee, where consideration of matters affecting privacy will be involved provided that if the individual concerned requests an open meeting, an open meeting shall be held; (C) To deliberate concerning the authority of persons designated by the Council or Committee members to conduct labor negotiations or to negotiate the acquisition of public property, or during the conduct of such negotiations; (D) To consult with the board's attorney on questions and issues pertaining to the board's powers, duties,privileges, immunities, and liabilities; (E) To investigate proceedings regarding criminal misconduct; (F) To consider sensitive matters related to public safety or security; (G) To consider matters relating to the solicitation and acceptance of private donations; and (H) To deliberate or make a decision upon a matter that requires the consideration of information that must be kept confidential pursuant to a state or federal law, or a court order; or (2) Where personal matters affecting the privacy of an individual are to be considered and the individual involved requests a closed meeting to consider such matter(Hawai`i County Charter, section 13-20(b)). (b) Votes Required to Enter An Executive Meeting. The Council or its standing Committees may hold an executive meeting closed to the public upon an affirmative vote, taken at an open meeting, of two-thirds of the members present; provided the affirmative vote constitutes a majority of the members to which the Council or Committee is entitled. A meeting closed to the public shall be limited to matters exempted by HRS 92-5 and in (a) above. The reason for holding such a meeting shall be publicly announced and the vote of each member on the question of holding a meeting closed to the public shall be recorded, and entered into the minutes of the meeting. Chart of Minimum Required Votes Members 2/3 of Required Present Membership Votes 9 6 6 8 5.33 6 7 4.66 5 6 4 5 5 3.33 5 (c) Any resultant official action shall be acted upon in open meeting in accordance with section 13-20(b) of the Hawai`i County Charter. (d) Per Corporation Counsel (June 2011), an Executive Meeting is terminated when the purpose of the meeting has been fulfilled. (e) The references for this section are HRS 92-4 and 92-5. 5. Emergency Meetings. (a) Imminent Peril. If the Council finds that an imminent peril to the public health, safety, or welfare requires a meeting in less time than is provided for in section 92-7, the Council may hold an emergency meeting provided that: (1) The Council states in writing the reasons for its findings; (2) Two-thirds of all members to which the Council is entitled agree that the findings are correct and an emergency exists; (3) An emergency agenda and the findings are filed with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor or the Office of the County Clerk; and (4) Persons requesting notification on a regular basis are contacted by mail or telephone as soon as practicable. (b) Unanticipated Event. If an unanticipated event requires a Council to take action on a matter over which it has supervision, control,jurisdiction, or advisory power, within less time than is provided for in section 92-7 to notice and convene a meeting of the Council, the Council may hold an emergency meeting to deliberate and decide whether and how to act in response to the unanticipated event, provided that: (1) The Council states in writing the reasons for its finding that an unanticipated event has occurred and that an emergency meeting is necessary and the attorney general concurs that the conditions necessary for an emergency meeting under this subsection exist; (2) Two-thirds of all members to which the Council is entitled agree that the conditions necessary for an emergency meeting under this subsection exist; (3) The finding that an unanticipated event has occurred and that an emergency meeting is necessary and the agenda for the emergency meeting under this subsection are filed with the office of the lieutenant governor or the appropriate county clerk's office, and in the Council's office; (4) Persons requesting notification on a regular basis are contacted by mail or telephone as soon as practicable; and (5) The Council limits its action to only that action which must be taken on or before the date that a meeting would have been held, had the Council noticed the meeting pursuant to section 92-7. For purposes of this part, an "unanticipated event" means: (A) An event which members of the Council did not have sufficient advance knowledge of or reasonably could not have known about from information published by the media or information generally available in the community; (B) A deadline established by a legislative body, a court, or a federal, state, or county agency beyond the control of a Council; or (C) A consequence of an event for which reasonably informed and knowledgeable Council members could not have taken all necessary action. (c) The reference for this section is HRS 92-8. 6. Videoconference Meetings. (a) The Committees and Council may hold videoconference meetings provided that: (1) If a Council Member wishes to attend a meeting via videoconference, a written request shall be submitted to the Council or Committee Chairperson as well as simultaneously to all members of the Council, and approval obtained prior to the agenda deadline for that meeting. The Chairperson shall handle the request in the following manner: (A) The request shall only be granted for compelling, urgent or unusual circumstances; (B) The request shall be read on the record prior to public testimony and be recorded in the minutes; (C) In case an emergency unexpectedly necessitates missing a Council or Committee meeting, the Council Member shall advise the Chairperson and the other Council Members as soon as possible; and (D) The Chairperson of the meeting shall make an announcement prior to public testimony to explain the reason for the Council Member's absence. (2) The public notice required by HRS section 92-7 shall specify the name of each Council or Committee member and their physical location during the videoconference. If a Committee or Council member is not present at the noticed location of the videoconference that Council member shall not be allowed to deliberate or vote during that meeting; (3) Any Committee or Council member participating in a duly noticed meeting via videoconference shall be considered present at that meeting for the purpose of determining compliance with the quorum and voting requirements of the Committee or Council meeting; and (4) The videoconference system allows both audio and visual interaction between all members of the Council or Committee participating in the meeting and the public attending the meeting. (See exception in subsection (b) (2)) (b) Termination of a videoconference meeting. (1) A meeting held by videoconference shall be terminated if, after the meeting convenes, both the audio and video communication cannot be maintained with all locations where the meeting is being held, even if a quorum of the Council or Committee members is physically present in one location, however; (2) A meeting may be continued by audio communication alone, if: (A) All visual aids required by, or brought to the meeting by Council or Committee members or members of the public have already been provided to all meeting participants at all videoconference locations where the meeting is held; or (B) Participants are able to readily transmit visual aids by some other means (e.g., fax copies), to all other meeting participants at all other videoconference locations where the meeting is held. If copies of visual aids are not available to all meeting participants at all videoconference locations where the meeting is held, those agenda items related to the visual aids shall be deferred until the next meeting; and (C) No more than fifteen minutes shall elapse in implementing the requirements listed in paragraph(b) (2). (c) The reference for this section is HRS 92-3.5. 7. Sine Die. Sine Die is the last scheduled meeting of an outgoing Council and is not considered a regular meeting. The following conditions apply: (a) Only resolutions shall be allowed on the agenda. (b) No other legislative proceedings shall be allowed with the exception of addressing emergencies. (c) The meeting shall start at 9:00 A.M., at a location designated by the Council Chairperson. 8. Availability of Agenda to Council Members. Except as otherwise provided by law, the agenda and all referrals for a regular meeting of the Council or a Committee shall be made available to Council Members at least six (6) calendar days prior to the meeting. 9. Attendance. If a Council Member is unable to attend a meeting, prior written notice shall be given to the Council or Committee Chairperson with the reason for absence clearly explained. Repeated absences from in-person attendance by any Council Member may be cause for censure. 10. Roll call. A voice roll call will be taken to confirm each Council Member's attendance. A Council Member shall respond by answering "eo," "present," or "here." 11 O.] 11. Recesses. Notwithstanding the need to occasionally call for short recesses or lunch breaks, when there may be unusual circumstances for the Chairperson to call for a recess, the Chairperson shall announce the anticipated length of the recess and time of reconvening. 1-1-] 12. Scheduling. (a) The Council Chairperson is authorized to schedule or reschedule the location, time, date and/or subject matter of Regular, Committee, Special, or Executive meetings, provided the Committee Chairperson is consulted about the scheduling or rescheduling of a Committee meeting. (b) Public notice for any Regular, Committee, Special, or rescheduled meetings, or Executive meetings when anticipated in advance, shall be provided pursuant to HRS 92-7.