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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2015/12/14 2014-2016 Hawaiʻi County Council th 29 Session West Hawaiʻi Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi December 14, 2015 INVOCATION: Pastor Dean Stanley of Kona Baptist Church was not available; Council Member Maile David gave the morning’s invocation. CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaiʻi County Council was called to order at ORDER: 9:02 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kona, by Mr. Dru Mamo Kanuha, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Dru Mamo Kanuha, Chair Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile “Medeiros” David, Member Ms. Karen Eoff, Member Mr. Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, Member (video conference from Hilo) Mr. Danny Paleka, Member Ms. Margaret Wille, Member Absent & Excused: Mr. Greggor Ilagan, Member CHR. KANUHA: Thank you very much. Mr. Onishi is located in Hilo today. He has a memo sent to all of us and the public to notify that he will be in Hilo. He has a community meeting on that side, so in that aspect, that’s why he’s attending the meeting from Hilo. And also Mr. Ilagan had a family emergency that he needed to attend to, so hopefully he will be here as soon as possible. So prayers to him and his family. Okay, Ms. Eoff, may you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please? PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of Allegiance. ALLEGIANCE: (At this time, Ms. Eoff led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.) CHR. KANUHA: Next up we have certificates. I think Ms. Wille, you have a certificate presentation you’d like to present. Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, MEMORIALS Petitions, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence. CERTIFICATES OF MERIT, AND (Note: At this time, Ms. Wille presented a Certificate of Merit to Bobby Glory, EXPRESSIONS OF Stephanie Stearns, and Pat Levi in recognition of their efforts as District 9 CONDOLENCE: Senior Club Presidents.) Recess: At 9:14 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 9:17 a.m. CHR. KANUHA: Okay, we are coming out of recess. Mahalo, Ms. Wille, for those certificates of appreciation. Now we have Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Cheryl King: Bill 101, Draft 2 (Comm. 494.9), in support. Richey Riggs: Res. 352-15 (Comm. 580), in support. (Representing The Roots Skate Park) CHR. KANUHA: Mahalo, for your testimony. Is there anybody else here in Kona or in the outer sites wishing to testify? Please let me know. Okay, if not I’m going to close public testimony and move on with the agenda. First up we have Communication 576. APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, OF MINUTES: Approval of Minutes. (There were none.) COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Page 2 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 Comm. 576: NOMINATION OF SUSAN L. OSBORNE TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION From Mayor William P. Kenoi, dated November 23, 2015, submitting for the Council’s review and confirmation the above nomination. Waived: EMC Vote on Comm. 576: Mr. Paleka moved to confirm the appointment of (Approved) Ms. Susan L. Osborne to the Environmental Management Commission. Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. Council Members spoke in favor of the appointment. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes. Mr. Clerk, Communication 577. Comm. 577: NOMINATION OF SUSAN E. FISCHER TO THE PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMISSION ; and NOMINATION OF KEKAULIKE P. TOMICH TO THE PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION COMMISSION From Mayor William P. Kenoi, dated November 23, 2015, submitting for the Council’s review and confirmation the above nomination. Waived: FC Page 3 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 Vote on Ms. Wille moved to confirm the appointment of Susan E. Fischer: Ms. Susan E. Fischer to the Public Access, Open Space, (Approved) and Natural Resources Preservation Commission. Seconded by Mr. Paleka and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. Council Members spoke in favor of the appointment. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes and congratulations. Thank you. MS. FISCHER: Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Okay. Can I have a motion to approve the nomination of Kekaulike Tomich to the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission? Vote on Ms. Eoff moved to confirm the appointment of Kekaulike Tomich: Mr. Kekaulike P. Tomich to the Public Access, Open (Approved) Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission. Second by Mr. Paleka and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. Council Members spoke in favor of the appointment. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes. Congratulations to both of you, mahalo. We’re going to take a brief recess just to congratulate both of you, so we’re in recess. Recess: At 9:32 a.m., the Chair called for a recess. Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 9:33 a.m. Page 4 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 CHR. KANUHA: Okay, we are now out of recess and moving on with the agenda. Mr. Clerk, if we can—top of the resolutions, Resolution 351. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions. Res. 351-15: AUTHORIZES THE ACQUISITION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY BY EMINENT DOMAIN, TAX MAP KEY: 1-7-007:015 (PORTION), SITUATED AT ʻŌLAʻA, PUNA, COUNTY AND STATE OF HAWAI‘I, FOR THE KUAULI ROAD IMROVEMENTS AT VOLCANO ROAD PROJECT Authorizes the acquisition of a portion of Lot 25, as delineated in Exhibit 1, to widen Kuauli Road and construct right and left turn lanes. Reference: Comm. 578 Intr. by: Mr. Paleka Waived: PWPRC Note: First of two required readings, Section 101-13, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes Motion to Approve: Mr. Paleka moved to adopt Res. 351-15. Seconded by Ms. David. CHR. KANUHA: Mr. Paleka. MR. PALEKA: Yes, I just would like to ask for your support. I know when we speak of condemnation it sometimes has a negative connotation, but for this purpose, it‘s for a section of road of Kuauli leading on to a highway that really needs widening. So the effort is to create left and right turn lanes on to the highway and alleviate a lot of the traffic in the morning, because it’s backed up so bad. And that emergency access—plus it creates a better access to that Puna emergency access, if anyone is familiar with that area. This has been on the books. Some constituents did bring it up and we just resurrected it. And I want to thank the administration for helping us make it happen and I just ask for your support. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Paleka. Any other discussion? Okay, hearing or seeing none, all in favor of the motion say “aye.” Page 5 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 Vote on Res. 351-15: The motion to adopt Res. 351-15 was carried by the following (Adopted) voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes. Resolution 352. Res. 352-15: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT FOR THE LABOR COST TO BUILD THE SECOND PHASE OF THE NORTH KOHALA SKATE PARK Transfers $35,000 from the Clerk-Council Services – Contingency Relief account (Council District 9); and credits to the Parks and Recreation, Transfer to Capital Project Fund – G account. Reference: Comm. 580 Intr. by: Ms. Wille Motion to Approve: Ms. Wille moved to adopt Res. 352-15. Seconded by Mr. Paleka. CHR. KANUHA: Ms. Wille, go right ahead. MS. WILLE: Okay, this is to do the next phase. There’s a small amount the community has done of the small area, and this would really make it a real skate park. So last term I gave the same amount, and plus we pinned down—the Department of Parks and Recreation will provide the materials. So I’m hoping that this really does make it happen, it’s very important in the community. We’re trying to do all the things we can to make it so that youth have things that are active, outdoors, and positive, rather than falling into other activities. So I urge your support. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. Wille. Discussion Council Members? Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, when the speaker from North Kohala gave his thank you to both you and Ms. Poindexter, it brought a smile to everyone’s face on this panel because he left out the person who’s contributing the money, and it’s Ms. Wille. So I just wanted to make that point. I Page 6 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 mean, not to take anything away from the two of you, but it really is her money. So I wanted to recognize her, thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Chung. I was going to say the same thing, so I’m glad you brought that up. Any other discussion Council Members? Okay, hearing or seeing none, all in favor say “aye.” Vote on Res. 352-15: The motion to adopt Res. 352-15 was carried by the (Adopted) following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes, next item. Res. 353-15: APPROVES LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS FOR INCLUSION IN THE 2016 THE HAWAI‘I STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES’ (HSAC) LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE Approves seven proposals, submitted by the counties, as listed in Exhibit A, to be considered by the 2016 State Legislature which convenes on January 20, 2016. Reference: Comm. 581 Intr. by: Mr. Onishi Waived: GREDC Motion to Approve: Mr. Onishi moved to adopt Res. 353-15. Seconded by Mr. Paleka. CHR. KANUHA: Go right ahead, Mr. Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Just asking for support from the members, everything’s explained within the proposed bill. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Onishi. Ms. Wille. MS. WILLE: Okay, just so the public knows, I’m just going to run through what they are, and I have comments about one in particular. The first item would allow County zoning ordinances, to phase out non-conforming, single-family vacation rental units in any zoning classification. So the counties could distinguish between single-family residential use from single-family vacation rental use. Page 7 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 And this was, I believe proposed by Kauaʻi and the whole vacation rental issue is something that’s important. I know that I’m working on it as well as other Council Members. Right now if you were to look up vacation—go in and see which ones are paying transient accommodations taxes and GE (General Excise) taxes, and who did all the provisions. That’s much different than if you go into the internet and find 5,000 plus units. And what happens is people come to me where they’re being responsible, and then they’re paying their taxes, and then others are not doing it. So I think this is something that I know I’ll be working on, not necessarily in a zoning way. The others here, I just want to say that I appreciate Fresh working with the sunset provision for the liability exception for the County lifeguards. We need lifeguards, we need them to not be worrying about someone bringing a lawsuit against them. This is very important. The third one would require mopeds to be subject to the State’s Safety Check Program, also in terms of all of our safety sounds good. The fourth would allow counties to make short term investments, same as the State. That sounds financially good. The last one is the one I really want to comment on and this one would amend the Sunshine Law to allow “Two or more members of the county council to attend and speak at community educational or informational meetings . . . if the meeting is open to the public.” I approve of that, but it really should be for any board and commission, not just the County Council. I know people say, for example on the North Kohala CDP (Community Development Plan)—coming to me and there’s a community meeting, they don’t know if they’re allowed to go, they don’t know who else is going, or if they can speak. And why should it just be for the County Council? So I ask, and I don’t know Fresh, maybe you can comment. Is it possible that we could change this so that it would be for any board and commission? So if it’s okay, asking Fresh to comment on that. CHR. KANUHA: Sure. MR. ONISHI: You know, I never seen where somebody’s proposal has been amended. I’ve only seen where either you voted up, or you voted down. Unless during the time when it was sent to us prior, that we could have done maybe some amendments to it. But for that instant, we can either vote it up or down. MS. WILLE: Yes, I’m going to support it, but just making the public aware. And since it’s not something that we’re voting, it won’t become law by our vote. Asking for you all to please make the legislators aware and hopefully one of them takes the time to make that amendment. Thank you. Page 8 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. Wille. Council Members any other discussion on Resolution 353? Ms. Eoff. MS. EOFF: I just wanted to say I’d like to support all of these measures too. I know they have to be approved by all four counties, but Ms. Wille went through most of them. But I think all of them have merit, and I too have experienced the problem with the vacation rentals. And I think that the state level would help the County have some ability to enforce the same and also the one that is coming from our County which is to urge Congress to look again at the citizens united issue and to help keep accountability for campaign contributions. So I support all of these, and I know—well Fresh, has the other counties voted on this package yet, or are we the first? MR. ONISHI: You know, it’s already voted on, so the main thing was we need to get this proposal on the HSAC’s (Hawaiʻi State Association of Counties) agenda—followed up on what was happening. MS. EOFF: Okay, well you’ll keep us informed then after this, so we’ll have idea if the package goes, right? MR. ONISHI: Yes. MS. EOFF: Okay, thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. Eoff. Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Yes, thank you, Chair. First I’d like to thank Mr. Onishi. Thank you for all your hard work on this package and you’re representing us quite well. I do want to say that I support the entire package. I really think that the two or more members of the County Council, that has been a problem for us attending community meetings when we are limited—our attendance has to be limited. So I really support this measure and the entire package. And thank you again, Mr. Onishi. Mahalo. MR. ONISHI: You’re welcome. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. David. Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Hey, Fresh, Can I ask a question of Mr. Onishi? Fresh, you know, a few months ago you gave us the success percentage of HSAC in getting these things affected. What was that again? It was a low percentage, right? MR. ONISHI: Yeah, like maybe one out of 10. Page 9 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 MR. CHUNG: Yeah, that’s pretty low. MR. ONISHI: Yeah. MR. CHUNG: Okay. So you know what I would suggest really is—because I’m going to be supporting this, just as a gesture of good will towards our unified team. But there are some measures in here that I don’t agree with and some that I don’t think go too far, particularly with regard to relief from the Sunshine Law. You know, this is something that I’ve discussed with several members of the Council, individually of course, and you know, we always talk about when we’re running for office, how we want to work as a team. I truly believe that we are hampered from affectively working as a team because of the constraints placed on us by the Sunshine Law. I mean I’m all for transparency and at some point, whatever discussions we have should be made public. And there are a lot of checks and balances in that regard, because if we don’t disclose what we’ve talked about, then one of the other members who were privy to that information could make that disclosure. But I really think that if everything has to be hashed out when we have meetings, it really, really does the public a disservice. It’s my strong belief, I’ve been trying to advocate that to every person I can. You know, even people who are all for, you know, stricter, more transparency—but anyways I just wanted to make that point. But I’m still going to be supporting this, I voted against the citizen united measure. But I’ll still be supporting our package. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Council Members, any other discussions? Mr. Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Yeah, Mr. Chair, I just wanted to add—since Mr. Chung brought it up. You know, like if you look at all the proposals yeah? So number one relating to zoning, that was proposed last year, and so that got deferred. The tort liability for when I was on HSAC, it has always been brought up because they want to get rid of the sunset date. But for some reason, you have these attorneys that go and lobby the legislators to have them set a date. And so every, you know like—because 2017 I think this sunset—so like every couple years we got to go back and ask the legislators to extend it or to try and do away with the sunset date. Mopeds, the City and County of Honolulu for the past three or two terms have tried to do this moped one, and has never moved forward. The public meetings one, that one to my understanding, the legislators did pass something last year. And that’s why if you guys remember, Jennifer Brooks came to the Council maybe about five, six months ago, and she had that form, that if there were more than two Council Members attending a public meeting, they would need to get that formed filled out. And that to my understanding, was part of the agreement or the law that required that. But I’m still asking Jennifer Brooks for more Page 10 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 information about the law that was amended last year. And we did get a response from her, but it wasn’t really clear. She really didn’t give any information about the law itself, but she kind of explained to me in an email of what she had explained to us when she came to Hilo. So that is an ongoing thing. Number seven, the resolution requesting the Hawaiʻi State Legislature to urge the Congressional Delegation, that’s something new, and hopefully I think that will pass. I don’t see any problems. Other than that, the identification card, I don’t think we should have any problems on that part because it’s a no brainer. I mean it’s just giving them an option to put it on the card, so I think that should be able to pass. But just to give some information. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Onishi. Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you for letting me speak again. You know, in response somewhat to what Mr. Onishi was saying and what I had spoken about earlier, you know what troubles me about this? First of all, we have to look at why we have such a low success percentage. It has to be that the formula that we’re implementing is not correct. And just the fact we’re going to get a resolution like this on the eve, maybe one month from the legislature convening I think it’s a bad strategy. And I know it’s not Fresh’s fault. This thing should come in way in advance, maybe two months after the legislature goes into recess so that we have time to do our individual lobbying with the legislators, when they’re in a more relaxed setting, not right before they’re going to go into their session. And I think really Fresh, if I could offer a suggestion to HSAC, is to revisit the way they do things, just the fact. You look at our success rate, it’s poor, and something has to be corrected. And I think maybe one of this is the timing of all of this. That’s just my thought, thanks. CHR. KANUHA: Mr. Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, I agree with you, Mr. Chung. And if you folks remember when this topic came up before, I did mention about that. If members remember when we went to the Maui HSAC conference, I had asked Representative Scott Saiki about when legislation should be brought to them. He had mentioned that in September, October, would be the best time because he was saying that in December, it’s too late to get Representatives and Senators to jump onboard with any proposals that HSAC had. So I did mention that before, I did mention it to the body, but they never moved forward on that. So hopefully in the future, they might start changing things. And you know, like for example the TAT (Transient Accommodation Tax), they’re going to go back and try and see if the counties can, I guess, get their share. Page 11 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 But what I told them is that I think that we should go and talk to the Governor first because the Governor will be having that portion in his budget. So we would need the Governor to not put that portion of the TAT in his budget, so that way, the legislature can change the formula that they give to the counties. So what I understand is we’re not going to be meeting with the Governor, we’re going to be meeting with the Senators and the Representatives. But I don’t think we’ll be able to move too much. So yeah, I’m hoping that maybe in the future, HSAC will change their philosophy and start organizing earlier. And another thing I just wanted to mention, and I don’t want to put any blame, but Maui County I guess took a while to pass their legislation so that’s why we’re having this late. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Onishi. Council Members any other discussion on this resolution? Okay, hearing or seeing none, all in favor of approving Resolution 353-15 say “aye.” Vote on Res. 353-15: The motion to adopt Res. 353-15 was carried by the following (Adopted) voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes. Mr. Clerk, Bill 101. BILL FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading). (FIRST READING): Page 12 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 Bill 101: INITIATES AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE XIV, SECTION 14-5 OF THE (Draft 2) HAWAIʻI COUNTY CHARTER (2014), RELATING TO THE BOARD OF ETHICS The amendments would: 1) increase membership from five to nine members; 2) decrease member’s term from five to four years; 3) add council district residency requirements; and 4) allow each council member to nominate two persons from his or her council district to serve on the board, from which one would be appointed by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the Council. Reference: Comm. 494.9 Intr. by: Ms. Wille Negative: FC-42 (Due to a vote of 2-ayes, 6-noes, 1-absent) 2/3 Vote: First of three required readings, Section 15-1(a), Hawai‘i County Charter Motion to Approve: Ms. Wille moved to pass Bill 101, Draft 2, on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Paleka. CHR. KANUHA: Ms. Wille, go right ahead. MS. WILLE: Yeah, I urge you all to reconsider, those of you who voted against this. Our current system of dealing with the Ethics Board and dealing with significant ethics violations is broken, and we need to fix it. And I know that when I brought that reprimand resolution, many of you commented we need to fix the system, not be going and making our own decisions on violations or providing our own remedies. And well I didn’t agree with that. I am now here trying to propose a way to correct the situation by providing the County with a more effective way to really secure a meaningful Ethics Commission. I know in all the gallop polls, it’s always you know, 85 percent of the people don’t trust the government and this is really an important issue around the nation right now. And I do feel it is particularly important with regard to the Mayor, and I don’t mean particular to Mayor Kenoi, but it is the one position where there is no supervisor, there are no peers, it’s only if you have an independent board. And here, do we have an independent board, and someone where at least in that position—otherwise, not as many countervailing or ways to address problems that there is really a board that isn’t chosen by that one person. I know that when we discussed this last time, there were number of comments, you know, like that we’re focused on Mayor Kenoi and that he’s done a lot of good. And I don’t think there’s anyone that doesn’t acknowledge that, but in dealing with situations where you’re looking at ethics, and we’re looking at ethics, we’re not looking at criminal charges. You know, you look at did Page 13 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 somebody do something? You find that, and then you look at well, what remedy or what punishment? And that’s where you take into—that you say, “Okay, I’m going to do community service,” or you’re going to do this, those type of factors. So this—you know, I brought a couple different bills—we passed another ethics one and then Bill 78 that I amended, that was initiated by Council Member Ilagan. How can we as legislators help to improve the situation? I think it’s important that the County fulfills its kuleana of addressing where there is potential on ethical behavior. In this case, we had the Finance Director not say anything or not become public, we had the County Prosecutor defer, we had the Board of Ethics defer, refer whatever, and we have our Council side, we’re not doing anything. So it’s sort of like okay, we don’t keep house, we leave it to the State or the Feds to deal with. And I just think at least here—would be doing something that would be our legislative kuleana and a way to address it. It is—there have been questions, “Okay Margaret, you’re taking away power.” Well okay, yes, it is taking away power from the Mayor and shifting it over and I acknowledge that, but I think in this circumstance it is appropriate, and that we’re just looking for what is the best checks and balances. So I know one can bring up many—okay, a problem with this and a problem with that, but I’m trying to look for solutions to problems and make them real, and have the public support us. And that’s what I’m trying to do, so I’ll defer if there’s questions or comments, or any concerns. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. Wille. Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Did I hear Ms. Wille right? She said 80 percent of the public distrust government. 80 percent? MS. WILLE: 85 was in the poll. MR. CHUNG: Oh, 85 percent. Okay. I mean there’s nothing to indicate that we are any worse in Hawaiʻi County because of our lack of moving on an ethics reformed bill. That’s pretty high, 85 percent. But anyway, with that being said, you know, I wanted to make some comments. You know, I made a lot of comments during our committee, none of which were contained in the committee reports, so I’m going to rehash it again. Ms. Wille talks about getting an independent board, and I think we all recognize the importance of getting an independent board. But realizing further that getting a truly independent board will be almost impossible, okay? We are dealing with a flawed system, inherently flawed system, no matter what we do. So within that context, let’s look at what’s being proposed. We have a convoluted way of getting nine members now onto a board, and ostensibly for the Page 14 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 purpose of achieving a quorum. Even Ms. King brought that up, she mentioned Maui County, you know being a model. You know, they have nine people and they haven’t had a problem for lacking a quorum. This is one of the few times I’ve heard us having to look at Maui County as being a model for good government, no offense to them. 20 years ago, I was told we have to learn from the lessons of Maui County and what happened to Maui County and don’t let that happen here. I still stand by what I said earlier about this being a quasi-judicial body. See, Ms. King is focusing on the quorum aspects, I’m focusing on the function aspects. I’d rather have less people—please you don’t have to shake your head, I’m stating my opinion. I said five people are better than nine because it’s less. It’s easier to handle when you make a judicial type decision, as opposed to a legislative decision where you want a lot of ideas coming in. But again having said that—Ms. Wille, I saw her quotes in the paper this morning about our present situation with the P-card, and it basically echoed what I said earlier. We don’t have a broken system, we just have a situation where the Mayor, for whatever reason, is not submitting names for our consideration and vetting. And she suggested, well why don’t you let the Managing Director submit some names? At the last go around, I asked Ms. Stebbins, our Corporation Counsel, to please pass on the message to the Mayor to submit some. I mean—and maybe he’s reluctant to do it and I understand, but at least now we can give him cover. We’re asking him to submit something and we’ll do the proper vetting, and once we get five members on the board, we’ll be okay. I don’t see any improvement over our system presently by what’s being suggested by Ms. Wille, it just becomes more confusing, quite frankly. So I shall continue voting no on this, thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Council Members, on the first round discussion. Ms. Wille. Oh, sorry, I’m going to have Ms. Eoff and then you. MS. EOFF: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well I agree with some of what Ms. Wille is trying to do here, and I agree with some of the statements that Mr. Chung is making. However, even if we had a full five member appointed Board of Ethics, it still only requires three people for quorum. And with these boards and commissions, even when they’re fully filled, the vacancies—they’re volunteers and they can’t always be present and we don’t expect that. So I’m not even looking at the present situation, anything to do with any of the things Ms. Wille is talking about. I think that takes away from the point that I believe that three people isn’t really a diverse enough group to make decisions with regards to the kinds of cases that come before the Board of Ethics. Page 15 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 I think with a nine member board, you would automatically need five at any meeting. And with five people, and if they were appointed from different districts of our County, you would have a diverse discussion and you would have more depth to the discussion. So that’s why I support the idea of having a nine member board, with one member being required to reside in each of the Council Districts. I disagree with changing the appointment process, and I had my amendment presented last time, but I think it was kind of a bad timing because as I look in hindsight, it may have been better. We have a chance for three readings on a Charter amendment, so we have time to work on this. I listen back to the tapes and at the first two meetings, which we postponed the bill, almost all of us agreed that we’d like to do something, but we didn’t agree with Ms. Wille’s approach. So I’m thinking that since we have a chance for two more readings or three including this one, we should work on this. And my amendment, maybe the way I approached it wasn’t the right timing, you know, Mr. Onishi was absent. I don’t know what he would of thought about it, but basically what I still believe is that we could give the voters an option to look at increasing the membership on our Board of Ethics from five to nine. And that we could have one member reside in each Council District be a requirement. That’s simple, that’s all I think we need to do right now. I think the rest of it is obviously not getting support here, so it won’t even pass this Council unless we change something, if we do want to see a change. So I’m saying Ms. Wille, I don’t know what your thoughts are. I know you were very much opposed to my idea last time, but if there’s any chance you want something to pass, maybe we need to—doesn’t have to be what I proposed, there may be some other way to amend this. I did look at Oʻahu and Kauaʻi, if Maui may or may not be a good example. But Maui does have nine members, they’re appointed for five years and they are appointed by the mayor. Kauaʻi and Oʻahu both have seven members, and they are appointed by the mayor. So all the other counties have a larger number of members than we do, and I just think whoever appoints—at this point and time, I think Ms. Stebbins did say that we will see a couple more names come forward before long here. So we will fill out the board, which is great, but that still only leaves three for quorum, which I think is not enough. So I guess that’s restating my same arguments I made last time, but I didn’t make them with any disrespect to Ms. Wille. I made them as an opportunity for us to look at something, if we wanted to consider a Charter amendment. So I guess that’s all for now, thanks. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. Eoff. On the first round still, Ms. Poindexter. MS. POINDEXTER: Yes. I agree with a lot what Council Member Eoff stated because I too disagree with the appointment process in this. I do agree that we would need more, or I think we would need more. So I would definitely support a Page 16 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 postponement so that it could be worked on instead of voting this down because if it is the way it is, I cannot vote for it. But I would definitely support a postponement, if Council Member Wille is willing to work on this. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Yes, thank you, Chair. I also too agree that what I can support is—I can’t support Ms. Wille’s bill in it’s entirety, but I do believe if we take the question of the number of members to address the quorum, that might be a situation where it might work. And I too don’t want to vote this measure down because I agree, we need to do something. So—and I also strongly believe in a separation of powers argument that Corporation Counsel gave us, I really do. And that maintains order, it maintains everyone’s jurisdictional responsibility. And I don’t see—Ms. Wille, no disrespect, but your bill does not keep that balance in my mind. So I really like to see this also worked on a bit more and maintain the separation of powers. So I would appreciate your consideration of the postponement on this also. Mahalo. CHR. KANUHA: Mr. Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Listening to the discussion, I guess the first time it came out, I mentioned about I couldn’t agree where Council Members would be submitting names to the mayor, for the mayor to make a choice. We need to have some other way of having these individuals apply, or maybe there could be an open recruitment or something like that where people could apply from all over the island. Then from there, there’s a process where administration would I guess get to a certain number. And I’m thinking instead of nine members or five members, maybe seven members would be the best number that we could be looking at. And then from there, those names would be submitted to the Council for approval. So maybe something like that could be worked out. So I’m willing to support a postponement too, so thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Onishi. Council Members, on first round. Mr. Paleka. MR. PALEKA: I’m going to chime in by saying based on the report, it doesn’t seem that we have the backing to get this passed. But specifically to the number of individuals on the Ethics Board, I’m really not opposed to any suggestions, seven, nine, that’s okay. The separation of powers issue, I think is where I really have a problem. I think it’s just me, I think it’s reactionary. If it were the instance where one of the Council Members were under scrutiny, then it would be, and we’re choosing the individuals. The Ethics Commission has been functioning for a long time and pretty well. Now it’s just to get those vacancies— Page 17 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 to have it convene, and operate properly. So I am going to remain open, I like the suggestions, but I think perhaps postponing it would be a good idea. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Paleka. Ms. Wille, starting off the second round. MS. WILLE: Okay. Yeah, I appreciate the issues on separation of powers. I think there’s that doctrine and what that is competing with is checks and balances, and those two are in play here. And also just from my experience, not just this current year, this past year, but watching the Ethics Commission in past years, I also felt there was a problem. So I don’t feel—I was involved in some of the things that Cheryl King—and I felt the way it was handled was very really wrong and that it went against what was stated in the Code, and it went against what Molly Stebbins now says the Code says. So I want to say, I think that there have been problems going on. My concern about where we’re just changing the number is, it’s still where you’re putting the one person that has no other accountability, like no accountability to any supervisor, is choosing them whether they choose three, five, seven or nine. At the same time, I am open to working on this and not necessarily getting my way, the best way, but I do think if we were to increase it to at least seven, I would prefer actually even the nine because we have nine districts. And that’s why I—you know, if it was just abstract numbers, I would go seven. But I think the thing with nine is then in each district there’s someone. And there’s someone accountable to the constituents in that district. So I would promote that. I also think having the proposal that they meet both on the east side and the west side would give people more faith. How do we get people to believe in what we do and what we say? And thirdly, I think perhaps one way that—it is a compromise, but I think picking up on something that Ms. David said in the past, is that what if it were that the mayor had a choice? But if it goes for three months and no one has been chosen, then that Council Member has the option of bringing a nomination to the Council. You know, it still doesn’t get out of—the same person has the opportunity, but I look at—you know, right now, we’re talking about the Board of Ethics, but here the poor CPD committees and they’re even being told you can’t meet every other month. You know, I’m just trying to strengthen—how do we strengthen these boards? So if the others have a comment, I would be willing to postpone this. and sort of come out with something that perhaps we could all support. MS. POINDEXTER: Second. MS. WILLE: So I’ll make the motion, but if somebody— Page 18 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 CHR. KANUHA: I think we can—others might want to have more discussion. Thanks, Ms. Wille. Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, I disagree with almost everything that Ms. Wille said. You know, because I think having nine members so that each of them would be accountable to their constituents, or the people within that district, really creates a real provincial type of set up. It’s something that you should be very, very objective about. All you do is listen to testimony and come up with a real good decision based on your good judgement and your own sense of ethics. But having said that, you know, I’ll certainly cede to the wishes of the body as a whole. I just wanted to make one comment. I do agree with Ms. Wille on one point and that’s the issue of separation of powers. I think a lot of you guys have been talking about separation of powers, and that’s why you guys are kind of reluctant to maybe move on this. Everything that Ms. Wille said is correct. We create the system by which boards and commissions are selected. There’s no inherit right on the part of the executive to do a certain thing and then us doing another thing. I don’t know where that came from. I know Molly was making some argument about separation of powers, but I mean to me that’s real silly, it really is. I agree with Margaret on the inapplicability of separation of powers in this whole discussion. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Council Members, any other discussion, round two? Mr. Onishi. MR. ONISHI: This is about the postponement? CHR. KANUHA: No we’re still on the main motion. MR. ONISHI: Oh, okay. Well maybe what Ms. Wille can look at is how the State Ethics Board is organized and maybe somehow implement what they do, because the State does have like a Chairman or something. And that’s Mr. Kondo, and he’s what I understand is appointed by the commission. And so maybe something in that format might be much more transparent or fairer. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Onishi. Anybody else before I let Ms. Wille finish it off? Ms. Wille. MS. WILLE: So I’m going to move for this to be postponed and will take into consideration the comments of the other Council Members, including my fellow Mr. Chung here. CHR. KANUHA: Did you want to postpone to a certain date or?— Page 19 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 MS. WILLE: Second Council meeting in January. Vote on Motion to Ms. Wille moved to postpone Bill 101, Draft 2, to Postpone: January 22, 2016. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes. Mr. Clerk, next item. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading). (SECOND OR FINAL READING): Bill 115: AMENDS CHAPTER 24, ARTICLE 10, DIVISION 5, OF THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2005 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO PARKING Amends Section 24-280 (No parking any time), by revising and repealing existing provisions and adding new provisions for portions of Ali‘i Drive, Subsection (f), Kona. Reference: Comm. 547 Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter First Reading: December 2, 2015 Vote on Bill 115: Ms. Poindexter moved to pass Bill 115 on second and final (Adopted) reading. Seconded by Mr. Paleka and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes. Bill 117. Page 20 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 Bill 117: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 15-57, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2016 Appropriates revenues in the Federal – HOME Program account ($452,684); and appropriates the same to the Mohouli Heights Senior Neighborhood 2, Hawai‘i Island Community Development Corporation account. Funds would be used by the Office of Housing and Community Development’s HOME Investment Partnerships program to construct the Mohouli Heights Senior Neighborhood Project, Phase II. Reference: Comm. 572 Intr. by: Ms. Eoff First Reading: December 2, 2015 Vote on Bill 117: Ms. Eoff moved to pass Bill 117 on second and final reading. (Adopted) Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes, Bill 118. Bill 118: AUTHORIZES THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION REFUNDING BONDS OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I FOR THE PURPOSE OF REFUNDING CERTAIN OUTSTANDING GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS AND NOTES; FIXING THE FORM, DENOMINATIONS, AND CERTAIN OTHER DETAILS OF SUCH REFUNDING BONDS AND PROVIDING FOR THEIR SALE TO THE PUBLIC; PROVIDING FOR THE RETIREMENT OF THE BONDS TO BE REFUNDED; AND AUTHORIZING THE TAKING OF OTHER ACTIONS RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF THE REFUNDING BONDS AND THE RETIREMENT OF THE BONDS TO BE REFUNDED Authorizes the issuance of general obligation refunding bonds, not to exceed $270,230,000, for the purpose of refinancing outstanding County debt in the form of bonds that were issued at higher interest rates. The bonds and obligations that would be refinanced are listed in the bill. Reference: Comm. 573 Intr. by: Ms. Eoff First Reading: December 2, 2015 Page 21 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to pass Bill 118 on second and final reading. Seconded by Ms. David. CHR. KANUHA: Any discussion? Ms. Eoff. MS. EOFF: I think everybody remembers this is just to refinance our bond debt at a lower interest rate. I have a question though, for the Clerk. Is this the final reading? MR. HENRICKS: Yes, this is the second and final reading for this. MS. EOFF: Oh, okay. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. Eoff. Mr. Paleka and then Mr. Onishi. MR. PALEKA: I am going to fully support this measure and I’ll state why. I think it’s necessary for us to refinance right now, it’s an opportune time. The Fed has already mentioned and hinted that they are going to raise interest rates, so to have this done now I think is appropriate, before interest rates do rise and we lose this window of opportunity. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Paleka. Mr. Onishi. MR. ONISHI: No, I have no comments. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Okay, thank you, Mr. Onishi. Ms. Wille. MS. WILLE: Yeah, I am going to support this. I do want to say, sort of on the general issue of our County finances and how we’re handling them, I could really use more education and more sort of how everything fits together. And I say this partly as we move towards the budget season. I mean it’s really in October, November that the administration gets its proposals, we may not see them until later in the year. And I do have concerns really in the terms of the Legislative Research Branch. We used to have Rodney, he was very knowledgeable. Donna has some knowledge, but I just think—I don’t know whether we’re working towards having more staff there, but I also think it would be good perhaps, sometime having a presentation, sort of an overview. I mean we came in last month, there was a report that our fund balance—in other words, we were trying to keep $25 million in the bank and we had $34 million in the bank. Now we had all of these bonds, we’re working on bonds, the $99 million bond issue. A lot of those are coming in higher, such as the Waimea Park. The bids came in $4 million higher than what we expected, and it seems like now we’re going ahead with one quarter of the project. Page 22 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 So I’m just trying to say this is like one piece. And I think for me I’m expressing to you, I feel as I move towards this budget season, I would really appreciate more help and how all of these things fit together so that we’re really looking at this budget with the most diligent and informed manner. So I appreciate indulging—expanding the subject a little. But I think this is just how we handle bonds, and how we make those decisions is part of it. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. Wille. Ms. Eoff. MS. EOFF: Ms. Wille, I’ll follow up on that and talk to the Finance Department. Maybe we could have Budget 101 pre-class early in the year before we see the budget. We could do that in our committee meeting. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Ms. Eoff. Any other discussion Council Members? Mr. Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Mr. Chair? Yeah, I just had a question for Ms. Eoff. What is a savings that we’re going to be getting? MS EOFF: I believe that we were told it would be over $12 million. MR. ONISHI: $12 million? Okay. You know, because Ms. Wille mentioned that our fund balance, what we had maybe about a month ago or so, that we have a surplus. So now we have a surplus from the fund balance, plus we’re going to have a surplus from the refinancing of our bonds. So you know, it would be great to see that the extra funds that we are getting would be put on the side for future use. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Onishi. Any other discussion, Council Members? And just to—a point that Ms. Wille made earlier, our accountant, Trixy, is actually going to start working more in the LRB (Legislative Research Branch) position because she does know our budget very well, and she will be working more with that aspect for this upcoming budget. So just as a small little thing of what you mentioned. Ms. Wille. MS. WILLE: Yeah, I guess I’m not sure that I find that very satisfying. I mean I’m really looking at big picture issues. I feel she’s really good in terms of like the details and how the numbers work and that. I’m looking at, for example, a lot of our budgets come out, “Okay, keep what you have, but reduce it 10 percent.” You know, that’s sort of like the default position that one doesn’t budget. How do we work on say these bonds issues? I mean that’s like following up with what Fresh said. Perhaps we ought to really have someone from the Finance Department come in and take a look at that $99 million and see what’s happening with all of that. Page 23 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 We’ve had a couple where they come in, but I’m just giving Waimea Park as an example because we’re not putting an extra $4 million in. We’re going to probably end up paying $11 million in a few years. You know, how those kind of—the bigger picture issues. So I also know that we got a notice from LRB that they’re not going to be doing a 10-year Code and that Leslie and Susan are going to be working on that a lot of times. And so I guess I feel who’s going to take Trixy’s position? I don’t really feel that moving her over is the answer. I think that we need someone that’s also looking at State Legislation, the TAT and what’s happening there and how we handle things. And so just following up on your comment, I don’t think that answers my question. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you. Mr. Paleka. MR. PALEKA: You know, I got to say the Finance Department has been very responsive in responding to any of the questions that I have regarding specifically this issue, and the reasons why they’re moving ahead and want this done rather quickly. So I mean Deanna and Lisa has been very responsive—and meet—never requested so—and I think they have the best answers. So I’ll just suggest meeting with them because they’ll really take the time out to explain why, and if you have more questions that come up as their explaining—thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you. Mr. Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Yeah, how did you know I wanted to say something else? CHR. KANUHA: I can feel it from Kona. MR. ONISHI: Well, I just wanted to add to what Mr. Paleka was mentioning is that, you know, I always tell Council Members that if you have a question or you don’t understand it, go to the department. Go and talk to them. They’re willing to help you out because that’s what I did for my seven years that I’m on the Council. Anytime I have a question I just go directly to them to ask them to explain. So Ms. Wille, maybe that’s what you should do. Go to them and then we don’t have to do that one-on-one financing in the committee because that I think would be a waste of time. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Onishi. Any other discussion, Council Members? Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: It’s interesting how this discussion morphed into one relating to the budget. But since it’s there now, I’m going to make some comments. You know, I was driving around the other day thinking how can we improve the budget process? And you know, I’m kind of listening to what Margaret is saying, and you know, I think those are real good ideas. I don’t know about the Page 24 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 Budget 101 idea, but the other things, looking at things broadly. And you know, I don’t know what it is, this is actually only my first half term back. But you know, we get the budget from the administration—what I really would like to see is what each of the departments’ ultimate wish list is after it’s paired down by the administration and before they submit it to us. Then that way, we can really look at things on a broader perspective. And maybe we might see fit to change things around, or even, heaven forbid, if something is really important, we’ve got to raise taxes. Because that is our biggest policy making instrument or tool, it is the ability to adjust rates. And if something is needed, you know, we might have to do it. But we’ll never know until we see what’s out there because I would hate to, you know, look back maybe 10 years—well let’s say we’re 10 years hence and then we discover that there was something that one of the departments had proposed or wanted. And because nobody acted on it or never even saw the light of day in any of the budget proposals, that it had a negative impact on our County. It’s possible, right? So I want to see everything, just throw all the cards on the table. Of course they should submit something to us, but if they submit their ultimate wish list, then during the course of the departmental reviews, we can ask them about these things. Right now we’re just kind of winging it, right? So I think that would actually add more of a method to the madness. Yeah, and give us a little bit greater hand at our policy making functions. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Ms. Wille, one last comment. MS. WILLE: Okay, I agree with Mr. Chung as usual. And I’d like to say that it really is in dealing with the budget, and sort of taking on the actual budget and how to do that. I have been meeting with the Finance Department, I think they’re superb, but one of my issues there is also in terms of their request for more staff. I’ve been working on ways that we can save taxes by closing some loopholes so those who should be eligible, that we’re not all paying the difference. For example, we did the residential one where if you’re going to get the residential discount, you actually need to be a resident here. And now I’m going to be doing the one on the ag use, but they haven’t had the staff to be able to handle. I’ve been delaying that for months because we can’t close that loophole that will save us a lot of money, because we don’t have enough staff. So it’s really on those bigger issues and looking at each department and what their needs are and how we address it, as well as all of the TAT. So I really commend the Finance Department, and it might be actually adding significantly a number of more staff there—or say the vacation rentals, that’s what I want to do and I’ve been holding up because of how much they can take on. Page 25 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 And yet we could save all of this money. So I think that there are bigger issues, I don’t think that Trixy, who’s really good with numbers, is on that level of dealing with that kind of things that I’m talking about. So I think that whatever the department is, I want to really be able to understand the budget, how we’re doing it, and in a way that we are, as Mr. Chung says, making what I feel really informed decisions—moving forward. We’re at a critical time and how do we handle all of these bonds? And using the Waimea District Park as an example where something that has gone really wrong, and how it’s been handled. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you. Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Mr. Chairman, I was just wondering, do we have a budget specialist? CHR. KANUHA: Rodney was the budget specialist, but that position is currently open. Mr. Clerk. MR. HENRICKS: If you could define what a budget specialist is, it might help, but I don’t think we ever had a budget specialist per se. MR. CHUNG: Oh, I see. Okay, but the closest thing to that would have been a guy like Rodney in the past? MR. HENRICKS: We have staff members that are perhaps more dedicated to fiduciary concerns, but you know, their roles are limited to essentially what the Council interests are and what the Council’s abilities are as far as working with the budget. You know, I’m listening to what you guys are saying. I’m trying to think of how we can be helpful, but it’s a little unclear right now exactly what kind of professional assistance you’re looking for. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, you know, I agree with Ms. Wille as usual, regarding some of our staff members not being fully equipped to handle the task that she’s suggesting. And then what I would maybe throw out there is to you, Mr. Chairman. Perhaps contracting out during the budget process, a person like maybe Nancy Crawford, Bill Takaba, people who have been in the administration who know the budget really well and who can kind of advise and guide us through various issues and the perils of the budget. Just for that short term. It doesn’t have to be the two guys that I’ve mentioned, but some person who has that kind of administrative and budgetary chops that could help us. Thank you. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you. MR. HENRICKS: Mr. Chair, if I could just say, we do have somebody who is dedicated to the budget process during the budget season when it comes to analyzing the budget, providing the information, increases, decreases, specific Page 26 Hawaiʻi County Council-29 December 14, 2015 line items. And then also assisting you in the process of determining where you may want to make changes, additions, and deletions, so that it all balances out. They have somebody who was trained by Mr. Oshiro, absolutely no problem, can do pretty much whatever you guys want to do. Minus perhaps coming up with actual specific suggestions, which of course more naturally should come from you folks anyway. But we do have somebody who’s in place, is ready to do that, and is fully trained to do so. CHR. KANUHA: Thank you, and I know we’re kind of off topic, but even though it’s still part of the process plan, I was giving a little leeway because it is important to hear about how we can improve upon what we’re doing now. So again I appreciate all your comments, and definitely work with the staff on the comments that you guys made and the ways to improve. So I appreciate that. If we can move on though, I’d also appreciate it. Any other discussion? Okay, all in favor of approving Bill 118 say “aye.” Vote on Bill 118: The motion to pass Bill 118 on second and final reading was (Adopted) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes. MS. EOFF: Mr. Chair? CHR. KANUHA: Ms. Eoff. MS. EOFF: I’d like to make a motion to waive Rule 15 the hold-over for Bill 118. Vote on Motion to Ms. Eoff moved to Suspend Council Rule 15 to waive the Suspend Council 5-day hold for reconsideration of Bill 118. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter Rules: and carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan – 1. Excused: None. Page 27 • Hawai`i County Council-29 December 14,2015 CHR. KANUHA: Motion passes. REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports. (There were none.) REFERRALS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, FOR EXECUTIVE Referrals for Executive Session. SESSION: (There were none.) OTHER The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Other BUSINESS: Business. (There was none.) ANNOUNCE- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, MENTS: Announcements. (There were none.) ADJOURN- There being no other business, at 10:37 a.m., Mr. Paleka moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. David and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Council Members Chung, David, Eoff, Onishi, Paleka, Poindexter, Wille, and Chair Kanuha—8. Noes: None. Absent: Council Member Ilagan— 1. Excused: None. CHR. KANUHA: We are adjourned. Thank you guys, Merry Christmas. Council Approval: MAR 2 2 0"7 06/4 COUNTY CLERK SM/rk/jm Page 28