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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PSMTC 2018/04/10 2016-2018Committee on Public Safety and Mass Transit 9th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii April 10, 2017 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Public Safety and Mass Transit ORDER: was called to order at 9:03 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Jennifer Ruggles, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Jennifer Ruggles, Chair Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member (came in later) Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Mr. Dru Mamo Kanuha, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Eileen O'Hara, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: COMMUNI- CATIONS: Comm. 832: The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. (There were none.) The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Communications. NOMINATION OF GREGORY CHARLES HENKEL TO THE FIRE COMMISSION From Mayor Harry Kim, dated March 21, 2018, submitting for the Council's review and confirmation the above nomination. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 4, 2018 (Section 13-4(1), Hawai `i County Charter) PSMTC-9 April 10, 2018 Vote on Comm. 832: Ms. Poindexter moved to recommend confirmation of the (Approved) appointment of Mr. Gregory Charles Henkel to the Fire Commission. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair Ruggles – 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Committee Members spoke in favor of the appointment. Comm. 833: NOMINATION OF KYLE KEAMO TO THE FIRE COMMISSION From Mayor Harry Kim, dated March 21, 2018, submitting for the Council's review and confirmation the above nomination. Requires Council Confirmation by: May 4, 2018 (Section 134(1), Hawai `i County Charter) Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend confirmation of the appointment of Mr. Kyle Keamo to the Fire Commission. Seconded by Ms. Eoff. (Note: At this time, Rose Bautista, Executive Assistant to Mayor Harry Kim, came forward to address the Members of the Committee.) CHR. RUGGLES: Go ahead, Ms. Bautista. MS. BAUTISTA: First of all, I'd like to express our apology that Mr. Keamo will not be able—is not here this morning because there was a scheduling conflict, but he assured us that he'll be here at the next Council hearing, on the 25th CHR. RUGGLES: Okay, we can either make a motion to postpone or we can— MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, I'll make a motion to postpone. MS. EOFF: Question? So it says we need to confirm him by May 4, though. So if we postpone in Committee, will we still have time to— MS. POINDEXTER: Can I withdraw my motion to postpone, and maybe if Council Member Chung— Page 2 PSMTC-9 April 10, 2018 MR. MAEDA: If we postpone now, we won't have time because the May hearing is after the deadline. CHR. RUGGLES: Well, we could move this forward to Council and then have him come before us then. Ms. Bautista, do you know if he'll make it at the Council meeting? MS. BAUTISTA: Twenty-fifth, yeah. CHR. RUGGLES: Okay, great. How do you guys feel about that? Go ahead, Ms. Poindexter. MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, I was just going to ask Council Member Chung what —in his district, yeah, what would you prefer? MR. CHUNG: It doesn't matter to me. I'll defer it to the wisdom of this board. This kind of breaks from, you know, what we normally do. This is not the person that I had recommended to the administration for this position. But, you know, I got no problem. I'm not against the person or anything like that. I just don't know. MS. POINDEXTER: Since I'm going to be voting no—I know it may move to—maybe a possibility of moving to Council with a negative recommendation, but it will still move to Council. Yeah, thank you. CHR. RUGGLES: Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, I think because of a timing thing. I'm not comfortable of approving; and I agree with Chair Poindexter, hard to support someone we don't know and no one seems to know the person. But in a timing issue, what we don't want to do is hamstring the County or a commission while going forward. So I was thinking, I'm going to be voting kanalua yes, but just to move it to Council. More procedural thing here because we're stuck in a procedure, or we can just all vote "no" and go with a negative recommendation because it will still go to Council. MS. BAUTISTA: Well, perhaps if it helps, I can read a little bit about who he is so you have an idea? Maybe you can, at the moment, at least move his name forward with your support, would that help as to who he is and why he's interested? MR. RICHARDS: Chair, respond? CHR. RUGGLES: Yes. Page 3 PSMTC-9 April 10, 2018 MR. RICHARDS: I appreciate that, Rose. And I think I'm speaking on behalf of the Council, that approving somebody that we haven't met does not sit well with the Council. Someone from the district, that's why I know him real well, that gives the rest of the Council a good feeling as far as moving forward. We're going to move the name forward, I think, regardless. It's not going to be held because of a timing deal. And, yes, we want to hear the information. The name will go forward, just with a positive or a negative, until we actually meet the individual. So, Chair, I think we should hear the—read in. I think we actually officially have to read in. So yeah, please. CHR. RUGGLES: Okay, great. Let me just give Ms. Lee Loy a chance to speak and then we'll be happy to hear it, Ms. Bautista. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you. Where are we as far as quorum for this particular commission? MS. BAUTISTA: There's three vacancies, and once he fills in, then there will be seven. MS. LEE LOY: Mr. Henkel's being appointed to the Fire Commission. MS. BAUTISTA: Yeah, so there's three vacancies in the Fire. MS. LEE LOY: And so this will be two left? MS. BAUTISTA: Yeah. As a matter of fact, I wanted to remind you there was no applicant. District 3 is open, and there's no applications available. MS. LEE LOY: You know, I would kind of yield to the Council Member from the district. Because there's some other boards and commissions, too, that I had submitted names for and they're not coming forward either. The other concern I have is, that these boards and commissions meet once a month. There's a provision in Hawaii Revised Statutes that allows for the employer to excuse them from any other conflict that they might have. And I get concerns because if there's conflicts, where they can't even show up to be at a confirmation hearing, it makes me wonder if they'll be available to participate at all the other meetings. MS. BAUTISTA: We're aware of that, and we told him about that. He has no problem going to meetings. However, today there was a miscommunication as to the time when he had to appear, so that was just a miscommunication. But he Page 4 PSMTC-9 April 10, 2018 assured us that he will attend the meetings, since he's very interested to be on the commission. Thank you. MS. LEE LOY: Well, I'm going to yield at this time and then have Ms. Bautista share, if she wants to. Thank you. CHR. RUGGLES: Okay, go ahead, Ms. Bautista. (Note: At this time, Ms. Bautista read the letter from Mayor Harry Kim, dated March 21, 2018, see Comm. 833.) CHR. RUGGLES: Okay, thank you. So does anyone have any other questions or comments? Go ahead, Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, you know, as I said, you know, I certainly defer to the administration, it is their prerogative. I didn't realize that this was something that was being experienced by other Council Members. But nonetheless, you know, I don't have any problem with this nomination. It kind of breaks from what Mayor Kim used to do in the past. He was very good at, you know, maybe respecting the wishes of individual Council Members. I never really asked much. I recall just making two requests on boards and commissions, and both of those were granted at that time. But in the Mayor's defense, I did speak to Will Okabe about the appointment, and Mr. Okabe gave me—I guess he's listed as a reference for this applicant as well. But Mr. Okabe did explain to me why he felt the person that I had—the name that I had submitted wasn't acceptable or why they had concerns. And basically, that person was a former fighter, who has a group lawsuit against the County. Now, I don't see that as being a reason to disqualify an applicant or even have concerns about him because that is their right to do it. I think they're in the right, actually, is a group of former fighters. And I think guy was absolutely qualified to serve in this capacity. But nonetheless, I just wanted to state to all of you that I have no problem with this applicant, even if I don't know him. But I'm just—you know, I just saw some heads nodding, while Ms. Lee Loy said she was experiencing the same problem. I didn't realize that it was a little bit more widespread than I thought. Thank you. MS. RUGGLES: Anyone else? Okay, great. With that, should we do a roll call? Okay, Mr. Clerk, let's do a roll call. Page 5 PSMTC-9 April 10, 2018 Vote on Comm. 833: The motion to recommend confirmation of the appointment (Approved) of Mr. Kyle Keamo the Fire Commission was carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, and Chair Ruggles — 7. Noes: Committee Members Richards and Poindexter — 2. Absent: None. Excused: None. (Note: Mr. Richards voted "kanalua" then "no.") ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (There were none.) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. RUGGLES: Okay, thank you. May I have motion to adjourn? MS. BAUTISTA: Oh, excuse me, before you make an adjournment, I just wanted to remind you to remind Mr. Henkel not to appear at the 25th Council meeting. CHR. RUGGLES: Yes, Mr. Henkel, you would not to reappear the next time your name comes before us at the Council to confirm your nomination. MS. BAUTISTA: Thank you. CHR. RUGGLES: You're welcome. Thank you for the reminder. Page 6 PSMTC-9 ADJOURN- MENT: Approved: April 10, 2018 There being no further business, at 9:18 a.m., Ms. David moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kanuha, Lee Loy, O'Hara, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair Ruggles - 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. RUGGLES : We are adjourned. Thank you. 114a - / MJ i r Ruggles, Chair Pu is Safety and Mass Transit Committee JR/na S—I ` IO (Date) Page 7