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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN GREDC 2019/10/15 2018-2020 Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic Development th 13 Session Hawaiʻi County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaiʻi October 15, 2019 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic ORDER: Development was called to order at 10:06 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Ms. Karen Eoff, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent & Excused: Mr. Matt Kanealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Member Mr. Herbert M. “Tim” Richards, III, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Moving on to business of the day. But before we do so, I am going to relinquish the Chair position to my Vice Chair, as all the business of today are items that I am putting forward. Relinquish Chair: At this time, Chair Kierkiewicz relinquished the chair to Acting Chair Lee Loy. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Let the record reflect that I have assumed the chair. With that, Mr. Clerk, I’d like to share that we’re going to be taking a few items out of order. We’ll be taking Communication 430.22 first, 49.9 second, and then Resolution 351-19. So with that Mr. Clerk, could you please read in Communication 430.22. GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 COMMUNI- The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Change Order As directed by the Acting Chair and with no objection from the Council of Business: Members, the following item was taken out of order: Comm. 430.22: REQUESTS A REPORT FROM THE 2018 KĪLAUEA ERUPTION RECOVERY TEAM REGARDING THE STATUS OF ACHIEVING THE IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES OF THE INTERIM RECOVERY STRATEGY, AS ADOPTED BY RESOLUTION 271-19 From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated September 20, 2019. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 430.22. Seconded by Ms. David. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Kierkiewicz, this is your communication. Kindly lead the discussion. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. We as a Council— MS. QUIHANO: Hi, Madam Chair. Sorry, I actually have a testifier here. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: I’m going to pool the rest of my colleagues. I know we did close public testimony. I am a firm supporter of a process, and this is their opportunity to participate. So if it’s okay with the rest of my colleagues, Chas, go ahead. Let’s bring that testifier forward. MS. QUIHANO: Sorry, I just updated—our system went down. So, it just went through, that’s why. RETURN TO The Acting Chair directed the Committee to return to Statements STATEMENTS from the Public. FROM THE PUBLIC: (The Acting Chair called Katherine Marchese who registered to speak in support of Comm. 430.22 and came forward when called.) ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you very much. Chas, we’re good in Pāhoa? MS. QUIHANO: Yeah, thank you so much. Return to ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: All righty. Back to the discussion. Ms. Kierkiewicz, Comm. 430.22: you have the floor. Page 2 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I believe it was back in September that we introduced and passed unanimously as a Council the Interim Recovery Strategy. And the Administration had reached out to Council Member Lee Loy and I, and provided us with a framework. And we took our time to meet with community, to get a sense of what their needs are. And so we lifted up their voices. We put some meat around those bones and delivered the Interim Recovery Strategy. And as part of that, I requested that the Administration provide this Committee with monthly updates to make sure that we are on track with meeting our target, specifically when it comes to reconstructing infrastructure, understanding the capacity and the wherewithal of the recovery team. And then most importantly, a couple of things really, ensuring that community plugs in to the decision making process, as well as—because this is an unprecedented effort where we will be receiving tens of millions of dollars ensuring that we have the right project management and financial management systems in place to track every single one of those recovery dollars. So without further ado, I would like to call up Roy Takemoto who is going to be providing us with I think a really robust update. Thank you, Roy. (At this time, Executive Assistant to the Mayor Roy Takemoto came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. TAKEMOTO: Roy Takemoto, Mayor’s Office. Usually Diane Ley, who’s the appointed anointed recovery manager until we can hire a full time person, which I’ll get into a little bit. So today I’ll try to quickly go through a status report in reference to the priorities addressed in the Interim Recovery Strategy. (Note: At this time, Mr. Takemoto provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk’s Office. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 430.23.) ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Kierkiewicz, you have the floor. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Roy. A really comprehensive report. And I just want to thank you for being at all of the Puna speak outs, and being there for our community. I want to hone in on the recovery Blue-Ribbon Task Force. There are three seats for community. And then for each of the RSF’s (Recovery Support Functions), I just want to confirm what that structure looks like. Because when I met with Douglas and Diane previously, they had mentioned that for each of the RSF’s they would be co-chaired by someone from the community, and potentially someone from County. So just wondering if you could elaborate on that, and if this is set in stone or if there is room to expand to include more folks from the Page 3 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 community. And the reason why I ask that is because at the end of the day, we want these processes to be community driven, government supported. Because no matter what changes here at the County with Administration or Council or whatever, we have the community owning it and leading the charge. MR. TAKEMOTO: As far as the definitiveness of this whole structure, it is definitely fluid. So this is something that we can set up initially, and as we see how it’s working, we can adjust and make changes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, excellent. MR. TAKEMOTO: So the taskforce, we wanted to have it as a pretty defined body to make it efficient in terms of discussion and decision making. The RSF’s are more like function specific and you can get into more details. And the ideas from the individual RSF’s will feed up into the blue ribbon committee as needed. And the composition of the RSF groups, yes, definitely community can—there’d be a definite representative from the community. And if there needs to be a broader membership within any of the RSF’s, that’s totally possible. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And I just want to make sure that we’re going to be including youth in these discussions, as well as representatives from the disabled population. MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. Will there be an onboarding, a training for the recovery taskforce? And I say that because I don’t want just a taskforce where people are giving advice and recommendations. I want a working group. I want people to know what the expectations are from the beginning so that they know that they’re not just going to provide their manaʻo, but they’re going to roll up their sleeves and work alongside government, County, State, Federal partners to actually implement their recommendations. MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah, no that’s a good idea. How these RSF groups will be working is something that we can start putting more thought into these coming months. And you made a good point that we should be organizing and mobilizing these RSF’s with the idea of implementation, so projects would be coming down from all these planning efforts where there would be hands on, boots on the ground kind of efforts. So yeah, a lot of building of capacity and competence and skills can be worked into how we set up these RSF groups. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the State, I think, can provide some of that technical assistance, right, in building up the capacity of our community? Page 4 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah, whatever resources we need to pull in where we can. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. That hazard mitigation plan you mentioned, isn’t th the deadline to submit November? I thought it was like November 9 or something. MR. TAKEMOTO: HI-EMA (Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency) is asking for an extension of the deadline. But if we don’t get it, that’s where Civil Defense is actively working on a list of projects so that if we don’t get the extension, we don’t lose out on the funds. And we have a list of projects that can be submitted. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. I want to jump over to tools for a second. I’m really bummed about Smartsheet; I really liked it. I’m just wondering, you know, you started to use that program. We fell in love with it, and then Corp Counsel down the road came in and said, “Oh sorry, but we can’t enter into an agreement with this company.” So can we start looping them in earlier on? I just get concerned that we’re making a lot of really great decisions and then—I don’t know where Corp Counsel is in this. MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah, that was a good call by them. They had to look at protecting our—it wasn’t necessarily a procurement kind of problem. It’s more like if we had problems with them and we ended into litigation, there were some problems in terms of the jurisdiction that we couldn’t resolve with Smartsheet. So yeah, maybe the lesson there learned was maybe we should make sure that off the shelf stuff that we already have available, that there’s a need to show that there’s no way that we can work with it. And we’ve learned some good features from Smartsheet, that we can now see if Excel can actually do those functions. So that’s where were at right now. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And I just want to confirm Corporation Counsel, they’re going to have a seat at the table for the recovery Blue-Ribbon Task Force? MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. I love working with Ron Kim. I love working with Joe. They’re valuable assets. And I bring them up because one of the things I articulated earlier on was assisting Kua O Ka La. And so it’s been months since I’ve convened a conversation between Susie, Public Works, Fire, Planning—I think some other folks were at the table—to figure out how we can get them a temporary certificate of occupancy so that they can get their charter status renewed. And so now I’m hearing that there might be issues within Corporation Counsel about making that happen, so I’m wondering is there being a concerted effort to develop, like, criteria for how we expend the recovery monies? Page 5 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. The Puna Strong Grant Program, the reason why it’s taking so long to roll that one out is exactly because of that, that we need—as we were trying to do the RFP (Request for Proposals) for that grant, all these different questions have been coming up that are leading into a set of criteria that we need to further develop. And the Kua O Ka La question is one of those factors that is being added to the set of criteria that we are developing. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Is that being developed by scratch or are we leaning on other jurisdictions that have experienced natural disasters in the past? I feel like this is a place where FEMA can step in and provide that technical assistance, and also make the connections to other municipalities that may already have articulated this sort of criteria. And so we can use that as a model and just tailor it based on our local Code and State statutes. MR. TAKEMOTO: No, the issues that we are facing in the criteria is not disaster specific. It’s more like how do you— MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Or recovery funding, I mean. MR. TAKEMOTO: How do you give money to a private entity? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Right, so I’m saying don’t you think other jurisdictions might have grappled with that in the past? MR. TAKEMOTO: Maybe, but it’s not just recovery money. It’s any kind of grant that you may want to give, either to another non-profit who would then be in charge of disbursing that further. I don’t know if any recovery, if it would take a lot of research if we confine ourselves to recovery to find that situation of a three step kind of grant insurance where Corp Counsel found another State that has done it. So we’re looking at that as a model. The other one was a community land trust. Does it make sense to give money to a private homeowner? Is that a good use of public monies? So that is more related to how you give housing assistance. So yeah, we’re looking, but it’s not FEMA who has the answers, necessarily. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, I’m just wondering if there are opportunities to pull in folks like Melissa Crane and Elizabeth Minor. No? Okay. I thought I needed to ask. They’re available. Chair, just a couple more minutes, thank you. Okay, couple other questions. In terms of the website and budget tracking, is it possible to integrate something like OpenGov? And maybe test out features of that where we can have visual representations of the monies that have come into the County, and the various expenditures over time? MR. TAKEMOTO: You mean like a dashboard? Page 6 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Like a dashboard. I mean Kauaʻi County has OpenGov; the State has OpenGov. I understand that Maui County is going to be using it. And I just think that it would be a great way to increase efficiencies, and then be more forward facing with our information to the public. MR. TAKEMOTO: We can check. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Last thing, the CDBG-DR (Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery) monies. So is the housing agency going to get a presentation of some sort at some point prior to the action plan being drafted and to better understand our roll? Because my understanding is this body, as the housing agency, essentially holds the purse strings for that funding stream, okay. And then the Office of Housing and Community Development, are they involved? Will they be leading the DR (Disaster Recovery) process? MR. TAKEMOTO: They’ll be involved. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: They’ll be involved. And we’re building capacity, right? MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Because we want to prevent clawback. MR. TAKEMOTO: Right. So that’s the specific CDBG-DR contract positions that we are doing the position descriptions actively right now, for those two or three positions. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. And then we are well on our way to hiring up our recovery team? MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Recovery officer and manager? MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. Some of those positions were posted on the website. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes. And you’ve been getting applications? MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, great. I hope we get an officer soon, because I don’t want us to ever have to hit the pause button again on recovery stuff if someone’s not available. Thank you, Roy. I appreciate you being here today. Page 7 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Any other members? Roy, with that, yes, thank you very much for being here, and all the work that you and Diane and everybody else have put into that. I just had a couple of points. I did want to reiterate what Ms. Kierkiewicz touched upon as far as providing a community voice, and someone from our disabled community as part of community reps. (representatives). I heard the same concern when I attended the speak-out on October 4 in Puna, and the youth are really hungry to start articulating what a future might look like for them in Puna. And I just saw that as a way for them to have some ownership, not only in the recovery plan but what their future might look like returning back to Puna. And then even the point on the RSF’s, to make them actionable so there really is an end game for them. Oh, I just had one question, which is the housing agency that will be reviewing the recovery plan. Who in housing is going to be doing that? And I’m asking that question, because I heard someone would be retiring soon. So I was just wondering what that housing structure would look like as they move this review process in. MR. TAKEMOTO: As far as OHCD (Office of Housing and Community Development), they are one member of the team that would be administering the CDBG-DR grant. So their role is their familiarity with the existing CDBG program. So they definitely will be bringing their experience and expertise to the team, will be hiring additional positions because we don’t want to take away the capacity for them to keep administering their current CDBG program. So their current responsibilities will be their primary group, of course, needs to be continuing to be their primary role. Their role in the recovery effort would be hopefully part-time with their existing staff, but full time with the staff that we hire who’d be working closely with their existing staff. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you for that, Roy. Because that really is where the rubber will meet the road, right, is infusing that money into the programs. Thank you, Roy; always a pleasure working with you. With that, if I, oh, I’ve got one from Ms. Eoff. Go ahead. MS. EOFF: So what you just said, I think it’s really reassuring and important, because it seems like everything hinges on reporting, especially with CDBG funds. So it’s good to know that your plan is to hire special people to focus on that, and not stress out our departments. And then just one more comment is, at what point will our housing agency convene to review or approve? MR. TAKEMOTO: There’s a suggestion that we do a briefing to the housing agency on the CDBG-DR process and the requirements. We’ll set that up, but I think maybe once the Federal Register is issued, that maybe is the trigger that we should start this briefing. Page 8 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 MS. EOFF: Okay, thank you. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Right, one more question. So we have Tetra Tech working with us. We have Institute for Sustainable Development. They’re handling the economic recovery plan and then creating the framework. I’m really excited for the CEDS (Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy) for our update because it’s due next year. And so then Tetra Tech, they’re working on comprehensive recovery plan, Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan—is there another one? I thought they were handling three things, that’s why. Or maybe not. There was the Kīlauea Eruption Risk Assessment, the KERA, that was already developed by Pacific Disaster Center. MR. TAKEMOTO: I think it was two plans, but three contracts. And so one contract is the recovery plan. The second contract is the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. But the third contract was to take the risk assessment from KERA and do a more in-depth volcanic hazard and risk update that will plug into the Multi- Hazard Mitigation Plan. And that contract was pre-disaster mitigation funding, a separate one from the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Got it, okay. Is all of that on the website? Is it possible to get copies of, like, agreements or scope of work on the website? I just want to be clear to the community like what the expectations are from each of the consultants. And it’s the public’s money so I just want them to know what these consultants are doing for us. Because I agree Tetra Tech is great and I want the community to fully understand the value and all that they bring to the table in this recovery process. MR. TAKEMOTO: Okay, yeah, I’ll check to see if the website has the contracts posted. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, and then when can we hear from you about assembly of the Blue-Ribbon Task Force? I think I provided like a few dozen names. And so the idea is to convene later this month? MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah, like next week. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, keep me posted. I’ll keep my schedule clear. MR. TAKEMOTO: Okay. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Page 9 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Any other members? Seeing none, we have a motion on the table to close Communication 430.22. All those in favor please signify by saying “aye.” Vote on The motion to close file on Comm. 430.22 was carried by Comm. 430.22: the following voice vote: (Filed) Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Villegas, and Acting Chair Lee Loy – 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kanealiʻi-Kleinfelder And Richards – 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, we’ll move on to Communication 49.9, please. Return to Order The Acting Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: Comm. 49.9: HAWAIʻI STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES’ JULY 29, 2019, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated September 19, 2019. Motion to Close File: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to close file on Comm. 49.9. Seconded by Ms. Eoff. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead and lead the discussion. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I provided this body with an update very shortly after the actual meeting, and so I’m just filing the minutes for the record. I will point out that there is no treasurer’s report. There was a handover between Maui and Honolulu and a lot of details that needed to be sorted through, and they were just sorted through this month. So we will get a final treasurer’s report as part of the October meeting minutes. Thank you, Chair. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Any questions? All right, with that motion to close Communication 49.9, all those in favor? Page 10 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 Vote on Comm. 49.9: The motion to close file on Comm. 49.9 was carried by (Filed) the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Villegas, and Acting Chair Lee Loy – 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kanealiʻi-Kleinfelder and Richards – 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Final business, Mr. Clerk, Resolution 351-19, please. ORDER OF The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 351-19: APPROVES THE NOMINATION OF MASON K. CHOCK, KAUAʻI COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER, TO THE WESTERN INTERSTATE REGION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Reference: Comm. 527 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 351-19. Seconded by Ms. David. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Again, Ms. Kierkiewicz, this is yours by request. Please lead the discussion. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. At an HSAC (Hawai‘i State Association of Counties) Executive Committee meeting, it was brought to the attention of the Executive Committee that Mason Chock wanted to reassume his position on the WIR (Western Interstate Region) Board. That’s a seat that’s currently held by our Council Member Tim Richards who also happens to be a presidential appointment to a NACo (National Association of Counties) Board. And so there was some pressure to ask Tim to give up his seat so that Mason, Council Member Chock from Kauaʻi could have that seat back. I wanted to bring this discussion to this Council. I’ve already made it very clear to the Executive Committee that I don’t think this is something our Council can support, because in the past there’s been situations where certain Counties have gotten multiple seats on these national boards. And so out of fairness, out of equity, ensuring that each County has a seat on one of these boards is critical. And any other appointments that happen on top of that, I think is just cream and cherries on top, so. Page 11 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 I’ve already spoken to Council Member Richards about this. He doesn’t mind giving up the seat, however that seat needs to go to someone in Hawaiʻi County. It’s all about fairness and equity in his mind, and preserving this seat for Hawaiʻi County. Thank you, Chair. MS. POINDEXTER: Madam Chair? ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Go ahead, Ms. Poindexter. MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah. It’s all good to say that we need to preserve it for Hawaiʻi County, but I think what we’ve got to remember too is, we’re one State and a lot of times we vote as a block. I know that Council Member Mason Chock has done an excellent job on WIR. And when we were going through the appointments, if you all remember Mason Chock was on there because Council Member Kanuha at the time had given up his seat on the WIR when he was appointed to NACo and gave that up to Kauaʻi County. To me it doesn’t matter what County has it; the main thing is that we’re representing Hawaiʻi the way we need to represent it. And I understand because, you know, with Tim he’s been appointed as a board plus he serves on two other committees. Just like me, I serve as a Chair on one, NACo, and a Vice Chair on another committee. So, having somebody that has the time and energy to support it, and if you go back to the minutes and look at what had happened previously, Mason Chock was initially appointed to a board and then we kind of reversed that decision. So for me it doesn’t matter what island has that extra because we’re all one State, and we kind of work as one body and one block. And I think Council Chair Chung remembers some of those conversations that went on with our Kauaʻi County Chair and that meeting we had at HSAC. We conferenced Tim in and had a good discussion, and then he got appointed to NACo. So all of that, you know, with Kauaʻi wanting to maintain that, and then look at next year at reestablishing different positions for different Counties taking turns. So for me again, I can keep repeating it; it doesn’t matter. Yes, we’re equally represented on the NACo Board. But it doesn’t matter if we get one seat or two seats, because when it comes down to it, it’s the State and we always vote as a block. And it’s who can put in the time and energy and really the effort to make that seat on the board and make a critical statement for the State of Hawaiʻi. So I’m willing to support Mason Chock on this, so I’ll yield at this time. Thanks. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Any other members? Ms. Eoff, go ahead. MS. EOFF: Okay. So it’s kind of a little bit confusing because I was looking on Maui’s website because I was interested in their HSAC package that they want to submit for all the Councils to agree to—well, that’s a different subject—but they Page 12 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 did a pretty elaborate job on one of their meetings on establishing some priorities. But in that same meeting, they had a reso like this, because I believe this reso has to go to all the Counties to support this slate. And their reso was written differently and it said that Mr. Richards willingly gave up his seat, like it was part of the reso. And so, yeah, I didn’t bring it, but you can see it on there. So it seemed to me like this was the slate that was decided upon. And I’m just wondering, at the meeting where this was decided, don’t all the HSAC representatives have to be unanimous in order to put this slate together? ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Yeah, go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Yes, it’s true. And I let Council Member Richards know that I would be voting for it, in order to bring the discussion back to the County. And I’m not quite sure where Kelly King got the information that Council Member Richards was giving his seat up willingly, because I have emphatically stated that for the record and it’s in the minutes that he’s not giving it up willingly, that he wants to preserve it for Hawaiʻi County. MS. EOFF: Yeah, that’s why it’s a little confusing. I can probably find those minutes or that reso. But yeah. So I don’t even know the process, what would happen. Because, this is the slate that’s been decided upon by the Executive Committee, which is being now sent out to all the Counties for our approval. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Right. And we just had an Executive Committee meeting last week. Council Member Chock was there. He stated before the Executive Committee that if the will of Hawaiʻi County is they don’t want to give it up, he can live with that and then wait till next year, so. MS. EOFF: Right, but then all the other Counties would have to agree with that. So it would have to go back again if they make a new— MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So if we don’t move this forward, then the measure dies. This recommendation dies, because all Counties have to provide unanimous support for the resolutions. So if we don’t support it, then it sends a message to the EC (Executive Committee) that we’re going to keep the officers in the positions they’re currently serving in. MS. EOFF: Don’t we have to vote on a new slate, if we don’t support this slate? I think we would. I think all the Counties would then have to get the same reso circulated back for a vote. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: They are circulating a resolution that notes replacing Tim with Mason. The verbiage may be different, but the substance of the replacement and who Tim will be replaced with is exactly the same. Page 13 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 MS. EOFF: Yeah. I’m kind of uncomfortable with that, because it’s not how I understood it. It seems like every time we vote on a slate, that’s the choice the Council has. And yeah, we can vote yes or no, but if we don’t support this slate or this change, then I think all the Counties would have to vote on a different appointment. MS. POINDEXTER: Can I maybe shed some light on that, Chair? ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Just a moment. Let me, Ms. Eoff, yeah. MS. EOFF: Okay, I’ll yield. Because, yeah, I don’t know enough I think about this. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: And maybe for context, Ms. Poindexter, like if you could provide that. MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, and I understand what Council Member Eoff is saying, because like Tim said he doesn’t mind giving it up but it would have to be somebody on Hawaiʻi Island. Even that would have to go before—that has to come by resolution. That still has to be agreed to by the Executive Committee at HSAC, and then sent to the Council for a vote. So yes, it would still have to come for another vote. So if this goes back, somebody else is going to get assigned, then another resolution needs to come forward. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Poindexter, you yield? MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Okay, thank you. I saw Ms. David’s light on, so go ahead, Ms. David. MS. DAVID: Well, it’s not only confusing, but for me procedurally I’m hearing about things that has not been brought to this Council as of yet. Like what will happen, what is expected to come before this Council in changing what’s before us right now, and that was discussed at the HSAC Executive meeting. And that’s where my uncomfortability comes from—is that a word, uncomfortability? And for me, what is before me today is what I need to decide on. Whether the County as a body does not want to give up this seat, a decision was made by the body that is the authority in putting something like this forward. And I understand that something that comes to us, has to be a unanimous decision by that executive body. So, very uncomfortable in asking me not to do something because of something that will be coming forward later. And on that, I need to support what’s before us right now and go with the process because that’s my position. So I yield. Page 14 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. David. Chair Chung. MR. CHUNG: Yeah. Let me just weigh in on this, and I really don’t know much about the processes of HSAC, NACo, or WIR. First of all, let me go back to something that Ms. Poindexter had referenced a conference call which included myself, Harold Kaneshiro, I think she said her, and Mr. Richards. I don’t recall that, really. I recall this, talking to Tim Richards about a different matter when it wasn’t even related to this. And then calling Chair Kaneshiro from Kauaʻi about that matter, and it really wasn’t related to this. I don’t know. I know we didn’t talk about this Mason Chock issue for sure. But anyway, it really comes down to philosophies. And Ms. Poindexter has articulated one school of thought, and she has a lot of experience with HSAC. But the other school of thought came from Fresh Onishi who was there before. And he always felt that it was good if you had each of the Counties occupying a seat, two for NACo and two for WIR. And again, there’s no right answer on this thing. But what concerns me here is that our County is now being asked to give up a seat, and it’s almost like penalizing—I hate to use the word penalizing—but penalizing us for our good work. Because, this all stems from Mr. Richards becoming a board member of NACo, and those things are hard to come by. Fresh was board member presidential appointee and then Mr. Kanuha followed, because Fresh worked to get him that seat. And then Dru likewise helped Tim get that seat. So we’ve been successful in that regard. But I think we all know, dealing with government, once you take something away, it’s hard to get it back already. It really is. I don’t care what people say, what kind of good intentions they have. So I would still say, yeah, I’m going to be voting against this measure—nothing against Mason Chock or anything like that. I just share the same philosophy that Mr. Onishi had articulated many years ago. It’s not to say—and I know for a fact that Mr. Richards did not make any representations to the HSAC Board that he was willing to give it up, because he told me on several occasions that we should not be giving it up. And I’m just going to stand by that. Thank you. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Anybody else? Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I don’t feel comfortable voting on this without Council Member Richards here, so I’d like to postpone until the next convening th of GREDC. I believe that’s November 5. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Sure— MR. CHUNG: Well, my understanding though is that this matter has to move forward quickly, yeah, and I would like to take a vote today if possible. Page 15 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Since we did not really fully realize a motion or a second, any other comment? I see Ms. Eoff’s light on. MS. EOFF: Can we—would you know whether we can postpone it, because I would feel more comfortable as well. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: This one needs to go to Council if it makes it out of this committee, because we’re in committee right now. So we’re sending over a recommendation to the Council. MS. EOFF: You’re right. Whether it gets a positive or negative recommendation, it can go to Council. But I guess would you be able to get a better explanation of what would happen if we don’t approve this? Does the slate or does the nomination have to come back to all County Councils of the four Counties with a new name? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No. MS. EOFF: To be appointed to WIR? ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Kierkiewicz, maybe you could help provide— and I’m leaning towards what Ms. David is saying about process. Because I see what’s before us and it says here, “Be it resolved that Mason gets the seat.” What I heard Ms. Eoff say is, the verbiage at Maui County kind of represented that a little differently. And Ms. David is saying, what she has to do is vote for what’s in front of us. So maybe, Ms. Kierkiewicz, if you could just share the process on whether we go up or down and then what the next steps would look like. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So if we vote for a positive recommendation, it goes th before our Council, and we would vote on it on November 5. If we vote negative recommendation, it’s dead in the water, right? Or it goes to Council with a negative recommendation and then I would articulate whatever happens today to th the Executive Committee. We have a special convening on the 28 to discuss our legislative package. So I would share with them basically an update on where we are. MS. EOFF: But at your meeting where this was determined, all four Counties had to vote to support Mason. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: We did, and I was in communication with Mr. Richards. I let him know this was happening. I said— MS. EOFF: But why would you vote for that instead of stopping it there and trying to refigure what—? Page 16 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So that we could have this discussion. MS. EOFF: But then all four Counties have to relook at another resolution. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No, it would be dead in the water because Council Member Richards would retain his seat on WIR. MS. EOFF: So what you said about, but it could be someone else from Hawaiʻi County, it wouldn’t really play in. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: If we wanted to play musical chairs and appoint someone else from this County to replace Council Member Richards, it would require a separate resolution. But if this resolution does not pass, then Council Member Richards retains his seat on WIR. MS. EOFF: Yeah, I wish Mr. Richards was here. But okay. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Mr. Chung, go ahead. MR. CHUNG: Yeah, well he’s going to be here for the full Council. And he has made it very clear to me that he thinks someone else from this body should be appointed to that position. He’s not looking to retain it for himself. That is going to be an overarching issue going forward on this thing. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Chung. Ms. Poindexter. MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah. So I like the idea of moving it to Council, because we need to get somebody on that seat and start preparing for the WIR Conference and our NACo Conferences and whatever is coming up. Whether it be Mason Chock, whether it be somebody on this Council, moving it to the Council meeting I think is the best thing to do. And if it doesn’t pass at Council, it still needs to go back to the Executive Committee and they’ve got to decide. Now like Council Member Richards is stating, and he knows his plate is full. So he wants it to remain in Hawaiʻi County, but with somebody else. But that still is another process that has to go through the Executive Committee, so it’s going to take more time. So that’s why it’s important to pass it on to Council. Because if Hawaiʻi County is going to end up keeping it and it’s somebody else, it still has to go through all of the Counties again to agree. So it’s going to go to HSAC, then it has to come to a resolution here and then agreed by all the Council Members. If it doesn’t, then it can go around and around and it’s going to cost a lot of time. And we need somebody to be on there talking with the other members of that board, and getting ready for especially our legislative stuff that’s coming up. Page 17 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 So I would say, don’t postpone it. We’ve just got to vote on it either way. It goes negative or positive, we’ll deal with it at the Council meeting when Council Member Richards will be back and Council Member Kanealiʻi-Kleinfelder. So we’ll have a full Council. I yield at this time. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: I’m not seeing any more discussion. I just have a question for Ms. Poindexter, because she seems to be advocating for this one particular member—Mr. Chock. And I know him. I’ve known him for a really long time. But I also spoke to Mr. Fresh Onishi, who was a former Council Member, and the critical need to maintain the seats, one for every County, while other members can hustle and get presidential appointments, which is what Mr. Richards and even other members have done in the past—Mr. Kanuha. But my question for Ms. Poindexter is, how come Mason? I heard you mention he has lots of energy. I’m just wondering because we have big needs here in Hawaiʻi County and we’ve got some energetic people here. Why not someone—? MS. POINDEXTER: Okay, so I can answer that. When we’re at the WIR and when we sit on boards, we’re advocating not just for our County. We’re looking for our State. So when we as Board Members or Chair, we’re looking not as just for our County. We’re representing the State. We go as a block. And the reason why I said with Council Member Chock too, when we had that first meeting—and Council Chair was on a call with the Chair from Kauaʻi. And, Aaron, you and I can talk about that, because that was about Mason Chock was on if we voted it all through and then Kauaʻi didn’t agree so that came all back. So I can help refresh that memory. But with Council Member Chock, even Riki Hokama who was there at that meeting had supported Mason Chock, because he said that he had been to those meetings and Mason Chock had represented Hawaiʻi very well. So I think some of the meeting minutes, if you go back through it, you’d understand why they had first Mason Chock as the appointment on that. Then Council Member Richards tried to fight for that position and then we said, “Okay, so if the presidential nomination comes up, then how do we adjust it?” So it was just a lot of that going on. So yes, we have energy here, but it’s not about each County. It’s about how do we represent as a State. And I know that Mason has done us well, and that had been confirmed through Council Member Riki Hokama who asked that, you know, supported Mason for that position. So thank you. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you for that, Ms. Poindexter. But I think we should still coach up someone from here. I’m not going to be supporting this, and I don’t care if we’ve got to circle back around and work hard but that’s what we need to do. I’m going to be fighting for having voices here in Hawaiʻi County. And out of fairness, even if they’re voting as a block, it’s still better to have one from every County rather than just one voice from Hawaiʻi County and two from Page 18 GREDC-13 October 15, 2019 Kauaʻi, or any other makeup. It’s always good to cement the four corners of each County being represented, and allowing other Council Members to be coached up. I mean Ms. Villegas is a freshman. I would hope at some point maybe she can step in and fill those shoes where Mason’s doing it now. But you never know, right? So with that, that’s my position. I’m going to be voting against that. With that, not hearing any more discussion, I would like a roll call vote, Mr. Clerk. Vote on Res. 351-19: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 351-19 (Failed) failed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Members David, Eoff, Poindexter, and Villegas – 4. Noes: Committee Members Chung, Kierkiewicz, and Acting Chair Lee Loy – 3. Absent: Committee Members Kanealiʻi-Kleinfelder and Richards – 2. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: With that, we have Resolution 351-19 going to Council with an unfavorable recommendation. Alright is that the end of our agenda, Mr. Clerk? MR. HENRICKS: It is. BILLS FOR The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of ORDINANCES: business, Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:31 a.m., Ms. David moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Villegas, and Acting Chair Lee Loy – 7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kanealiʻi-Kleinfelder and Richards – 2. Excused: None. Page 19 GREDC-13 October 15,2019 ACTING CHR. LEE LOY: Meeting is adjourned at 11:31 a.m. Thank you. Approved: tl (),(7( 01 Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair (Date) Governmental Relations and Economic Development Committee AK/dg/rk Page 20