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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN FC 2020/01/07 2018-2020 Committee on Finance 26th Session Hawai`i County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai`i January 7, 2020 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Finance was called to order at ORDER: 11:10 a.m. in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Chair Mr. Herbert M. "Tim"Richards, Vice Chair (came in later) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent& Excused: Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Karen Eoff, 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: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Patrick Hurney: Res. 431-20657 in support. Y (Comm.( )� pp (representing the Habitat for Humanity) Jeffrey Byron Worley: Res. 431-20 (Comm. 657), in support. (representing the Community Alliance Partnership) Toni Symons: Res. 431-20 (Comm. 657), in support. (representing the Community Alliance Partnership) Jon Olson: Res. 431-20 (Comm. 657), in support. Dwight J. Vicente: Res. 431-20 (Comm. 657), in support. Darryl Oliveira: Res. 431-20 (Comm. 657), in support. FC-26 January 7,2020 Roann Okamura: Bill 128 (Comm. 687), in support. (representing the Elderly Activities Division—Hawai`i County Nutrition Program) Carla Carpenter-Kabalis: Bill 128 (Comm. 687), in support. (representing the Elderly Activities Division - Hawai`i County Nutrition Program) Kristen Alice: Res. 431-20 (Comm. 657), in support. (representing the HOPE Services Hawaii) Delene Osorio: Res. 431-20 (Comm. 657), in support. Sarah Figueroa: Res. 431-20 (Comm. 657), in support. Paul Normann: Res. 431-20 (Comm. 657), in support. (representing the Neighborhood Place of Puna and the Community Alliance Partnership) Kaikea Blakemore: Res. 431-20 (Comm. 657), in support. CHR. DAVID: I believe that concludes public testimony portion of our agenda this morning, and I'm closing Statements from the Public. Mr. Clerk, can we move on to Communications, please? Communication 10.28. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 10.28: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: NOVEMBER 16—30, 2019 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated December 4, 2019, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Code Section 2-12.3. Vote on Comm. 10.28: Ms. Villegas moved to close file on Comm. 10.28. Filed Seconded by Mr. Richards and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Eoff and Kierkiewicz—2. Excused: None. Page 2 FC-26 January 7,2020 Comm. 10.29: REPORT OF CHANGE ORDERS AUTHORIZED: DECEMBER 1 — 15, 2019 From Finance Director Deanna Sako, dated December 17, 2019, transmitting the above report pursuant to Hawaii County Code Section 2-12.3. Vote on Comm. 10.29: Mr. Richards moved to close file on Comm. 10.29. Filed Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Eoff—2. Excused: None. Comm. 11.20: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: NOVEMBER 16—30, 2019 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated December 4, 2019. Vote on Comm. 11.20: Mr. Richards moved to close file on Comm. 11.20. Filed Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and a carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Eoff—2. Excused: None. Comm. 11.21: REPORT OF FUND TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED: DECEMBER 1 — 15, 2019 From Controller Kay Oshiro, dated December 20, 2019. Vote on Comm. 11.21: Mr. Richards moved to close file on Comm. 11.21. Filed Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Eoff—2. Excused: None. Comm. 119.3: FIRST QUARTER REALLOCATION REPORT: JULY—SEPTEMBER 2019 From Human Resources Director William V. Brilhante, Jr., dated December 3, 2019. Page 3 FC-26 January 7,2020 Motion to Close File: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 119.3. Seconded by Mr. Richards. CHR. DAVID: And I believe in Kona we have Director Brilhante in our Kona office. Mr. Brilhante, are you there? (Note: At this time, Human Resources Director William V. Brilhante, Jr., came forward to address the members of the Committee.) CHR. DAVID: Oh, there you are. Alright, Council Members, if there are any questions; if not, Mr. Brilhante, can you just give us a real short summary of the First Quarter Reallocation Report, what this does? MR BRILHANTE: Good morning, Committee Chair as well as Committee Members. CHR. DAVID: Good morning. MR BRILHANTE: William Brilhante, Director, Department of Human Resources, County of Hawaii. Yeah, I think there's been some discussion regarding the quarterly submittals on my behalf. The discussion has kind of circled around the understanding of what this report actually refers to. And I guess the best way to explain it,just briefly, is—I'll take an example of what happens. Say with a police officer, often times we would do a police recruitment, and there's a training process involved with our police officers. We come in, we hire them, they come in as police recruits. So in order to be able to effectuate that hiring, we have to take a permanent police officer's position, and the term we use is we have to reallocate it down to a police officer recruit position. That's a temporary reallocation. We do that specifically for hiring and training purposes. And that officer will come in as a recruit and will serve for a 12-month period of time. You know, once they get through the academy, the recruit training class, then that position gets reallocated back to a Police Officer I position. And that's how the process works. So if you look at this report, this is a report—my submittal is a listing of all the various positions in which something similar to that has taken place. As you can see, the majority of the reallocations for training purposes are either firefighters, which go through something very similar to police officers, or the police officer recruits themselves. So that will page—and that'sI'm referring to Communication Number 119.3. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr.yes, we have that. Thank you very much. MR BRILHANTE: Oh, great. So if you look at page one, two, three, four, and five, those are all the positions in which we reallocated the position either down Page 4 FC-26 January 7,2020 for recruitment purposes; or upon the completion of the recruitment, we reallocated them back up to their normal position. So if we go to page five, that's positions where an individual is working in their specific job. Let's take as an example a Clerk III. A Clerk III has a statewide classification, and what that classification indicates is, this is the range. It identifies the range and the scope of work that Clerk III position will have to perform, you know, to meet the employer's needs and expectations. That classification is a statewide classification. So in Hilo, a Clerk III will be performing the general or same, you know, scope of work as a Clerk III in Wailuku, a Clerk III in Lihue, or a Clerk III in Honolulu. So what happens is, when there's a question as to whether or not a Clerk III is still performing work within their class or scope, then we come in and we do an audit. And if we identify that"Oh, you know, this actual position is actually doing work in a higher class." So we perform an audit. We do an investigation. We come up with findings. And that in that case, we'll reallocate the position so that the individual is working within their proper class. So what we have identified on page five, is the positions in which we've conducted reallocation research and study and we found out that yes, these positions may be working outside of their class but these positions are not covered by County funds. They're covered by the Highway Fund, a special grant, or something to that effect, so we're not using reallocation. Because when you do a reallocation, generally the position gets upgraded and there's an associated increase in pay, as well. So that's what this identifies, is positions where we've come in, we've done the study, we determine that they are working outside of their class, but yet the funding to pay the salary for that position is coming from outside of the County General Fund. CHR. DAVID: I see. MR BRILHANTE: So those were the items listed on page five. And then page six is the exact same situation, however those are positions—well, this one—in this report we didn't have any, but those are positions where that salary is being paid by the County General Fund. So, as you can see. So that's a brief explanation of what this report refers to. And it was you know, it started maybe about seven or eight years ago, by request of the Council. Kind of like a checks and balances to keep the Council informed as to what's transpiring within the County's workforce. And that's why we do a quarterly submittal. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. MR BRILHANTE: So I'm happy to answer any questions. Page 5 FC-26 January 7,2020 CHR. DAVID: Thank you so much for that explanation. Any questions, Council Members? Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good morning, Bill. Thank you. MR BRILHANTE: Good morning. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Happy New Year, sir. MR BRILHANTE: Oh, same to you. Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Alright, my question is, the Police Officer I positions that I guess were recruit positions that has been ? MR BRILHANTE: (Inaudible), I'm sorry. That's correct. Police Officer I's are recruit. When they get bumped up, they'll come in as a Police Officer II. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So on page two, we have 11 Police Officer I's being rolled to Police Officer IL Are any of those recruits coming to Puna? Do you know? MR BRILHANTE: That, I would have to go and take a closer look at. But I'd be happy to report that to you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, if you could. Because that was something we did last year, and I look forward to having more officers in our Puna district. I'm sure my counterpart in Puna does, as well. Yeah, will you let me know, please? I'd appreciate that. MR BRILHANTE: No problem. I'll get in touch with you as soon as possible. Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Bill. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Brilhante and Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Anyone else? Any questions? No? Seeing none, all those in favor of filing Communication 119.3 please say "aye." Vote on Comm. 119.3: The motion to close file on Comm. 119.3 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Eoff—2. Excused: None. Page 6 FC-26 January 7,2020 CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Brilhante. MR BRILHANTE: Thank you, Chair. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, can you move on to Resolution 431-20? ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Res. 431-20: DIRECTS HAWAII COUNTY TO STRATEGICALLY ADDRESS ITS ESCALATING HOUSING CRISIS WITH URGENCY Advocates a multi-pronged approach to significantly expand affordable housing opportunities on Hawaii County, including the creation of an Affordable Housing Fund, the establishment of a"Hawai`i County Housing Coalition", and the development of a comprehensive housing plan. Reference: Comm. 657 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (Note: Comm. 657.1, from Managing Director Roy Takemoto, dated January 7, 2020, transmitting a hardcopy of the PowerPoint presentation, was circulated.) Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to recommend adoption of Res. 431-20. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: Ms. Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. I am so heartened by the support from community, not just here today in testimony, but the number of emails and calls I received from people that I don't know but are really excited about the fact that we're having this conversation about housing because we really are in crisis mode. And I feel like for so long we've been weathering this storm in a ship with no radar and no captain, and it's like where are we going, what are we doing? But I feel like with this resolution, it provides us some very clear direction on how the County can work in partnership with the community to just get it done. I mean, an all action kind of girl, and I don't always like plans. But in this particular situation, where we have tons of studies and a lot of broad, helpful information out there in different tools, funding mechanisms at our disposal, it's very, very important that we curate all of that information so that we can direct our County on a very streamlined way forward. I mean, we need housing now. I can think of very personal and observed experiences over my lifetime. I am very thankful to have grown up in a stable home. Not everyone is so fortunate. Seeing many of my constituents,people that I know and love, lose their home Page 7 FC-26 January 7,2020 during last year's lava eruption and today are still scrambling for decent housing. Being a college student, all on my own, looking for an affordable place to rent while I juggle a full-time job and 21-course credits, right? Being a young family, looking for an affordable place to rent. And then finally being in a position to find a home that's my own, that I can raise my kids in. That's really exciting, and everyone deserves that. Affordable doesn't necessarily mean cheap. It's what's attainable. What's right for you, right now, in your life. You could be that college student. You could be kupuna looking to downsize. You could be having a growing family. It's having that choice and the support to make that dream of being in a stable home possible. So I am really excited that the administration has put forward a presentation, and I look forward hearing about it, Roy. But I think the time is now, beyond creating this comprehensive plan, that takes a look at a lot of these studies. There's some things that the Office of Housing and Community Development can do right now, right? We can get some quarterly progress reports to the Housing Agency. We can get copies of all the 201H applications that have been submitted by developers. There can be a commitment by the administration, by the department heads, to meet monthly with developers to go over the 201H applications to see: do we have everything we need, what kind of policy shifts do we need to make in order to stand up more housing quickly? You know, standing up a housing coalition is going to be very important, because government, we can't do it alone. We're not everyone's savior. We shouldn't be. We need to convene the important conversations and then just empower our community to get it done. And all that stuffs going to require some resources. So really, seriously, looking at how we could establish an affordable housing fund. Maui has created a pathway. There is interest by the community to do this. I don't know what it's going to take, what that looks like, but at least now we are having very important conversations about how we start to grapple this issue. So Roy, I'd like to turn it over to you. Thanks for being here, and also our new head of Housing, Duane Hosaka. I do want to call out his deputy, Alisa Hanselman. Thanks for being here everyone. (Note: At this time, Managing Director Roy Takemoto and Housing Administrator Duane Hosaka came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. TAKEMOTO: Roy Takemoto, Managing Director. MR. HOSAKA: Duane Hosaka, Office of Housing Administrator. CHR. DAVID: Welcome gentlemen. MR. TAKEMOTO: Thank you for this opportunity to address this committee. The purpose of our presentation is, number one, to express strong support for the resolution. There is just one caveat, that the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, if Page 8 FC-26 January 7,2020 it's in the mode of our Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources (PONC) fund, where it takes a fixed percentage off the top, we would want you to strongly consider that. Whether you want to add more, or if you can keep that cap and incorporate this affordable housing within the existing committed funds, that would be great. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: If I may? MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: There has been no determination as to where the money could come from. MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: It's going to require, I think, a very long, robust debate by many people that are not in the room today. And so this is just making this is telling our community that we prioritize housing. How we fund it still remains to be seen. MR. TAKEMOTO: Right. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. MR. TAKEMOTO: Okay. No, I totally understand that. But a lot of reference was made to Maui's Housing Trust fund, and that's how it's set up, similar to our PONC funding. So if we can think of creative ways to create that fund in a different way, with different revenue sources, that's beautiful. So the purpose of our presentation, which we hope to keep very quick is: number one,just telling you what we have been doing; number two, that the County is probably not the best to take the lead on any of these affordable housing. We can convene, we can provide resources, we can empower as you referenced, but the expertise and the factors we control in delivering housing is kind of beyond the County. So we will gladly be part participate in a partnership with the coalition. What we hope to present today will help, hopefully kind of frame what a strategic plan should include. So we'll just kind of quickly summarize the official definition of affordable housing. (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. 657.1.) MR. TAKEMOTO: Okay, that's it. Page 9 FC-26 January 7,2020 CHR. DAVID: Go ahead, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thanks, you guys. I really appreciate the support. Happy to be working in partnership with you. Roy, couple of things. Mayor and I attended a series of housing summits that was convened by Senator Brian Schatz. And so one of the things that I'm lifting up out of that effort is a potential change to (Hawai`i Revised Statutes, HRS) 201H, to basically mirror what we have in (HRS) 205, where the County legislative body has jurisdiction to make land use boundary amendments for 15 acres and less. Is there anything else that the administration is going to push forward that came out of those meetings? I know one of the things that really concerned our Mayor and concerns this Council is cesspool conversion and how costly that is going to be. So just curious, what next steps is coming out of your office based on those conversations at the summit? MR. TAKEMOTO: I wasn't part of the summit. But the two things that you did mention, particularly the cesspool conversion, we are trying to get at that tough issue from multiple avenues. One is, exploring innovative financing. Using just happen Erica is in the back herePuako, as an example, of how you retrofit an existing community out of cesspools and hooking them up to a sewer system. We are looking into kind of promoting accessory dwelling, and its `ohana dwellings. And the barrier with accessory dwelling units is, if they're on a cesspool, the second dwelling triggers a sceptic system or hooking up to a wastewater system if one is available. That requirement to convert from cesspool to sceptic is a big barrier. So we're looking into sources of below market cesspool loans; and we also as part of the legislative package, pushing for the extension of that tax credit for cesspool conversions. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: You mentioned CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) money. We've got about—Duane is it about$2.5 million every year as a County? MR. HOSAKA: Correct. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Any word if we're going to get an increase in our allocation? Because it's not a lot when you think of all the needs that need to be met with this housing crisis. MR. HOSAKA: We've been having about$2.5 to $2.6 million. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Anything going forward or action plans that are going to just articulate how we can better address housing needs. MR. TAKEMOTO: What we are looking to is there's a program under the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant)that has not been used before in Page 10 FC-26 January 7,2020 this County. It's referred to as Section 108. I'm not sure what section it's referring to. But that program allows you to use as a loan, an advance, five times your allocation. So five times $2.5 million up to like about$13 million for our County as an upfront loan, and you pay it back overI forget how many years as a percentage of your annual. In our case, $2.5 million allocation. So we're able to amass a lumpsum upfront, which could pay for a water well. You know, just MS. KIERKIEWICZ: In a leverage way. I like it. Thank you. MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. So even if we cannot increase our allocation, we're looking at tools such as this to optimize how we use the CDBG funding. And that option, we would need to address in the consolidated plan. So we need to start thinking about these now so that we can incorporate those types of ideas in the consolidated plan. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: It's five-year plan, right, the consolidated plan? We're just nearing the end of this current five-year cycle? MR. HOSAKA: Yes. Yeah, we're still working on the new consolidated plan. It should be coming out shortly. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Great. And we'll get it, as Housing Agency? MR. HOSAKA: Yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Roy, last question. Administration, I'm sure, is very aware, 2018 the Legislature approved $570 million to deal with affordable housing. So just want to make sure that we're taking advantage of Rental Housing Trust Fund and other opportunities to incentivize affordable housing development. MR. TAKEMOTO: Yeah. I've been in touch with HHFDC (Hawai`i Housing Finance and Development Corporation). As part of the previous legislative allocations, I think there was like $30 million for infrastructure that went into their regional infrastructure portion of their DURF, the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund. We can access there's a match to that. It's a loan, and we need to match it. And I've been in discussions, particularly with Karen (Eoff), to see how we can kind of pilot the leveraging of that funding source where it's highly needed in Kona; to possibly combine that with either like a—and I can talk about this concept of a tax increment financing with whoever is interested later, but potentially using that tool, which has not been used in this State. Although this County, I think among all four counties, is the only County that may have an enabling ordinance under our HRS (Hawai`i Revised Statutes) Statute to tap into to create a tax increment financing district. We cannot bond against this tax Page 11 FC-26 January 7,2020 increment financing district. I think that's the constitutional question out there right now. But we can use the income stream from such a district to pay debt service on, say like this, loans from HHFDC. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you so much. Again, I'm really excited to be offering this up and to be working in partnership with the administration on this. I hope I can count on my colleagues for their support on this very needed strategic direction. That way we can bring about the housing that we really need for our community, because that's real foundational to wellbeing, economic growth, and prosperity. Thank you. Chair, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz, for really introducing this resolution. I'm actually really inspired about this committee and a resolution we saw earlier which kind of maps out the code amendments, right, with Chapter 25 and Chapter 23. So of course I began to ping a lot on the infrastructure and the building permit process. I just—and maybe a small revision going forward on this resolution, because I did see Roy's next steps, and it's the building permit improvements. So I've been working closely with the Department of Public Works to get all of that back on track. If I were to propose language in this resolution going forward for a second draft but to be heard at Council, that the administration supports all the various building permit or code revisions as it relates to the building permit process. The one permit system. We've heard EnerGov. Is that something the administration could get behind, you know, with a further refinement to this resolution? Because I think it not only shows collaboration, but consensus. But really begins to coagulate the work being done at the Planning Department, at Building, along with Administration and Housing, to take this multi-prong approach to addressing housing—affordable housing or attainable housing for the entire island. Is that something ? I hate to put you in a spot. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Well, if I could just clarify? This didn't come from the administration. I actually wrote every single word. So if the administration is okay with it, I would be happy to entertain an amendment, if you want it to look—or just to be more cohesive in its approach, and really integrate a lot of the pieces. Not opposed, but I certainly want to make sure that you're comfortable with it. Because you were comfortable with this draft. MR. TAKEMOTO: Yes, totally. And that would support the priority we put to that effort, the building permit efforts as well as all the other affordable housing and infrastructure kind of initiatives that we hope to get into. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you for that, Roy. Because really, a series of bills to overhaul that entire process is going to need to be stood up. And so I think this is a great way to show the collaboration between the Council and the administration Page 12 FC-26 January 7,2020 on how we're trying to resolve this, and then putting the words and the policies behind that. So with that, Ms. Kierkiewicz, I completely whole-heartedly support this resolution, and will float something forward before the next meeting. Thank you gentlemen. Happy New year. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Richards, go ahead. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. Thanks, Ash, for bringing this forward. Roy, Duane, I've been talking story about housing I think as long as I've been in office. Maybe this will get us unstuck, as we are stuck, stuck, stuck. We are talking about housing here, but we're actually talking more than housing. Roy, you touched on it. We're talking about land. We're talking about land use. We're talking about zoning. We're talking about planning. We're talking about the overall housing need. Lieutenant Governor gave a talk some time ago. I think we were at an initiative in Kona, and he talked about just getting the homeless and housing, estimated to save government$300 million a year in healthcare cost. So there are huge reasons for this. I've been working on affordable housing in my district since I've been elected. I didn't know much about. I know a lot more about it now. Ms. Osorio met with me and discussed all of this. And we get stuck because we find reasons not to build affordable housing. Our County has tripled its population since Maile was born, and I was born too. CHR. DAVID: Really? Thank you for that. Happy New Year. MR. RICHARDS: Since both of us were born. Our population has tripled. CHR. DAVID: Thank you. MR. RICHARDS: We're talking about development. And the problem is we have this push-back against affordable housing. The big cost that we run into is the infrastructure. Construction cost, yes, government doesn't control that. But the infrastructure cost is where we run into the problem. And I have six affordable housing potentials in my district; both of you are fully aware of all of them. Some of the big stuff we run up against are the regulations. You know, Roy, you did a great job here with these five barriers to housing. I'm going to throw a sixth one in there and say, "Government political will of wanting that housing to go forward." I think that's a big obstruction too, because every time we've tried to push something forward, we run into problems. Water is an issue, which is part of our infrastructure. You just mentioned wastewater is a problem. I think we're going to have to be creative to go forward to get this done. Conversion, one of our testifiers talked about, why can't we have two kitchens? Well, that's because our zoning doesn't allow it because we don't have multi-family units, because it's going to be too much stress on our wastewater Page 13 FC-26 January 7,2020 management, and thereby demanding too much water coming in. We can make all the reasons why we don't have the housing. Now we have to make the reasons why we need to get the housing. So Ashley, I am fully in support of this resolution because this is actually going to get things moving. But we're also talking about the economy, because we can't get this done unless we have the financial resources to get it done. So it's not"a"thing. It's an "umbrella" of things that we have to work to get things going. That's why everybody here has been talking about the economy all the time; I'm deeply concerned. You reported a month ago that we lost one-tenth of our economy because of the volcano and all that. These are deeply concerning problems. But we're not going to be putting people back to work unless we have the housing to have the people to go back to work. So with that, we're going to have to do this as a Council, as a County, and we're going to have to fund it. And I know Maui is probably a very good model to template after. I hear you, Roy, don't take more out of real property and send it someplace else. I'm going to push back a little bit. Maybe we should, because if we can get the housing, we're going to start fixing other problems because it will get the economy rolling. So we'll talk story about that. I think this Council needs to put forth a Charter amendment to get funding for this. Because I don't see it any other way we're going to get it done. A lot of the affordable housing projects we've run into is, well, we don't have the funding to help them. Knock them over the top. Ms. Osorio talked about that; if we had the funds, that we could actually loan or get things rolling, I think we'd make a lot of headway. And I think on board, we have to have Planning, we have to have Public Works. Everybody has to come to the table and say, "Yeah, we're going to do this because we need this." We have too many people leaving our County because they can't get housing, they can't get a job, so they don't stay. That's not a good thing. And then you guys hear me beat this drum, we don't even feed our population very well. I mean, it goes on and on. So it comes back to this, but we can start with this. So Ashley, definitely going to support it. I think we need to work on the Charter amendment to get funding for this, because if we don't, I don't want to be a Council that kicks the can down the road. Let's do something hard and firm, and we've got to do it. So Chair, I'm going to yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Mr. Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder and then Ms. Poindexter. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I echo what Mr. Richards said. I do really support this resolution. I support having the Mayor's Office here and Housing Office here to kind of back up what she's saying. Page 14 FC-26 January 7,2020 I would offer my two cents now. I believe home ownership and land ownership as part of affordable housing are important. Patrick from Habitat taught me that. And that's something you can't really argue against, is that having a home and paying rent to someone or something versus having a home and paying your mortgage are very different. In the long term, creating homeowners versus home-renters is key, I think, to building a very stable and strong economy. In conjunction, and I see hints at that in this resolution. You start dealing with the cost of living, because if we can't afford to pay our bills or buy groceries, then you can build as much housing as you want. But if we can't afford to live here, regardless of the housing cost, and we're taking care a piece of it, but like Tim has said, this is an umbrella of things. So all of that put together is what we need to address. This is touching on that. I think it's a good step. Some of these cost of living issues that we have, we don't have control over, and that bothers me. But if we can start chipping away at small pieces and provide people homes that they can live inI would hope land that they can actually own, versus creating long-term Section 8. I'm looking in our next couple of agenda items, Section 8 voucher users that rent from people who have a lot of money, then I don't think we're dealing with that underlying issue of our ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed)people and get ahead in life. We're just kind of perpetuating the system. So that would be my two-cents. But I do really appreciate you, Ashley, for bringing this forward. I laughed when I first saw it because it says, "With Urgency," and I was thinking to myself, why is it not being dealt with, with urgency already? Just even for you to have to state that on there, it makes me think, you know, what are we doing and what have been doing? I may be one year in, but just"With Urgency" is like we shouldn't have to say that. It should just be engrained already. We know we have to do it. So I appreciate what you're doing, and I will support this today. For the Mayor's Office, I'm interested to see how we kind of wrap our heads around this and how we attacj it. My big point, is this cost of living and home ownership. That is just defeats me. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Mahalo, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Ms. Poindexter, go ahead. MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, and this is just a basicI would say synopsis of what you are considering the strategic plan, correct? Because I'd like to see you know, I see barriers to housing, but I don't see anywhere in here where we show our collaborators who strongly support affordable housing. You know, so we can show the barriers, I'd like to see the collaborators, as well. And at the top of the list, I'd like to see the CDP (Community Development Plan)because that is the voices of the people. In all of the CDPs, well I know especially in Hamakua's one, we have strategically placed out where our affordable housing opportunities are. Page 15 FC-26 January 7,2020 So part of the collaborators, under collaborators, would be some private developers, you know, who are willing to. Because I know that I was working with one by near Wainaku, who had a lot of land there too, that was willing to was looking at doing affordable housing. Even went as far as meeting with Senator Lorraine Inouye about it, and somehow that kind of just fell through the cracks. Maybe because there was not enough incentives for that developer to say, "Hey, I really truly want to go affordable housing,"which we need. Instead of just development for housing, and say we have affordable housing, a percentage of—which is really not affordable housing because our local people cannot afford that, what they say is affordable housing. I'd like to see affordable/low income housing. Because affordable housing by the federal standards, are what? Yeah, it'sright. The cost of—most of it that are sold "affordable homes" are not sold to our people that need it. So think about that, when we do the strategic plan. It's not just affordable. I'd like to see low income included on that. And I'd like to see who our partners and collaborators, strong partners and collaborators are so that this can be realistic. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Poindexter. Ms. Villegas, go ahead. MS. VILLEGAS: Aloha, thanks for being here. First and foremost, thank you, Ashley, for taking the initiative and putting together this document that really encompasses a lot of what we all, not just hope for, but as a doctor that presented to us, but have the courage—having the courage to address, be honest about our shortcomings as a County and a community, and to identify ways to move forward. I will be definitely supporting this. But I share some concerns that Ms. Poindexter just pointed out. So often we have new developments, housing developments, that have a portion of affordable housing. And if they are portions or percentages, but they end up being built and purchased by not our local people. And so the gap between finding housing for the people that already live here gets bigger, and other people are just moving here. So I don't know what the solution to that is. But how we can more specifically address without discrimination or any of those kinds of issues, but how we can ensure that the housing projects that are being worked on are in fact for people who are living here and who do need housing. Perhaps it's restrictions or some parameters that are laid in that. But I think that also will help relieve some of the concerns by the "not in my backyard"people, as well. So just seeing that balance and that opportunity so we don't have, what some comes—something—it's called the brain-drain, or people moving out. But that we do have opportunities for our local people in our community. So thank you for your continued efforts to identify opportunities that take into consideration all of these different facets which are incredibly complex, not to Page 16 FC-26 January 7,2020 mention all the different agencies that you have to work through. But thanks for doing that and thank you for bringing this together. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. Mr.who was first? MS. LEE LOY: Me. CHR. DAVID: Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I think Mr. Richards is going to echo what I say. But just to share with Ms. Villegas, yes there are tools through affordable housing. And as we craft our affordable housing agreements, we can do deed restrictions or keeping them affordable in perpetuity, right? So we do have tools in our toolbelt. We've got to work smarter, especially when we're crafting our affordable housing agreements with whomever is coming forward. So, there are opportunities. I'm just really excited what this springboards us into. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. And I will echo some of what Ms. Lee Loy said. But concerning—going forward, this has been one of the conversations I've repeatedly had in the communities. And Rebecca, to your point,people say we're going to build this house and then it's going to disappear. This has been the recurring problem of affordable housing, countywide/statewide that it is affordable for ten years and then it reverts to market. And so the person in the house kind of wins the lotto, because suddenly the house appreciates, but then we don't have any more affordable housing. And so one of the concepts I've been working in one of my units—developments is that—as Sue just articulated, keep it affordable in perpetuity, and you assign a value of appreciation over time. But it stays within that affordable, because the whole idea is to have that affordable going forward. And to address Matt's concern, also have land ownership; but in order to get that, we have to have a relatively low cost of land, which comes back to our planning and our infrastructure cost. So we have to be more global thinking on how we're going to actually get this done. I hear you guys; I'm with you with all of that. Because if we don't have that housing available to us, not five years from now, but 15 years from now, 20 years from now, we're going to lose. We're going to have the youth drain, is what you're talking about; we're going to ship them all to the mainland. So that's things. We've got to get that. And we've got to get the volume going up. This is the right step, right direction. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else. Seeing none, alright, then it's my turn. Thank you gentlemen for being here and for your presentation. Page 17 FC-26 January 7,2020 Ms. Kierkiewicz, I want to thank you for the resolution and for bringing this important issue to the forefront. And I think what I'm hearing today, is that affordable housing has different meanings as far as who you're addressing. So I think, in my mind, the population that is truly the needy, the working-class family that really cannot afford anything on the market right now. So I think the important thing is establishing those different tiers and address the population that we really need to address with affordable housing. Everyone knows that what's classed as affordable during a development stage or a development project is not affordable to anyone that basically lives here, and that has been the norm since when I was born, and Mr. Richards. It seems like it was always out of reach, okay. And it said, "Okay, when I become an adult, I'd be able to afford to buy a house." The reality of it all was no; if it wasn't for our parents taking that leap and going into debt to put everything into buying a piece of property and building a home back in the 60s and 70s, had it not been for them, we would not have the benefit of inheriting their place or having a place to stay, because of that, because we can't afford to buy it. And I think that trend has continued, because when I'm no longer here the house or the properties that have been acquired by my parents will now go from me to my kids. But not too many people have that opportunity now, and they're stuck with trying to start from ground zero, and ground zero is unaffordable on this island. Anyway, thank you for that great discussion. And I think we all agree where we're at, where we need to go. And let's work together and get that. Thank you, Roy. Thank you. So all those in favor of approving Resolution 431-20 and moving it forward to Council with a positive recommendation please say "aye." Vote on Res. 431-20: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 431-20 (Approved) was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Eoff—2. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Let's run down this agenda item. The next item, Resolution 458-20. Page 18 FC-26 January 7,2020 Res. 458-20: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A MULTI-YEAR HOUSING ASSISTANCE PAYMENT CONTRACT WITH AINAKEA SENIOR RESIDENCES, LLP, OWNERS OF AINAKEA SENIOR RESIDENCES, FOR THE SECTION 8 PROJECT-BASED VOUCHER PROGRAM AS OFFERED THROUGH A PUBLIC NOTICE DATED JULY 26, AUGUST 2 AND 9, 2009 Requests the Council to authorize the extension of the initial master agreement to February 28, 2030, to continue providing rental assistance for up to 29 eligible elderly participants. Reference: Comm. 685 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to recommend adoption of Res. 458-20. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. DAVID: And I believe Mr. Hosaka is still here in case we have questions. So Mr. Richards, you have a question? MR. RICHARDS: I don't have a question. I was just going to ask for a strong support of this, as Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder just touched on. And this just folds all into what we were discussing. This is in my district, it's in Kohala. The Section 8 just flags the need of what we need of what we need to do to support, going forward. I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Anyone else? Alright, seeing none, all those in favor please say "aye." Vote on Res. 458-20: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 458-20 (Approved) was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Eoff—2. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Mr. Clerk, Resolution 459-20. Page 19 FC-26 January 7,2020 Res. 459-20: AUTHORIZES THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A MULTI-YEAR HOUSING ASSISTANCE PAYMENT CONTRACT WITH THE PROPERTY OWNERS OR PROPERTY MANAGERS OF SELECTED PROJECTS FOR THE SECTION 8 PROJECT-BASED VOUCHER PROGRAM AS OFFERED THROUGH A PUBLIC NOTICE DATED FEBRUARY 18 AND 19, 2019 Authorizes the Mayor to enter into a multi-year agreement for proposed voucher projects: Kaiaulu O Kapiolani, Kaloko Heights, Papa`aloa Elderly Housing, and West Kawili Street Senior Project. Reference: Comm. 686 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of Res. 459-20. Seconded by Ms. Villegas. CHR. DAVID: Any discussion? Seeing none MR. RICHARDS: I have a quick question. Duane, you're here? CHR. DAVID: Mr. Hosaka? (Note: At this time, Housing and Community Development Administrator Duane Hosaka came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. HOSAKA: Duane Hosaka, Housing Administrator. MR. RICHARDS: We know who you are. It's just guys on the tape don't know who you guys are. Duane,just real quick. For these vouchers, there's a maximum we as a county can have, isn't that correct? And are we bumping that maximum? Where are we with all that? MR. HOSAKA: We have a little over 2,000 vouchers. It's Housing Choice and Project-Based vouchers combined. We've in the past tried to get more, and we can't get them. We have the money to get more, but it's a federal thing and we just can't get it right now. MR. RICHARDS: Is there anything we can do to help get that? Because again, it falls in line with the affordable housing. It's a bridge. But is there something we as a Council can do? MR. HOSAKA: Years ago we asked Kauai because they had some extra vouchers, and they did give us. But it's really hard to get. It's, I guess, if you say like better than gold. I mean, you know because once you have those vouchers, it's pretty much lifetime. You can hold on to them. So Kauai isn't giving up anymore, and no other island would give us more. Page 20 FC-26 January 7,2020 MR. RICHARDS: Okay. MR. HOSAKA: I guess Council can talk to the other islands and help us out with that. But we've tried, even the Mayor has asked. No one is willing to give up their vouchers for us. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. And we're maxed out. We don't have any more. This is what we have, correct? MR. HOSAKA: Yes. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Alright, thanks, I yield. CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What is the value of those vouchers? MR. HOSAKA: It runs—average about$700 to $800 per voucher. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Per voucher. MR. HOSAKA: Just depends. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: On average? MR. HOSAKA: On average, yeah. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We have 2,000? MR. HOSAKA: 2,000, yes. Over a couple of million dollars-worth of vouchers, yeah. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's every year? MR. HOSAKA: Yes. Oh yeah, well, every month, every year, yeah. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So yearly output of$2-point something million? MR. HOSAKA: If you go $700 times 2,015. CHR. DAVID: $2 million. MR. HOSAKA: $2 million, yeah. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: $1.6 million. Page 21 FC-26 January 7,2020 MR. HOSAKA: It just depends. It can be more. Some of our vouchers run $800. It's just an average. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And those are federal-funded or that's county-funded? MR. HOSAKA: It's federal. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Federal fund this. Thank you. CHR. DAVID: Anyone else? No? Mr. Hosaka, is there any chance that we might lose any Section 8 for any reason? I hope not. I'm just wondering. MR. HOSAKA: I guess how the vouchers work, is if we have—if you spend say $2 million—if we have $2 million worth of vouchers and we don't use them, the federal government would take some away. CHR. DAVID: Oh, really? MR. HOSAKA: That's why we always—we have like an extra fund balance in our account. Because we want to go as close to that 100 percent as possible. CHR. DAVID: Right. MR. HOSAKA: So say if we went to 95 percent that we used, they possibly could take some money away from us. CHR. DAVID: Wow. MR. HOSAKA: So that's why we always strive for that 100 percent, which is hard to yeah, it's like a balancing act. Yeah, we always strive for that 100 percent. CHR. DAVID: Sorry, Mr. Hosaka, go ahead. So that's—okay, that was my question. Alright. So for now, we're good. MR. HOSAKA: Yeah, 2,050 or so. CHR. DAVID: Yeah. Alright, thank you. No other questions? Alright, all those in favor of—please say "aye." Page 22 FC-26 January 7,2020 Vote on Res. 459-20: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 459-20 (Approved) was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Eoff—2. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: Alright, last item on our agenda. Mr. Clerk, Bill 128, please? BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 128: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 19-73, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2020 Increases revenues in the Federal Grants —Nutrition Services Incentive Program account($20,000); and appropriates the same to the Nutrition Services Incentive Program account, bringing the total appropriation to $120,000. Funds will be used for home delivered meal services for the elderly. Reference: Comm. 687 Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R) Vote on Bill 128: Mr. Richards moved to recommend passage of Bill 128 (Approved) on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Eoff—2. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: And I believe, Mr. Clerk, that concludes our MR. BROWN: Motion to adjourn? CHR. DAVID: I was going to say something. Well, and it's been a housing agenda. A finance housing agenda today. Thank you everybody for doing this. Page 23 FC-26 January 7,2020 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, at 12:44 p.m. Mr. Richards moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair David—7. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Chung and Eoff—2. Excused: None. CHR. DAVID: We are adjourned. Mahalo everybody. Approved: AP J 2- d Ms. Maile Me s David, Chair (Date) Finance Committee MD/na Page 24