HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN COUNCIL 2020-03-25 2018-2020 Hawaii County Council
351h Session
Hawaii County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii
March 25, 2020
INVOCATION: Kahu Brian Welsh of Haili Congregational Church gave the morning's
invocation.
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Hawaii County Council was called to order at
ORDER: 9:00 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Chair
Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair (via videoconference from Kona)
Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member
Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member
Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member
Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member (via videoconference from Waimea)
Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona)
PLEDGE OF The Chair directed the Council to the next order of business, Pledge of Allegiance.
ALLEGIANCE:
(There was none.)
PETITIONS, The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Petitions,
MEMORIALS, Memorials, Certificates of Merit, and Expressions of Condolence.
CERTIFICATES
OF MERIT, AND (There were none.)
EXPRESSIONS OF
CONDOLENCE:
STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Statements
FROM THE from the Public on Agenda Items.
PUBLIC ON
AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.)
APPROVAL The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Approval
OF MINUTES: of Minutes.
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
(There were none.)
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, let's roll right into our discussion with Lieutenant
Governor Josh Green, M.D., who's participating via videoconferencing. You
know, first of all, thank you so much for giving us your time. I know, you know,
you've been going through a very hectic schedule. And you know, whatever time
you can give us is greatly appreciated. Did you want to make a brief opening
statement first and then open it up to questions, or how do you want to do this?
COVID-19 Discussion (Note: At this time, Chair Chung directed the Council to proceed to
with Lieutenant a discussion with Lieutenant Governor Josh Green regarding statewide
Governor: efforts and concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and health
emergency. At this time, Lieutenant Governor Josh Green came forward
to address the members of the Council via videoconference from
Honolulu.)
LT. GOV. GREEN: That'd be great. If I may, and you should interrupt me at
any time, I just want to say thank you so much for including me. Thank you for
the resolution you passed just a few days ago. It's amazing the way you guys are
stepping up to the plate and it's nothing that I wouldn't have expected, so thank
you.
This is a time when life is on the line. Absolutely and without question, this is the
moment in our lives as members of legislative bodies, as citizens, as members of
`ohana in Hawaii that we have to get it right. And so, I'm going to give you a
brief update about COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019). I'm at your service as
both your doctor from Hawaii Island and as your Lieutenant Governor.
There's a lot going on and I know that I will repeat some information that's been
very comprehensively covered, but I think I will go quickly and that might help a
lot of people who are taking your lead, you know, who are following you and
everything that you do to keep people safe on the Big Island.
So first of all, COVID-19, very quickly; you all know it's a Coronavirus. And it's
called a novel coronavirus, which means it's new. And why is that important?
It's important because we don't have any immunity to it. That's the critical part
of novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Without immunity, if we don't put up proper
safeguards, it will sweep through the entire globe. That's what happens with new
viruses.
That's why this one is drawing so much attention as opposed to say the flu, which
will affect 400 million people globally this year and kill one out of a thousand
people. However, a novel coronavirus which we have no immunization for will
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take six to nine months at least to form a solid immunization plan. There's no
way we're going to get that here in the acute phase of the disease. And that's why
it scares people so much.
Coronavirus 19 (COVID) disease that's pneumonia in the lungs; 19 for
2019—started in Wuhan China as you all know, and did spread globally. As of
today, we have 438,749 cases with 19,675 deaths. In the United States, we have
55,245 cases confirmed and 802 deaths. In Hawaii as of this morning, we will
get a new number at about noon, we have 90 cases that are confirmed, and as of
this moment, either zero or one death, because the individual that did pass away,
and blessings to his family and prayers for them, has been retested and the test
came back negative.
So I think that is sufficient to say, but I do know of three individuals, all of whom
are actually on the younger side surprisingly, they're in the intensive care unit and
are in jeopardy of dying. People that I know about as a clinician. So this is a
very, very serious situation.
Let me cut to the chase. We absolutely must isolate at home for this period of
time. Under any and all circumstances we have to social distance like you're
doing very, very professionally there in the chambers. But isolating at home with
the exception of the central necessary services. For instance, getting food or
getting health care if you're in a crisis, and maybe a very small other set of
reasons to go out.
If people isolate at home the spread will come down very quickly. The reason for
that is that we only can defeat these viruses where we have no immunity, if we do
not allow ourselves to spread them through the droplets; through coughing,
sneezing on people. We'll talk more about this. And then it burns out. The cases
that are out there, and there's certainly more than 90.
We've only begun to test aggressively about ten days ago in the community, as
you know. We brought testing up in Hilo a couple days ago. A testing site was in
Kona that my team set up. Only because we hadn't tested did we have no cases
that we had confirmed. The cases were there and we're now finding them, but the
truth is we still have a much smaller number of cases than many other states and
that is a blessing.
That is the way we can actually suppress this, and that's why the order to home
quarantine, as painful as it is economically from a business standpoint. We'll talk
about the bailouts that are necessary and you'll lead that. Because of the
necessity to stop it and kill this virus, for which we still have a chance, we should
do this.
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Now I know it's very difficult. It's a very difficult decision and I will not criticize
anybody from the Big Island, okay. It is a big challenge. Although you'll ask me
penetrating questions and I will be candid and open with you about my best
recommendations. But by stopping it's spread and doing it through April 301h, we
will be able to hopefully mitigate the crisis that has hit other countries like Italy or
states like New York.
Now let me get into a little bit of nitty-gritty, because I know that these numbers
are helpful to share. The big picture on the state; we have a shortage of healthcare
providers and healthcare facilities, as you know. And we are working constantly
on trying to improve that but it's hard. Big Island is even in a worse situation as
is Maui and Kauai. We have a greater shortage of healthcare providers than even
the rest of the state. The state has about a 22 percent shortage of healthcare
providers across all disciplines. The Big Island has a 40 percent shortage of
healthcare providers.
And as to beds for hospitals, because when COVID-19 does start affecting people
and sending them to the hospital, about five out of every hundred people that get
COVID-19 end up in serious condition and need serious hospital support, it will
flood the hospitals and overwhelm them just like that if we have a big surge.
So let me get to some details. Statewide we have 3,031 licensed hospital beds.
As of two days ago, and we get these numbers updated very frequently, we are at
65 percent occupancy. That meant that 1,970 beds were occupied out of our
3,031. We're also are capable of surging our capacity, and this is very good news
for you Chair, to a number of 437 additional beds statewide for intensive care
purposes.
On the Big Island, Hilo Hospital (Hilo Medical Center) is particularly well
positioned. They're able to surge their capacity by 67 percent. And that's why I
went and toured Hilo hospital and Kona Hospital to make sure that we had extra
surge capacity. We have 328 ICU (Intensive Care Unit) beds as of this moment;
200 for negative pressure isolation rooms, that's to keep people quarantined so
they can't spread the virus if they've got it. And somewhere between 431 and
560 ventilators, depending on what they've put up operationally. But we can get
up to 560 without difficulty.
And I say this because that means, once again, we had 1,061 additional beds
available plus the 437 if we had the surge. So about 1,500 additional hospital
beds. But here's the rub, if we allowed COVID-19 to roll through the state of
Hawaii and we got, say 40 percent. Let me just use that as an example,
40 percent of all of our people getting sick. Forty percent of 1.4 million, you can
do the math very easily, that's about 500,000 people, correct? So when 500,000
people suddenly get sick and of that, like I said earlier, five percent end up
needing severe hospitalization that is a large number.
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Ten percent would be 50,000; five percent is 25,000 people needing serious care
in the critical care capacity with ICU beds. Now in the very best of
circumstances, we only have 328 ICU beds and some surge capacity. So if we
went up a peak and down a peak really fast like happened in Italy, and some large
part of that 25,000 people or more surged to the hospital, we would have to
choose who to give care to. Whether some people would get ICU beds and some
wouldn't. Some get ventilators, some don't; some get breathing tubes. That's
what I'm speaking about.
So the necessary choice is to slow down the virus. To do home quarantine, total
isolation, is to basically either knock the thing out so it goes "boom" like this, like
it did in some places like South Korea, or you just slowly go up and slowly come
down. And when you slowly go up, we have the capacity to surge in Hilo and
Kona, on Kauai and Oahu, and then you slowly come down. We bring the
military to bear as needed and we keep people alive.
Because when kupuna get it, it is a serious problem. Age 75 to 70,the mortality
rate is eight percent. Eight percent of people will die. As opposed to the baseline
of three percent globally will die. And when people are over 80-years-old, the
mortality rate goes to 14.4 percent, which is catastrophically bad. And if you
have a big surge like this, you're already hearing states saying that they will not
put people on ventilators if they're over 80; over 70. And now saying over age 60
in some places because their survival rate is so low and the likelihood of coming
off the ventilators is almost zero.
So that is the basis of the reason to both socially isolate, be very serious about
home quarantine to destroy this thing before it becomes a big spike. And then we
get out and begin to resume, essentially jolt. You know, like we do when we have
to give someone in cardiac arrest that jolt. We jolt the economy back when the
time is right. When we're not worried about spread, when the virus has backed
down very significantly we jolt the economy back and the stimulus plans and all
of the support for small business and people is not forgetting them; keeping them
alive with their rents and small amounts of money.
Standing up hospitals, as needed, then we begin the much larger process, which
we rely on legislators like your body to decide where to best invest our money.
What do we reopen; how do we support those who went through great economic
pains and so on. That is the overview that I basically have for you. I don't want
to be overly alarmist. I will say this, we had to stop the cruise ships because they
were spreading infection terribly. That's why I called for that.
We had to do some community spread and set up private screening because we
had only setup about 35 to 40 total tests from the Department of Health. That was
a failure. But now we've done many, many thousands of tests and we're doing
many thousands more. And then finally the call, I believe it was about a
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Thursday ago, which you guys acted on with unbelievable speed. And I can't tell
you how both stunned and respected that move was. How stunning it was for me
and how much I respected it, to actually make that judgement call with no delay,
was not just an act of courage, but it was also bold leadership that will save lives.
So those things, though we've never had to do them before, were necessary
because we had the actual real-time examples of what would happen if we didn't
do this. So that's why I'm continuing on with my role and I'm speaking with
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) General Hara wherever he
needs my help. And we can speak to all the other processes. But that is the
overview, and I'm hopeful that in the coming days, now that we have a lot of tests
in the field, we'll get a much better picture. We won't be going blind of this
problem. We'll get a better picture of where the disease is in our state, what we
can do, where we have to surge extra capacity, how long it's going to take us to
get out of this.
So again, thank you. I'm sorry for such a long intro, but I thought I laid out those
basics. It might alleviate the necessity for some other standard questions that are
coming from perhaps the social media entity or even some of you legislators.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright. Well, thank you very much for that initial briefing.
You know, why don't I just start off, though, by asking you one question because
it's something I'm sure that's on the back of everyone's mind here both, you
know, on our panel as well as the viewing audience. Yesterday there was a news
article. I guess it was a press release from the Governor's office, and you know,
some people were left with the impression that you were now being excluded
from the detail. And can you just—we may as well dispense with that matter first
before we go any further and just wanted your perspective. I know you're a real
straight shooter, you have that reputation. So just tell us what's going on.
LT. GOV. GREEN: You bet. Chair, so thank you for that. I don't worry about
that kind of thing. But let's be honest as friends. Can any of you guys in the
Council and anybody watching imagine for one second that I'm not going to fight
every last moment to help make sure we slow the virus and save lives. That's all
I've tried to do for my entire career. From the time you welcomed me on the Big
Island to be the doctor in Ka`u where I was the doctor for four years to the
weekends that I still do in the ER (Emergency Room) and serving as a legislator
for all these years. I mean there's no question I'm going to do this as long as I'm
lucky to breathe myself. So that's one thing.
Now as to any kind of comments about formal committee recommendations or
responsibilities, as the Governor did his best to clarify that I am the healthcare
liaison, I'm more than the healthcare liaison, I'm actually getting the calls directly
from the hospital beds, of our doctors telling me where the cases are, how sick
people are, and whether or not we tested them in real time. And I'm going to do
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everything I possibly can to support General Hara, the Healthcare Association of
Hawaii, to get us all of the PPE,the personal protection equipment we need, the
masks. I'm doing that nonstop. So that has not changed at all. It will not change,
and I will get clarification I'm sure, in the coming hours from the Governor. But I
don't want anyone out there to worry for one second that I will not work 24/7 just
like you guys to try to keep our people alive.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, thank you. And you know,that still doesn't really
answer, you know, what your official role is going to be within the context of the
state effort.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Let me make it more clear then.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay.
LT. GOV. GREEN: The Governor sent out some sort of message, I believe. And
he reiterated that I'm in my role as the healthcare liaison, and I will continue in
that role completely. My understanding was there may have been a Civil Beat
article that went out, and that's totally fine. You know, whatever people say,
nothing can change the fact that I'm the healthcare liaison for the State of Hawaii
and I'll keep doing exactly that.
And there'll probably be more clarification as we go forward. But I will tell you
this, General Hara is at the central command of doing the job to make sure we
have the big orders and the big response. And I spent all of my time with the
medical community making sure we inform him and the Governor to the best of
our ability what actually has to happen to save lives.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. And you know, as you well know, mismessaging and
miscommunications are, you know, part of the job with government and
everything like that. But in times like these, I think it's so important that, you
know, the correct message gets out to the public. So thank you very much for
that. I'm going to call on Ms. Poindexter now. She has a question for you.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah. Aloha. Thank you, Josh, for being here. You know,
Aaron touched on it. I wanted to ask about that too, but being a healthcare liaison
is just a liaison. You're giving information. How is that different from being on
the taskforce who has the responsibility of making the decisions? Because I'm
concerned that you're not on the taskforce making those decisions. Because they
can completely ignore you, which I have seen happen. You know, if people took
you seriously then all of our public facilities even at Parks and Recreation on
every island would be closed and not encourage any gatherings. So tell me the
difference between you being a liaison and the person on the taskforce.
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LT. GOV. GREEN: Right. Well you know, of course it's problematic because
I'm so shy. And being as shy as I am, you know, it's hard for me to get the word
out. But, so the interesting thing is, let me clarify some of that for you, Council
Woman, the taskforce actually was setup by me. I'm running the healthcare
taskforce and that we have twice a week with all of the executives statewide, plus
we have the additional part, whereas we reach out to all of the healthcare
providers across the state. So I'm running that, no question.
But, what you're referring to more specifically is the way they structured the
command with General Hara, is they have a central command. And that is not
something that I am currently a part of, and I guess we'll get some clarification on
that. What has been the process is I do my very best to come up with the exact
policy that will save lives. And if I don't feel it's being received adequately, I tell
the entire planet, and then after that it gets adopted a few days later once people
catch up. And that's an okay process too, but really it would be a little bit better
and more seamless as you can imagine if we just worked on the exact same page.
So it's not the most ideal arrangement but I refuse to not be heard. And the truth
is in the pudding right? So I have to be at the tip of the spear because I'm actually
hearing about the cases and fatalities and the risks in real-time. That's why the
recommendations come up like that. And if people don't feel that they've got the
capacity or the courage to follow them right then, the people can absolutely shoot
me down. I'm not going to always be right, but I'm going to give them the most
advanced notice that we can get to do the right policy. And that's what happened
with the cruise ships; the testing state. And of course, the lockdown until April
30''. All those things came to pass.
MS. POINDEXTER: So I have another question on Representative
Cynthia Thielen, and that's just this whole social media thing.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Sure.
MS. POINDEXTER: You know, whether it's true or not. But she wants to push
for you to be appointed as Hawai`i's COVID-19 Emergency Director. Did you
hear anything about that, and is that something that she's really going to do and
that we can help to support?
LT. GOV. GREEN: Yes, that's a great question, thank you, Val. So I read that in
the paper too. I didn't actually talk to Cynthia, true story. And so that may
happen. They have to kind of have to be in legislative session to do that kind of
thing. Look, we all read the paper and I'm sure the Governor does too, and if he
decides to do that,that is totally excellent. And if they decide that's necessary,
that's also fine. I'm prepared to serve in any which way.
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MS. POINDEXTER: And thank you for that. I'm going to let my colleagues ask,
because the reason why I ask that is we need to know, because the people need to
support that if legislation goes in we need to rally the troops in writing and putting
in letters of support. So it's important to know that. So I'm going to try to follow
up with our Representative Thielan's office.
LT. GOV. GREEN: You bet. And also let me just say this, if under any
circumstance I'm going to function that way, and I did communicate with General
Hara last evening and continued to give him my top recommendations. A lot of
times we're very accustomed as legislators to structure, and it's done for a reason
because we have to have a process and votes and so on. In this particular case,
because it's a statewide crisisI mean it's a global crisis, but we have a statewide
crisis—lot of decisions are being made very, very aggressively and very quickly.
And in many cases, it is a quick text message in consensus and a purchase. For
instance, I understand they made a very, very large purchase for masks and for
other protective gear. And a lot of that came from a conversation that I'm sure
the Governor was having with people and Hilton Raethel, who runs the
Healthcare Association, and me real quickly because we're getting the feedback
quickly done. We know we have to do it.
It would be simpler, I'm not going to lie to you. I mean it would be very much
simpler if General Hara and I were simply taking all responsibility. And the
reason for that is then when people make the call to me they know the order goes
in. And there's a little less confusion. But I want to be very clear here. Couple
things are clear. Everyone's got to stay home and isolate at home. And we have
to get the state ready to provide healthcare for people if they end up on
ventilators. There's really not much more to it, because after that you guys are
going to fix the economy. And so for right now, I'm singularly focused on
flattening the curve and saving lives. Pretty much every conversation I have with
these guys is about that.
MS. POINDEXTER: Thank you, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. We have Tim Richards who has a question or questions
from Waimea.
MR. RICHARDS: Great. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor,
for being with us. And Josh, I've got to appreciate your strong position on
testing. We're not going to have any active cases unless we are actually doing the
testing because we won't have the information. And I appreciate the fact that
you've been pushing so hard to get that. Making good decisions can only be done
with having the data to make those decisions. Now on the surveillance testing, I
guess I'll use that term, your thoughts on that, please, and how do we support
pushing that initiative forward?
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LT. GOV. GREEN: Well I do have some concerns about surveillance testing.
Not because it's not a good premise. It really is very important. Let me refresh
people if they're coming to this new. Other than, you've done great research
already, but surveillance testing, that's kind of like the background testing that
you do so that you can see in a society during an outbreak how many cases are
kind of just out there.
Now, unfortunately the CDC (Center of Disease Control) had a lot of glitches
when they first sent the test over. So no fault of our own Department of Health on
that one. There were some definite problems. Their tests were broken, the kits
were broken; the reagent wasn't working and so on. So, we went through that
period, that's ancient history.
Once we finally immerged capable of testing, they took a few tests and by the
time they got to a couple hundred tests of flu—because we first test for flu. It's
very common, right? So if people get the test for flu and their positive for flu,
that's it. You do not have COVID-19. That is all. You can debate that a tiny
amount, but you're not going to have two of these major viruses at the same time.
You might have one after the other, but you don't have them at the same time.
That's not how viruses work. They took the baseline of the flu test and then
retested those to see if there was COVID-19 underlying. It's a good thing to do
because you do want to find out whether there's background disease. But in this
case, and they all came back negative, it's not particularly helpful. And let me tell
you why.
I'm going to do a graphic for everybody okay. Forgive the graphic nature of this.
Imagine this is a swab, okay. This pen. And I am the doc and I do a test for the
flu. Most healthcare providers will do this. You guys ready? Your LG's is about
to pick some bulbs, alright? You do this and you roll it around the nose and then
you test the thing. And then it says, okay flu, no flu. Now if I instead want to do
a test for COVID-19, and some of you have had this. I've got to go deep in there.
I'm not doing this to myself now. You've got to go deep in there to the nasal
pharynx to the back. And then you get 10 seconds and then you come out, and
then you can test successfully for COVID-19. So many of those are going to be
inconclusive because you've got the booger test that you're checking for flu
maybe, or you have the very serious test that people do. And there's a lot of
variability when those tests are taken.
Therefore, the only real way to get a background in society was to do what we
did, which was to go very widely into Hilo; into Kona; into the depths of
Honolulu; into Maui, and to do comprehensive tests. And that's what we're now
seeing. So it's pretty important that we do it right. We now have a much better
idea.
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And my overall belief is, we have to conserve our tests to be smart about it. But
anyone who is symptomatic should be tested because we need to know how many
cases are in different regions. How many little kids, our keiki are spreading this
thing around; how many of our kupuna are at risk? And also where we are
regionally, because perhaps if we have a surge of potential cases in say, Maui we
need more Intensive Care Unit capacity there and more ICU beds and ventilators.
Perhaps we are lucky we have very little disease on the Big Island. Then we
know we don't have to drop another 100,000 masks. We need to make the best
decisions possible, and we can only do that based on the sentinel testing done
right. And also good comprehensive screening everywhere.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, and I appreciate that. Thanks for that clarification. I
think it's important that people get to hear that and understand it. One thing I
want you to touch on, and you briefly touched on it, was the actual infectivity of
this virus and the understanding of that. That's kind of been out there, not
realizing how infectious it could be and the residual contamination if someone
coughs or something, how long will it stay out there? So just so people have an
understanding of that, please?
LT. GOV. GREEN: Yeah, thank you, Councilman. Very great question. Okay,
first things first, there's a lot of research going on in real time. This, once again,
is a new virus so we're learning things every day. The expectation is, it's minutes
to hours usually on a surface. If someone sneezes you'd want to wipe it off,
decontaminate, sterilize and it'll be done there. But if someone came through and
you didn't know it, minutes to hours for the most part, but it could be a few days;
that is a great concern. It depends, some surfaces are more conducive to the virus
staying alive so we can't be sure.
Though it does appear that in different climates especially where we have a hotter
climate, they're doing better. I'm pretty certain, that's because the virus
devolves; dies; breaks down faster so there's just less spread. So that's one piece.
None of this is gospel but that's basically the belief. How do you actually spread
it? Well, from the time that one catches it, it is usually an average and this is
variable, the average amount of time from being exposed within six feet, someone
is sick and they're coughing and sneezing and droplets go up in the air and come
down on you, you get it, the average amount of time if 5.2 days. Now it can vary
a lot. It could be just one or two days, it could be as long as 14 days. That's why
these quarantines are very complicated and why we have to err on the
conservative side.
But I'm just saying what the national average is. The average usually is right in
the middle of a curve, right? Maybe part of that curve is where most of the truth
happens. Most of the truth, 95 percent of the cases will happen somewhere
between like four and six days out after you catch it.
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You are most contagious when you have a lot of virus in you. And you are most
contagious when you have the symptoms, when a lot of the virus is in you. So
when you have a lot of virus in you, and it grows in you and you get sick, you get
fever 88 percent of the time; and then dry cough and then shortness of breath.
When those things happen, you are most contagious.
Now you may still be contagious a day before, a day or two after. Maybe even
longer, but I'll tell you what, the most contagent is right then. And that's why we
still try to be sensible about our strongest recommendations. Definitely don't go
to work when you're sick. Definitely don't go to school when you're sick.
Definitely cover up if you're sneezing or you're coughing.
Certainly stay at home and adhere to these home quarantines in a serious way so
that you just don't expose yourself to 75 people, of which three are sick and you
could catch it. Because if you catch it, you're probably going to be fine. You're
like, you know, hard, right? But imagine if we go, and we will not be doing this,
visiting our kupuna at Kohala Hospital. We can't do that because if it breaks out
it will kill a ton of people like it happened in Seattle, Washington. And that
happened before they knew. So that's the overall feeling about contagent.
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you. And Chair, a final quick question then I'm
going to yield. The question of subclinical or nonclinical but spreading the
disease, could you comment on that please? There's opinions all over the board.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Yeah, that's right. Well we now are concerned that as many
as 50 percent of all people that have COVID-19 are asymptomatic or minimally
symptomatic. It means that they just got a little low-grade fever, they didn't even
know it, or they had a little bit of cough, and it was not a big deal. And those very
individuals could end up not, you know, adhering to a serious home quarantine
because they thought, hey I'm totally fine, going out and about and this spread
occurs.
That's why and it's very rare, of course for any state or country to do total
quarantine. I mean it's unbelievably rare, but this is the circumstance where you
do it so that you don't lose, you know, millions of people and two years of our
global economy. The purpose of this thing is to do a decapitation strike on this
virus over the course of say 45 days; end it, move on.
MR. RICHARDS: Lieutenant Governor,thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Chair, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you. You know, Lieutenant Governor, thanks for that
very graphic description of how the tests should or could be administered. And
you know, I've got to say
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LT. GOV. GREEN: I could loan you this van right now, but it would violate a
number of our quarantine principals.
CHR. CHUNG: You know, if the thought of contracting the disease or
transmitting it to a loved one doesn't motivate our population, then certainly I
think the thought of having something stuck up into your nasal cavity for ten
seconds certainly should be a further motivation for us to home quarantine. So
thank you very much for that. I'm going to call on Ms. Kierkiewicz now.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Aloha, Lieutenant Governor. Thank
you so much for all that you are doing. I know that many folks including myself
are diligently watching you online and everywhere. So thank you for all of your
work.
I have three questions. The first is, I reviewed, you know, summaries of the
different orders that have been put forward by California and New York. How
different is ours from them? And do you believe that the Governor mandating the
"Stay-At-Home" order now,that this is enough at this point in time?
LT. GOV. GREEN: That's a brilliant question. I actually think you probably
know even more than I about the California and New York quarantines. They
started essentially with just locking it down and doing home quarantine. We had
the additional benefit of essentially locking out any traffic into our state. And you
would have to inform me of some of the additional details.
I'm so focused on what we're doing in Hawaii, and I've seen kind of this roll of
states, I think six or eight states, that were very aggressive all within a 24-hour
period. Ours differs in a couple ways. It's mandatory quarantine for anyone
traveling here, period, right? So that is a big benefit to us. Even if, and I think
there's going to be very, very few people that still choose to take their vacation to
Hawaii knowing that they'll have a 14-day mandatory lockdown at a hotel or I
guess, a bed-and-breakfast.
That is going to go to almost zero. We had already seen a 66 percent or 66.5
percent decline is my understanding in bookings just when the Governor
suggested that we would do a 30-day pause. So we didn't even have the law or
the rule into effect yet. We also have the benefit of being able to secure our
borders. We do not have to let anybody through. There's not going to be anyone
coming off of ships that are just willy-nilly passing by nor will the airlines be able
to bring people that we can account for now because there's so few airline seats
that are coming. We are actually stricter in many ways because of that.
There are, I would say, some significant loopholes in our quarantine that are
going to continuously need to be revisited. Our essential services really should be
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restricted to the best of our ability to only survival things. Healthcare and food.
Now, I'm not saying people should never go out and get fresh air, but they should
not do it at all near anybody else. That's the social distancing part.
Also, I understand there's some essential services that we have to have. For
instance, if a truck, because someone was out there driving, breaks down in the
middle of the road, we would have to get someone to tow it. If a—let's see,
what's another good example? If we lost a plumbing line and we were going to
lose sewage to a large building or a part of town, we would obviously have to fix
it so we didn't have other health crises. You could imagine how stinky that would
be and how we could get sick in other ways if we didn't solve that problem.
But anything that doesn't serve the essential public health and public safety at
what we do, meaning Fire, healthcare, Police and food really should not be a part
of our system. We should absolutely just rip the bandage right off and do those
essential services. And there may be some small allowances, but those small
allowances should only be if we absolutely know that people can socially distance
themselves.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's very helpful. Thank you. I'm glad that the
Governor finally stepped up and put forward an order that was to be applied
statewide so that we can be operating consistently. That being said, an article in
today's Tribune Herald talked about the Mayor seeking exemptions to this order.
And I was wondering if you had any comments on that?
LT. GOV. GREEN: You know, it's a really interesting thing because Mayor Kim
is kind of a—he's a legend as far as management for Civil Defense. He's
someone that I have always looked up to, so I cannot criticize our Mayor. I can
only say that a collaborative process is something that he will embrace. And I
think as you guys give him your full mana`o as do I, you will get to the place that
you need to get to prevent any pukas in this home quarantine, this full isolation
that would affect any individuals. And I think that is really, really the best
approach.
My general, I'm just giving you my feelings, and that is to have as few loopholes
as humanly possible, because there's almost no benefit anyway, economic or
otherwise to have a few loopholes. No one is going to make any money. No one
is going to keep their business afloat for these 40 days that we can't help them
with the bailout and support. Everybody could end up dying if we spread this
disease for six months to a year that is vulnerable. So there's no reason to have
any loopholes unless we absolutely must have them, and that's where we leave to
further the judgement of the executive. And I think you guys will be able to
persuade Mayor Kim because I know that he wants to be part of the process. So
spend extra time with him going one by one over those potentials.
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MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, I mean just an excerpt from the newspaper talked a
about some exemptions he was thinking about. Cleaning people's homes, pet
care, bookstores, and social functions for senior citizens. So when you talked
about earlier just getting down to the very bare essentials and necessities, this
approach seemed a little bit antagonistic to that.
LT. GOV. GREEN: May I comment Council Woman?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Sure.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Just because I think it's important we do comment. So we,
at least on the senior services, okay? We need to provide food services, right, for
the seniors in healthcare. But there can be no social services for seniors, none.
There cannot be because the risks of any spread, and I'm not suggesting that was
recommended, but there can't be any mingling at all of the general population
with our kupuna. There can't be for these 40 days. That would lead to outbreak
and mass fatalities. And that is clear.
As to some of the other things, if someone is going to have their pet cared for, and
it's one person helping their pet and there's no one else there, I'm not going to
quibble over details because you can't catch this stuff if you are in, you know, in a
room by yourself and you're not spreading it. I mean, there's just no spread there.
So you guys will use your best judgement. You were elected for a reason, and
that's that people trust you. That's for real, so use your best judgement.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That's very helpful, thank you. My last question is, you
know, beyond staying home what are other ways folks can help? You know, I
think all of us are actively involved in supporting community. And we've seen a
huge surge in like community rising up to take care of many of the gaps that are
surfacing. There's a number of folks that are handling food distribution to keiki
and kupuna; also, a rise in folks sewing masks for a medical community.
What is your position on some of these things and how do we do it safely
knowing that the nature of the virus is it lives on surfaces? And so we want to
step up and help but how do we do it with the, you know, with the necessary
safety precautions in mind.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Well you said the personal supporting thing right, which of
course, and forgive me for being redundant is, absolutely do not, you know, do
not violate the home quarantine order. Okay, so you got that. That's the most
important thing by tenfold, right? Now after that, though, this is a wartime
situation, and it's actually what we're seeing is reflective of what happened to our
grandparents in the wars. The world wars where people did step up and start
trying to do something. So I support that kind of thing.
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If we run out of masks, then homemade masks may be very helpful. If we do get
that kind of thing, there are ways to make sure we sterilize them with ultraviolet
light, for instance. We will have our Department of Health give us best
recommendations. They are pretty overwhelmed right now on setting up
ventilators in hospitals, but that stuff is valuable.
And there are many, many ways that people can step up. For instance, let me
share something with you. We saw many volunteers when we went to Samoa,
right? We got 480 volunteers by the next morning to fly to Samoa and take care
of the Measles epidemic. If people are healthcare providers right now, and
they're on the bench—remember we have 4,000 healthcare physicians that are
practicing in Hawai`i but we have 9,000 that have licenses. If people would like
to come off the bench, we've started for instance, a Facebook page called Hawaii
Health Corps. Go there, volunteer or go to the Healthcare Association of Hawaii
and get ready to volunteer, because if we see a mega surge of this disease we
might want to take you off the bench and you'll be an essential healthcare
provider or a social worker, or a nurse, all are critical. That's one group.
If you are rich out there to donate money to organizations that will help. Donate a
bunch of cash to the Healthcare Association of Hawaii and let them buy extra
masks to give to those of us who are not rich, or who are working in healthcare, or
who are in places where we might otherwise be. That's a good thing too.
We've got a lot of rich people that bought houses here and they want to help
Hawaii, they could send money to these kinds of organizations.
IHS (Institute for Human Services), which takes care of homeless individuals and
they can prevent spread, that's on Oahu. Brandee Menino's group that does
incredible work to help homelessness be solved, you know, in many degrees and
many ways on the Big Island. They're going to be setting up areas to provide
services for people and space for people. That's another place they could
volunteer time if they have a reason. We don't want to have a giant loophole
again for people getting out there. Because again, the best thing we can do is
avoid spread, but there will be care that needs to be rendered especially if we see
a spike. And so those are some of the ideas.
I would also—let me go a little further. Make sure you don't mingle with your
neighbors, but make sure you're offering social support, not just to your loved
ones. You know, play a lot of monopoly and cards, and so on, right? But offer
some social support so that people don't get depressed. There's going to be a
significant problem with depression and anxiety as time goes by. Do a lot of
phone calling with your friends and loved ones.
Do a lot of outreach. If you find that someone is in a desperate state, contact their
doctor or ask to help them and get them healthcare services, because some of life
is going to go on with the regular stuff. If someone can't get their medicines
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because they're old and you're happening to be going to the pharmacy anyway,
go in get a bunch of things for people all at the same time without having to
expose them, or they might just be too old or sick to go out. So think about ways
from the heart that we always take care of people with Aloha and you'll do a good
job for our community.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Lieutenant Governor. I really appreciate
hearing that, and I think just, you know,to add to that it's important to plug into
things that are happening already. We don't want to see a duplication of efforts
because, you know, resources are so precious and so plugging in to folks that are
already doing it. So thank you for that. Thank you so much for your time. I
really appreciate you. I hope you are getting enough rest because we need you.
This is going to be a months' long effort. So thank you Chair, I yield.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you. Yeah and you know, speaking of Mayor Kim, I
think it's well known that the Council and the Mayor are not completely on the
same page, but we are working things out. You know,to his credit and the credit
of his taskforce. They have been very open in providing us information as well as
being able to dialogue.
And you know, in times like this, it's certainly does the public no good for
governmental entities to be bickering, right? So I really appreciate your advice to
us to try to work things out and hopefully we'll come up with a common solution.
So thank you very much in that regard. How much longer do you have Lieutenant
Governor?
LT. GOV. GREEN: You know, it might be good to go another ten or 15 minutes.
Would that be okay?
CHR. CHUNG: Is that fine with you? Because I know you're really busy.
LT. GOV. GREEN: You know, I'm isolated here. I'm quite bored.
CHR. CHUNG: Well anyway, I have Ms. Lee Loy who has a question.
MS. LEE LOY: Good morning, LT (Lieutenant). Thank you for joining us. And
really—we really appreciate, you know, all of the information you're providing.
And I want to walk back to some of the information you talked about earlier about
the tests that we are doing and then the results that are coming back. In your best
guesstimate with the amount of testing that has gone out, tell me an anticipated
date. I've heard you say one time around April 151h, when we will see that
snapshot of the curve. That's where the meat is, right? That's where the truth is.
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Help me understand that so that we as members of the Council can anticipate that
and then align resources towards those dates and appropriately plan. Please help
me with that LT?
LT. GOV. GREEN: Yes, you bet. Okay, this is my best approximation of where
we are going to be. Between the 15'h of April to the 25h of April, is where I'm
expecting us to see our surge. The proof will come based on the numbers that
we're seeing day over day and whether or not we're seeing surges in our cases in
the ICU. We have not yet seen surges in the ICU or in the ER. So we're able to
look at real data. Not just the testing results which is super valuable.
And thank you, Council Woman, that's such a smart question. But we can also
have the real analysis of how many people actually go to the hospital. How many
people actually are in the ICU on ventilators, and God forbid, how many people
actually died during this process. So we're able to monitor these things so we
have absolute data to tell us what's going on. I think that's the time.
Now,the challenge is this. We always come later than the mainland. We see that
New York is right now in the throes of it, and we know that some of the West
Coast has been in the throes of it, we're looking at the numbers nationally and
locally both because we need to know seasonally if there's going to be that same
seasonal effect as we saw with the flu. So that's something I also am watching
very carefully, and I know our Department of Health is watching very carefully.
I don't want to promise that it will happen right around the median at April 20'',
but I will say this, if we are successful—and we will be successful with social
distancing and home isolation to a very large degree—if we are successful we will
see the cases drop off. And we're going to continue to test the best that we can.
But no matter what, we'll be able to know how many people go into the hospital
that are severely ill. So we will have data. Then I'll be able to tell you with
clarity whether we have a big increase, no increase, or a drop off.
And so we can get back together again as you need me, okay? After that we will
have to make the very hard decision, especially if the President kind of takes the
lid off on Easter, right? We'll have to make the very hard decision what courage
we have to number one, hold the line till April 301h, and then also to determine
what our policy is going to be on people returning. It may very well be that I
recommend we test everybody coming to the State of Hawai`i for a period of
time, and that we quarantine anybody that is either positive or we have questions
about;that's ambiguous. We may have to do that,but that would be a very good
protection.
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Now, it wouldn't be a hundred percent, because as you know as we talked about,
there could be a period before someone tests positive, but that would give us a lot
of, I think if I may, additional relief, comfort? What's the best word there, right,
if that happens? And that might be necessary for a time.
If this virus behaves like the other ones have, like SARS (Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), as we
have all talked about a little bit here and there, it will die out. However, we can't
be too safe because we don't want to succeed now and then have to do this all
over again for another 60 days. Devastate our economy again, scare everybody,
go into lockdown and so on. So I expect that will be a part of the
recommendations that I share with the leadership and that we consider going
forward for a time. But then at least, you'd be able to have some confidence that
people could return.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, LT. And actually that's exactly what we're looking
for, is not only the recommendations here, but the recommendations thereafter,
right? How do we continue to hold the line and not reinfect later on? And like
you said, have to do this all over again. LT, I know I've asked this of you, and
I'll put my team on it, you've mentioned a number of resources and websites that
you trust and gained information on.
And I've seen in social media comments of people being overwhelmed at the
information being pushed out, and whether those sources are reliable and credible.
Could you please help provide us with those credible sources of information,
whether it's CDC (Center of Disease Control) or the Healthcare? Could you
please help us with that? And then that way as a body we could perhaps push that
out, and that those are the sources of information that we're relying on to make
good policy decisions.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Yes, I absolutely will. Let me—we'll send those out and
you'll be able to disseminate them very widely, but from a clinical standpoint and
a scope of the world, the John Hopkins website is very good. It's very, very
good; it's accurate. It's completely credible. So if you go to John Hopkins
University, there's an immediate link there for COVID-19, and they can show you
with maps and very clearly where we are. The Healthcare Association of Hawaii
is not bad. The CDC is not bad, although things are changing somewhat quickly.
And the Department of Health is okay. They provide some immediate relief for
calling and so on, but so many people are overwhelming systems, it's very
difficult.
If you want to get specific information, you can text me. I will give people
realtime information and my cell phone. Just text me though, because if you call
it will be mayhem. So, my text is (808) 937-0991. It's okay, I'm getting a lot of
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communications, but we are a small state, and only 50,000 people will text me, so
it'll be fine. Please, definitely if you're afraid, be in touch. We will give you
good information.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, LT. I always appreciate your humor in so much of
this. I do have one final question, and we don't have to get down in the weeds
about it. And spring-boarding off of a conversation we'll have later with our
Parks Department, there seems to be a lot of mixed messages or misinformation
about whether to keep them open or not open and how our homeless population
uses a lot of our bathroom facilities in our parks.
And so I'm trying to balance the spread especially in our homeless population
when some of these park facilities are smack dab in our communities and how we
balance providing a facility in which to stop the spread from our homeless
population while not creating mayhem in our tightknit communities. What would
your recommendation be related to that?
LT. GOV. GREEN: That's a very interesting question. So I can tell you what the
recommendation from the best people in homelessness have made. And the CDC
worked with the Interagency Council on Homelessness to come up with this
recommendation. And for the homeless community, the best practice is to let
them be at home, which is their home, which is wherever their camp is. Do not
sweep them right now. Do not make it more difficult on them, because some
have mental illness. Some have addictions as we know.
But moving people around to new sites creates actually worse spread than
containing it. So the best recommendation right now is to leave people at home,
which is their camp. Leave them be; allow them to still have toilets; allow them
to still have access to basic services. Impress upon them with signage, you must
stay away from one another at six feet apart. We are all in this together, or you
could die of COVID-19.
But shutting—look I'm not perfect here and I don't have perfect advice, but the
advice from the experts is don't discourage people in the homeless community
from doing what they have to do because we don't want to have other spread of
E. Coli (bacteria). We don't want to have other infections outbreak because of
poor hygiene. We don't want people to get staph infection outbreak, which could
also be very terrible, if we let people be completely unsanitary and get breakdown
of their skin.
So my best recommendation would be, we have to trust people and tell people
we're only going to keep some of these essential services available to you as long
as there's no abuse. And we also are proposing, and everyone's working on this
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now behind the scenes, some spaces where people can shelter in place. Some
additional beds; some "home quarantine" for the homeless so that they have
single rooms. It may come to that if we get an outbreak.
Remember they had an outbreak of Hepatitis A in San Diego at one point and it
killed a lot of people, because the camps were a nightmare and it wasn't well
handled. We don't want those other problems to happen. But if I may, for five
seconds, please remember this later when we try to solve our homeless crisis.
You guys are very good, but we did not get adequate support to solve our
homeless crisis statewide.
And this was exactly why I was talking about that because a time is going to come
when we wouldn't want to have to deal with a bunch of homeless individuals
potentially spreading or respreading COVID-19. Imagine how terrible that would
be. We shut down the economy for 45 days, an outbreak happens in our homeless
community. We open the state again, and then it spreads. Imagine how that
would be. We can't have that. So we have to be better on homelessness going
forward, and I'm sure we will be together.
MS. LEE LOY: LT,thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Chair, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Good morning,
Lieutenant Governor.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Good morning.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good to see you. I have some just quick
questions for you, sir. Has there been any thought to limiting interisland travel or
at least screening? What's going on due to the numbers that you're seeing in
Oahu and what Mayor Kim describes as being our rural situation? Should we be
screening? Are they looking at limiting interisland travel?
LT. GOV. GREEN: That's a very good question. That is a really very tough call.
In truth, our travel between islands is just a highway. And to shut down a
highway, which would be essentially our planes, Hawaiian Airlines interisland, is
to decide to shut down the highway. And then, why would we be shutting that
was, you know, why would be shutting down the highway between Hilo and
Oahu as opposed to the highway between downtown Oahu and the North Shore?
So the goal right now, no matter what comes back to the common denominator or
absolute home isolation, no travel unless you have essential needs. So no matter
what, they should not travel interisland unless we have an essential need to restore
family members to one another or restore services that we have to have.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
I think that is a tough call also because let's assume for a second that we had a
couple hundred cases on Oahu, but only four on the Big Island. It becomes pretty
compelling to not have travel between the islands unless we can confirm people
are negative. That might be a benefit. We're going to hope to get to almost
immediate testing. Same-day testing. We can now get testing over 24 hours at
most of our labs. And that could be something you consider before people do
interisland travel.
I would say we're not quite there yet in my opinion. You guys might make a
different decision and I'd defer to the majority and defer to people who care more.
I'll be flying back to be on-call on Easter weekend actually for a 48-hour shift in
Haw!. And I guess I will fall into the essential category as a doctor, but certainly
I'm going to make sure that I'm not positive before I do. So these are tough
questions. You asked a great one. I don't think we're there yet, personally.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, as far as screening. Are we going to
be screening when they come into the airports when they come interisland?
LT. GOV. GREEN: See that's another thing. I called for that very early, and the
challenge about screening and you're talking about screening for fevers. That's
perfectly excellent to do. But it is a very small snapshot in time, and if people
took a gram of Tylenol, they're not going to have a fever. And the other screens
that you're going to get are not going to be that they're short of breath. If they're
that sick, they probably stayed home. Now, we certainly can do that. That is not
that difficult given the volume, and I have recommended that we do that.
But you're tending to miss a lot of cases, because either people could be in that
large group that are completely asymptomatic carriers of the disease, or their
symptoms are not that big. Eighty percent of the people who get COVID-19
don't have very strong symptoms, and therefore, you're probably won't catch
many people. But there is a value in public confidence, and I think we did come
up short on public confidence.
We should have screened every person's temperature who came into the State of
Hawaii with scanners. Not because it's that good, but because then people would
know that we're watching and we're being careful, and we don't get travelers
coming through here thinking that they could sneak through the system and be
sick here for two weeks before they go back to wherever.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, great. Second, rent referrals?
Applying that to commercial businesses.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Yes, I think that the people that are in the Economic
Committee and the State Leg. guys that have set up that committee are looking at
that very carefully. I think that actually is something that we should do. We want
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to keep people both in their homes, but also how do you help small businesses
without actually damaging the people that they got their loans from? I know that
banks are going to be very forgiving during this period. They may very well
forego principle payments and do just interest only payments. I'm not sure where
that lands just yet. And I do expect that everyone's going to be looking at that.
The bailout that comes from the Federal Government today which has just passed,
the $2 trillion bailout, I mean it is a historic number as far as bailouts go. I think
that is going to cover a lot of these questions, and I think our businesses will
know pretty clearly how much money they can get to stay open.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Quest, when we get a massive
amount of people moving from privately covered health insurance; HMSA,
Kaiser, and rolling over to unemployment being laid-off and beginning to hit
Quest. Is the State prepared for that?
LT. GOV. GREEN: We are. During the year Obama Care was passed, we went
from 252,000 individuals on Quest to 362,000 individuals who are on Quest. If
we had to go to another 50,000 people we could accommodate it. That's about a
$2 billion a year budget item just so you know. So you can do the math quite
quickly if we have to do an escalation of that.
The good news is, of course, is that we get a 52/48 match from the Federal
Government when we pay those dollars. So, it's kind of.50 cents on the dollar in
a way. I mean all these monies are from the Federal Government from our taxes
in addition to State Government and State taxes. But if we had to we could.
What I think is actually going to happen is we're going to see a two-month
downturn, and then when the economy stabilizes, most people will go back to
their jobs. And there will be some businesses that go out but I don't think it's
going to be 20 percent of the businesses, if we can contain this to just a
two-month period. Even less than two months, because April 30'h is just around
the corner. We're almost at the end of March right now, so hopefully that won't
happen. But we were able to absorb an extra 100,000 people which was a
40 percent increase report.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, great. And then last, thank you, can
you ask the DOE (Department of Education) to put up a very clear PDF (portable
document format) of where breakfasts and lunches are being served? Because we
have different sites in my district, and in the east side of the island they're being
represented as being open and not open. And the last update was March 19''. So
I've been following that site to get good information.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Okay, I'll ask my team member right now to reach out to
Superintendent Kishimoto (Dr. Christine M. Kishimoto) and get some better
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
information for you. I think people are scrambling a little bit, and I apologize for
that. But, yeah, giving kids meals while schools are closed, especially since it's
going to be till April 30'', is absolutely essential. Thank you for that.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I completely agree. Thank you, Lieutenant
Governor.
LT. GOV. GREEN: You bet.
CHR. CHUNG: Lieutenant Governor, I know we're already pass the time that
you had allotted, but we have two of our members from Kona who wanted to ask
questions. And we also have our Parks and Recreation Director and Deputy
Director outside who we've called to answer some questions about the park
openings. Do you want to listen to that discussion or do you want to just come
finish up with yours?
LT. GOV. GREEN: Let's do a couple more questions and I'll see. I've had about
150 text messages since we started and I want to make sure I get back to
everybody and emails. So, let's do a few questions. I'll try to be more concise
and then, we can probably keep you on the background so I can listen while I'm
starting to reply.
CHR. CHUNG: Very good. Okay, Rebecca?
MS. VILLEGAS: Hi Josh. Thanks for being here today. You know so many of
my questions have already been answered by the great inquiries of other members
of our Council. I guess one of the things I wanted to just state is a huge thank you
to you for keeping us focused on the health and wellbeing of the people of our
state as opposed to just constantly being of the economy.
I can't stress that enough, how disheartening it has been to watch leadership just
consistently make the conversation about money when I feel that the message has
been very clear from leaders such as yourself that taking a break, making the hard
decisions now to flatten the curve, as much as it sucks, allows us for a quicker
recovery time. And I just wholeheartedly want to thank you for going out on a
limb there for, you know, whatever the circumstances are with the Governor now.
I just want you to know that your leadership has been comforting, inspiring, and
really continues to give me hope and faith for the safe wellbeing of our State as a
whole. So I just would have been remiss not to get the opportunity to say that to
you.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Thank you very much, Council Woman.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, Karen?
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
MS. EOFF: Thank you. Aloha Josh. And nothing like being the right guy at the
right place at the right time. We're very lucky to have you and your expertise;
your straight forward approach. So I just wanted to add my thank you. Yes, lots
of questions have been answered. You provided a lot of great information and
statistics. I feel like there's a weak point in this quarantine directive, like people
come over here and there's a 14-day quarantine period.
Hopefully, we do discourage and the flights are lessening, and we won't have as
many people coming here from other places. But once they get here, it's not like
they're going to a specific quarantine facility. They're now spreading out into our
community, and we don't know really where. Is that something we should be
addressing differently? Is that kind of a loose point for us?
LT. GOV. GREEN: That's a fascinating question and a good one. So the
question is, do we trust completely the people who go and stay in their quarantine
which will require some law enforcement, and it might even require some support
from the National Guard. Nothing like a little National Guard out on the roads to
keep people from screwing around. So it may require that and I would have to
defer to General Hara and other people in the military. If we see that going on I
would guess that they would head that direction. Now that's one thing.
There is some wisdom to telling people when they come they have to go right into
a hotel room and have to be checked in on. You could do that. Now, anyone
flying in we have a full capacity to check; and in fact tell them it's a misdemeanor
punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail if you break this. Now,
there's not a lot of policing that's capable right now because our teams are
overwhelmed and everyone's working.
I think that we're not there yet. We're answering, I think,just into the first day of
this, right? And it's up to you guys in part to be our eyes and ears. If you see that
people are not taking it completely seriously and we see that there are sites at
either beach parks or certain areas where people are drifting to and are not
adhering to the home quarantine, you're going to have to speak up, which you
will I know. And we will have to further tighten the restrictions.
People should only go out for food and health care and that's it. Now if people
fall through the cracks, which I think very few travelers are going to fall through
the cracks and come here anyway in this period, if they do, those are sufficiently a
small number that we can really corral. So I think we're okay. Honestly, we're
about to decrease the volume of traffic out on the streets and in parks by so much
that the spread will naturally decrease very, very significantly. This thing is not
Ebola Virus, okay? Thank God. This is a respiratory virus, and if we're smart
and we keep at least six feet distance, and most people are quarantining at home
with total honesty, I don't think you're going to have to plunk them into hotels.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
MS. EOFF: And excuse me but, the hotels seem like a safer place for visitors to
be quarantined whether they have or test positive; do or do not have symptoms,
any of that. But in the residential neighborhoods, do neighbors have a need or a
right to know where people are staying that are from off island that may be a
potential carrier? How do we identify where they are within our neighborhoods
and is that likely to be a concern?
LT. GOV. GREEN: That's the age old question. I would say this, there's going
to be unbelievably few people that fall into that category that end up at a bed and
breakfast. And they will be easily identified by the community because they will
know who their neighbors are and who aren't. But we tend to not put out lists like
that because unfortunately, as human nature would have it, we sometimes take out
our anger and aggression and fear on people that come into communities that may
be posing a threat.
So we would have to worry that there could be some actually counterproductive
results. Like for example, if we said a certain house on, I don't know, Ihilani
Street had six bed and breakfasts that were filled with strangers, I have a strange
feeling that some of our Hawaiian brothers and me and others will start getting
worried. And, you know, how we are on the Big Island. And then, our kids are
there and we don't like the idea.
And then, you end up in a conflict with somebody that exposes us and then we
expose our kids. This would be how, I think, I as a dad might respond and so we
try to keep that, you know, kind of keep that on the down low. But if there is a
surge or if there's a concern, we should raise it and be honest about it, and law
enforcement help us.
MS. EOFF: Well to get on top of that, I liked what you talked about before, that
we could actually screen people before getting off the plane or before getting on a
plane. So that could help us there.
LT. GOV. GREEN: I would recommend that. And a little extra security even if
it only catches a small number of people, we'll go a long way.
MS. EOFF: Yeah, right. And like you said, our numbers are drastically
decreasing with visitors right now. So just curious I haven't heard too much
about this. Can people build up an immunity then? I mean we're out and about.
We may have all been exposed a little or something. Are we building up our
immunities now?
LT. GOV. GREEN: We are. That's one of the great benefits of this whole
process. We're building up immunity day by day in small increments. There's no
vaccination which is the number one way to build up immunity. But we will get
passive immunity as people are experiencing some contact with it and have
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
low-grade symptoms. It may very well be that you then had an antigenic
response, which means your body saw the particles of the viruses and it began to
form antibodies and you may be immune already. That's very possible.
And the longer we spread out this time, the more of that passive immunity will
occur. And if a small number of cases are in our midst and they spread around
slowly and we take care of those crises in the hospital, we could get immune.
That's where we will be next winter and the following winter, very likely. A lot
of immunity, it will become a standard test. People will think of this as the bad
flu. It'll be actually COVID-19, but we won't be freaked out that time, we'll just
be ready.
MS. EOFF: Thank you for that. I was hoping that's what you would say. And I
guess,just because I tend to look on the positive side of things. Just this morning
I saw the walking path near the Civic Center filled with people walking. Couples
walking with their dogs. I saw people around my own neighborhood coming, you
know, walking.
And of course, the ocean is having a chance ofI hear the fish are coming closer
in; the dolphins, etcetera; Tuna, all of that. I mean it's kind of like there is an
upside to all of this slowdown, although economically I know it's going to be a
hardship we're going to be dealing with. But, there are some healing things going
on as well. So, thanks again Josh and thanks for being here.
LT. GOV. GREEN: You're totally right and your insights are so valued. You
know the communities and have great wisdom. So thank you for your service and
thank you for taking in additional wisdom from the people that are watching and
talking to you. These are processes that will benefit us for decades to come so
know that you are becoming an expert in ways to help take care of people.
MS. EOFF: Okay. Aloha, I'm going to yield and I think Maile wants to
CHR. CHUNG: Maile.
MS. DAVID: Oh, thank you, Chair. Aloha Lieutenant Governor, and welcome.
I am so glad and I learned a lot just from your talk this morning. But I do have
two really quick questions. One is regarding what Council Member
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder referred to for the school meals. I have had some questions
regarding whether the drive-through, whether for rural schools that's far away
from the pick-up point, their parents having to have the child in the car in order to
pick up meals. The question was, would a staff member from the school be able
to pick up meals for the kids.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
And I know there's restrictions on that. I just wanted to throw that out to you
because as you know, the pickup point at Konawaena—it's a far drive for
Ho`okena and Honaunau Elementary Schools. So just a thought to throw out
there for you to keep in your mind among all of the other things you have.
The second question I have or maybe the first question is, do you know if there
are any plans for us on this island creating like Maui's Mayor is trying to do, a
central quarantine facility or a place where if people needed to be quarantined. I
know he's working or I think he's working with a hotel, but just to throw that out
there. I think would kind of address some of the things that Council Member Eoff
was talking about in trying to keep track of people that needed to be quarantined.
And that's just another thing to put out there.
And then my last question, which is a real question. Is it recommended that
people get flu shots at this time? People are asking me. It's like, okay, do we still
go get our flu shots? I know it it's a different kind of virus.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Yes. That's a very interesting question. Let me go
backwards first. Okay, so as for getting flu shots, it would be so difficult right
now to go and impose oneself on the primary care office. The flu season is
basically done. Even though I do support flu shots, I'd let that ride. We are now
finally seeing the decline of flu and if you get the flu, the flu won't normally kill
you anyway. So you should be okay and ride it out at home. So that's one thing.
MS. DAVID: Great. Perfect.
LT. GOV. GREEN: We're really towards the end. Number two,the quarantine
sites, yes. I think that the mayors are all looking at different facilities and options,
and it's good to have one in their back pocket. And we are already negotiating
and having discussions with the workers at the hotels to make sure that their
leadership can quickly go into a similar contract and just start it up. Some people
should be given the opportunity to not work. If they're afraid or if there's a
reason because they've got underlying chronic illness and are senior. We should
not penalize them. That will be calculated into the package to support people.
Yeah, having a quarantine center somewhere on the Big Island; a couple hundred
beds would not be a bad idea just to be safe.
And then finally picking up at schools, the goal there is, of course, going to be to
not expose people. We're going to have an interesting situation here. In a few
weeks, we're going to have finished the first cohort of people who were sick and
they actually had COVID-19. And then they're going to be immune. And they're
going to be more able to help out because they will have immunity.
So come this time in a couple months, if we did have a big surge and survive it,
which we will, there would be a lot of additional capacity. But for now, as few
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
contacts as we can have directly the better. Because, you know, if an individual
was dropping off foods to 75 cars then we found out later that unfortunately they
were symptomatic or positive, we just opened up a new kettle of worms. So
keeping it as simple as possible. Everyone home quarantined for 14 days and
we'll see a great decline in this and you guys will begin to plan the recovery.
MS. DAVID: I really appreciate that. And thank you again so much. Mahalo for
your service and all of your time Lieutenant Governor. Appreciate you. I think
Ms. Villegas has one more quick question.
MS. VILLEGAS: Just a quick question. I've been trying to sew masks at home
and I'm reading all different kinds of information about what's effective, what's
not effective. This is just two pieces of cotton, very simple. There are all kinds of
patterns out there. And I'm wondering how do I share information with my
community, our community about what to be sewing; what's most effective. I
mean somethings I'm seeing are bras being turned into face masks because of
filtration for padding. So just how can I be, and the rest of us who are wanting to
do something physically, create something to support the healthcare facility and
our health care workers. What's your recommendation?
LT. GOV. GREEN: Well to not get myself in hot water, I will not make any
comments on bras or give my support for bras, okay. I'm here today on the
Council Meeting. But I will say that anything is better than nothing, and there are
some standards out there with like the Department of Health. Scour through their
websites. That would be particularly helpful. If we scour through their
department's advice, we might get some environmental health recommendations.
I want to make sure because I just don't know exactly how much filtration you
need. I can say this, the basic surgical masks are really just a synthetic with a
little bit of a liner that is pretty non-absorptive so you can't get stuff going out.
The surgical masks, the basic ones, all they do is keep you from spreading the
virus out there, and that's essentially what you would get from a cloth mask.
The n95 masks (respiratory and surgical masks) add separate layers of filtration
which prevents particles from coming in. And n95 means 95 percent of the
particles don't get in. And n99, 99 percent, don't get in. So you might end up
approximating an n30 mask when you do something cognizant, and that's not so
bad. But we don't want to then have people think, okay, they're good because
they can flaunt perhaps the social distancing and the home quarantine needs that
we've put into place.
So just go find the best practices. I'm sorry I don't have them on the tip of my
tongue, and it's very good that people are doing this. And it gives us a sense of
purpose, which actually is probably as valuable as the mask itself which is a good
thing.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, that's what I'm finding. Stress relief Thank you.
LT. GOV. GREEN: Yes, you bet.
CHR. CHUNG: Lieutenant Governor, I just have two real quick questions and a
comment. First of all, you talked about those persons who might have been cured
of the disease. Will testing show that a person had it and is now cured?
LT. GOV. GREEN: Yes. We'll be able to get antibody tests, and those tests, I
have not seen us run yet. Right now we're just running PCR (Polymerase Chain
Reaction) tests, which show whether people have active virus going on in their
bodies. But the way you tell later on if you had a disease or you're fully
immunized is you check antibodies, and that will come online.
Also, a lot of people are going to be able to get that idea very quickly because
they will have known that they were sick. And let's say, they were sick in early
March. Sick as heck, came through it just fine. They tested positive for
COVID-19 and now the 14 days have passed. That is a pretty safe, clear
individual. That person is now immune to Coronavirus, this COVID-19.
I think you're going to want more assurances as leaders of communities. We are
not going yet where you get a wrist band that says, "I beat COVID-19." But
somebody's probably going to trademark that try to sell those things. So I would
say, if we do see a global pandemic that we're unable to control in America, that's
when you see that kind of response, the kinds of things that you see in the movies.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, very good. And you know, the Department of Health has
publicly stated that they don't recommend testing for persons who are
asymptomatic even if they have been exposed to persons with COVID-19. But
now taken in light of the situation with the State Senate where some of the State
Senate people got tested after their exposure to Clarence Nishihara, their
colleague. And they all stated that they were asymptomatic.
Now, I'm in total support of that kind of testing. I support broad testing. So I
support our senators, but what's going on with the messaging here at the State
level?
LT. GOV. GREEN: Yes, I can be very clear about that. So the standards are this:
If you're symptomatic, you can and should be tested if we have concern for your
health. Some people are riding it out at home and self-quarantining, but that is a
reason to be tested and you will get tested if you have symptoms. Individuals that
were involved in the Senate, we actually did not test many individuals that were
exposed at the State Capitol.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
For instance, in this testing session 120 people came through and I believe only
40 people received testing. So 80 people did not get tested, although I'm not sure
that was covered fully. In addition to that, some individuals spent two-and-a-half
hours directly in contact with a sick positive individual, and that amount of time
necessitated some additional testing because of the very nature of these
individuals.
And it could be the case for a nurse, or a doctor, or a legislator, or someone who's
doing work at say the airlines and seeing hundreds and hundreds of people. A
significant positive test that the doctor or a nurse practitioner is worried about,
merits the test. If their clinical suspicion is adequate. And so they applied that
standard. They simply tested the legislature because that was where the
workplace incident was.
We did it at Kualoa Ranch. And if it were to happen at a school or another place,
we'd do it there too. So I think that broadcasting is very important, but in this
case there was a little bit of incomplete there was not full clarity of what
actually happened. And that's that they still followed the protocols. It's just a
few people fell into that clinical category of extreme contact.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright, thank you very much. You know, Lieutenant Governor,
I contacted you on Saturday, and you know, I'm just so stoked that you were able
to make yourself available for our meeting today. You know, it's out of order, but
you know, we have some broad latitude now with this emergency declaration.
Really appreciate it. If you need to make any, you know, to brief us further at
some point in time just let us know. And you know, it can be on a day's notice
because this is so important. And also maybe you can expect that we might be
inviting you again for, you know, some updates and further briefings. I really
appreciate you coming today.
LT. GOV. GREEN: My heart is still with the Big Island. So,thank you very
much for welcoming me.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright. Thank you very much. Bye.
LT. GOV. GREEN: You bet.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright. You know, we had our Director and Deputy Director of
Parks and Recreation here waiting, and they were waiting patiently as instructed
or requested at 9:40. But of course, you know, this matter went on a little longer
than we had expected. So we're going to try to get them back here at some point,
but they've gone to another meeting. So let's go on to Communications.
COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Comm. 312.9: REPORT OF ATTENDANCE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS KIERKIEWICZ,
LEE LOY, AND VILLEGAS AT THE HAWAII ISLAND EXECUTIVE
CHANGE SUMMIT HELD ON MARCH 3, 2020, PURSUANT TO HAWAII
REVISED STATUTES SECTION 92-2.5(e)
From Council Member Rebecca Villegas, dated March 4, 2020.
Motion to Close Ms. Villegas moved to file Comm. 312.9. Seconded by
File: Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion? There being none, all those in favor please say
Ic aye.
Vote on The motion to close file on Comm. 312.9 was carried by
Comm. 312.9: the following voice vote:
Filed
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried unanimously.
Comm. 821: NOMINATION OF HARRY LEE MCINTOSH, III, TO THE
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
From Mayor Harry Kim, dated March 6, 2020, submitting for the Council's
review and confirmation the above nomination.
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to confirm the appointment of
Mr. Harry Lee McIntosh, III to the Environmental
Management Commission. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, you know, we tried something different this time. We
waived all of these nominations up to the full Council, and we requested that the
Administration send us bios which they normally do, but also a statement from
each of the nominees, which they have done. And they're all in our little
pamphlet here. So are there any questions or comments? If not, we have a
motion on the floor. All those in favor please say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Comm. 821: The motion to confirm the appointment of
(Approved) Mr. Harry Lee McIntosh, III to the Environmental
Management Commission was carried by the following
voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. We have confirmed the nomination of
Harry McIntosh to the Environmental Management Commission.
Comm. 822: NOMINATION OF COREY LUKE TO THE FIRE COMMISSION
From Mayor Harry Kim, dated March 6, 2020, submitting for the Council's
review and confirmation the above nomination.
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to confirm the appointment of
Mr. Corey Luke to the Fire Commission. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion? There being none, all those in favor please say
Ic aye.
Vote on Comm. 822: The motion to confirm the appointment of Mr. Corey Luke
(Approved) to the Fire Commission was carried by the following voice
vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. Corey Luke is now appointed to the Fire
Commission. His nomination has been confirmed.
Comm. 823: NOMINATION OF DANIEL PALEKA TO THE FIRE COMMISSION
From Mayor Harry Kim, dated March 6, 2020, submitting for the Council's
review and confirmation the above nomination.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to confirm the appointment of
Mr. Daniel Paleka to the Fire Commission. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion there? There being none, all those in favor
please say "aye."
Vote on Comm. 823: The motion to confirm the appointment of
(Approved) Mr. Daniel Paleka to the Fire Commission was
carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. Daniel Paleka's nomination to the Fire
Commission has been confirmed by unanimous vote of the County Council.
Comm. 824: NOMINATION OF MERRICK NISHIMOTO TO THE FIRE COMMISSION
From Mayor Harry Kim, dated March 6, 2020, submitting for the Council's
review and confirmation the above nomination.
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to confirm the appointment of
Mr. Merrick Nishimoto to the Fire Commission.
Seconded by Ms. Villegas.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion there? If not, all those in favor please say "aye."
Vote on Comm. 824: The motion to confirm the appointment of
(Approved) Mr. Merrick Nishimoto to the Fire Commission
was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. The nomination of Merrick Nishimoto to the
Fire Commission has been confirmed by unanimous vote of the County Council.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
RESOLUTIONS: Resolutions.
Res. 521-20: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN
AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF HAWAII, BOARD OF LAND AND
NATURAL RESOURCES, PURSUANT TO HAWAII REVISED STATUTES
SECTION 46-7, TO ACCEPT FUNDS FOR THE ACQUISITION OF
KAPANAI`A, NORTH KOHALA
Funds in the amount of$1,452,000 would be used to assist with acquiring
properties identified by Tax Map Key Nos. 5-2-007:004 and 027, totaling
approximately 93 acres.
Reference: Comm. 790
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-110
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Res. 521-20 and Finance
Committee Report No. 110. Seconded by Ms. David.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion there? Raise your hand if anybody has a
discussion. Okay, there being none, all those in favor please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 521-20: The motion to adopt Res. 521-20 and Finance Committee
(Adopted) Report No. 110 was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Res. 524-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE ISLAND
OF HAWAII YMCA FOR ITS FAMILY VISITATION CENTER PROGRAM
Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 5); and credits to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, Other
Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 797
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 524-20.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion? Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: I look for your support.
CHR. CHUNG: Anyone else? If not, we have a motion, a second, all those in
favor please say "aye."
Vote on Res. 524-20: The motion to adopt Res. 524-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Res. 525-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO
NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE
2020 NORTH KOHALA REUNION
Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Tourism Promotion account.
Reference: Comm. 801
Intr. by: Mr. Richards
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Res. 525-20. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, Chair, I have a question going forward. With the social
distancing, and we are on a stay-at-home policy issued by the Governor, a lot of
these contingency fund expenditures are for events that probably are not going to
happen. Do we have an idea how we're going to handle this going forward?
CHR. CHUNG: No we don't. But do you want to just hold this in abeyance
maybe?
MR. RICHARDS: No, I think we approve it. Let's keep the paperwork going.
Approve it, and then we'll see where we end up. But I think that's a question for
Corporation Counsel that they're going to have to answer first.
CHR. CHUNG: Well, I think it's more for Finance, because when is this
scheduled for?
MR. RICHARDS: I don't recall on the top of my head.
CHR. CHUNG: July? Okay, this issue is going to come up more and more. And
what's going to happen is if we approve it today, I'm just thinking out loud. If
it's approved or anything like it is approved, then it will go to Finance, but if
we're still under lockdown, then those events will not go and the money will go
back into the General Fund.
MS. LEE LOY: Chair?
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Mr. Richards, I'm going to be doing something a little later in
the agenda, in which I am using a particular Resolution 544, in which I'm revising
the language of my resolution because it's a celebration that's not going to occur,
but still being able to get the money into the community and help them with some
of an outreach program that I'm trying to stand up during this
COVID-19 situation.
So I don't want you to lose this as a vehicle that could expedite money into your
community and into that agency. I think I have a tool and a way to do that which
I'll be demonstrating a little later. I don't know if you want to hold off for now.
But I'm hopeful that with this shift that there—we have on the agenda, you'll
have a vehicle to get the money into the community but realign it to the resources
that might be available or needed at this time.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
MR. RICHARDS: Okay, Chair, then what I'd like to do is postpone this
resolution to our next meeting, and then I'd like to have a listen.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, very good.
Vote on Motion Mr. Richards moved to postpone Res. 525-20 to the next
to Postpone: Council Meeting. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried
(Approved) by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried to postpone till the next meeting. Why don't we
take up Ms. Lee Loy's Resolution 544? Let's take that one up.
Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the
of Business: following item was taken out of order:
Res. 544-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO KEAUKAHA
COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC., FOR A REIMBURSEMENT OF
EXPENSES RELATED TO THE 2020 KUHIO DAY CELEBRATION
Transfers $5,690 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public
Programs account.
Reference: Comm. 827
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 544-20. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion?
Motion to Amend: Ms. Lee Loy moved to amend Res. 544-20 with the
contents of Comm. 827.1. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Go ahead.
Page 38
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. Under Comm. 827.1, what I've done is
realigned the expenses that would have gone to Kuhio Day Celebration into a
Community Feeding Program. And throughout the resolution itself, I've also
retooled where the monies would be going and identified feeding programs or
expenses related to what we're trying to stand up in the community as a pilot
program in Keaukaha.
Basically what it would do is identify the families who are in need as far as
kupuna or keiki. Go ahead and do a high-level survey, something we heard from
Lieutenant Governor Josh Green, by identifying the needy families and then
dovetailing all of that data into a larger data base that Ms. Kierkiewicz is trying to
stand up with the Hub programs.
I'm hopeful to get the support of my other colleagues on this one as a first step
forward on how we can begin to model these types of programs individually
within our communities. But also touching the most vulnerable people that we
know through the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Report
which is our keiki and kupuna.
I yield at this time and I know Ms. Kierkiewicz has some follow-up on how this
was just a small step of falling forward during this crisis time and allowing
community to empower themselves by helping one another out. Chair, I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. I fully
support the amendment to this resolution. And I'm actually having staff look at
how much contingency money we have left so that we can position all of it to
going to the Food Basket and helping with a Keiki Backpack Program.
I know my colleague from Puna has done that in the past, and I think we need to
do everything that we can to ensure that our keiki, our kupuna, our vulnerable
households are food secure because we just don't know how long we're going to
have to be in lockdown. I'll be supporting this. So thank you for doing it.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, we have a motion on the floor to amend.
MS. POINDEXTER: I have a question.
CHR. CHUNG: Oh yeah, go ahead.
MS. POINDEXTER: So, and maybe this is for our Clerk. If the title of the
resolution dramatically changes, I thought we would have to put a new resolution
in because, you know, I have one and I was going to withdraw and then resubmit.
But are we now doing resolutions where we can, I mean
Page 39
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
MR. HENRICKS: I understand your question. It's bills for laws where titles
cannot be amended. Resolutions, it's okay, so Council needs to decide whether it
wants to use current resolutions as vehicles to expedite funds in the community or
submit new resolutions that are fresh and with, you know, taking that approach.
Realizing of course, that all of these require the approval of the respective
Department Heads for grants, and also of the Mayor as well, yeah, for new ideas.
Which, I understand Ms. Lee Loy has, you know, acquired those approvals
already for this change.
MS. POINDEXTER: Thank you for that, because I think this is a good change
because it's an important change. And I just wanted to be clear on how we
proceed with resolutions.
MR. HENRICKS: Yeah, okay so, I think it'll be good to have these
conversations, you know, as a group when we have time about how to accomplish
these goals. And there might be different ways to do it where, for different
scenarios to do it in the most efficient manner that still, you know, comports with
our laws and regulations.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, and I think just knowing what's going on today and
the emergency or the crisis allows us to do this, and that is great. So thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, and I was going to mention that. I mean, even if it were
an ordinance, I think a compelling argument could be made that this addresses an
emergency need. And you know, various rules have been suspended for that
purpose, but I don't see any problem with this. Okay, we have a motion on the
floor to amend Resolution 544-20, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Motion The motion to amend Res. 544-20 with the contents of
to Amend: Comm. 827.1 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried unanimously. Let's go back to the main motion.
Any discussion there?
Page 40
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
MR. HENRICKS: Just a quick rule suspension would be order to the nature of
the amendment. So the motion would be to suspend the holdover requirement.
That's sufficient.
Vote on Motion Ms. Lee Loy moved to suspend Council Rule 24 to waive
to Suspend the holdover for the substantive amendment of
Council Rules: Res. 544-20. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried unanimously. Now voting on the main motion,
all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 544-20: The motion to adopt Res. 544-20, as amended to Draft 2,
Draft 2 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Adopted)
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried unanimously. Okay, let's get back to Res. 526.
Return to Order The Chair directed the Council to return to the order of business.
of Business:
Page 41
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Res. 526-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER FOR EXPENSES
RELATING TO THE KOHALA COQUI COALITION
Transfers $3,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 9); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Agriculture—Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 802
Intr. by: Mr. Richards
Motion to Approve: Mr. Richards moved to adopt Res. 526-20. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Richards.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thanks for approving this. This is to keep going after
our Kohala Coqui Coalition, and this is an outdoor activity. So I think we can
push this one forward.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, I mean as long as they have specific instructions regarding
social distancing, right. That's the proviso, okay?
MR. RICHARDS: Yes, it's usually two or three people.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright. We have a motion on the floor, all those in favor please
say "aye."
Vote on Res. 526-20: The motion to adopt Res. 526-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Page 42
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Res. 527-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE PAHOA
SCHOOLS SUPPORT FOUNDATION FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE
PAHOA HIGH AND INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL HO`IKE 2020
Transfers $3,200 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public
Programs account.
Reference: Comm. 803
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 527-20.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I just look for your support.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, what is this though?
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: This is their H6'ike for 2020. It's been
cancelled, and I had a long conversation with Leah Gouker (Pahoa High and
Intermediate School Social Studies teacher) yesterday and she expressed to me
that she wants to keep this here for this funding source. And she wants to go
ahead and continue to make this is for apparel for the H6'ike. And they've
never had, and the school has never had, and they've been underserved for a long
time. So I'm hoping to keep this here for them and make sure that our kids get
something to wear for any H6'ike performance coming up. And this can be done
whether or not they're at school.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright, very good. Anyone else?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I'm just going to echo my support. I had given
earlier in the year as well. And so anything we can do to support the Puna keiki
and community is welcome. It doesn't have to be for a H6'ike in May, but they
could continue to plan something maybe over the summer and the next school
year.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, I just wanted to get that on the record. Thank you, you
guys. Okay, all those in favor please say "aye."
Page 43
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Res. 527-20: The motion to adopt Res. 527-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Richards — 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 528-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
DAUGHTERS OF HAWAII TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO
THE KING KAMEHAMEHA DAY CELEBRATION PARADE AND
HO`OLAULE`A IN KONA
Transfers $500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public
Programs account.
Reference: Comm. 804
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff
Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to adopt Res. 528-20. Seconded by
Ms. David.
MS. EOFF: This event may take place in June, hopefully. If not, then I'm willing
to let this stand as is.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. Any further comments? There being none, all those in
favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 528-20: The motion to adopt Res. 528-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Page 44
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
CHR. CHUNG: I see Mr. Richards back so we have nine "aye"votes. Motion is
carried.
Res. 529-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
EXPLORATION FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT THE WEST HAWAII
EXPLORATIONS ACADEMY'S ROBOTICS TEAM
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public
Programs account.
Reference: Comm. 805
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff
Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to adopt Res. 529-20. Seconded by
Ms. David.
CHR. CHUNG: Any comment?
MS. EOFF: This one's actually an event that already took place, and they have
come back. So this is like a reimbursement.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, very good, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Res. 529-20: The motion to adopt Res. 529-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Page 45
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Res. 530-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT FOR THE ANNUAL OUTSTANDING
OLDER AMERICANS AWARD LUNCHEON
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 1); and credits to the Office of Aging, Other Current Expenses
account.
Reference: Comm. 806
Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter
MS. POINDEXTER: Now Chair, I'm debating whether to just withdraw it or I
think just postpone it like Council Member Richards.
MR. HENRICKS: I think it would depend upon what you are intending to do, if
basically, this opportunity is no longer available because it requires a separate
approval for a different type of use, perhaps from the department head; from the
Mayor and a whole new resolution
MS. POINDEXTER: Might as well withdraw it? Okay.
MR. HENRICKS: I think so.
Withdraw Res. 530-20: Ms. Poindexter announced the withdrawal of Res. 530-20.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright. So do we need further action?
MR. HENRICKS: Just recognizing that the resolution is withdrawn from
consideration.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, so recognized. Thank you, Ms. Poindexter.
Res. 531-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
HILO-HAMAKUA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION FOR
THE 2020 HONOKA`A WESTERN WEEK FESTIVAL
Transfers $4,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 1); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 807
Intr. by: Ms. Poindexter
Page 46
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Motion to Approve: Ms. Poindexter moved to adopt Res. 531-20. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Ms. Poindexter?
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah. And on this one I want to do a postponement.
Vote on Motion Ms. Poindexter moved to postpone Res. 531-20 to the next
to Postpone: Council Meeting. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz, and
(Approved) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried. Nine "aye"votes to postpone.
Res. 532-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
WAIAKEA HIGH SCHOOL PARENT TEACHER STUDENT ASSOCIATION
FOR THE 2020 WAIAKEA HIGH SCHOOL PROJECT GRAD NIGHT
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 2); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public
Programs account.
Reference: Comm. 809
Intr. by: Mr. Chung
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 532-20. Seconded by
Ms. Poindexter.
CHR. CHUNG: Can I have a motion to postpone this to the call of the Chair?
This is mine, yeah.
Page 47
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Motion Ms. Lee Loy moved to postpone Res. 532-20 to the call of
to Postpone: the Chair. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 533-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
HAWAII ISLAND PORTUGUESE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER FOR ITS MALASADA
SHUFFLE 5K AND FAMILY FUN FESTA RADIOTHON
Transfers $5,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 2); and credits to the Department of Research and Development,
Tourism Promotion account.
Reference: Comm. 810
Intr. by: Mr. Chung
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to adopt Res. 533-20. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Also, can I have another motion to postpone?
Vote on Motion Ms. Lee Loy moved to postpone Res. 533-20 to the call of
to Postpone: the Chair. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Page 48
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Res. 534-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PURCHASE TABLES AND CHAIRS
FOR THE PAHOA DISTRICT PARK
Transfers $900 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Recreation Division Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 811
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Vote on Res. 534-20: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 534-20.
(Adopted) Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and was carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 535-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE
HAWAII LGBT LEGACY FOUNDATION FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO
THE HAWAII ISLAND LGBTQ PRIDE FESTIVAL
Transfers $1,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 5); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 812
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to adopt Res. 535-20.
Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion there? When is this thing going?
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: This summer. Hopefully, they can.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, alright, all those in favor please say "aye."
Page 49
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Res. 535-20: The motion to adopt Res. 535-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 536-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT FOR EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH
THE PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF A HARDENED CANOPY
SHELTER TO PROTECT THE FIRE ENGINE APPARATUS AT THE
HAWAIIAN PARADISE PARK STATION
Transfers $3,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 4); and credits to the Hawaii Fire Department, Fire Protection-
Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 813
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 536-20. Seconded
by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I just want to share that I had an opportunity on a
number of occasions to visit the fire station in Hawaiian Paradise Park, and this
year we were granted the opportunity to have an ambulance there to be serving
that community. That being said, because the structures are very limited at that
location, the fire truck that usually parked under cover is not outside. And given
the heavy rain, there is just a possibility of damaging this very expensive piece of
equipment, so the canopy will serve to protect the fire truck and other apparatus at
that fire station.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright, anyone else? There being no further comments, all
those in favor please say "aye."
Page 50
Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Res. 536-20: The motion to adopt Res. 536-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 537-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO MALAMA
O PUNA FOR EXPENSES RELATING TO ITS "REVITALIZE KAPOHO"
EVENT
Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 4); and credits to the Department of Liquor Control, Public
Programs account.
Reference: Comm. 814
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 537-20. Seconded
by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Any comment?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, this is supposed to be slated to happen in May.
However, there is flexibility in the resolution to happen later this year. And so I
think it is an event that I would like to keep on the books because it is important
for the healing and recovery of the Puna community. Asking everyone for their
support. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright, okay. It's been moved and seconded, all those in favor
please say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Res. 537-20: The motion to adopt Res. 537-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 540-20: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF TOURNIQUETS
TO THE HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT
Donated by the Kona Community Hospital Trauma Program with an approximate
value between $2,250 and $3,000.
Reference: Comm. 818
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Vote on Res. 540-20: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 540-20. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Lee Loy and was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 541-20: AUTHORIZES THE ACCEPTANCE OF A DONATION OF FUNDS TO BE
USED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE TOWARDS TRAVEL AND
OTHER EXPENSES TO ATTEND THE 2020 CDL COORDINATOR'S/IT
MEETING
Accepts a monetary donation of$2,232 from the American Association of Motor
Vehicle Administrators and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Reference: Comm. 819
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Res. 541-20: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 541-20. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. Eoff and was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 542-20: CREATES ONE NEW TEMPORARY POSITION FOR THE OFFICE OF THE
MAYOR
The Internal Auditor position would assist with lava recovery efforts.
Reference: Comm. 820
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adopt Res. 542-20. Seconded
by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair,just to remind everyone and the community out
there, our County is being awarded a sizable amount of CDBGDR (Community
Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery) Program monies. And one of the
requirements is for there to be an internal auditor to monitor the grant funds. And
so that is what this position is for. And my understanding is that it will be funded
by the DR (Disaster Recovery) money that is coming to the County. So just
asking everyone for their support.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright. Any further discussion? There being none, all those in
favor say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Res. 542-20: The motion to adopt Res. 542-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 543-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO HOSPICE OF
HILO TO ASSIST WITH EXPENSES RELATED TO THE CELEBRATION OF
LIFE EVENT AT REEDS BAY BEACH PARK
Transfers $2,500 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 3); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 826
Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy
Withdraw Res. 543-20: Ms. Lee Loy announced the withdrawal of Res. 543-20.
CHR. CHUNG: Yeah, I recognize the withdrawal. Thank you very much.
Res. 545-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE WEST
HAWAII VETERANS CEMETERY DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION
ASSOCIATION, INC., TO CONSTRUCT A KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL
Transfers $6,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 8); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 828
Intr. by: Ms. Eoff
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Res. 545-20: Ms. Eoff moved to adopt Res. 545-20. Seconded by
(Adopted) Ms. David and was carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 546-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE WEST
HAWAII VETERANS CEMETERY DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION
ASSOCIATION, INC., TO CONSTRUCT A KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL
Transfers $2,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 7); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 829
Intr. by: Ms. Villegas
Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to adopt Res. 546-20. Seconded by
Ms. David.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, any discussion?
MS. EOFF: Mr. Chair, I guess I should add that the three of us have appropriated
or would like these funds go to the Korean War Memorial that's now being
designed and constructed at the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. And I just
wanted to thank my colleagues here for contributing because this will be a great
addition to the cemetery, and I thank you all for your support.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright. We have a motion and a second, all those in favor say
Ic aye.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Res. 546-20: The motion to adopt Res. 546-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 547-20: TRANSFERS/APPROPRIATES AN APPROPRIATION OUT AND FROM A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT AND CREDITS SAME TO A
DESIGNATED FUND ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE A GRANT TO THE WEST
HAWAII VETERANS CEMETERY DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION
ASSOCIATION, INC., TO CONSTRUCT A KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL
Transfers $4,000 from the Clerk-Council Services —Contingency Relief account
(Council District 6); and credits to the Department of Parks and Recreation,
Administration Other Current Expenses account.
Reference: Comm. 830
Intr. by: Ms. David
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 547-20. Seconded by
Ms. Eoff.
CHR. CHUNG: Any comments, discussion?
MS. DAVID: No,just ask for your support. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, we have a motion and a second, all those in favor please
say "aye."
Vote on Res. 547-20: The motion to adopt Res. 547-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Res. 548-20: AUTHORIZES THE EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN PLANNING AND
ZONING CODE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PAPA`ALOA ELDERLY
HOUSING PROJECT, PURSUANT TO SECTION 46-15, OF THE HAWAII
REVISED STATUTES
Requests to change the zoning to RD-5; allow one parking space per unit; and
exemption from the Special Management Area Use permit requirements, to
demolish and rebuild the existing 10 units and build 10 additional units for a total
of 20 senior housing units, on a parcel described as Tax Map Key: 3-5-003:049.
Reference: Comm. 831
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Waived: FC
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to adopt Res. 548-20. Seconded by
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
CHR. CHUNG: Anyone want to make a comment, discussion? Yes.
MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah, I just want to say that this is in my district, and I am
strongly supporting this reso. So thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, anyone else?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I just wanted to lend my support for this as well.
And I also want to commend Housing Administrator Duane Hosaka for providing
a very detailed memo in support of this resolution. If anyone is interested in
reading it, it's Communication Number 831.1. You can access that online in our
public documents. You know, affordable housing isI mean we're just in crisis
mode all the time. And this is one way that we can be helping with alleviating
part of our housing crisis. And I'm so happy to hear that Keith Kato from HICDC
(Hawai`i Island Community Development Corporation) is involved in this project.
So definitely supporting it. Thank you.
CHR. CHUNG: Alright. We have a motion and a second, all those in favor
please say "aye."
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Res. 548-20: The motion to adopt Res. 548-20 was carried by the
(Adopted) following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Bills for
ORDINANCES Ordinances (First Reading).
(FIRST READING):
Bill 141: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-7 (NORTH & SOUTH KOHALA DISTRICT ZONE
MAP), ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER 25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAII COUNTY
CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE
DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL—
15,000 SQUARE FEET (RS-15) TO RESIDENTIAL & AGRICULTURAL—
FIVE ACRES (RA-5a) AT KAHUA 1sT, NORTH KOHALA, HAWAII,
COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 5-9-001:008
(Applicant: Kohala Shoreline, LLC) (Area: 37.88 acres)
The Leeward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for
this change of zone, which would allow the applicant to subdivide the property
into six lots to develop a residential subdivision. The property is located three
miles north of Kawaihae Harbor on the makai side of Akoni Pule Highway.
Reference: Comm. 764
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
Approve: PC-47
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 141 on first reading
and adopt Planning Committee Report No. 47. Seconded
by Mr. Richards.
Motion to Amend: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to amend Bill 141 with the
contents of Comm. 764.4. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. At our Committee meeting held on
March 101h, there were a number of requested amendments by the applicant, and
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
also one of my colleagues on the Council. I called Planning Department to
review every single one of those and they felt that amendments to Condition J and
K were sufficient at this time. So just asking from my colleagues for their
support.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, anyone else?
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Given the discussion that we had last time
on this bill and that there's no one here from the public to comment on it, I can't
agree with the amendments. I just feel like the public should weigh in on this.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, anyway, we have a motion on the floor to amend. All
those in favor please say "aye."
Vote on Motion The motion to amend Bill 141 with the contents of
to Amend: Comm. 764.4 was carried by the following voice vote:
(Approved)
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Eoff, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
Chair Chung—8.
Noes: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, and if I might, I believe there are a couple of
supportive testimonies that came in for the bill, and we can also promote out into
the public these changes so that they can weigh in before second reading.
CHR. CHUNG: Right. Okay. So we have a motion on the floor. Bill 141, as
amended, all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Bill 141: The motion to pass Bill 141, as amended to Draft 2, on first
Draft 2 reading and adopt Planning Committee Report No. 47 was
(Approved) carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members Chung, Eoff, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
Chair Chung—8.
Noes: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder— 1.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: May the record reflect one "no"vote. Motion carried.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Bill 142: AMENDS CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE 8, SECTION 2-37 OF THE HAWAII
COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO
THE DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT'S
SUSTAINABILITY ACTION COMMITTEE
Adds climate change to the list of topics for which the committee would advise
the director; and adds environmental science as an additional area of expertise to
which member selection would be based on.
Reference: Comm. 768
Intr. by: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder
Approve: AWEEMC-15
Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to pass Bill 142 on first
reading and adopt Agriculture, Water, Energy and
Environmental Management Committee Report No. 15.
Seconded by Ms. Poindexter.
CHR. CHUNG: Discussion? Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: I think we had a good discussion on this last
time. If anyone has any questions, I'm here to offer answers.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay. There being no further discussion, all those in favor say
Ic aye.
Vote on Bill 142: The motion to pass Bill 142 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Agriculture, Water, Energy and Environmental
Management Committee Report No. 15 was carried by
the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Bill 145: AUTHORIZES THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS OF
(Draft 2) THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING ALL OR A
PORTION OF THE COSTS OF VARIOUS IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS;
FIXING THE FORM, DENOMINATIONS, AND CERTAIN OTHER DETAILS
OF SUCH BONDS AND PROVIDING FOR THEIR SALE TO THE PUBLIC;
AND AUTHORIZES THE TAKING OF OTHER ACTIONS RELATING TO
THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF THE BONDS
Authorizes the issuance of up to $103 million in general obligation bonds to fund
certain Capital Improvement Projects, including: Ane Keohokalole Highway
Phase III(Hina Lani Street to Kaiminani Drive); Puna Connectivity and
Emergency Access Routes; Paniolo Avenue Rehabilitation/Waikoloa Intersection
Construction; Kawili Street Shoulder Improvements; Mamalahoa Highway
Resurfacing (Hohola Drive to Kekehau Street); Plumeria Street Rehabilitation;
and Waianuenue Avenue Resurfacing.
Reference: Comm. 781.2
Intr. by: Mr. Chung
Approve: FC-111
Motion to Approve: Ms. Eoff moved to pass Bill 145, Draft 2 on first reading
and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 111. Seconded
by Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Let me make just a short comment on this. You know, I know
we're looking at uncertain times. We don't know what our fiscal outlook is going
to look like next month even. But really all this does is authorize the
Administration to go ahead and float bonds up to $103 million. It doesn't have to
go all the way up to that limit, but I really would urge all of us to support this
because it makes a strong statement as to what types of transportation needs are
needed throughout the island. And, you know, we'll have to deal with this in
terms of bond repayment and other matters when the budget comes up. But, you
know, I would urge us to move this forward. Any further discussion? Yes,
Mr. Richards, go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, thank you, Chair. And I appreciate you making that
comment. I think it's important that our constituency understand that these efforts
are to get the paperwork in order. And part of this may actually be part of our
recovery going forward, having the construction industry strong. And we may see
some additional funding with the stimulus package coming forward. So having
the paperwork in order and as you characterized it, up to $103 million. This isn't
mandating how much we're going to spend, but it's putting the limit on what
we'll spend. Thank you, Chair, I yield.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
CHR. CHUNG: Right, it doesn't even require us to float it. It just authorizes
the Administration to move ahead if they feel the need is necessary.
Ms. Kierkiewicz.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I'm on the same wavelength as Mr. Richards. I had
a conversation with Director Sako about this and our ability to afford it, given
where we are with the coronavirus and impacted economy. She assured me that
we have enough threshold to be able to do that. So I want to be supporting it
because once this event is over, we need all the work that we can muster in our
community and construction is a great way to get our economy going again. So
thank you, Chair. I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Thank you. Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. I echo the same sentiments of my colleagues,
Mr. Richards and Ms. Kierkiewicz. And actually, Lieutenant Governor
Josh Green spoke about it. This is how we shock or jolt the economy after we get
through this crisis. And so I really do appreciate you, Chair Chung, for having
that forward thinking about how to put this out front and around the curve so that
we can actually be prepared when we get through this situation. As Lieutenant
Governor Josh Green mentioned, we will get through it. But this is how we get
ready for after the crisis. So thank you, Chair. I yield.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, anyone else? Anybody in Kona, Karen, Maile, no? Okay,
all those in favor say "aye."
Vote on Bill 145 The motion to pass Bill 145, Draft 2, on first reading and
Draft 2): adopt Finance Committee Report No. 111 was carried by
(Approved) the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards,
and Chair Chung—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Member Villegas — 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Bill 146: AMENDS CHAPTER 2 OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983
(2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY ADDING A NEW ARTICLE
RELATING TO THE APPROPRIATION OF DISASTER RELIEF FUNDS TO
ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE RELIEF,
RECOVERY, MITIGATION, AND REMEDIATION ASSISTANCE FOR
DISASTER DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE 2018 KILAUEA ERUPTION
Establishes standards and procedures to allow eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organizations to apply for 2018 Kilauea eruption disaster relief funds received by
the County.
Reference: Comm. 789
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz
Approve: FC-112
Motion to Approve: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 146 on first reading
and adopt Finance Committee Report No. 112. Seconded
by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, we had a robust conversation about this. The
Committee approved this unanimously with a positive recommendation. And in
my touch points with Finance and the recovery team, they're working very
diligently to create the procedures behind this grants program. So as soon as
we're able to approve it on second reading we will be ready to go to promote this
opportunity out into the community.
CHR. CHUNG: Very good. Any further discussion? There being none, all those
in favor say "aye."
Vote on Bill 146: The motion to pass Bill 146 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 112 was carried by
the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Bill 147: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 19-73, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2020
Appropriates revenues in the Fund Balance from Previous Year account
($850,000); and appropriates the same to the Signals and Street Lights account.
Funds would be used by the Department of Public Works to purchase materials to
expedite the replacement of failing street lights.
Reference: Comm. 791
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-113
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 147 on first reading and
adopt Finance Committee Report No. 113. Seconded by
Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion? Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: I'm just going to make a comment. One of
these 14 projects is in Puna. That's about seven percent. It comes out to about
$60,000 out of$850,000 that we're putting towards LED street light changes.
And I'm making that comment to bring light to the traffic signal discussion we
had. How many months we had traffic signals in some of Puna, and how long we
sat at those lights that were broken; and what the priorities of DPW (Department
of Public Works) are in regards to traffic lights and street light changes. And I'm
just making that comment so it's there.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, anyone in Kona wanting to make a comment? Okay,
Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: No, and I actually appreciate what Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder is
saying, because that's absolutely right. We also have Communication 791.1
which outlines all of that work. And thank you to Mr. Yamamoto (DPW
Director) for providing this. But I'm going to ask the department again to reach
back to the respective Council Members because they know their district best.
And it would be ideal for the departments and the agencies to touch bases with
each Council Member and help them prioritize the projects. With that Chair, I'm
going to be supporting Bill 147.
CHR. CHUNG: Okay, we have a motion on the floor, all those in favor say
Ic aye.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Bill 147: The motion to pass Bill 147 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 113 was carried by
the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
Bill 148: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 19-74, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC
IMPROVEMENTS AND FINANCING THEREOF FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JULY 1, 2019 TO JUNE 30, 2020
Adds the Public Works Mamalahoa Highway Resurfacing - Hohola to Kekehau
project for $3 million to the Capital Budget. Funds for this project shall be
provided from General Obligation Bonds, Capital Projects Fund—Fund Balance
and/or Other Sources.
Reference: Comm. 792
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
Approve: FC-114
Note: Requires 2/3 vote of the entire
membership to amend, pursuant to
Section 10-6(e), Hawai`i County Charter
Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 148 on first reading and
adopt Finance Committee Report No. 114. Seconded by
Mr. Richards.
CHR. CHUNG: Any discussion?
MR. RICHARDS: Yeah, Chair. Thank you. This is going to finish up the
resurfacing of the roadwork that we've been doing in Waimea for the last
18 months. So, very needed, and as we talked about construction for getting our
economy back online. Ask for my colleagues' support.
CHR. CHUNG: Very good. We have a motion on the floor, all those in favor say
Ic aye.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Bill 148: The motion to pass Bill 148 on first reading and adopt
(Approved) Finance Committee Report No. 114 was carried by
the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried.
ORDER OF The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Order of
THE DAY the Day (Second or Final Reading).
(SECOND OR
FINAL READING):
Bill 137: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-23 (VOLCANO-MT. VIEW), ARTICLE 8,
CHAPTER 25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983
(2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT
CLASSIFICATION FROM SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL—
20,000 SQUARE FEET (RS-20) TO VILLAGE COMMERCIAL—
10,000 SQUARE FEET (CV-10) AT `OLA`A SUMMER LOTS, `OLA`A,
PUNA, HAWAII, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 1-9-004:004
(Applicant: RTA Kilauea Lodge, LLC) (Area: 1.176 acres)
The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for
this change of zone, which would allow the applicant to develop a 1,920-square
foot retail building with 26 parking stalls, construct three cottages on the north
west corner of the property, and make related improvements on the subject parcel.
The property is located along Old Volcano Road between Haunani Road and
Wright Road.
Reference: Comm. 728
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
First Reading: March 11, 2020
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Bill 137: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to pass Bill 137 on second and
(Adopted) final reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Bill 138: 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 —Violence Against Women account
($27,431); and appropriates the same to the Violence Against Women account,
for a total appropriation of$86,431. Funds provided by the State of Hawai i
Department of Attorney General would be used to cover the cost of additional
salaries, equipment, and travel for training for the Office of the Prosecuting
Attorney.
Reference: Comm. 758
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
First Reading: March 11, 2020
Vote on Bill 138: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 138 on second and final
(Adopted) reading. Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Bill 139: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 19-73, AS AMENDED, THE OPERATING
BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF HAWAII FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING JUNE 30, 2020
Appropriates revenues in the Operating Reserves account($10,000); and
appropriates the same to the Workers Compensation account. Funds would be
used for the Office of Housing and Community Development's Workers
Compensation, Regular Salary and Wages account to pay out unbudgeted
Worker's Compensation expenditures.
Reference: Comm. 759
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
First Reading: March 11, 2020
Vote on Bill 139: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 139 on second and final
(Adopted) reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
Bill 149: 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 —Block Grants account($146,713); and
appropriates the same to the Hale Maluhia Shelter, Accessibility Improvements
account, for a total appropriation of$2,646,713. Funds provided by the
Department of Housing and Urban Development would be used for renovation
and construction costs.
Reference: Comm. 795
Intr. by: Ms. David (B/R)
First Reading: March 11, 2020
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Hawaii County Council-35 March 25,2020
Vote on Bill 149: Ms. David moved to pass Bill 149 on second and final
(Adopted) reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None.
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
MR. HENRICKS: I do have a question for you.
CHR. CHUNG: Yes.
MR. HENRICKS: I believe that is all of our items.
CHR. CHUNG: That's the end of our agenda. But before we adjourn, Mr. Clerk.
MR. HENRICKS: I didn't know if there were still plans to ask Parks and
Recreation.
CHR. CHUNG: I was going to get to that. You know, we did have our Director
and Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation who were waiting here earlier. I
had called them, you know, to just come and address some questions that, for
sure, Ms. Poindexter and Ms. Lee Loy had perhaps others relating to the opening
of certain park facilities. But they, and you know, through no fault of their own,
it's really my fault, but they had to leave. They're in an emergency meeting right
now at Civil Defense. So Ms. David, if they are free, would you be able to
accommodate them during your Finance meeting?
MR. HENRICKS: That might work, but just putting this meeting into recess?
But if it's no concern of what type of meeting it is, then okay.
CHR. CHUNG: Well, it really doesn't matter. We're all under the emergency
situation. So, because I would rather just adjourn right now.
REPORTS: The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Reports.
(There were none.)
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Hawai`i County Council-35 March 25,2020
REFERRALS FOR The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Referrals
EXECUTIVE for Executive Session.
SESSION:
(There were none.)
OTHER The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business, Other
BUSINESS: Business.
(There was none.)
ANNOUNCE- The Chair directed the Council to proceed to the next order of business,
MENTS: Announcements.
(There were none.)
ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:23 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the
MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz and carried by the following voice vote:
Ayes: Council Members David, Eoff,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz,
Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas,
and Chair Chung—9.
Noes: None. I
Absent: None.
Excused: None.
CHR. CHUNG: Motion carried, meeting adjourned.
Council Approval: JUL ® $ 2020
COUN LERK I
JH/dt
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