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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN AWEEMC 2020/03/10 2018-2020 Committee on Agriculture, Water, Energy, and Environmental Management 17th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai i March 10, 2020 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Agriculture, Water, Energy, ORDER: and Environmental Management was called to order at 1:03 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Chair Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Ms. Karen Eoff, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member (came in later) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The Chair called Tam Hunt who registered to speak in support to Bill 142 (Comm. 768), and came forward when called: CHR. RICHARDS: I'm going to close public testimony, and move on to the agenda. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. (There were none.) ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (There were none.) CHR. RICHARDS: Clerk, Bill 142 please. AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. 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 Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend passage of Bill 142 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. David. CHR. RICHARDS: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: We open this year with climate change kind of being our main topic, among other things. And along the process trying to figure out where we the county fit in, and where we're going be going with climate change and how we will be helpful. We had multiple conversations, and we did a few different bills and resolutions. And Rebecca and I, in speaking on what we can do to make some changes, thought that a good way to start might be to do something simple. And a discussion with Diane and Riley, we came to the—it was brought to our attention basically that there's this small area in our code that sets up this committee. And can I have Riley and Diane come up, we'll do a quick little discussions. We decided to make some slight changes to it. So we have in our R&D (Research and Development), and you can help with this if you want to, but we have what is called the Sustainability Action Committee (SAC). Which is a very interesting committee that we felt with some very minor amendments, which what you're seeing today by adding the words climate change in Section (a), and then Environmental Science in Section (c). We could affect an ability for us to bring these up, and start to talk about it within the county within an actual committee. This is more than just the opening kind of idea, brainstorming session, but this allows us to get there. So Riley could you kind of fill us in on this committee, or Diane whoever wants to. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Director Diane Ley and Deputy Director Riley Saito came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Page 2 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 MS. LEY: Sure. Let me just give you a little bit of background about the committee. It actually, it was part of the initiative during Mayor Kim's last Administration from 2004 to 2008. We recognized that we needed to do more in the areas of sustainability, we needed to focus a balance of our place, our people, and our profits. And so at that time we established or we came before the Council and asked to have this ordinance put in place for the Sustainability Action Committee. And again, that was to support this more balanced approach to the work not only R&D was doing, but the work we were doing with our partner departments, and other entities such as the state, federal government, and our communities. So the code amendment was put in place. And again, there was a focus on within sustainability comes a broad focus area. And so we really quickly determine that we needed to drill down on energy and agriculture. So we established, or I should say the Mayor's Office established basically what were functionally subcommittees. But they were advisory committees to the Mayor. One on energy, and one on agriculture. And so we drilled down on, and got accomplished a review of our energy plan that had just come out. And then we also did some similar work with the agriculture plan, that the Administration had worked on. So out of that came great list of projects to do. And so subsequent to that work that went on for multiple years, we established public-private partnerships with Hawai`i Green Growth. We were among the first to sign on with the Governor and other Mayors to the Aloha+ Challenge, so we've been pushing and leaning in on that. And that is to achieve our collective sustainability goals, by 2030. We also joined GLISPA, which is a Global Island Partnership. We were the first in the state to do that, as a county. And that is a multinational island state partnership to build resilience and sustainable island communities. And we continue to be a partner with that. And that was established in 2016. So today, what are we at, 2020. You know, the Kim Administration came back in, and we were tracking along these initiatives. Big goals and individual initiatives, within the agriculture, energy, and across our business sector programs. But we really recognized at the beginning of this term, the need to build the capacity to support this process. So we hired Riley as the Energy Specialist, and he's now, now you're getting double role for one person, one person pay. We also filled our Economic Development II Specialist, with someone who is focused on MR. SAITO: Michelle. MS. LEY: Michelle. She is focused on sustainability and climate change. We have brought on three VISTA'S (Volunteer in Service to America). And those are very low-cost volunteers, low cost to the county. And one is working on transition for transportation, another for energy, and third one for climate change. Page 3 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 So we have really built a county team in that fashion. And I'm going to let Riley talk a little bit about the initiative to—what they've been doing, and then also the work across departments that we're doing as well as across counties and the state. MR. SAITO: So over the last since I started we have within the greenhouse gas, we have completed the inventory, 2015. Which really was important to set the bench mark and understand with our—what we need to do to really affect and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So we have our baseline. That was completed about a month ago. And what that showed, what was reflected was a high emission level of transportation. Higher than almost double the national level, it's like 54 percent. With that, as I came in as an energy person, I looked at transportation is really being the tougher nut that we've got to crack, but it involves energy. And so we worked on establishing what is now referred to as a transportation hui. We engage Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMO), a nonprofit that does analysis of mobility in reviewing the energy process that occurs in this island that results in 54 percent greenhouse gas emissions from mobility. One of the answers is to shared-use or have a higher use of clean equipment. And I say equipment, because if I say transportation you'll think vehicles, but it might not be vehicles. It might be bicycles, might be e-bikes, there's power assisted bikes, there's golf courts. There's other things that can provide mobility, in a more nimble way that will still get products, goods and services people from Point A to Point B. So we started the transportation hui began with the gathering in February 1 to discuss the shared-use of mobility. Looked at the priority of the stakeholders, and what they're doing. Then we had a follow up, and we met with the community, we met with the chambers, different associations. They drove the team around like 300 miles in the EV (Electric Vehicle) one day. Get a sense of our communities, the type of work centers,the type of remote housing, affordable housing, and how remote that is from the work centers. And so part of that I'm going to issue the lake to the road map today. And we're going to follow up with some of the foundational strategies, and targeted strategies in that road map. But it did reflect that 30 percent of the population travel more than 50 miles one way to get to work, resulting in 54 percent of our greenhouse gas coming from transportation. So that's in the transportation side. So we also have been working with the other counties on—and within the climate—with the other counties with the Climate Change Commission. And Michael Yee, is the county representative out of Planning. But definitely we're working very closely with the other counties, and the state to take a look at initiatives, prioritizing legislation. We discussed legislation on what could most benefit and advance the efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The other interesting thing within our group,the three VISTA'S, Michelle, myself, is looking at how and really being integrated with planning. With the Page 4 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 transportation planners, with the multi-hazard mitigation five-year plan, that includes resiliency, and how facilities or locations can actually operate on a daily basis during a hazard and in recovery mode. But we also have centers of activity that require mobility, within the hub and spoke approach that Mass Transit is looking at. So Mass Transit yeah, they're looking at seven sights in the Puna area. But we also have hazard mitigation looking at what places should be hardened. And we also have the Kilauea recovery, looking at similar type of facilities or centers of activity which require mobility. So being within R&D, we have the advantage of touching all of these. So we're in the process of getting a learning and heatmap of priorities and needs. And studying the activity of people, products and services in order to take these various plans, and somehow integrate them with renewable energy, clean energy, and clean mobility. And so, you know, looking at the committee itself we've been really—you know, looking at these duties of the committee. I feel we've been really performing the duties. MS. LEY: If I may, I wanted to add a couple other areas that Riley has touched upon. Energy, transportation, for the most part, as well as climate change. Which is the big, you know, gorilla in the room. But I also should say some of our core programs, you know, we regularly engage with a business development support hui and we brought on through a federal grant through the state, a food access coordinator who's been very engaged with our agriculture program within the county, but also with a wide range of stakeholders island-wide to increase our food sustainability locally produced foods. And that's really been super helpful. And then as Riley said, going through the recovery from the Kilauea eruption. We're able to integrate some of the work we're doing on sustainability into the recovery planning strategies, as well as the economic recovery plan. So those are really key pieces. And as he said, the duties of the committee are really being addressed. We are engaging the communities and hearing from stakeholders. And we want to hear more. CHR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Diane. So Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, lead the conversation. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. So climate change—it was one of our open statements. I mean Aaron Chung, made the statement climate change is going to be the biggest thing we have to deal with probably over the next few years. I don't know how much red we have in the room, sorry I'm not taking away from the eruption, but going into the future we have to be aware climate Page 5 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 change, and what's going to happen to our island as we start to rebuild, or as we build wherever we are on either side. I mean across the whole world, is going to be an issue. Realizing how important climate change is going to be to sustainability, as we see things like COVID-19, sea level rise, whatever it is, we have to be focusing on sustainability. And so seeing that we had some interlocked objectives, and seeing the ability to make a small amendment to this Sustainability Action Committee. My hope is to start to have this committee filled, and then start to work on what's already being discussed I think informally and internally, but in a more tightened-up area. And that will be something we can move towards. I was just excited just to see that we had a committee that existed, as touching on so many things that we are already dealing with. And bringing it into one bubble, so we can discuss and start to move forward in that area. And a lot of the community is wanting the same thing. What are we doing, what are our goals, what are our objectives? I know there's a lot floating around out there, and we all have our own ideas on what that may be. But this exists and it was created, and I like to see it start to move forward. I know we're in budget season, and there's a lot going on. There's a lot of different moving pieces. But I think because we're already doing it and there already is kind of this informal group that's discussing sustainability, climate change, energy use, it's there already. So it's time to start putting it all together. And I'm just here to be helpful, and I saw this an option. And it's a very simple amendment, it's not mind blowing, but it just allows us to start getting to that point. MS. LEY: The department doesn't have any objection to the amendment, its work we're doing already. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Beautiful, thank you. I yield at this point. And then if there's anything anyone wants to add, I'm open to suggestions or input. CHR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you, Matt. Ms. Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you for bringing this forward, and sometimes it's the simplest changes that create the kind of biggest impact. And so I actually took into consideration, the entire section of the Sustainability Action Committee. And I was actually focused in on this one area, which is item Section 2-37(b), in which it identifies the Director, or Director's designee to sit as an ex-official member. But I also know that Michael Yee, our Director, sits on the committee for climate change. So I was wondering if this might be as a suggestion just to kind of rumble with that we actually invite another ex-official member from the Planning Page 6 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 Department. Because when I look at the purpose,right? It's "to address sustainable agriculture alternative fuel, and waste management, business development, greenhouse, and building and protection of our biodiversity." And so if we're going to assemble this Action Committee, and we're aligning some of our larger goals, I mean, I would think someone from Planning Department as an ex-official member could actually lend themselves to that especially with our director sitting on that climate change. I don't know,just as a suggestion. And hopefully refining it a little bit,just wanted to hear some feedback from you Diane or Riley. MR. SAITO: You know, I don't oppose that thought. Because how we're operating throughout these different plans, I mean we're working with Planning. I mean we're totally like integrated with them, so it makes sense. Because you know, they have the draft, you know, revision of the General Plan and all that you going through, right, yeah. And want to make sure that awareness and lens of sustainability and climate change is included, which knowing the hearts of the people in Planning that we're working with they got it, you know. MS. LEE LOY: And maybe even our Public Works Director with the transportation goals, orright, the roads. So some of these department heads or an assignee, right,to serve as an ex-official body to really help move these goals forward. And I'm just back trying to align us a little better with budget season coming around with the Aloha+ Challenge. Trying to meet all of those goals, I mean the situations kind of ripe for everybody to be at the table. MS. LEY: Yeah. And so, you know, I think you can, you know, adding on, you know, key departments is important. But I think again, it's the work that we're doing is breaking down silos and that's really one of the positive things that comes out of, particularly I'm going to say out of the Kilauea eruption. Response, and recovery has helped us break down silos. And so I think we do see the broader goals and the broader need to work together. These big issues that face us, whether they are recovery from an eruption, they are climate change, or COVID. It means we got to all work together, and so yes. And that's really what we've been doing. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Right, I mean I think we all see it. And, you know, we're taking these tiny little word smithing, to really refine that action. That's just my suggestion, I'll leave it to you guys to put it together if that's necessary. But you're absolutely right, you guys are doing it, right. So that's just my thoughts. Thank you. I yield. CHR. RICHARDS: Okay, other comments? Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: I just have a quick question. Who currently sits on the development the Sustainable Action Committee? Page 7 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 MS. LEY: So again, going back in history. To answer your quick question directly, no one. We do not have a committee convened. We are operating more of as a hui with internal county, across the state county, and state partners along with the public partnerships. And the reason we've done that again, when we initially started this in Mayor Kim's prior Administration was we found the issue was too broad, and to have cohesive discussion it wasn't—even just formulating a committee was difficult. And so we broke up, we said okay, we need these smaller more focused efforts and so we did that. And again, when we came back, we did not seat the commission or committee, and that was primarily due to resource limitations. Today I'm looking at a budget of zero for our committee. It's at zero this year and planned zero for next year. I have three Admin staff people, two of them are leaving by end of this month. And one positon to refill is a not to exceed as of December. So in the department I don't have the capacity to be staffing a committee. It takes time to put agendas out and do the minutes, and I don't have the capacity at this point and time to do that. I think what we've done in lieu of that is refocus our efforts, and how do we organically bring parties together that want to accomplish things. And that's really been the focus. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. So it sounds like you are working to accomplish the same goals, even if it's not directly in the parameters outlined in this code. I guess my next question to you would be, do you think that there's a better place for this to sit? Different counties have climate change personnel or staff or people to work on these kinds of things. And I'm trying to catch up on where they are all placed, but I think a lot of them are in their Mayor's Offices. And so I'm just wondering if this was initiated in a prior term by a Mayor, is a better place for something like this to reside. Somewhere like that, or I'd just like to figure out how we make sure, I mean you guys are doing a great job executing regardless lack of staff support, official committee creation. We may not always be so fortunate to have you here. And so wanting to make sure that there's replicable process, standards, procedures, budget, and all that kind of stuff in place for future, and how do we help you guys with advisement to put that together. MS. LEY: So I guess I would say, that Administration priorities change just as Council organizational bodies and their priorities change. But I will say that for R&D, we're a little bit uniquely situated in that we have professional level staff. So we have two professional level staffs that are focused. One on energy transformation, and that's Riley in his old position that he can return to. And then an Economic Development Specialist II, who's focused on climate change and that was the focus when we hired that person. And then we supplemented with three VISTA'S (Volunteers in Service to America). MS. VILLEGAS: I'm sorry who is that person? Is that Michelle? Page 8 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 MS. LEY: Yes, Michelle. And then we supplemented with three VISTA'S, and the food access coordinator. So you know, I think, you know, we're doing what we can. And certainly the Council can, you know, always hold us accountable for that. And you know, we're happy to share updates, maybe we should be doing that more often with some of our initiatives. But some of them also weave into, as Riley was explaining, some of the work that Mass Transit is doing. Like the Mayor's mobility team with, you know, bike paths and things like that. MR. SAITO: Right. The other, you know, with the history-wise, I feel very fortunate in my timing in joining the county, because really like the climate change and sustainability and all that. Well this was passed several years ago, even if you stood up the committee I don't think of been as effective as it is now in timing-wise. But still like I said, we finished the inventory. That was the first step. It took a while. It took a year to finish the inventory, because not all the assumptions and models were agreed upon. That had been transforming through time, through the last couple of years. And so really it's now where we are looking at fleet transformation, we're looking at vehicle transformation, we're looking at shared-use mobility. But we are just like making that step to walk forward and implement something. Right now we've only been talking about it. But the key is to implement, right. And so I think once we do something, then we'll learn something. And we'll learn how to transform and improve, and then move to a longer range plan, longer resource commitments and things like that. And so it's like clean energy, for mobility transformation massive pilot initiatives that we're going through. Then we can make maybe stand up a committee to really have a five, ten year lens on it with the knowledge that we learn, you know. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, so today's amendment that's been proposed doesn't jeopardize or put a wrench in any of your—because I recognize that being one of the challenges. You finally get some momentum, you finish your research, you're ready to go activate, and something changes or moves to a different department or you know, what not. So I'm excited to see this activation, and I have faith in you guys and tremendous respect for all that you're doing. And so I don't want to make that harder, I just want to make sure that we're providing you the best support possible through the legislative process. And I just think it's wonderful that regardless of specific adherence to certain terminology or formats, you're getting it done. And so we want to make sure though, that as it moves forward, you are stepping forward that becomes the template for how we outline things so it can be replicable, and required under all Administrations and the people that run the departments. And that collaborative effort that requirement of all departments to take these priorities into consideration when making decisions based on equipment they buy, and how they're operating. So thanks for that. I yield. Page 9 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 CHR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you. Other comments? Seeing none, oh got one here, Ms. Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. R&D, you are juggling many balls. And I think that you are very careful to know when to let the rubber balls drop, because they're going to bounce back up. But you're very careful to not let the glass ones fall, and I think climate change is that glass ball. And so I totally appreciate this insertion. But in reading the rest of the code, I just wonder if my colleague might consider hitting the pause button and maybe let's look at the entire section. Because I'm looking at what the ability this committee has, and it talks about supporting, monitoring, commenting the department's efforts to effectuate sustainable planning, policies, programs, projects, and operations, when I think our goal is to effect change for the entire county. And so I wonder if we want to be thinking about a little bit of word smithing. I also, I mean I would like to hear from the Planning Director, because he sits on that statewide commission. I see him over there, kind of monitoring this conversation. Whatever we do, I just want us to be successful. This was implemented in 2007, we're at 2020. Even though we have the words on paper that mandate us, this didn't happen. And so I'm just concerned, and I don't want a false sense of hope or expectation to be made to community. I want whatever we do to be fully supported with all the resources that we need to get it done. So as we prepare ourselves for budget, maybe just taking greater stock of this entire section in anticipation of maybe putting forward some budget amendments or additional changes to this section, because I just want us to be successful. It's a huge lift, and I'm supportive. I want to be successful and cognizant of the broader implications. And making sure that we are, you know, measuring twice, caught once. I don't know Director Lee, if you want to weigh in, maybe not at this time. But you know, I—okay. (At this time, Planning Director Michael Yee came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. YEE: Michael Yee, Planning Director. So at a high level, so I do sit on the Hawaii Climate Commission. And I think Riley and Diane said it best. We coordinate right now in county as best as possible, with a lack of resources and personnel. So that happens. I don't necessary see that changing, even necessarily with changes in the Administrations very much. Because planning has a DNA where this conversation would always be important, we'd always be reaching out. We're glad that R&D plays a major role, and we've certainly worked with them many years even before my time. So I think the two agencies task with really carrying the most water on this, are working well and I wouldn't even see that changing much between Administrations. In terms of Ms. Villegas' question around an office, like the Mayor's Office. Yes, Oahu stands up their office. But I also would think that's kind of a false sense, Page 10 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 because they stood it up with a lot of grant funds and other things that we don't readily have. It's not as if they went to the tax coffers to create that office readily. I also would think if talk to some of the folks, they'd feel like it's not as if their like moving mountains by having this separate office necessarily, too. Because you have to coordinate so much between all the different departments, and state agencies to get work done. And I think that work already happens. Now if the Council and Mayor ever wanted to suggest a separate Mayor's Office. I probably wouldn't be opposed to that, because you know, there's plenty of work that's happening and the coordination is immense. And so just like although lava recovery sits technically under Planning Department, it quacks kind of like a separate entity that works closely with the Mayor's Office and across all the different departments. So generally, I think that works well given the situation. The one thing I want to point out would be, we point out there are a lot of different things happening on this island. And when you have one issue at a time that comes in front of you, you lose sight of the bigger picture sometimes. So on top of lava recovery we have climate issues, which are heavily like Aaron Chung has said, it's going to really, really, impact us. We got a little bit of time, but unless we start thinking about some of these things it's going to hit us really hard. But we also have a shortage of thousands and thousands of units of affordable housing. We have homelessness, we have mental health issues. And Hawaii Island has struggled to figure out the priorities and to put that forth. I love the idea that we were looking at bonds for roads. That's a great idea, at least you're prioritizing and trying to move something. But again, we're struggling to see the complete picture, and you feel you have to make these piecemeal moves to move things. And that's just kind of where the situation is. I understand that. As a planner I'm going to keep saying, hey, we need to think about the General Plan, we've got to think about all these priorities and not just singularly on one issue. And how are we going to pay for all these things, and it's not easy. I have no fast answers for you. I do just want to support that the idea right now that adding, you know, couple words to it is not a bad thing. You're right, Ashley, that thinking more deeply certainly can help. But in the end it comes down to work, and the collaboration that happens right now amongst the employees, which I think works very well given the situation. You tie down into an official committee, commission, and I've gone on record before, Sunshine Law in one of the most inequitable systems we have in Hawaii, bottom line. It actually produces the opposite result of encouraging our citizens to participate. Okay, because unless things are agendized, you don't get to talk about things and stuff. And so the idea of having staff spend hours and hours on minutes, on agendas, and all of these things end up just taking away from the efficiency of what happens right now. Which we talk on the ground, and we try to make things happen. Okay, there's always distrust with government. I get that. We have to work a lot harder to build that trust with communities, and certainly that's what Page 11 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 Planning is trying to do and I know R&D works hard at that too. So that's my two cents on that subject. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Riley, anything to add? MR. SAITO: Here's an example, you know, with the transportation hui. We started off with like 35 on the list, and as of right now there's over 80. And we're tying it, or looping it with Vibrant Hawaii with their 180 emails, with the Hawaii Energy Policy form; with the Drive Electric Hawaii entity along with Electrification of Transportation dockets stakeholders. So we brought in and really being transparent in what we're doing and how we're doing it. And we want to really set a basis of listening, learning, and sharing among the participants. And that way—no one has, you know, the best and greatest idea, it takes the whole community. And that's how we're approaching it, and I feel it's been pretty effective. Actually I'm amazed that how the transportation hui has transformed, and people are now calling us to be a part of it. Because they hear something exciting is going on. MR. YEE: I would add that, very high level policy needs to be set by the state. We're not going to make it at the county issues regarding climate. You know, we treat issues and other things—we're going to need cover from State Law. And so the littler things that are happening on island are the things that can happen now, the mitigation parts. And I think that works well within the system right now. You know, we're just going to have to be patient,to push the state to work faster on their end which they're trying to. But again, Hawaii isn't the fastest moving things politically, right. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, again, fully supportive. I just hope we take a deeper dive, and we are empowering our departments and our community so that we can take meaningful action. You know, I'm of the mindset, we have a shared vision, right. And then we are coordinating our activities so that they are mutually reinforcing and driving this collective impact framework. Anyway I'll be supporting it. But I'd just like to see a deeper dive, and maybe a bit more conversation with some of the departments that have been really working on this. And we don't even know. So maybe you folks can come, and present what you're doing. So we're just more aware, and then maybe can even help jump on the band wagon and better connect those dots. So thank you, Chair. I yield. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. Thank you, Ms. Kierkiewicz. Val, I'll go to you in just a second. We are running a little over time in our committee right now, so the audience we have to finish up this committee first before we get into next committee, which will be Public Works and Mass Transit. So just FYI. Go ahead, Ms. Poindexter. MS. POINDEXTER: Yeah. Thank you for the presentation, and thank you, Matt, for bringing this up. Because this Sustainability Action Committee actually Page 12 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 needed to be activated years ago. You know, we are so far behind. So immediately setting it up,to me is important. Because all of the communities, you know, I know, I get the whole, you know, you cannot speak with more than two or whatever. But it doesn't stop each Council Member from working with their communities to help advocate for things that can be addressed at that committee level. Because we're behind, you know. This committee will be able to bring all the puzzle pieces together. You know, we have all these puzzle pieces out there people working on climate change, and this. And even when you talk about homelessness, when you talk about needing housing. But when we need all this housing and development to go on, we also need to make sure that we take into consideration the effects on climate change and how we develop. You know, what do we incorporate into the development that will take into consideration climate change. And that's this committee, Sustainable Action Committee, that you will get some of the recommendations from. So I think this committee is way far behind schedule to be set up, because I think this committee can have an impact on every single department on things that we move forward on. Whether it be Environmental Management, and how we move forward on that. You know, a lot of things can come out on this committee, because of the communities that will be engaged with this. So I thank you, Matt, for bringing this up. So we cannot continue to dilly dally like we are so accustomed to. So I yield at this time. Thank you, Chair. CHR. RICHARDS: Okay. Thank you, Val. Do I have any other comments? Okay, Matt. Okay, I'll go to Matt and then I'll come back to you. Go ahead, Matt. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, so when was this committee? When was this created, written down put in there? Yeah, 2007, so 13 years ago. Which is why the simple amendment, which is one, to bring this up so we could talk about it and take a look at it; and two, the adding of climate change and the adding of Environmental Science were very specific. The point of that was to give those subjects, which are so crucial to this county, and we know that, to the committee to be part of the discussion, because we're talking sustainability is what the committee is design to do to discuss sustainability and the actions of. Climate change, being integral to that needed to be in there. So it's very specific although it's only four words. The point was there's two points to this: bring it up, and add that to our scope. So we do have many other things happening, and I know we have informal groups. But this committee can do some really amazing things, and it could help guide us in our decision making process when it comes to sustainability. And that word is getting kicked around a lot. You hear it all the time, sustainability, resilience, and it all comes back to the same thing. And we see it when we have an eruption, or a hurricane, or when we Page 13 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 have a virus. We see an amazing stand up of our community that is resilient and always comes back to that same word. How are we going to be sustainable? So finding this in our code already was eye opening for me, because it's sitting there. Adding these cute four little words, which is a very simple thing. Which I like efficient, and simple, was just to bring light to this that it's there that I think we should fill it. And is it a lot to handle? Yeah, these are big subjects. But climate change is not what we're talking about, its part of the scope of what sustainability is. That is where I'm designating in my head, two different things. Is this climate change R&D's responsibility? Kind of. Is this a committee that's start to talk and starts to breach these subject and bring it together and talk about sustainability and does climate change matter to that committee? Yes, it does. So that was my direction, and I'm glad to have this discussion started. It's a bill, it's going to move forward we have more time to talk about it. I'm getting some hesitation from R&D, as far as, "Oh my god, how are we going to do this?" That's fine, but I just want to get moving. Like Val said, and thank you, it's time to get going and start putting this together. And yeah, I agree with Mike Yee, when you have something like a committee where there's an agenda and minutes it does slow it down, but it also creates movement on the back end. And that's what the community was asking me to do. That is what is possible from this committee, and so that's where I'm looking to go. So I look for your support today. I don't want to take up too much time talking about this, we have more time to talk about it later if it gets that far. I really appreciate your time, and your thoughts. And thank you, Riley and Diane. And my brain is kicking back on now. So I yield. Thank you. CHR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you. I'll go to Ashley, and then to Val. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I just have a technical question. There's clearly support for this. But we need to coordinate with Mayor's Office I'm assuming, to find individuals that are willing to serve. And I'm reviewing the code and it's says that those individuals need to come before Council to be approved. And just knowing how our agenda system works, I mean we're looking at if we find Tam, would be a great person to serve. But just knowing how the process is, maybe by June we would have someone coming before the Council to fill those positions. What's the timeframe for this? MS. LEY: Looking at five individuals? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Five individuals. MS. LEY: You know, Ashley, I can't make that commitment. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Page 14 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 MS. LEY: And I'm not going to. I'll take this back as advisement to go back and visit with the Mayor again. When I came on board, we had a full plate. We came out of having advisory committees, they gave us lists of things to do. We didn't accomplish things, they gave us list of things to do. And that's important. And we've been going through point by point, and trying to address them. But we didn't have the capacity at that time, and we still don't. And so it's kind of like the conversation about, you know, where do we put this body, you know, or where we do we put a whole staff focused on climate change and sustainability. Do we put it in the Mayor's Office? It costs. City and County has that,they have in their Charter now. I was a resident at that time in Honolulu, I looked at that Charter amendment carefully. Because I knew on the government side that means money out of the taxpayers dollars have to be committed to this. So I think, you know,that's the other conversation is how much resources does the county really want to put towards this. And we are doing what we can, with the resources that we have. We took seriously the advisory committee's feedback, and we've been working through it. And we've been using R&D's existing budget, and bringing on additional resources with grants and positions like the VISTA positions and the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) funded positon for food. You know, I would love to be able to say yes, and that we have staff that could focus on the bigger picture as well as the small things that need to get done. But we don't have that, and that's my challenge. And I don't have that luxury, and so that's where I get challenged. And I don't think we want to cut off communication with the community, I think we want to engage. But again, you know, a formal body has its limitations. So I went to the Mayor and I told him that. And he accommodated my judgement of what our department capacity was, to whether we refill the advisory commission on energy and agriculture as well as this. I mean I had the conversation at least three times. It's been lifted up by various people. I have to manage my department within my budget, and that's what I'm doing. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So capacity is an issue? MS. LEY: Yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: And that's what I was pointing to, is wanting to make sure that if we're doing this, because apparently we're supposed to already it's in our code. MS. LEY: Yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I want you to be successful. And I think it's unfair to say that the county isn't doing anything, or hasn't done anything. You have, and I think maybe we just need to do a better job of sharing that story. And so this Page 15 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 committee, do you feel it would hamper your ability to continue working on these very pressing issues? MS. LEY: Well I think there's MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Is that what I'm hearing? MS. LEY: I think there's couple things. One is there's the mechanics of managing the committee, so that takes Administrative, basically clerical time. And that's something could be accomplished, I don't have the capacity now but it's something that could be doable. But I think when you lift up to the higher level of sustainability and climate change, and all of the other components that are in this ordinance. You have to have a big enough team that has enough brain power at the high level, to stay at the high level and keep moving that and support the committee in managing and being ready to take action, or be ready to agendize items. So you have to have this broader think tank, and somebody leading that. As well as you have to have program managers at the Economic Development Specialist III level that can work on the implementation. And that includes other departments and their managers. Because if you just have a bunch of ideas that's what we end up with is a bunch of ideas. If we're lifting policy to you folks, but then the policy you make policy change, but then we have no capacity to implement. Or we haven't had the full discussion within a department with their managers to make the effective change. And that's where, you know we get stymied. So you know, does this Council want to give me, you know, a high level position and clerical support? I'm not here to ask for that, because I'm trying to live within my existing budget. And that's what you're going to see when you start delving into our budget for next year, it's a flat budget. So you know, I'm happy to work with you folks on it,just how do we do it, you know. So we've been trying to do it the way we have possible. I know we need to work on communications that's something it's probably a quicker fix that we can do with our internal budget. Not necessarily creating a body to do that, but we can get some work done and bring that back to you as well as to the public. But as Riley said earlier, some of this work was just basic organizing materials and some of it has been our collective knowledge. Not only here at the county but statewide, nation and globally along this lines over the years. So we've been leaning and forward thinking a long time on this issue. I was a deputy when we lifted this up, we had a whole sustainability team. And so we just need to keep working it, you know, where we can. But I don't have the capacity at this point with resources. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Director for your candor. And, you know, I really appreciate the mechanics that go into implementing policy. And so I definitely want to be supportive, I don't know if you'd be willing to postpone to Page 16 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 have another conversation about how we move forward with this successfully. I mean it's still in committee. I just want to make sure that we are proceeding as a unified collective on this. No one is disagreeing, but just making sure you have the support. MS. LEY: Again, I have no problem with the language, and it provides us with guidance. I mean just because it's, you know, we don't have a body there it doesn't mean it's not guidance to our department. It's our guiding light. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: But also just because we're making this change, we're not getting a commitment that committee going to be stood up. MS. LEY: No, I can't. I need to go have the conversation with MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. I yield. CHR. RICHARDS: Val. MS. POINDEXTER: Okay, yeah. You know, we've put this aside for so long. And you talked about how we need to this, we need to get that, so that we could wrap our hands around it and start moving. But you can't do all of that, if you don't start somewhere. So we've got to start. So from a financial point of view, I know that climate change action plans, and all of—sustainability plans, all affects our bond rating. Our bond rating will become better if we have all of that in place. If Deanna was here, she would agree. Because I've heard that, all along. If we have that in place, that's why we have all that good stuff we talked about, right. But we don't put our words into action, we get all these wonderful words on our website about climate change, and what we're going to do, you know. But there's no action. But is that being done just because we want a good bond rating, is not good enough. So all I know, we will improve our bond rating, but we got to start investing in it. Because if we don't invest now, there's a lot more damage down the road that's going to happen. And the public is going to be stuck with all of this damage, because of climate change. Because we didn't act early enough. Yes, we got to put the money up front first. We got to invest in it. And if your department cannot handle it, the Mayor needs to figure out how to handle it. He can't keep tossing this aside. Somebody has to handle it. So all I'm saying is, I'm not going to argue a point with you. I understand you don't have the staff, you cannot manage it. But somebody got to manage it. And that's not for you to decide, we have a Mayor that needs to make that decision. So that's all I'm going to say, I'm just saying that this financially can help our bond rating to have this implemented like any climate change. I mean we know that. But we know we need to—more importantly is, we need to address the damages that are going to happen if we don't deal with it now. Page 17 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 I'm just afraid, I mean we're like our Council Chair said, you know, maybe we're too late. We have a little bit a time to kind of help manage it. Well let's do it and not throw this all away, and then cost our island. You know, it would just be detrimental to our county. And I feel it's unfair to the public if we don't address this. That's just my point. So I say let's just, you know, ready, aim, fire. Let's fire. Let's do it. We been waiting so long, procrastinating. So Mayor Kim if you're listening, please this is on your shoulders. We're depending on you, I need you to be our hero. Thank you. CHR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you, Val. And Director I'll give you a moment to talk, so I'm going to jump in here. Couple of things. We have two things that we're discussing here. One is amendments through Bill 142, and then we're talking about the sustainable committee. And as I understand it, and correct me if I'm wrong, Diane, this is a committee that is an advisory committee to call of the Mayor, correct? Appointed by the Mayor, at his will? MS. LEY: Yes, and advises the department. CHR. RICHARDS: Yes. Okay, so on the one, I want to jump in here real quick because I don't want to keep discussing this. I don't think anybody on this dais disagrees that we climate issue changes. And I do appreciate Matt for bringing this forward to start the conversation. But we're not going to spend enough time to finish the conversation today. What this is highlighting, is the fact that we need to have a way of actually going forward. Now I do support your four little words, I like that. And that does give direction to the director and the group. And is it housed in the right place? Right now I think it is. And we are coming—if we're going to stand up a committee, I think it would be more important to probably stand up a commission. But that's not something that we're going to do right now, and fix this afternoon or anything like that coming forward. And so to move that, I think the thing we need to do is talk about moving this bill forward. Agreeing with it, realizing we're not going to be activating anything to get this done. I'm the budget guy, and I keenly hear what the director is saying about not having enough resources. And if we believe as a group that it's important for them to do this, then we as group are going to have to find the money in a budget to help them get this done. And I don't want to trivialize any of the conversation, but I think that's a direction we're going to go. Now I want to move forward, I want to be sensitive to the fact that this is committee, and I think we're arguing to agree with each other, which is kind of interesting. We're not agreeing against each other, we're all in agreement. But how do we move the thing forward. So my suggestion at this point, and I will entertain one or two quick comments. What I'd like to do is listen very carefully to the director, hearing that she doesn't have the resources right now. Agreeing as a unit that we support Matt's four little words to clarify the direction. But I think when we get into committee, excuse Page 18 AWEEMC-17 March 10,2020 me, when we get into Council. That we maybe have a little bit more thoughtful, as far as how we're going to direct especially when we come to budget. Wouldn't you agree, Finance chair? So with that is there any other comments? Director do you want to make a quick comment? MS. LEY: Yes. I just like to say that, I think one of the things what we need to get on the same page with is expectations of this committee. So if its task oriented or if it's big picture, you know, what is the scope and where are we going with this? Because that's one of the things we grapple with is, you know, how broad to stay and how specific, you know. You're going to want to see, the community wants to see action. But as Michael said, we only have certain authorities at the county level, and this is bigger than all of us. It's bigger than the state, bigger than the nation. We have been taking steps to move forward on the greenhouse gas inventory. That will let us, you know, make next steps at the county level. But what is expectation? And so I know that Riley and I, will be visiting with individual Council Members to talk about our department. What we've been doing, and where we're headed and what our budget looks like. And so maybe at that point when we have those individual conversations, we can get a better idea of what Council Member Poindexter is thinking and each one of you. So I think that would help to provide more clarity, and/or if the Council wants to do that as a collective body, that's great. You know,that would be helpful to us, and it also be helpful to us in terms of budgeting going forward or looking for resources that can support us, whether there grants or other resources. Thank you for the opportunity to bring this important subject up. CHR. RICHARDS: Okay. Thank you, Diane. Any other quick things? We have before us, essentially an amendment to the ordinance via Bill 142. Any other comments? I'm seeing none, so we'll call for the vote. Actually you know what? I need to, I owe Council Woman Eof£ Karen, I didn't give you a chance to talk, and I can't see you. MS. EOFF: Just saying, you know, I support the intention here. And really hope that we are able to provide for some sort of a sustainability commission or sustainability action committee or commission. But right now the code calls for sustainability action committee. I think it would really help organize things in the future. But we need to work with the department and the Administration to make sure we can afford it. And how it's going to be put together or when is something I think for a future discussion like you said, Mr. Chair. I think we just need to decide if it's appropriate to put these words in here now, which I agree with. CHR. RICHARDS: Okay, thank you, Karen. Okay, so hearing that, hearing everyone here—no don't call for the question I might have to vote on that. We are ready for the vote. I don't want another vote, all we need is one vote. We have an amendment before us, and to add four words to our ordinance here. And Page 19