HomeMy WebLinkAboutComm No 0024.108 - Testimony - CA-9 - staff for PONC fund and Maintenance fundFrom: Megan Lamson <meg.HWF@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 4, 2019 7:17 AM
To: Charter Commission
Subject: HWF comments for County Charter Commission Meeting - June 7th
4 June 2019
Dear Charter Council members,
Many thanks for this opportunity to once again share these comments on the PONC program, and
our support of these two proposed charter commission amendments (CA -9 and CA -
i8). The Hawai'i Wildlife Fund (HWF) team appreciates your time and dedication and volunteer
service in supporting this process!
The PONC program has been a successful model in how the government and community can work
together to protect and conserve natural / cultural resources, wilderness, and open space for
generations to come on Hawai'i Island. The following two proposed amendments would only serve to
strengthen the efficiency and efficacy of this program, both in securing new properties, and in
ensuring proper resources / capacity are allocated towards staff (both within the County directly and
indirectly through stewardship efforts of local NGOs).
We support the following proposed changes for CA -9:
"Pay for the salary, wages and benefits of one full-time staff member, employed by the Department of
Finance dedicated only to advancing administering the activities contained within this section and
Section 10-16 of this charter. This is in addition to a staff person provided for in the Hawaii County Code
to assist the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Commission."
A full-time staff person would be better able to expedite funding, maintain proper communications
with stewardship and community groups, and finalize more land acquisitions in the future. We
wholeheartedly support this proposal.
And also support the proposed changes for CA -i8:
"An officer, board member or employee of a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization or the organization that
operates under the umbrella of a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization may receive compensation for duties
that are delineated in the approved stewardship grant proposal."
For example, in the PONC stewardship award that was received by HWF for restoration activities
conducted at Kawa ($13,200.00 County award) during 2017-18 over 13% of the total project costs (—
$43,500) was spent to pay part-time personnel and contractors for project -related activities. These
expenses were incurred by HWF using other available funds and not covered by the PONC
award. Although the bulk of the work was conducted by community volunteers (representing an
estimated $24,000.00 in-kind value or 55% of the total project costs) this work would not have been
possible without the support and dedication of several paid staff. In the future, we would be more
likely to apply for PONC stewardship funding to support restoration efforts if some limited amount of
staff / contractor support was available.
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Comm. No. 24.108
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Me ka mahalo,
Megan
»»« <*»»« <"))))« »(((*> <"))))«
Megan R. Lamson Leatherman, M.S.
& HAWAI'I WILDLIFE FUND
http://www.wildhawaii.org/
Hawai'i Island Program Director
@wildhawaii - #wildhawaii
meg.HWF@gmail.com
debris hotline 808/769-7629
Join our HWF e -newsletter ® http://eepurl.com/boAxvj
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