HomeMy WebLinkAboutProviding Testimony to the County Council
Providing Testimony to the Hawai‘i County Council
There are two methods by which you can provide testimony to the county
council on matters the council or its committees have placed on an agenda:
Written (four methods of submission):
(1)By mail, address to: J Yoshimoto, Chairperson
and Members of the Hawai‘i County Council
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720
(2)By facsimile (fax): (808) 961-8912.
(3)By email: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us
For written testimony by mail, fax or email, submit by 12:00 noon
the previous business day of the meeting(s). Such testimony
received after 12:00 noon will still be received for the record and
will be presented to the Council or Committee members as soon as
practicable, which often means that your testimony is not
distributed until after the actual meeting.
(4)Delivered in person, at meeting: bring 14 copies for distribution.
Please submit separate testimony for each agenda item.
Oral (in person statements from the public):
Must pertain to a matter on the committee’s/council’s agenda.
Usually can be provided at one of six locations, via videoconferencing.
Check the meeting agenda to determine where the meeting is to be
held and whether testimony can be provided from video-conferenced
sites. (Call Clerk’s office at 961-8255 for more information.)
Requires registration with the County Clerk’s staff, indicating the item
on which the testifier wishes to speak.
If wishing to speak on more than one item, register for each instance
(you may speak only once for each item).
Limit testimony to three minutes, including any summary (if helpful,
practice testimony to ensure you will remain within the three-minute
limit).
Be available; if you miss your opportunity, the chair may or may not
recall your name after all other testimony has been provided.
Direct remarks to the chair, not to any individual council member or
member of the audience.
Refrain from posing questions to the council members or any other
person in attendance; any such inquiries will not be provided a
response.
Extend proper courtesy and respect to one another and to all council
members, addressing all persons by their surnames.
No profanity or abusive remarks at any time (such activity allows for
removal by the chair, at the chair’s discretion).
NOTE: Per Council Rule 13, Council members shall refrain from making
comments or asking questions of testifiers during statements from the public. All
deliberation and discussion on an agenda item must take place after the item has
been read into the record and a motion is pending on the floor. A Council
Member may, however, request that a person presenting public testimony on an
agenda item be available for questions during subsequent discussion.
All oral and written testimony will be made part of the public record.
Serving the Interests of the People of Our Island
Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer