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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-03-06 Cost of Government Commission Minutes COST OF GOVERNMENT COMMISSION c/o Office of the Corporation Counsel, 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 325, Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 MINUTES Thursday, March 6, 2014 – 1:00 p.m. County of Hawai‘i Aging and Disability Resource Center 1055 Kino‘ole Street, Suite 101 Hilo, Hawai`i 96720 Commission Members present: Susan Maddox, Chair Ashley Kierkiewicz, Vice Chair Glen Matsuda Delan Perry John Mitchell Also present: Katherine A. Garson, Assistant Corporation Counsel Jennifer M. Kualii, Secretary 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chair Maddox at 1:03 p.m. 2. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC None. 3. DISCUSSION REGARDING ALL PAST REPORTS OF THE PREVIOUS COST OF GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONS Ms. Maddox asked the Commissioners if they wanted to review the past three reports or just the 2010-11 report. Ms. Kierkiewicz replied they can focus on the last one in terms of the approach they took. She noted it was nice in identifying the over arching issues they focused on and the recommendations they made. The report was very comprehensive and concise and she thinks it’s a good working document on how this Commission should proceed. Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Perry agreed. Ms. Maddox stated the department heads and boards and commissions would appreciate some consistency as opposed to starting all over again. She asked the Commissioners if they could identify one or two things that stuck out for them in the 2010-11 report. Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Ms. Kierkiewicz replied she liked the push to integrate technology across the County. She did not like the limitation on attendance to off island conferences and meetings. She thinks face-to-face meetings are more effective and help develop relationships. Mr. Mitchell stated he likes the grant specialist as he’s seen how important grant writing is and would like to follow up on that. He also thinks the comprehensive strategic plan is very important as it saves time and money. Mr. Perry stated he would like to focus on the bigger issues that affect all of the departments like technology and energy. Mr. Matsuda stated he’s interested in technology and energy. He would like to see what kind of records transpired from the information the Department of Environmental Management received from the last report especially with green waste. One of his main concerns with Environmental Management is their budget. Ms. Maddox stated that on page 5 of the last report, there was a presentation from the County’s Green Team and their draft report. She asked if there was a copy of that draft report to view. Ms. Garson replied she does not know if another report was done but the Commission could invite a member from the Green Team. Ms. Maddox asked Mr. Matsuda if the presentation was helpful in doing their work. Mr. Matsuda replied it was interesting. Ms. Garson noted that Julie Myhre is the Energy Specialist at the Department of Water Supply. Mr. Perry said he’s talked to Julie and she would be more than happy to do a presentation but also recommended inviting the energy coordinator for the County, Will Rolston. Ms. Maddox asked if anyone knew about the quarterly reports that were noted in the past report. It stated the Mayor was to assign an administrative assistance to track the status of the tasks approved. Ms. Garson replied she would check with Mr. Wally Lau on that. Ms. Kierkiewicz stated that in addition to making the County government more cost effective, the Commission should look at ways to enhance revenue. Mr. Mitchell agreed and stated he would be interested in looking at bonds, interest rates and depreciation. Ms. Maddox said another thing of interest is the recommendations that relate to collective bargaining issues. Ms. Garson stated the best person to talk too is Human Resources, Sharon Toriano or Nick Hermes. Ms. Kierkiewicz stated the Commission shouldn’t even focus on that issue if they are part of the collective bargaining. Ms. Maddox stated they should focus on recommendations that have opportunities for implementation. Mr. Matsuda agreed with Ms. Maddox and Ms. Kierkiewicz. He said there will be certain things that you will not be able to budge. Mr. Perry stated you can make suggestions. 2 Ms. Maddox said the Commission is in agreement in terms of the systemic approach it would be taking and building on the last report. The Commission has identified areas of specific interests and most of them over arch multiple departments. Mr. Matsuda asked if there was a limitation on requesting information from the departments. Ms. Garson replied she didn’t think that sort of information is cumbersome. She suggested staying away from specific personnel issues. Mr. Matsuda commented on the face-to-face approach with the department heads. He stated that realistically speaking, is the Commission going to have a chance to speak to the department heads or are they going to send their deputies. Ms. Kierkiewicz thought that in order to make face time with the department heads, the Commission would create sub-committees. She thinks the Commission should give the department heads an option. Ms. Maddox stated that at the last meeting, the Commission hoped to get back responses which would then allow them to see if there were any deeper issues and how to go about asking for additional information. She asked Mr. Matsuda if there was not a lot of response that came back from the letters. Mr. Matsuda replied not as much as was expected. Ms. Kierkiewicz commented there has been some really good discussion on identifying over arching themes the Commission wants to focus on which should create a nice road map for the group. Mr. Mitchell stated he would certainly ask if there is a strategic plan that was put together, if it was published and was the website updated, by whom and how often. Ms. Maddox asked if the strategic plan is required to be published on the website. Ms. Garson replied there is no requirement. Ms. Maddox asked if they were tying technology and energy together as one or two separate areas. Mr. Matsuda replied it should be two separate areas. Ms. Maddox stated enhancing revenues was one of the topics talked about and that the grant specialist and finance reports may come under that heading. Mr. Mitchell stated the Finance Department says it keeps an on-going inventory of all lands, streets, roads and easements the County owns, operates, co-owns, co-manages and leases as well as an on-going inventory of equipment the County owns, operate, leases or manages – he would like to see these documents. Mr. Mitchell said he would like to take the lead in the Finance Department. 4. FORMATION OF SUBCOMMITTEES TO MEET WITH VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES FOR THE PURPOSE OF GATHERING INFORMATION FOR THE FINAL REPORT Ms. Kierkiewicz noted the Commissioners should review the different departments and decide on what sub-committee they would like to study. Mr. Perry 3 commented that there shouldn’t be a lead person for the sub-committees but work as small groups. Ms. Maddox stated all the Commissioners bring very different experiences, talents and skills that some of the other Commissioners can learn about that they may not be familiar with. Mr. Matsuda stated he would like to focus on Environmental Management and what has transpired from the last report. Mr. Perry said he would be happy to help with Environmental Management. Mr. Perry asked what were the three categories. Ms. Maddox replied technology, energy and enhancing revenues, however more categories may be added. Ms. Kierkiewicz stated the three categories were the things the Commissioners were going to keep in mind when evaluating the different departments. Mr. Perry seemed to think it may not necessarily be all encompassing. Ms. Garson suggested reviewing the County Charter and the policy of what the report is supposed to do. Ms. Garson indicated that she thought there are between 40- 50 departments and boards and commissions. She also noted the letters that went out touched upon all the departments and boards and commissions and that should satisfy the Charter requirement that the Cost of Government Commission study and investigate county government. Mr. Mitchell stated the last commission received a minimum response so it may take a lot more time and energy in looking at the departments and boards and commissions this time around. Ms. Maddox said the sub-committees should meet with the departments and agencies for the purpose of gathering information for the final report. Ms. Garson said for Sunshine Law purposes, if the Commission is going to form sub-committees, the members need to be identified, what their authority is and what they are tasked to do. Ms. Maddox stated that if a department has an affiliated board or commission, that board or commission will also be included in the sub-committee the Commissioner(s) is tasked with. Ms. Kierkiewicz asked if there is a limit as to how many people can be part of the sub-committee. Ms. Garson replied less than quorum. The following is a tentative list Commissioners expressed interest in investigating: Aging – Ms. Maddox Civil Defense – Mr. Perry; Ms. Maddox Corporation Counsel – Mr. Mitchell Council County Clerk Environmental Management – Mr. Matsuda; Mr. Perry; Ms. Kierkiewicz Finance – Mr. Mitchell 4 Fire – Mr. Matsuda Housing – Ms. Kierkiewicz; Mr. Mitchell Human Resources – Ms. Maddox Immigration Information Technology – Ms. Kierkiewicz; Mr. Mitchell Liquor Mass Transit – Ms. Kierkiewicz; Mr. Perry Mayor Parks – Mr. Mitchell; Mr. Matsuda Planning – Mr. Perry Police – Ms. Maddox Prosecuting Attorney – Ms. Kierkiewicz Public Works – Mr. Matsuda Research & Development – Ms. Kierkiewicz Water Supply – Mr. Perry; Mr. Matsuda Ms. Garson said for Sunshine Law purposes, to form a sub-committee, two members can get together and discuss board business as long as there is no commitment to vote. Ms. Kierkiewicz asked if Ms. Kualii could email the list of departments to the group. Ms. Garson replied that it would depend on what the responses are. If there needs to be any discussion about who’s going to do what, it would have to be brought up at the next meeting. Mr. Perry asked what is the relationship between the list of departments and the list talked about earlier which are energy, finance and technology. Ms. Kierkiewicz said when looking at the departments, the Commissioners need to keep those three things in mind (energy, finance and technology) to come up with the recommendations; the Commission wants to take a systemic approach and see what is related in each department. Ms. Garson said for the letters going out to the boards and commissions, because they are bound by Sunshine Law as well, the Commissioners can talk to the chair of that board or commission but if they want to collectively talk to the board or commission, you would have to go to their meetings. 5.REVIEW DRAFT LETTERS TO DEPARTMENTS, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, COUNTY CLERK, COUNTY COUNCIL AND EMPLOYEES REQUESTING INFORMATION Ms. Maddox stated that devising uniform questions to be posed to each department would give consistency across the board. Ms. Maddox asked if everyone had a chance to review the draft letters. Mr. Mitchell replied he thought it was very well done. Ms. Maddox asked if the response date of March 20 was a reasonable period of time to have the letters distributed in time to meet the response date. Ms. Garson replied the distribution is not difficult; the one to the employees will be distributed with their payroll so will need to check with Finance for their deadline. Ms. Maddox asked if 5 changing the deadline to April 17 would be more reasonable. Ms. Garson replied April 7 would good so that the responses can be agendized for the next meeting. 6. DISCUSSION/ACTION REGARDING APPROACH TO TAKE TO TIMELY ACCOMPLISH MANDATE OF THE COST OF GOVERNMENT COMMISSION Ms. Garson passed out the County of Hawai‘i’s Annual Report 2012-13 which talked about last year’s accomplishments. She said there is another larger annual report that has each department’s goals, objectives and performance measures which they are trying to put on the County’s website. Ms. Maddox stated there are lots of other resources on the website that will help the Commissioners understand what the departments are doing and their priorities. She also noted that looking at the previous commission’s minutes posted on the website gives an idea of their process and procedures were. She asked Mr. Matsuda if he would share how the previous commission worked through its process. Mr. Matsuda replied the recommendations were made from data collected from the individuals. If more information was needed, they would have gone back to the individuals; however, the responses the commission received sufficed for their purposes. Mr. Matsuda stated the group worked together in coming up with the recommendations. Ms. Garson gave an example of a previous recommendation. She said the Department of Environmental Management came forward and wanted the Department of Water Supply to have the ability to turn off water for wastewater delinquencies. The Department of Environmental Management said this would make life easier if the Department of Water Supply could turn off the water for these delinquencies. It basically came from one department and the commission said it would be a good idea and it’s now in the process of getting done. Ms. Maddox asked if anyone had questions in terms of their process. Ms. Kierkiewicz replied everyone is on the same page. 7. ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA 8. DISCUSSION REGARDING LOCATIONS/DATES/TIMES OF FUTURE MEETINGS/VIDEO CONFERENCING Ms. Maddox said the next meeting is scheduled for March 20 and she will be off island at the time; Ms. Kierkiewicz, as the Vice Chair, has the ability to chair the meeting in her absence as long as there is sufficient agenda items and quorum. She also noted that Mr. Perry would be off island as well. Ms. Garson said the March 20 meeting can still be on and if there won’t be a quorum, the meeting can be cancelled. She also noted that videoconferencing from the Kona Council Conference Room will be available for that meeting. 6 Ms. Kierkiewicz suggested having someone from the Green Team do a presentation. Mr. Perry suggested inviting Julie Myhre from the Department of Water Supply to present on the current status of their energy projects. Ms. Maddox asked Mr. Matsuda if the previous commission scheduled multiple presentations in a single meeting. Mr. Matsuda replied the presentations were very short. He foresees that having all the departments heads come and do presentations would take several meetings and suggested going out to the departments is a better solution; easier to divide and conquer. Mr. Mitchell agreed. Ms. Maddox agreed as well and thinks the presentations may be more of a general presentation. She reminded the Commissioners that they all agreed to have their meetings last no more than 2 – 2 ½ hours at the most so scheduling presentations along with normal agenda items may make for longer meetings. Mr. Matsuda reminded the Commissioners they are still going to have to reconvene after the presentations and discuss what was obtained from the individuals. He reiterated that going out to the departments and having a report come back will be more concise. Ms. Maddox agreed. Ms. Garson stated that agenda items #4 and #6 will be carried over to the next agenda as well as adding the presentation of the Green Team. Agenda items #7 and #8 will be standard items on all agenda. Ms. Maddox agreed. 9. ANNOUNCEMENTS th Ms. Maddox announced the next meeting will be held on March 20 at 1:00 p.m. at the Hawai‘i County Council Room, 25 Aupuni Street and video conferencing will be available at the Kona Council Conference Room. 10. ADJOURNMENT Motion and Vote: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Matsuda and all commissioners present voted aye. Meeting adjourned at 2:24 p.m. Respectfully submitted: /s/ Jennifer M. Kualii Jennifer M. Kualii, Secretary 7