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Home My WebLink About2015-01-08 Cost of Government Commission AgendaCOST OF GOVERNMENT COMMISSION c/o Office of the Corporation Counsel, 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 325, Hilo, Hawaii 96720 AGENDA The Commission will discuss the subcommittees' progress in meetings with the various departments to investigate and gather information from various departments and agencies of the County of Hawaii to assist in the preparation of the final report. A. Fire Department i. Vehicle use policy & procedures ti. Overtime policies & procedures iii. Energy iv. Finance V. Technology vi. Staffing Issues vii. Land (G. Matsuda) B. Department of Liquor Control i. Vehicle use policy & procedures ii. Overtime policies & procedures iii. Energy iv. Finance V. Technology vi. Staffing Issues vii. Land (L. Kelly) Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider 1 Thursday, January 8, 2015 — 1:00 p.m. Puna Conference Room, County Building 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 1501 Hilo, Hawai'i 96720 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC = �' _ L-5:: 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (12- 11 -14) — 4. DISCUSSION REGARDING SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS WITH VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES FOR THE PURPOSE OF GATHERING INFORMATION FOR THE FINAL REPORT The Commission will discuss the subcommittees' progress in meetings with the various departments to investigate and gather information from various departments and agencies of the County of Hawaii to assist in the preparation of the final report. A. Fire Department i. Vehicle use policy & procedures ti. Overtime policies & procedures iii. Energy iv. Finance V. Technology vi. Staffing Issues vii. Land (G. Matsuda) B. Department of Liquor Control i. Vehicle use policy & procedures ii. Overtime policies & procedures iii. Energy iv. Finance V. Technology vi. Staffing Issues vii. Land (L. Kelly) Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider 1 C. Department of Environmental Management Discussion regarding presentation on December 4, 2014. 5. DISCUSSION /ACTION REGARDING PROPOSED RECOMMENDATIONS AND FORMAT AND CONTENTS OF FINAL REPORT Includes discussion /action on the proposed recommendations and format of the final report. A. Develop and implement a uniform computer mileage tracking system for all County -owned vehicles within significant departments [which do not currently have a tracking system] and /or Countywide. B. Explore the use of Mass Transit hubs for more rapid and shorter bus routes to improve service and possibly reduce repair and maintenance costs. Example: Create hubs in the Kealakehe /Airport area, Waikoloa area and Kona /Ocean View area. Explore and establish small to medium size mass transit hubs that are operated in a cooperative public - private partnership (P3). The mission of the hubs is to provide coordinated ride - share, van pool and bus service in a user friendly location operated in conjunction with a private vendor who will help offset costs. The transit hub is in a central location such as the airport where people can catch a ride share, or a van pool, or a bus into the town hub center. At this center would be a private vendor such as Subway and from that hub you may catch another ride to the next hub center. The centers may range from 12 to 30 miles from each other depending on the needs of the community. The transit hub model is in place in similar communities in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia. Reducing traffic, pollution, drive time, fossil fuel consumption while providing smart transportation for our community is within reach. C. To explore revenue generating ideas for Mass Transit hubs. D. To declare to the public that Commission members are finding high levels of value in several if not most departments. We have found that many employees eat lunch at their desks, arrive early and /or stay late and spend personal time and money in benefit to the County and its people. This seems to be normal, not unusual whatsoever. E. Fund three positions dedicated to the protection of our County parks, beaches and recreational facilities from fire ants and spiders. Millions of dollars are at stake as the County has invested in family friendly parks and recreation centers, yet fire ants and spiders pose a very significant danger to these facilities. 2 F. Examine "The Expanding Transportation Opportunities on Hawaii Island" comprehensive report authored by the University of Michigan sponsored by The Kohala Center, April 2014, and implement the reports recommendations in the short, medium and long term as much as possible within budgetary constraints. G. Mass Transit may be able to streamline the Hele On Bus system by identifying redundancies or unnecessary overlap in the current routing and scheduling system. Mountain View, Pahoa and Pahala, are served by one bus route and the very popular Mauna Kea State Park is without service. According to the report, the airports have limited bus service. H. Recommend collaboration with Maui transit officials and look into incorporating some of their innovations that offer the best path forward for Hawaii County mass transit by utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Google Transit to enhance the quality of mass transit. Examine and establish a public - private partnership (P3) with the County for a unique rideshare - vanpool network. Combining and coordinating existing County, business and private person resources, such as the private sector Vride system, with mild additional funding will likely have significant impacts on traffic, drive time, pollution, gasoline consumption and vehicle wear and tear. J. Using current City & County of Honolulu and Maui County ordinances as a guide, explore a similar ordinance for Hawaii County that would require alarm systems to register with the County and provide a mechanism to assess service charges for repeated false alarms. K. Reinstate in 2015 -16 department operating budget, a line item to make phased purchases of "Blue & Whites" to replace current aging fleet. L. Urge County Council to increase the current County fuel tax of 8.8 cents /gallon, to a level commensurate with other Counties, for purpose of increasing funding available to repave roads in a timely manner. M. To promote transparency in County government, recommends that each County department to make public in a user - friendly format on a regular basis the. professional audits, reviews and plans that assess, guide and steer County government debate and course of action. An example is the federally mandated 20 -year transportation plans that do not appear in public debate and those County officials seem unaware of. Likely, officials and the public are unclear or unaware of such research -based plans, reviews and assessments that can support debate and decision making. N. Highlight specific recommendations from the 2010 -2011 Report of the Cost of Government Commission that the County has implemented. O. Recommend the Cost of Government Commission be convened annually as opposed to every four years. 3 P. List of top ten County projects /initiatives that could impact the budget (i.e., LED street lights, possible waste to energy and more renewable energy projects). Q. For the Introduction section of the final report, state the challenges the community faced. 6. ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA 7. DISCUSSION REGARDING LOCATIONS /DATES /TIMES OF FUTURE MEETINGSIVIDEO CONFERENCING 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS Notice if hereby given that pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes § 92 -3.5, the Cost of Government Commission will be conducting this meeting via videoconference. If audio stream between Kona and Hilo is lost for more than a short period of time, the meeting will be terminated. A commission member(s) will be present at the following location: • Kona Council Room, Conference Room A, West Hawai'i Civic Center, 74 -5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A, Kailua -Kona, Hawai'i 96740. (Pursuant to Hawai'i Revised Statutes § 92 -7.) Public attendance via videoconference will be available at both the Hilo and Kona locations. The next meeting of the Cost of Government Commission will be held on January 15, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. at the Puna Conference Room, 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 1501, Hilo, Hawaii 96720. 9. ADJOURNMENT NOTE. If you require an accommodation or auxiliary aid and /or services to participate in this meeting (i.e., sign language interpreter, large print, etc.) please call 961 -8251. 4 SUBMITTING TESTIMONY Those wishing to testify in person must register with the Commission Secretary at the meeting. Those submitting written testimony at the meeting should bring ten (10) copies for distribution. Testimony may also be submitted (1) by mail to Jennifer Kualii c/o Office of the Corporation Counsel, 101 Aupuni Street, Suite 325, Hilo HI 96720; (2) by facsimile to (808) 961 -8622; or (3) by e-mail to aennifer .kualii(dhawaiicounty.4ov. Please submit separate testimony for each item. Copies will be distributed by the Commission Secretary at the meeting only if they are received before 12:00 noon on the business day prior to the meeting. All oral and written testimony will be public record. NOTICE TO LOBBYISTS If you are a lobbyist, you must register with the Hawai'i County Clerk within five days of becoming a lobbyist (Article 15, Section 2- 91.3(b), Hawai'i County Code). A lobbyist means "any individual engaged for pay or other consideration who spends more than five hours in any month or $275 in any six -month period for the purpose of attempting to influence legislative or administrative action by communicating or urging others to communicate with public officials." (Article 15, Section 2- 91.3(a)(6), Hawai'i County Code.) Registration forms and expenditure report documents are available at the Office of the County Clerk - Council, 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawai'i 96720. 5