HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOMM. 006 Amendments to Rules - Procedure for Proposing Charter Amendments Version 2 050809
EDMUND HAITSUKA
Chairman
DAVID FUERTES
Vice Chair
DAPHNE HONMA
CASEY JARMAN
JAMAE KAWAUCHI
JOSEPH KEALOHA
ALAPAKI NAHALE-A
SUSIE OSBORNE
TODD SHUMWAY
SCOTT UNGER
2009-2010
HAWAI‘I COUNTY
CHARTER COMMISSION
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To: Members of the Hawai‘i County Charter Commission
From: Levi Hookano, Legal Counsel
Re: Proposed Amendment to the 2009-2010 Rules of Procedure: Provides the Procedure by
which Charter Amendments may be Proposed, Approved, and Adopted by the Charter
Commission.
Date: April 28, 2009
Members of the Hawai‘i County Charter Commission,
Below are proposed amendments to the 2009-2010 Rules of Procedure. These
amendments provide for the procedure of proposing amendments to the County Charter. Words
to be added are underscored. Words to be deleted are bracketed. This proposal differs from the
amendment proposed at the April 9, 2009 meeting in the following ways:
1. All proposals initially approved for consideration will be forwarded to the Commission
Attorney for drafting in Ramseyer format instead of to an ad hoc committee.
2. The ad hoc committee that proposes the ballot language for the approved charter
amendments will not be responsible for proposing and implementing an education
campaign. This may be done by the Commission as a whole or an ad hoc committee may
be formed for this purpose at a later date if the Commission so desires.
ARTICLE IX, PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CHARTER, is hereby
amended as follows:
a. Form. All charter amendment proposals shall be prepared and submitted on the
CA-1 Form (attached as Exhibit A) with all applicable portions completed by a
Commission member.
b. Deadline to Propose Amendments. In order to ensure ample time to consider all
proposed amendments, proposed amendments must be submitted to the
Commission by October 31, 2009. Any proposed amendments submitted after
October 31, 2009 may be considered only upon a 2/3 vote of the entire
Commission. Regardless of the foregoing, the Commission will not accept any
proposed amendments submitted within 30 days of the Commission’s first
scheduled public hearing on the proposed charter amendments.
c. Proposals for a charter amendment shall require two readings, as specified by this Article,
to be adopted and transmitted to the electorate. If the proposal does not receive a
favorable vote at either of the two readings, the proposal shall be deemed lost. The
following procedures shall be followed in the consideration, approval, and adoption of
proposals for a charter amendment:
1. Proposal is submitted for consideration by the Commission on Form CA-1. If the
proposal is accepted by the Commission for consideration, the proposal shall be
referred to the commission attorney to properly format the proposal for further
consideration. The commission attorney shall present the proposals at the next
regularly scheduled meeting following the referral.
2. The Commission shall then consider the proposal and may propose further
amendments if it so desires. If the proposal is disapproved at this step, the
proposal shall be deemed lost and shall not be considered again except upon a
vote to reconsider. This step shall be considered the first reading of the proposal.
3. Upon approval of a proposal by the Commission at first reading, the proposal may
be referred to legal counsel for further review. The Commission may also refer
the proposal to appropriate agencies, organizations, or persons for their
recommendations regarding the proposal.
4. Within 20 business days of receiving the proposal for review, legal counsel, and
any agency, organization, or person that received the proposal, shall submit a
report to the Commission with any recommendations or comments. The
Commission may then accept or reject the recommendations.
5. Upon consideration of any recommendations or comments by legal counsel, and
any agency, organization, or person that received the proposal, the Commission
shall then refer the proposal back to the Commission attorney to properly format
the proposal. The attorney shall also arrange all proposals in the order to be
considered by the Commission. The attorney shall file a report with the
Commission detailing the arrangement of the proposals.
6. Once all proposals to amend the Charter have gone through the above process, the
Commission shall review all proposals on its merits, paying attention to the
manner in which each proposal relates to the Charter as a whole. This shall be
considered the second and final reading of a proposal. If a proposal is
substantively amended at this step, the proposal shall be held over until the next
meeting for further consideration.
7. Once all proposals have been thoroughly considered by the Commission, those
that have received final approval shall be submitted to an ad hoc committee for
proposing the form in which the approved charter amendments shall be submitted
to the electorate, including the proposed ballot language. The committee shall not
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be authorized to propose that the electorate must approve the amendments as a
single package.
Thank you for your consideration of the above proposed changes to the Rules of Procedure. If
you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Levi Hookano
Commission Attorney
Cc: Karen Eoff, Commission Secretary
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