HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN CHC 1990-03-07 \I
Minutes of Regular Meeting
of the
HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER COMMISSION
March 7, 1990
I. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Bethea called the meeting to
order at approximately 9 :08 a.m. at the Town Hall in the
Parker Ranch complex, Waimea, HI .
II. ROLL CALL:
Members Robert E. Bethea, Chairman
Present : Sherwood Greenwell, Vice Chairman
Pamela F. Cushnie
Francine Duncan
David Fuertes
H. Peter L'Orange
Aileen Lum
Steven T. Nishikawa
Akira T. Omonaka
Patricia M. Poppe
Attorney: Christopher Yuen
Secretary:R. Marie Jacobs
Members James O. Juvik
Absent:
III. APPROVE MINUTES OF 02/21/90:
Motion No. 1: Upon motion made by Mr. L'Orange and
seconded by Ms. Poppe, approval of the minutes was
deferred until next meeting to enable members to review
same. All were in favor (Tape 1: 1:42) . Motion carried.
IV. PUBLIC TESTIMONY: Larry Boot , secretary of the Salary
Commission. Requested Charter Commission to reconsider
its proposal to have the Salary Commission fix the
salaries of elected officials (Exhibit A) . Suggests the
mayor appoint the Salary Commission and the Council
confirm members to lessen the political influence in
salary fixing.
Chairman Bethea closed public testimony.
V. AGENDA ITEM 5: Setting of electees ' salaries. David Luke
of Civil Service: Supports the position of the Salary
Commission, because salary setting would be the responsi-
bility of an independent body.
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Greenwell: Questioned the necessity of the Salary
Commission meeting as often as once a year. Boot : Said
it would add continuity and regularity to the commission.
Poppe: Prefers Mr. Yuen to redraft wording of Sec. 3-4
for review at the next meeting. Yuen: Will prepare
wording to incorporate suggestions made today. Cushnie:
Would like Sec. 3-4(b) wording changed to include 9
members , one from each of the possible future single-
member voting districts. Yuen: Have not yet decided to
change all commissions to have members appointed from
Council districts until public has voted on it.
Cushnie: Suggests Sec. 3-4 (d) should include more
generic language; delete "councilmen" and "council
chairman" and replace with "elected officials" (Tape
1: 1: 29) . Hasn' t been decided whether to include the
prosecuting attorney in with elected officials.
Commissions: Discussed numbers to be on other
commissions. Yuen: Gave member numbers that now exist:
Planning, 9; Board of Appeals , 7; Civil Service, 5;
Police, 7; Water , 9; Liquor, 7; Ethics , 7. Omonaka: All
commissions should be discussed, considering we might
have a district Council .
Motion No. 2: Bethea: a) Mr. Yuen will prepare language
for review re Salary Commission, to cover all elected
officials; and b) to discuss at next meeting the generic
topic of membership among the commissions. Mr. Omonaka
put the above in a motion, which was seconded by Ms.
Cushnie. All were in favor. Motion carried.
Yuen: Has Salary Commission language now.
Sec. 3-4 should be removed from the Council section of
the Charter and moved to another location. Redrafted , it
would read:
(a) The salary of all county-elected officials shall
be established by a Salary Commission which shall
consist of nine members , appointed by the mayor and
confirmed by the Council.
(b) The members may be removed by the mayor with
the approval of the Council .
(c) (Decide districts members will come from. )
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(d) The commission shall review and compensate the
councilmembers and all elected officials at an
appropriate step, at the same basis , and within a
salary range to insure a sensible relationship to an
adequate scheme of compensation for work they do.
L'Orange: Wants to look at wording on paper next
meeting.
Vi. AGENDA ITEM NO. 6: Apportionment Committee(s) . Bethea:
Deferred until next meeting.
VII. AGENDA ITEM NO. 7: Primary/General election informa-
tion. Yuen: The question raised was what would happen
when you have a mid-term election in the case of a
vacancy in office. A date for close of filing for
elections is set by the Lt . Governor. After that date,
people can no longer be put on ballot. Examples: a) If
a mayoral vacancy, managing director fills position until
next election; b) if Council , an appointed replacement
fills vacancy until next election.
Cushnie: Would just a general election ever be forced on
voters? Yuen: State law calls for primary and general.
VIII. AGENDA ITEM NO. 8 : Article VI . Cushnie: Deputies were
initially brought up because Finance didn' t have one
(Tape 1: 2:40) . Is willing to vote for deputies across
the board. Greenwell: As county grows , need for
deputies more necessary.
Motion No. 3 : Greenwell : Made a motion not to have a
fire commission. Motion seconded by Mr. Omonaka. All
were in favor. Motion carried.
Bethea: Questioned how Fire differs from Police
Department. Greenwell : Fire puts out fires; Police
deals with people and could be political. Does not feel
a commission will add to the efficiency of Fire
Department.
Lum: Recommends minimum qualifications for Fire Chief:
Five years training and experience in the Fire
Department , of which three years shall have been in a
responsible, administrative capacity.
Motion No. 4 : Poppe: Made a motion that Ms. Lum' s above
wording be included in the Charter. Motion seconded by
Mr. L'Orange. All were in favor. Motion carried.
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Bethea: Questioned whether Fire Chief should appoint his
deputy. There' s no deputy provision in the Charter.
Yuen: Deputy' s position is funded by Council ; and Sec.
4-5 (a) allows Fire to have a deputy.
IX. AGENDA ITEM NO. 9 : Art . VII: Civil Service. Bethea:
Civil Service is controlled by state law. Yuen: Voted
on 02/02/90 to retain Chapter 1 as is ; that motion was
defeated. L'Orange made a motion to conform Chapter 1 to
state law; this motion passed. Bethea: Questioned
whether this item would be housekeeping or a single item
to be placed separate on the ballot . Omonaka: Hope to
decide that at end of this process when all motions can
be reviewed.
Motion No. 5: L'Orange: Moved that this Civil Service
change to conform Chapter 1 to state law be a house-
keeping item. Poppe: Seconded. All were in favor.
ARTICLE IX: Bethea: Noted that Article IX was not on
the agenda and supposed that it had previously been
discussed. Yuen: Noted that nothing was voted on per
his list of items accomplished. An issue was brought up
re Sec. 9-3 , salary issue. Cushnie: One suggestion was
change 9-4 to read, "The prosecuting attorney or his
deputy shall . . . " so that deputy could assume his duties.
And that an insertion be made in 9-4 (a) about prosecutor
being a chief law enforcement officer of the county.
Bethea: Suggested that 9-3 be changed to include
prosecutor as an elected officer. L'Orange: This
article should be put on next agenda. Bethea: Correct;
it should not be discussed at this time, but will be on
the next agenda (Tape 1 : 2: 22) .
X. AGENDA ITEM NO. 10: Art. X: Financial procedures. Yuen:
Major items brought up are: a) Fund transfers within the
operating budget. Presently, the mayor may transfer
funds within the agency at any time so long as there is
an unencumbered fund balance. Alternatives: Let mayor
and Council continue to work it out; require Council
notification of transfers ; limit the dollar amount that
can be transferred from one account to another; or set a
percentage limitation amount that a particular account
may be increased by or reduced by. b) The time frame
available for Council to review mayor ' s budget was said
to be too short. c) Council requested that they be given
power to enter into consultant contracts. d) There are
other items but these are major .
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L'Orange: Seems like mayor and Council have just inter-
preted Charter wrong.
XI. PUBLIC TESTIMONY REOPENED: Harry Boranian. Upon motion
made by Mr. Greenwell and seconded by Mr. Omonaka, the
Rules of Proceedure were suspended to allow public
testimony to be reopened to accommodate a late arrival.
All were in favor.
Boranian: Wanted to comment on Article X. He served
Hawaii County as Civil Service director for 8 years and
the City & County of Honolulu for 12 years (Tape
1 : 2: 13 ) . Honolulu had both a finance and budget
directors and deputies. Council here has even refused to
finance a Finance deputy here. Bethea: Informed Mr.
Boranian that mandated Finance deputy position has been
approved by the Charter Commission.
Boranian: Budget information alone takes great deal of
time. Director appearances before Council take time.
Constant power struggle between Council and administra-
tion. Fund transfers are controversial.
Boranian: If Salary Commission sets Council salary, then
it should also set the salaries of other elected
officials , including prosecuting attorney. When mayor
signs bargaining agreements and agrees to give civil
service employees raises , it also affects the salaries of
the mayor and department heads. Salary Commission needs
to set salaries of all elected officials .
Greenwell : Made a motion to return to the Rules of
Procedure (Tape 2: 1:46) . Motion seconded by Poppe. All
were in favor . Motion carried.
XII. AGENDA ITEM NO. 10: Art. X: Financial procedures
continued. Bethea: Can go down Article X section by
section.
Budget submission to Council : L'Orange: Legislature
sometimes goes into extra time; then the budget submitted
by administration is submitted later. On these
occasions , Council ' s time for budget review is
shortened. To remedy problem, can change fiscal year or
change budget submission date. Poppe: Some testimony
said fiscal year should not be changed because our budget
tied into the federal funds. Bethea: Council wants more
than 60 days.
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Poppe: Reviewed Council ' s meeting schedule in order to
note the three readings Council had to have to approve
budget. Yuen: If Council amends the budget, the mayor
can veto the amended budget. If the Council then does
not override the mayor ' s veto before June 30th, the
mayor ' s budget takes effect . This is found in Article
III. Cushnie: And Section 10-5. Greenwell : Council ' s
agenda has to be set 7 days before; and it takes three
readings. Also have to have hearings. That cuts down
Council ' s time already.
Bethea: Maybe Charter should provide for a preliminary
budget to be submitted to Council by March 1st. Yuen:
By putting a preliminary budget in Charter, it would
formalize it . Bethea: All is dependent on Governor for
grants-in-aid, which is after Legislature.
L'Orange: Suggests Barry Mizuno/Finance Department come
before Charter Commission next meeting to discuss.
Greenwell: Suggests that Russell Kokobun also be invited
to get both sides of financial issues . Motion No. 6:
L'Orange: Made a motion to invite the above to the next
meeting to discuss financial procedures under Art. X.
Motion was seconded by Mr. Greenwell. All were in
favor . Motion carried.
Limiting Mayor ' s power to transfer funds. L'Orange:
Wants to discuss this item.
Bethea: Prefers to contact Mizuno and Kokobun and give
them topics in the hope that they may work out items
before coming to our meeting. L'Orange: Prefers that
the checklist on financial procedures be produced at the
next meeting also.
XIII. GENERAL: Wants Mr. Yuen' s 02/28/90 letter (Exhibit B)
broken down to three lists: one a list of changes
suggested; things decided not to do; then housekeeping
items . Yuen: Page 5 of this letter (page 78 in the
Charter volumes) inaccurately shows No. 13 under
housekeeping items. It should be on the previous page.
Bethea: Doesn' t want 40 items on the ballot for voters.
Prefers that housekeeping items be lumped together .
Bethea: Next meeting we will better be able to know how
many meetings are necessary to complete the Charter.
XIV. RECONFIRM/SET NEXT MEETING: Next meeting is set for
March 28th in Hilo, at the Liquor Conference room. The
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following meeting is tentatively set for 9:00 a.m. , April
9th in Hilo, subject to change.
XV. ADJOURNMENT: Chairman Bethea adjourned the meeting at
approximately 11: 23 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
p Y
22teg4oeid°1
R. Marie Jacobs
Secretary-Assistant
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RATIONALE FOR SALARY COMMISSION'S
PROPOSED' CHARTER AMENDMENT
—Provides uniform method for setting salaries of elected' o££ici,als.'.. .
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-At present the-Salary Commission sets salaries of Council chair. and
Council members. •
-Amendment extends this authority to setting salaries for Mayor and
Prosecuting. Attorney.
• . -Amendment allows for confirmation of SalaryCommission�. members by the County
Council. '
-Lessens the political process for official salary setting to •some extent.
. -Mayor would no longer need to propose a pay adjustment. for himself, but
only .for his cabinet level personnel.
•
-Treats all, salaries for elected officials equally. •(Sal•a•ry •for 'any
elected official is not subject to the approval of another. )
• -salaries will be set by salary Commission whose members are •
• appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the County Council.
•
-salary setting will be done by a salary Commission whose task will •
be to ensure thorough study and analysis of data before setting
elected officials' salaries.
• -Precedent for this kind of salary setting has beenestablishedbythe •
City and County of Honolulu and Maui County. For reasons just cited,
this method is preferable than our exiting method of salary setting.
Doc. Id. 2659G
From: Salary Commission
03/07/90
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EXHIBIT A •
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(1 page)
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828 • •
CHRISTOPHER J. 1 lJ EN HILO LAGOON CENTRE,SUITE 108
101 AUPUNI STREET
HILO,HAWAII 96720
ATTORNEY AT LAW TEL.(808) 935-4429
February 28, 1990
Hawaii County Charter Commission
101 Aupuni Street, Suite 235
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Re: Decisions Made by the Commission to Date
Dear Commission Members:
,
I was asked to draw up the following: (1) a list of the ,
changes which the Commission had voted upon to submit to the
voters at the next election; (2) a list of the charter sections
which the Commission had voted specifically not to change; (3) a
list of the proposed changes which might be "housekeeping" and
not require a separate ballot questions; and (4) a list of the
remaining topics for discussion and decision. I will prepare
list (4) shortly; this letter contains lists (1) -(3) .
I. Changes To Be Submitted to the Voters (Through 2/21/90
Meeting) .
The following list of changes which the Commission has voted
to submit to the voters is presented in this format:
(a) summary of the change; (b) charter section or sections
affected; (c) if the exact language to be submitted to the voters
has been adopted, an "Attachment Number" is indicated; the exact
language will be an attachment to follow this letter; if the
exact language has not been approved, I note that "Language is to
be approved" ; (d) the date of the meeting or meetings at which
the change was approved; and (e) other comments. The list is
given by order of the date of action, not by order of charter
section. The "Attachments" will follow at a later date.
1. (a) Adopt gender-neutral language throughout the
Charter. (b) Many sections of the Charter. (c) The exact
language of the ballot proposal has not yet been drafted or
approved; the many changes to the text of the Charter that would
be required if this were passed need not be prepared until after
the election. (d) 11/14/89 . (e) This could be a housekeeping
item.
2 . (a) Add the term "environmental quality" to the General
Plan; clarify meaning by punctuation change. (b) §3-16. (c)
Attachment "1" . (d) 11/30/89 ; 12/14/89 . (e) This could be
housekeeping item.
EXHIBIT B 829
(5 pages)
1
3 . (a) Require that every charter agency have a deputy and
a private secretary position, and require that the council fund
these positions. (b) §4-5 (a) ; also affects sections for each
agency. (c) Exact language not yet drafted or approved. .(d)
11/30/89 . (e) There is some confusion about this; inconsistent
action was taken at later meetings. Please see p.5 of this
letter.
4 . (a) Boards and commissions must have affirmative vote of
entire membership to which they are entitled to take official
action, except for those with only advisory powers, which need to
have only a majority of those present, so long as there is a
quorum. (b) §13-4 (i) . (c) Attachment "2" . (d) 1/5/90. (e)
This could be housekeeping item.
5. (a) Replace existing charter section on Police •
Department with an extensive revision. (b) Article VII, Chap. 2 .
(c) Attachment "3" . (d) 1/5/90; 1/19/90.
6. (a) Define "quorum" for boards and commissions. (b) §13-
4 (j ) .
13-
4 (j ) . (c) Attachment "4" . (d) 1/19/90. (e) This could be
housekeeping.
7. (a) Require reports in case of absenteeism on boards and
commissions. (b) §13-4 (m) (new section) . (c) Attachment. "5" .
(d) 1/19/90; 2/2/90. (e) Could be housekeeping.
8 . (a) Allows 30-day holdover for boards and commissions
when new mayor is elected. (b) §13-4 (d) . (c) Attachment "6" .
(d) 1/19/90. (e) On reviewing this again, it is unclear whether
the holdover applies whenever a new mayor term commences, or only
when an incumbent mayor is replaced by a 'new" individual. If the
former is intended, we should change the wording of Attachment
"6" slightly.
9 . (a) Provides that mayor's appointment to board or
commission is automatically confirmed if council does not approve
or reject within 45 days. (b) §13-4 (1) (new section) . (c)
Attachment "7" . (d) 1/19/90. (e) Could be housekeeping.
10. (a) Provides for council with nine members, each
elected separately from nine districts; four-year terms. (b)
§3-2 ; §3-3 . (c) Attachment "8" . (d) 1/19/90; 2/2/90. (e)
Should be offered to the voters along with Reapportionment
Commission so that single-member districts are accompanied by a
mechanism for drawing the districts.
11. (a) Amend positions in mayor's office to conform to
state law re civil service. (b) §5-1.4 (b) . (c) Attachment "9" .
(d) 1/19/90. (e) Definitely housekeeping.
830-
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12 . (a) Specify that in case of vacancy, successor is to be
elected at "next" election. (b) §5-1. 5 . (c) Attachment "12" .
(d) 1/19/90 . (e) Definitely housekeeping.
13 . (a) Require a deputy finance director. (b)
(c) Attachment "11" . (d) 1/19/90 . (e) Seep. 5 of this
letter.
14 . (a) Provide minimum qualifications .fdr the position of
• finance director. (b) . §5-3 . 2 . (c) 1/19/90. (d) Attachment
"12" . (e) The Commission has not yet specifically voted on
Attachment "12" but the motion to adopt this change included
almost exactly this language.
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15 . (a) Amend civil service provisions to conform to state
law. (b) Article VII, Chap. 1. (c) Attachment "13" . (d)
2/2/90. (e) Definitely housekeeping.
16. (a) Establish county reapportionment commission to set
up boundaries of council districts. (b) New section, probably
§3-18 . (c) Attachment "14" . (d) 2/21/90. (e) Attachment "14"
has not been voted on by Commission but follows motion at
meeting.
17 . (a) Establish minimum qualifications .for planning
director. (b) §5-4 . 2 . (c) Attachment "15" . (d) 2/21/90.
18 . (a) Eliminate or change sections in powers of planning
commission that do not conform to state law. (b) §5-4 . 3 . (c)
Attachment "15" . (d) 1/19/90. (e) Definitely housekeeping.
19 . (a) Delete responsibility for coordinating federal
grants from Department of Research and Development. (b) §5-
5. 3 (c) . (c) Attachment "16" . (d) 2/21/90.
20. (a) Provide that there must be a deputy managing
director. (b) §6-1. 1. (c) Attachment "17" . (d) 2/21/90.
(e) See p. 5 of this letter.
21. (a) Provide minimum qualifications for managing
director. (b) §6-1. 2 . (c) Attachment "18" . (d) 2/21/90. (e)
Commission has not yet voted on Attachment "19" but it follows
the motion passed at the 2/21/90 meeting. .
22 . (a) Replace references to "twelve o'clock meridian" to
"noon. " (b) Several sections. (c) Ballot proposal has not yet
been drafted. (d) 2/21/90 . (e) Definitely housekeeping.
II. Sections the Commission Decided Not to Change.
I have made a list of all specific sections which the
Commission voted to retain unchanged, or other suggestions made
831
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which the Commission has voted not to submit to the voters. The
listing follows this format: (•a) Description of the section or
the proposal ; (b) section number; (c) date of meeting; and (d)
comments.
1. (a) Do not adopt city manager system. (b) No specific
section. (c) 10/31/89 .
2 . (a) Do not change preamble, art. I, or art. II . (b)
Preamble, art. I, art. II . (c) 11/14/89 .
3 . (a) Keep Salary Commission's powers the same. (b) §3-4 .
(c) 11/14/89 . (d) To be reconsidered 3/7/90 .
4 . (a) Retain language re managing director succeeding
mayor. (b) §5-1. 5. (c) 1/19/90 .
5. (a) Do not change section on corporation counsel, except
possibly commencement of term and special counsel. (b) §5-2 . 5 .
(c) 1/19/90.
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6 . (a) Keep method of filling council vacancies the same.
(b) §3-5 . (c) 2/2/90 .
7 . (a) Keep distinction between agencies that are and are
not under the managing director. (b) Art. V and art. VI
generally. (c) 2/2/90 . (d) My understanding is that the
Commission wanted the mayor to have the flexibility to determine
which agencies should in fact be under the supervision of the
managing director.
8 . (a) Keep Department of Liquor Control the same. (b)
Art. VII, Chap. 3 . (c) 2/2/90. (d) See p. 5 ,of this letter •
. regarding the deputy position.
9 . (a) Keep Parks and Recreation the same. (b) • Art. VI,
Chap. 3 . (c) 2/2/90. (d) See p. 5 of this letter regarding the
deputy position.
10. (a) Keep Department of Water Supply the same. (b)
Article VIII. (c) 2/2/90 . (d) See p. 5 of this letter regarding
the deputy position.
11. (a) Keep Department of Public Works the same. (b) §6-
2 . 1. (c) See p. 5 of this letter regarding the deputy position.
12 . (a) Do not have "special election" for mayoral vacancy.
(b) §5-1. 5 . (c) 2/21/90.
13 . (a) Do not have mandatory deputy director of R&D. (b)
§5-5 . 3 . (c) 2/21/90-.
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; III . "Housekeeping Items. " t ,
The Commission will at some later date decide which items
should be offered to the voters separately and which may be
lumped together in one- (or possibly -two)- ballot proposals.
There are, however, really two categories of changes which would
• be good candidates for lumping together: those which make only
technical correctionsto the charter (for example, to conform to
state law, or to clarify ambiguous language) ; and those which
propose substantive changes which do not, however, constitute
major alterations. In the category of "technical" changes, I
would include nos. 1, 4 , 6, 11, 12 , 15, 18 , and 23 . In the
category of substantive changes which are not major alterations
to the present charter I would include nos. 7 , 8 , 9 , 14 , 17 , 19 ,
and 22 . No. 2 could be considered both a technical change and' a
relatively minor substantive change. Nos. 3 , 13 , 20, and 21 all
deal with deputy directors. The really major changes proposed so
far are no.. 5 (police) , no. 10 (single-member council districts) ,
and no. 16 (reapportionment commission) .
IV. Deputy Director Issues.
It appears to me from reviewing my notes and the minutes of
the November 30, 1989 meeting that the Commission had passed a •
motion introduced-by Mr. Greenwell that would have required that
there be a deputy director position for all agencies created by
the charter, along with a private secretary position, and that
the council would be required to fund these positions, just as it
must fund the director's position. This would have required an
amendment to §4-5, and all charter sections that provide for a
"director and necessary staff" should probably have been amended
to provide. for a "director, deputy director, and necessary
staff. " Subsequently, the Commission has taken a. number of
actions on deputy director positionson a department-by-
department basis, voting that there should be a deputy director
of finance, and a deputy managing director.
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However, the Commission also voted not to change the present
§4-5 at our December, 14 , 1989 meeting. At the February 2 , 1990
meeting it voted to keep unchanged the departments of parks and
recreation, liquor, civil service, and water supply, by
implication retaining the provision in those departments that the
only mandatory position is the director. The Commission also
voted not to require a deputy director of R&D. I apologize for
not bringing this to the Commission's attention when these
departments were being discussed, but we ought to review our
actions on the deputy and private secretary positions and
, determine whether we want to require these for all charter
agencies, or make the determination on an agency-by-agency basis.
Yours truly, 833
// r
Christopher J. Yuen