HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOMM. 044 4
May 1, 1979
Members of the Charter Commission:
My name is Dorothea Carvalho, 394 Haili St. , Hilo.
Iam here to make several complaints and to make a few suggestions
regarding our County Charter.
Complaints first:
I don't see how this can be called a "hearing" since you, as a group,
have not offered us any kind of a statement about what your suggestions and
ideasar.e I ;nmy estimation this is a "workshop" - you are suppossMdly
"picking our brains" or asking us for suggestions so that you can then put
together a compilation of facts and ideas and come up with a "new" charter
which should then be offered to the public in a "hearing" for further
discussion before you finally put it together for us to vete on. If the
meetings you have already held had been held at a more convenient time
for the public you would have had a better audience.
Also, as a member of the "public" I still do not know whether we
would have been allowed to make a statement at any of the meetings - it
seems that dept. heads and/or gov't agencies were the ones to be heard.
I attended only one meeting and that was not because I was or am not
interested - I just could not attend a meeting at 3:30 PM on a Tuesday.
And at that meeting the room was so cold that I had to leave or freeze
to death!
As Commissioners, I think that if you wanted the public to appear
you should have scheduled the meetings at a time convenient for the public
and not for you commissioners. You were asked to "serve" the public - if
you did not want to be inconveniencedyou coucd have refused the commission.
This is a temporary commission so the inconvenience would be short-lived.
COMM. N®. 7/7
When you found out that there was no audience you could have made
strong statements to the public via the Hawaii Tribune Herald and the
rest of the media, that you wanted imput but it seems that instead you
made it difficult for the public.
I am sure that if we had been made aware of which area of the charter
you were going to discuss you would have had an audience - but we do have
to be forewarned so we can prepare a proper and intelligent statement .
If you had said - via the media - that on a Ispecific date you were
going to discuss initiative, referendum, and recall you would have had
U‘'45 a full house. We are fortunate that our county charter does include
initiative and feferendum. I would like to see it also include recall.
I do not foresee any great rush to utilize IRR but it is a good way for
the public to have more say in gov°t. If they have more say they will be
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more interested and that is healthy. When the public feels repressed they
have to have an "out". As one of the instigators of the only successful
referendum this county has ever had I will tell you that it is not easy -
I hope never to have to do it again - it is too costly in time, money,
and energy - but it should be there if we need it..
Now that the county will be taking over the property tax assessment
I think it is time to speak out for property owners - the homeowners who
actually live on their property. We need a break. Oh yes - the rate has
remained the same but the evaluation has_gone up so that the taxes are
out of sight for many pensioners and retirees. When a person buys a
home the evaluation should be frozen until he dies, moves out, or sells
the place - and then a new evaluationshould be made. There should
I
definitely be a minimum assessment - we all use gov't services of some
kind. :Have you ever considered a "head tax" - we have many transients
who come here for a year or two and never own property - they use our
gov't facilities and perhaps should help us pay for them.
Some provision should b4 made so that when a member of the county
council is ill and will be tunable to carry out his duties for any length
of time there can be someone to represent him and his district. The
easiest way would be for him to appoint somebne pro tom but if he were
unable to do so then there has to be another way. However, when any
official takes office he could, at that time, designate someone to
represent him if the necessity ever arises.
I would like to see staggered terms so that it would be impossible
for there to be a complete turnover of county council membership at any
time. That way there would not be a long period of "learning the ropes".
Perhaps we should also limit the number of terms a cluncilman can serve -
say 2 consecutive terms. And we should also limit the amount of money
spent for campaigning - not more than 1 year's salary for the position
you are campaigning for. Electhd officials who are doing a good job are
known to the public - those who spend the most are not necessarily the
best officials.
Our node of ethics reads well but it does not seem to be properly
enforced - we shout strengthen the enforcement of that .
I hope tht there will be a true hearing at a later date onee you have
gathered all the info and imput you need and have a document ready for us
to study.
Thank you
(Mrs.) Dorothea Carvalho