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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCHC 1979-10-19 HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER COMMISSION MINUTES 33rd Session October 19 , 1979 Hilo, Hawaii The thirty-third session of the Hawaii County Charter Commission was called to order at 3: 47 p.m. in the Hawaii County Councilroom, Hawaii County Building, Hilo, Hawaii , by Mr. Kimiaki Sakata, Chairman. The roll recorded the following: Present: Mr. Richard Ishida Mrs. Amy Iwamoto Mrs. Gloria Kobayashi Mr. Akira Omonaka Mr. Kimiaki Sakata Mr. Spencer Kalani Schutte Mr. Herman Sensano Mr. Joseph Trulson Mr. Basilio Yagong Absent Mr. Harlan Cadinha and Mr. Matsuo Yanaga Excused: Also Mr. R. B. Legaspi ; County Clerk _ _ Present: Mrs. Joan Carnett, Recording Secretary Mr. & Mrs. John Dobovan, Big Island Video APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Chair called for the approval of minutes dated August 29, 1979. Motion was made by Mr. Trulson to approve 'minutes as submitted. Seconded by Mr. Yagong and un- animously carried. COMMUNI- The following communications were considered: CATIONS: Comm. 90: Copy of resolution transferring funds to Commission account to defray publicity cost. Submittedlby Herbert T. Matayoshi, Mayor, August 20, 1979. Comm. 91: Approval of Report No. 198 by Committee on Finance, dated September 5 , 1979. Comm. 92: Copy of Resolution 485 adopted by County Council , dated September 5 , 1979. Comm. 93 : Letter from Edward Silva, Director of Personnel Services requesting copy of draft on proposal for Article VII of the County Charter, dated September 6, 1979. Comm. 94: Copy of letter from Council Chairman Stephen - Yamashiro, dated October 9, 1979 to Mr. 5. P. Bowles regarding the Charter amendment on the Department of Water Supply. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: On Communication 93 I have one comment to make. I think if you will look at that communication from the County of Hawaii, Department of Personnel Services, it is addressed to my brother and not to me. (Copy of Charter draft forwarded to Edward Silva, Director, September 11 , 1979. ) Are there any other corrections on the communi- cations? MR. TRULSON: Mr. Chairman, I move that we receive and file Communications 90 through 94. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: Do we have a second on this? MR. YAGONG: I second it. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: It has been moved and seconded that we receive and file -Communications 90 through 9,4. All those in favor? Carried. Before we go into any other things, there are two communications that came in. One is from Mr. Sewake. - Mr. Sewake is the Chairman for the Citizens Committee for Clean Water and it is dated October 18, 1979. It reads. . . . "The Citizens Committee for Clean Water (CCCW) is deeply disappointed inthe educational methods of your education committee headed by Commissioner Gloria Kobayashi. While the CCCW could do nothing about your proposed amendments to the Charter, we felt the Charter Commission would be, at the very least, fair in its presentation on the proposed amendments to the general public. The CCCW- feels that the Charter Commission, through its education committee, - should be informing thepublic on the impact of the proposed Charter amendments on your local government rather than- pursuing a straightforward one-sided campaign. (para) The fact' that the 'f'education' committee was authorized to publicize the proposed " amendments 'as it sees fit' does not necessarily make their actions proper and right. - If, as your legal counsel has stated publicly, that you - have the 'statutory authority to act on behalf of the public, ''' why are we having an election on the proposed amendments? The CCCW feels -2- that an unbiased presentation is more appropriate. Let the public decide. After all , the Charter is supposed to be the way the people of this island want their government to function. (para) In the interest of fair play, please reconsider your actions. " It is signed by Mr. William Sewake, Chairman of the Citizens Committee for Clean Water. (Copy of this Communication 99 attached. ) Also we have another communication that just came in, dated October 19 , 1979, to the Charter Commission. It reads. . . ."It is with great concern that I have to write this letter to warn the Charter Commission about its ongoing publicity campaign endorsing the proposed amendments which have not yet been approved by the voters and to say the least are very: controversial. (para) The Commission can only attempt to educate the public and not take positions. I plan personally to purchase advertisement with my own funds to state my positions and recom- mendations and 'do not believe it is fair or legal for the commission to use taxpayers monies other than to educate the people. Endorsing specific amendments by the commission is illegal. (para) It may be worth your while to check the fluoridation refer- endum whereby the County Council at that time was barred from campaigning for the sustaining of the fluoridation ordinance which they supported using public funds. (para) Please note that I am in the process of appealing to the courts the reapportion- ment proposed as it will dilute West Hawaii ' s representation on the council. (para);Due to these circumstances, I strongly recommend that the election be postponed until such time as these ;problems are resolved. Very truly yours, Muneo Sameshima, Councilman . " (Copy of this Communication 98 attached. ) These are the two that just came in and: I think we also- have another communication which is dated October 19, 1979 , from the County Clerk. It reads. . . . "Attached is a letter explaining the UPW' s position on the charter election should their organization be on strike on that day. (para) This is being submitted to you for your consideration and deliberations. " This is signed by the County Clerk. (Copy of this Communication 95 attached. ) MR. ISHIDA: Mr. Chairman , there are a couple - other communications that were forwarded to me and I gave them to Joan. And since you are taking up the others right - now, maybe we should hear these also. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: I think we should. This is dated on the 19th again, to Mr. Richard Ishida, Charter Review Commission member. "Dear Mr. Ishida; It appears that the Commission may be considering a change in the November3rd election date; due_ - to a possible strike by the United Public Workers Union. (para) To permit a union to dictate the date of an election is certainly not proper. The election concerns union members as well as non-union persons. Again; impartiality is the key. The union could much more easily change the date - of a strike than all the paperwork and the accompanying changes necessary to alter the election date. (para) Thank you for your consideration , Keith T. Burley. " A copy of this Communication 96 will be forwarded to all of you. (Copy attached) -3- Another one from Mr. Burley to Mr. Ishida, dated October 18, 1979. It reads - "Dear Mr. Ishida: It has come to my attention that a member or members of the County Charter Review Commission have caused advertisements to appear in local newspapers and readio which advocates a yes vote for Charter Amendment #1. This, in my estimation, is a misuse of County (taxpapers) funds. (para) The Charter Review Commission should remain neutral and impartial in all matters that are to be left for voters consideration. (para) I, for one, am not in favor of a yes vote on that measure, and if this use of funds for advertising is not illegal it definitely coliinter to my feelings and wishes, and therefore improper. (para) To counteract the effect this advertising may have had on the voting public and ONLY fair thing to have-done isto have an equivalent amount of advertising placed in the same media advocating a no vote on the same measure and also the opposing view any other measure that may have been advertised. Sincerely, Keith Burley. " (Copy of this Communication 97 attached.. ) I think one of the big concerns that we 'face at this time is the report of the flack that we have received from the public as soon as these ads were put out in the paper and to the media here. Therefore, we decided the best thing to do was to get to the bottom of this - and get the commissioners together and call a meeting and discuss this thing. We have to really discuss this and talk about it. MR. OMONAKA: Mr. Chairman, will our counsel be here? Mr. Oda? CHAIRMAN SAKATA: The legal counsel will not be here and the corporation counsel will not be here. So when we come to the legal matters, we are really stuck here. MR. TRULSON : Mr. Chairman. It is perhapsnot necessary to have legal counsel here. Maybe we should hear the report from the publicity chairman. It is quite possible that legal counsel is not necessary. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: Mrs. Kobayashi , do you want to make a report on the publicity details? MRS. KOBAYASHI : I would like to make a report, yes. As faras the media campaign is concerned, the radio spots will be starting on Monday and we have changed the newspaper ads to read "vote Charter, vote. " So the format has been changed, the- radio- spots will say "vote Charter, vote. " The "yes" ha been dropped from the publicity. I haven 't seen today' s Tribune-Herald , but it should have this change in it. MR. TRULSON : Today' s Tribune-Herald did have an ad, and it says "vote." MRS. KOBAYASHI ' Along with the paid ads, we. have asked both papers, the West Hawaii Today- and the Tribune- Herald to have an objective editorial on the particular issue that is going to be advertised in the newspaper. I hope that -4- is coming through. As far as I am concerned, and my present committee is concerned, I think we have taken care of the objections that have been raised. At this time, I would like to also mention other aspects of the public education campaign. I think a major aspect has been the commissioners, themselves. I think we can all thank ourselves, or point out that we have been going out to speak to various groups. I believe our secretary wrote letters to various organizations offering our services and the commissioners have been going out. I would think that would be the more effective way of presenting the commission position. Also, through the Access to Government Funds through the CCECS, we were able to have a video tape produced that is objective. It is a 13 minute video tape. It ' s first showing was over Comtec at 2 o'clock today. I would like for the commissioners to see this tape at this time. The presen- tation will be made again at 6 o'clock tonight over Hilo Comtec. On the 23rd, the 29th and 31st. Hopefully, the ads should tell the people to watch Comtec on a certain day. Also, on Channel 9, on October 28, Sunday, the Sunday before the election, at 3 : 30, the video tape will be running over regular Channel 9. So this is the way the public education campaign is going right now. I believe we have resolved the matter. MR. TRULSON: Mr. Chairman. Being that we have resolved the problem that we have run into, I can see no further action necessary. It has been corrected. I would like to make a motion to accept Commissioner Kobayashi ' s report. MR. SCHUTTE : I ' ll second that. \' CHAIRMAN SAKATA: It has been moved and seconded that we receive Mrs. Kobayashi ' s report on the education committee. Those in favor? Carried. MRS. KOBAYASHI : Can we view the video tape now? CHAIRMAN -SAKATA.: I have one question first. On that radio spot , who will be doing them? MRS. KOBAYASHI : The radio spots will not be done by the commissioners. They will be done by the radio people and they will say "vote Charter, vote As far as I understand it, they will not start until Monday. No radio spots were run. It was only, I believe, three ads, which we could not stop. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: So as of now, as far as the newspaper and the media is concerned, we have taken out the "ryes" business. MRS. KOBAYASHI : I neglected to mention there will be posters and flyers printed and they will say "vote ,Charter, vote, November 3, " or whatever it is. The posters were very -5- general anyway. They were just going to present them the 13 ballot questions. (video tape presentation at this time) MR. JOHN DOBOVAN : My name is John Dobovan. My wife, Sheila, and I work for a group called Big Island Video. The last two years we have been working under a federal grant from the Department of Health; Education & Welfare program called Access to Government. It has been involved in the university here and also at Manoa. We have had a number of television programs designed to make people more aware of their access to government. We didn ' t receive a penny of taxpayers money, locally. It was federal dollars used to produce the program. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: We will go the question of the election, at this time. The election is to be held on November 3, and as you people all know, the UPW, according to the latest word, will strike probably on Monday, which will be the 22nd. How long it is -going to last, I do' not know. According to the newspaper, Mr. Legaspi is saying that on Monday he will let the public know whether the election is going to be held on schedule. The UPW' s position on the charter election is this. . . .this is from Jack Konno, Hawaii Division Director, in a letter to the County Clerk. (Communication 95 attached. ) "Dear Mr. Legaspi : We are responding, as per your request, to your inquiry in writing. (para) The question you had posed was, in the event of a Unite. 1, strike, would the Union permit the County to proceed with the charter amendment election as presently scheduled for November 3, 1979. (para) After a very thorough discussion of this matter in Honolulu, it was the unanimous decision of our State Strike Strategy Committee that we cannot permit nor agree to any election being held for the following reasons : 1. Public buildings where' our Unit 1 employees are working are utilized as precincts. 2. Many of our Unit 1 employees are precinct workers and, if an election is held, it would require their presence at a worksite which is normally picketed. 3. Where schools or other public buildings are being utilized as precincts, our custodians would be - required to stand-by to clean and close the buildings. 4. We would like to avoid any confrontation with the voting public. in order to guarantee the publics health and safety, no election should be held during the strike period. (para)We would suggest and strongly recommend, due to the reasons given above, that the charter amendment election be postponed indefinitely. (para) Your cooperation of our request will be appreciated. Sincerely, Jack Konno, Hawaii Division Director. " MRS. KOBAYASHI : Did Mr. Legaspi also give you a _letter-suggesting as' to what we could do? He said he would, that ' s why. MR. ISHIDA: Is Mr. Legaspi available? I think -6- we should have some direct input. I don't think we can make any decisions based on what we have here.' (At this point, 4: 20 p.m. , the County Clerk , Rudy Legaspi , was called to appear before the commission. ) CHAIRMAN SAKATA: We have received your communication from Jack Konno, the Hawaii Division Director, and we would like to have some suggestions on this as to what steps can be taken concerning the election on November 3 in the event of a strike. MR. LEGASPI : Well , you, could defer it, pending the outcome of the strike, which is uncertain as to when they will settle. But that would entail additional expenses, of course, because of the extension and the uncertainty of whether we can have the same polling places. I think the way it is structured right now, you will have to reschedule the election. You could reschedule or you could wait until the 1980 election, also, if you care to do so. MR. TRULSON : What empowers us to change the date of the election? MR. LEGASPI : It was upon this commission to set the charter election date, so I assume that you can re- schedule it. Of course, you had input from our division as to what dates were good, but it was your decision that set the election date. MR. TRULSON : So it is, in your opinion, that we could change it if we so desire? MR. LEGASPI : Yes. MR. ISHIDA: Mr. Chairman . Mr. Legaspi , I understand it is your office that will be conducting the elections. Is that correct? MR. LEGASPI : That is correct. MR. ISHIDA: Now, assuming there is a strike, are you telling us that your office can ' t do it? MR. LEGASPI : At this point, I would say yes, we would not be able to conduct the elections. However; we have in process, a letter to the corp. counsel as to what other avenues are open to us as far as the election should the UPW strike. . .can we conduct the election in spite of the strike. That is the legal question I 've posed to the corp. counsel. The reasons why I think we cannot is that the polling places are basically County- or State buildings and they have custodians to open and clean up the place. Plus the fact that our workers , whether it be precinct workers or workers here in the computer center or control center, could be UPW -7- members or HGEA members. And through the grapevine we hear from the other unions that they will not permit their members to cross--talking about the HGEA--of course, this has not been finalized yet. MR. ISHIDA: Let me speculate a little. Let ' s say the commission will leave the election as scheduled and then there is a UPW strike. What happens then as far as your office is concerned? Are you telling us you are not going to do anything? MR. LEGASPI : Yes, I think so. We will not be able to get the workers, the entire force, out there to conduct the election, is my concern. Maybe 50% might show up. The key would be the precincts, I guess, the opening and closing of the polling place's, which are, basically, UPW members, Unit 1 , I guess. Unless we physically get the keys and whether that can be worked out, I don 't know. It would be a hardship upon us to conduct an election under those circumstances. MRS. KOBAYASHI : You said you would need to make a decision by Monday? How much notice do you need? Say, the strike is settled November 1? MR. LEGASPI : The elections can go on. MRS. KOBAYASHI : So if it were settled November 2, you could still have it? MR. LEGASPI : That ' s right, the elections could go on. MRS. KOBAYASHI : So, maybe it would depend on when the settlement is reached then. MR. LEGASPI : That is correct. We have given it some informal discussion among ourselves and we are just waiting until next Monday whether they have settled or not settled. We know that they will be on strike, but there is a chance that they might be settling over the weekend. We don 't know. MR. SCHUTTE: Rudy, the certain setup time, like Gloria has said, if it is settled by Friday we have enough setup time. MR. LEGASPI : Right now, we are planning like the election will be November 3 until something else tells us differently. They could be on strike up until November 2. MR. SCHUTTE : What would the schedule be in the event the election is rescheduled? MR. LEGASPI : As - far as lead time, I think it will be safe if we have 60 days. It could be compressed if we are lucky in getting the places. 60 days lead time would be sufficient for us. You were saying if the election is cancelled November 3'. -gam MR. SCHUTTE : What are the legal implications if we did have to cancel the election date, as far as time is concerned? MR. LEGASPI : We' ll have to set up a new proclamation and I think we ' ll have to give at least 45 days for that. MR. SCHUTTE : In the meantime, we have got this expense of the computer that was brought in from the mainland to take care of the balloting. MR. LEGASPI : Yes, that ' s right. I would say we have spent about 75% of the budget. MR. ISHIDA: What kind of figures are we talking about? MR. LEGASPI : Additional salaries of workers for, whatever, two months. Reprinting of the ballots. Whether we can get a legal opinion of whether we can use the same ballots because they are dated. The ballot costs are $9 thousand dollars so far. So it will run, I would say, another $20 thousand dollars, if we postpone it. MR. TRULSON: We would also be talking about the inserts we have, that ' s dated. We 're talking another quite a few thousand dollars. We can possibly be looking at a $50 thousand dollar additional cost to the county. Another question I have. . .say this strike goes on Monday, ` has,- your office the power to cancel the election at any given date? Say that the strike goes on and the election is not cancelled and you see that by November 1 that it is not going to be settled by the 3rd, could your office then cancel the election? MR. LEGASPI : I ' ll have to check into that, Bud, I don ' t know whether I have that authority to cancel the election or not. MR. TRULSON: I was trying to interpret the Charter, and I don 't know, I can ' t answer the question either, but it seems that once we have submitted everything to the County Clerk ' s office, then it ' s in his hands as far as the election. I can ' t see in here any interpretation as to whether or not you can stop it. I don 't think it has ever been envisioned, before, that it would have to be stopped. MR. LEGASPI : You're right. I don ' t know the answer to that question. MR. SCHUTTE : Rudy, you know, -that 45 day portion, since we 've already gone through that once. . .do we still have to redo that again? -9- MR. LEGASPI : I believe so. MR. ISHIDA: Mr. Chairman. I think one of the problems here is that we don ' t have enough information as far as the legal ramifications are as to who in fact can postpone the election, if in fact it becomes necessary: Is it this body? Or is it the Clerk? Until we get that determined, you know, we are just spinning wheels. MR. SCHUTTE : Well , I think we are looking at two situations. First of all , determing the date is the duty - of the commission. Cancelling the election is another question. MR. ISHIDA: I don 't know we determine the election date, but after it has been published, do we have the authority to take it away? I don 't know the answer to that. I have no idea. MR. LEGASPI : One of the questions I am posing to our corp. counsel is. , can we conduct the election during a strike status? That will resolve one question. I really don ' t know the answer. I 'm saying from the physical standpoint on staffing, we could not conduct it. MR. ISHIDA: Also, I would like to get an answer from the Clerk ' s office as to if there is a strike, whether in fact you are going to tell us it is impossible to hold an election. MR. LEGASPI : This is what I think I ' ll come down to. MR. ISHIDA: I think we should know what the alternatives are also. MR. LEGASPI : I ' ll consult with our attorneys and the Lt. Governor on this and I ' ll respond to you early next week. MR. SCHUTTE : Do you think you' ll have some information by Monday as far as the election is concerned? MR. LEGASPI : As far as from the conduct of the election, the legal question, I don ' t know what his scheduleisbut the letter has gone out asking for early response. Whether he can give me the response by next week , I don 't know. MR. SCHUTTE : In any case, if there were a cancellation of this election, it would have to be another 45 days before, we can set up another election. MR. LEGASPI : Yes. MR. TRULSON : Mr. Chairman. I don ' t see what sense there is to:further ,discuss it until we have some concrete answers. Like Commissioner Ishida said, we are just spinning -10- our wheels. We can sit and theorize but I think until we get some answers regarding legalities and who has the power to do what, I think there is nothing more we can do on the matter today. MR. ISHIDA: Mr. Chairman , may I move that we defer this matter until the time that should it require commission action, that it be subject to call. It may turn. out that we have no authority. MR. TRULSON: Is that a motion? MR. ISHIDA: The first part. MR. TRULSON : I second the motion. MR. OMONAKA: This is to defer discussion? MR. ISHIDA: Any action on the matter. MR. OMONAKA: No action was taken so there is nothing to defer. MR. ISHIDA: Action to defer discussion. I ' ll let the Chair rule. MR. SCHUTTE : It is my understanding that the date of the election is the responsibility of this commission and as far as the election itself, holding the election, that is the responsibility of the County Clerk. So I think if there is a deferment, it would have to come through his office. Once that happens, then it is up to this commission to then again decide as to the date the election is to be set. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: So no action has been taken yet. So what we have to do is wait and see what he has to say on this. If lie says no election on November 3, then we ' ll have to take action on another date. MR. SENSANO: Mr. Chairman. As of now the election is scheduled for November 3 until it changed. Because that is the action that this body took. MR. SCHUTTE : That ' s right, Herman, as I said, it is set for November 3. If there is any postponement, it should be initiated from the County Clerk ' s office. When that time comes about, then it will be the responsibility of this commission to again redesignate a date for the election. Mr. Chairman , as suggested by Commissioner Ishida, I move the discussion of this matter be deferred. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: Let ' s wait until the County. Clerk gives us the word on this: If the election is postponed, we will then - set another date according to the Charter giving 45 days notice. -11 MR. SCHUTTE : Right. . . . CHAIRMAN SAKATA: 45 days prior to the election. It really depends on how long the strike goes on. If it just lasts a few days, then it will be okay. Any new business? Does anyone have anything else they want to report? MR. SCHUTTE : Mr. Chairman, I would just like to mention a few. I have most of the bills in for this tentative election. We've also had the additional $15 thousand dollars added to the account. I ' ll have to take this apart and come out with the exact costs that has gone to the media and to the election itself before I can give you an exact figure. But as of October 17, 1979 there was a balance of $14,874.90. However, there are some outstanding bills and when these are paid, we are looking at a balance of $1 thousand dollars or so. . . . MR. SENSANO: I just want to get it clear in my mind because after we adjourn the meeting I have to go and change an Ilocano tape that I made at the radio station. . .As far as the Charter amendments are concerned, how far can we go? MR. SCHUTTE : I don ' t understand the question. MR. SENSANO: We are not supposed to express ourselves either way as far as the Charter amendments are concerned. Is that understood , that we are not to sell the idea? MR. TRULSON: I don 't believe that, Mr. Sensano. I believe, as individuals, if we meet before a group we are to * give them an education, as much as we can, upon each amendment. This is our work product. I don ' t think we can be criticized if we go to a group of people and state, I wish that you would vote for all 13 amendments as we have proposed them. I 'm not saying that they have to. Still , at the same time, we are explaining the amendment, how it works and I think if we ask them to vote "yes", I don ' t think we can be criticized for that. Aren ' t we recommending that to the public? MR. ISHIDA: The criticism is just on using public funds. As long as you don 't use public funds, there is no law. MR. TRULSON : We are not being paid, so we are not using public funds. MR. SENSANO: I see. I just wanted that under- stood. That still gives me the privilege of saying how I feel as long as I am not using public funds. MR. TRULSON : I don 't believe anybody is going out--I.,know, I 'm not and there were some amendments that I wasn 't in favor of--I 'm not going out and 'saying vote for this one and don ' t vote for this one. I 'm saying as a commission we -12- recommend these 13 amendments and we would like you to vote on them, for whatever you vote, go vote. And that ' s it. Then we dissect the 13 and try to explain any that they have questions on. I don' t think we can be criticized for that. MR. SENSANO: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: Any other discussion? MR. TRULSON: I move we adjourn. MR. YAGONG: Second. CHAIRMAN SAKATA: It has been moved and seconded that we adjourn this meeting. All those in favor, aye? Carried. ADJOURNMENT: At 4:47 p.m. the meeting was adjourned, subject to call by the Chairman at a later date. / Joan Carnett, RECORDING SECRETARY -13-