The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2018-05-24 Cost of Government Commission minutes COST OF GOVERNMENT COMMISSION c/o Office of the Mayor, 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2603 Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 COST OF GOVERNMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES MAY 24, 2018 WEST HAWAI‘I CIVIC CENTER, CONFERENCE ROOM C, BUILDING C – KAILUA, KONA 74-5044 ANE KEOHOKĀLOLE HWY, KAILUA-KONA, HAWAI‘I CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Jones called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. ATTENDANCE Present: Jenipher A. Jones, Chairperson Margarita “Dayday” L. Hopkins, Vice-Chairperson Lenard Allen, Commissioner Barbara Ann Bongo Arthurs, Commissioner Ross E. Birch, Commissioner David A. Buehler, Commissioner Gregory Dale Larson, Commissioner Genevieve Puanani Woo, Commissioner Excused: Harry Lee McIntosh III, Commissioner ____ Also present: Dennis Kauka, Jr., Executive Assistant Aide – Office of the Mayor Ronald Kim, Deputy Corporation Counsel STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC (none) APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Woo motioned to postpone approval of minutes from April 26, 2018 meeting. Commissioner Arthurs seconded. Motion approved unanimously by voice vote – 8 ayes, 1 absent OVERVIEW OF PURCHASING AND PROCUREMENT PRACTICES AT THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I Due to ongoing response efforts from all County departments for the Puna eruption events, staff was not available to present the overview. Commissioner Buehler motioned to postpone the item. Commissioner Hopkins seconded. Motion approved unanimously by voice vote – 8 ayes, 1 absent Cost of Government Commission May 24, 2018 meeting minutes PRESENTATION BY DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON COST- SAVING MEASURES BY THE COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I Due to ongoing response efforts from all County departments for the Puna eruption events, staff was not available for the presentation. Commissioner Buehler motioned to postpone the item. Commissioner Hopkins seconded. Motion approved unanimously by voice vote – 8 ayes, 1 absent SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PREVIOUS COST OF GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONS Due to ongoing response efforts from all County departments for the Puna eruption events, Roy Takemoto was not available to present the summary. Commissioner Buehler motioned to postpone the item. Commissioner Hopkins seconded. Motion approved unanimously by voice vote – 8 ayes, 1 absent DISCUSSION ON IDENTIFYING AREAS OF FOCUS FOR COST OF GOVERNMENT RECOMMENDATIONS  Commission members discussed concerns over the impacts of the Puna eruption events to the work they are tasked with. The Commission falls under the Office of the Mayor/Management, which provides staff support and other communication assistance. Staff from the Office have been assigned indefinitely to various tasks in response to the emergency status, which has made it difficult to continue with addressing the Commission needs. Additionally, the County’s immediate emergency and long-term relief responses are widespread covering all departments and agencies. During this time of uncertainty for the County in its assistance to eruption-impacted residents, requests to departments and agencies for information and presentations will be difficult and responses will likely not be timely. County resources will also be minimal for the foreseeable future. While these current issues may not be the case for all County Boards and Commissions, the nature of the Cost of Government Commission makes it susceptible to being impacted. Commissioners commented that they understood the County’s status in relation to the Commission. They expressed their intentions are not to be disruptive to the County’s emergency response efforts but need to consider how to balance the needs of carrying out the Commission’s work in a way that’s manageable for personnel.  Deputy Corporation Counsel Ronald Kim advised the Commission to consider the following options: - request the Mayor to issue a Proclamation suspending the Commission’s work until an applicable time and extend the eleven month deadline for it to submit a report of recommendations - amend meeting schedule to convene less frequently, possibly once a month instead of twice 2 Cost of Government Commission May 24, 2018 meeting minutes - creation of “ad-hoc” type subcommittees defining the scope of work in which members may address specific areas and report to the larger group Commissioners commented that subcommittees could focus on areas broken down by expenditure categories reflected in the proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2018-2019. As a preliminary step, Commissioners began to consider what categories they are interested in being assigned to.  Commissioner Buehler motioned to suspend official bimonthly Commission meetings for six months and request an extension of time to submit the final report to June 2019 subject to changes in volcanic activities and its impacts on human resources. Commissioner Arthurs seconded. Motion approved unanimously by voice vote – 8 ayes, 1 absent Counsel Kim will draft the proclamation pertaining to the motion for Mayor Harry Kim to review and consider. ANNOUNCEMENTS Commissioner Allen announced details and circulated a flyer for the upcoming Tropic Care 2018 event, which offers free medical care to residents at Kea‘au High School over nine days. He noted that no identification or medical insurance is required to receive services. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:27 a.m.. 3