The Hawaii County Council on Friday voted down two proposed charter amendments, meaning they will not appear on voter ballots in the November general election.
The Hawaii County Council on Friday voted down two proposed charter amendments, meaning they will not appear on voter ballots in the November general election.
Lawmakers also postponed a vote until June 19 on a proposed charter amendment to make the corporation counsel an elected position.
To make it onto the ballot, a charter amendment must receive at least six affirmative votes from the council three separate times.
One of the proposed amendments would have specified that either the mayor or the County Council could initiate amendments to the county’s operating budget during the fiscal year. Councilman Pete Hoffmann has argued that no specific language exists in the charter that allows or prohibits this action.
The bill received support from council members Brenda Ford, Brittany Smart, Dominic Yagong, Angel Pilago and Hoffmann. Opposing it were Fred Blas and Donald Ikeda; Dennis Onishi and J Yoshimoto were not present for the vote. Because only five council members voted in favor of it, the amendment died.
The other pending charter amendment would have required the County Council to approve by resolution the creation of any new positions in county government.
The amendment also died by a 5-2 vote. Ikeda and Yoshimoto opposed it; Blas and Onishi were not present.