The Hawaii County Council failed to override Mayor Billy Kenoi’s veto of a bill requiring payments into the county’s post-employee benefits account, commonly known as the GASB 45 fund. The Hawaii County Council failed to override Mayor Billy Kenoi’s veto
The Hawaii County Council failed to override Mayor Billy Kenoi’s veto of a bill requiring payments into the county’s post-employee benefits account, commonly known as the GASB 45 fund.
The vote was 5-4 against the override, with council members Brenda Ford, Dominic Yagong, Pete Hoffmann and Brittany Smart in favor of the override. Council members voting against it were Fred Blas, Angel Pilago, J Yoshimoto, Donald Ikeda and Dennis Onishi. Six votes were needed to overturn Kenoi’s rejection of the bill, which was introduced by Yagong.
The vote was held in a meeting that started at 8 a.m. Wednesday and ended at 10:20 p.m.
Wednesday’s meeting of the council in Hilo was the final one before the Aug. 11 election that pits Kenoi against Yagong, former Mayor Harry Kim and three other contenders. Kenoi contends that maintaining an adequate fund balance for Hawaii County to account for potential unexpected events is the fiscally responsible thing to do; Yagong says that the mayor’s continued deferral of payments into the account, creating a liability of $34 million over two years, is the bigger harm to the county.
The council also defeated a proposed charter amendment that, if approved, would have asked voters in November’s general election whether the County Council should have the right to employ council attorneys and special legal counsel without the consent of the administration, if a legal dispute should arise between the legislative and executive branches.
The vote was 5-3, with Blas, Ikeda, and Onishi voting no, and Yoshimoto excused. The bill needed six votes to make it on to the ballot.
By a 7-0 vote, the county gave final approval of a bill requiring advance notice to the Environment Management Commission of any pilot project being undertaken by the Department of Environmental Management. Onishi and Yoshimoto were excused. The bill now goes to Kenoi.
Also, the council unanimously approved a resolution encouraging the state Public Utilities Commission to raise the renewable feeder penetration threshold of Hawaii Electric Light Co. from 15 percent of peak load to 100 percent of minimum load.
