Hawaii County’s outgoing and incoming mayors are set to provide Hawaii County Council members with an update on transition plans this week.
Puna Councilman Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder has requested representatives for the administrations of current Mayor Harry Kim and mayor-elect Mitch Roth to appear at 1 p.m. Tuesday before the Committee on Governmental Relations and Economic Development at the Hawaii County Building in Hilo.
The meeting comes less than a month before the Dec. 7 inauguration during which Roth will take the oath of office for a four-year term.
“We’ll get to meet the new administration and see a nice transition discussion happen, get to know the new players and also hit on some of the key items that are important to us in the transition,” said Kanealii-Kleinfelder, noting that the transition is already happening behind the scenes with this meeting providing the public a chance to be in the loop.
The one-hour discussion will get underway following public testimony. Though the meeting is closed to the public due to COVID-19, it will be live streamed on the county’s website for viewing.
All nine council members will get a chance to query both administrations on issues and projects important to their district.
“There’s going to be a lot of discussion especially about things that are being carried over from one administration to the next,” said Kanealii-Kleinfelder.
Attempts to reach Roth and Kim were unsuccessful as of press-time Friday. Kim’s secretary said Managing Director Roy Takemoto will attend Tuesday’s meeting.
Inauguration is set for Dec. 7 with plans being finalized for the virtual program to be simulcast from both Council Chambers in Kailua-Kona and Hilo.
Roth, Hawaii County’s current prosecutor, won the 2020 general election with 50,370 total votes to political newcomer Ikaika Marzo’s 35,887, giving him 58.4% of the vote.
Kim served eight years as mayor before sitting out eight years, and then won a new four-year term in 2016.
A full agenda for the committee meeting, including information on ways to testify, can be found at the county’s website at www.hawaiicounty.gov.
