A County Council panel Tuesday took a dim view of a proposed charter amendment adding more Native Hawaiian input into county water policies, but four other proposals were forwarded to the council with positive recommendations.
The council, sitting as the Regenerative Agriculture, Water, Energy, and Environmental Management Committee, voted 2-6 on Bill 180, sending it to the council with a negative recommendation. Voting yes were Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder, the measure’s sponsor, and North Kona Councilman Holeka Inaba.
Bill 180 would require the addition of a Department of Hawaiian Home Lands representative to the county Water Board as a nonvoting member, training in Native Hawaiian law for board members and administrative staff and annual reports from the Department of Water Supply to the council.
Opposing the concept were Water Board Chairman David De Luz, who said he was testifying as an individual and not in his professional capacity, and Keith Okamoto, manager and chief engineer for the Department of Water Supply. The two said the bill wasn’t necessary because the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands already has powers to reserve water from the aquifer for developing homelands.
Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance agreed parts of the measure were duplicative. In addition, she said, there are questions about whether the charter can control activities of civil service employees and the county has no authority to direct a state entity to be part of the board.
Testifier Jaerick Medeiros-Garcia urged the council to send the measure to the ballot.
“We got to protect the water now, if not we’ll be screwed, we’ll be standing in line with plastic jugs,” Medeiros-Garcia said. “Our forest reserve is being purchased by the big corporations that control that resource. … You guys need some righteous people up there, not just selling out.”
Under the county charter, the measures face three separate readings at the council level, where at least six affirmative votes are required to pass. They then proceed to the Nov. 8 ballot, where they must be approved by a majority of voters to be adopted.
Bill 179 would require midterm County Council reconfirmation of county department heads who are appointed by the mayor. The Governmental Operations, Relations, and Economic Development Committee voted 6-1, with Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz voting no and several members voting yes with reservations.
The administration, unsurprisingly, opposed the measure.
“Clearly in the charter the supervision of the directors that are confirmed is my jurisdiction,” said Managing Director Lee Lord. “This would be very disruptive to the county.”
Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung, sponsor of the bill, pointed out that department directors often change during a mayor’s tenure. For example, the county has had three Public Works directors in the past four years.
“It promotes the concept of continual improvement, which has to be good for the county,” Chung said.
Bill 174 would create a new county department, a Building Department. Currently the county Building Division is a division under the Department of Public Works, overseen by the appointed Public Works director and managed by a building chief, a civil service administrator.
The Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit voted 5-2 in favor, with Inaba and Kanealii-Kleinfelder voting no.
Bills 173 and 175 cleared their committees without objection.
Bill 173 would add investigations of reports of fraud, waste and abuse within county operations as an authorized function of the county auditor. Bill 175 would establish a youth commission of up to 15 members between the ages of 14 and 24 years old that would integrate its ideas and perspectives into county government.
