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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012_1022_CharterAgendaPacket Patrick Stack Members: Chair Mary Lou Barela Joel Guy Ed Justus Carol Suzawa James Nishida,Jr. Vice Chair Jan TenBruggencate COUNTY OF KAUAI CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA Monday, October 22, 2012 4:00 p.m. or shortly thereafter Mo'ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/B 4444 Rice Street, L1hu'e, HI 96766 CALL TO ORDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES Regular Open Session Minutes of August 27, 2012 BUSINESS CRC 2012-10 Update on Voter Education Materials a. Recap from Chair Stack and Commissioner Guy on taping of Mayor's "Together We Can"which was rescheduled to October 18 b. Website locations for Proposed Charter Amendments CRC 2012-11 Commissioner Justus' proposed new Article XXXIII to the Charter creating a Commission to provide oversight of the County Attorney CRC 2012-12 Review of amendments considered in 2011-2012 that did not move forward to the ballot ANNOUNCEMENTS Next Meeting: Monday, November 26, 2012 at 4:00 pm in the Mo'ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/B ADJOURNMENT EXECUTIVE SESSION Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes §92-7(a), the Commission may, when deemed necessary,hold an executive session on any agenda item without written public notice if the executive session was not anticipated in advance. Any such executive session shall be held pursuant to HRS §92-4 and shall be limited to those items described in HRS §92-5(a). Discussions held in Executive Session are closed to the public. Cc: Deputy County Attorney Jennifer Winn An Equal Opportunity Employer PUBLIC COMMENTS and TESTIMONY Persons wishing to offer comments are encouraged to submit written testimony at least 24-hours prior to the meeting indicating: 1. Your name and if applicable, your position/title and organization you are representing; 2. The agenda item that you are providing comments on; and 3. Whether you will be testifying in person or submitting written comments only; and 4. If you are unable to submit your testimony at least 24 hours prior to the meeting,please provide 10 copies of your written testimony at the meeting clearly indicating the name of the testifier; and 5. If testimony is based on a proposed Charter amendment, list the applicable Charter provision. While every effort will be made to copy, organize, and collate all testimony received,materials received on the day of the meeting or improperly identified may be distributed to the members after the meeting is concluded. The Charter Commission rules limit the length of time allocated to persons wishing to present verbal testimony to five(5)minutes. A speaker's time may be limited to three(3)minutes if, in the discretion of the chairperson or presiding member, such limitation is necessary to accommodate all persons desiring to address the Commission at the meeting. Send written testimony to: Charter Review Commission Attn: Barbara Davis Office of Boards and Commissions 4444 Rice Street, Suite 150 Liu`e, HI 96766 E-mail:bdavis(q-)kauai.Rov Phone: (808)241-4919 Fax: (808) 241-5127 SPECIAL ASSISTANCE If you need an alternate format or an auxiliary aid to participate, please contact the Boards and commissions Support Clerk at(808) 241-4919 at least five(5) working days prior to the meeting. Charter Review Commission—October 22, 2012 21 Mj to,�B � r �u COUNTY OF KAUAI _ �J.�ffMar4U Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Board/Committee: CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION Meeting Date I August 27, 2012 Location Mo'ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/2B Start of Meeting: 4:05 p.m. End of Meeting: 4:25 p.m. Present Chair Patrick Stack; Vice-Chair Carol Suzawa. Members: Ed Justus; Jan TenBruggencate Also: Deputy County Attorney Jennifer Winn; Boards & Commissions Office Staff: Support Clerk Barbara Davis; Administrator Paula Morikami Excused Member: Joel Guy; Mary Lou Barela; James Nishida(arrived at 4:26 p.m.) Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order Chair Stack called the meeting to order at 4:05 m with 4 Commissioners present Approval of Open Session Minutes of July 23, 2012 Mr. Justus moved to approve the minutes as Minutes circulated. Mr. TenBruggencate seconded the motion. Motion carried 4:0 Communication CRC 2012-09 Memorandum dated 8/9/12 from Patrick Stack, Chair, to Ricky Watanabe, County Clerk, transmitting the County of Kauai Charter Amendment Ballot Questions for the 2012 General Election Mr. TenBruggencate pointed out two grammatical adjustments that should be made to the ballot questions relating to §22.03, Initiatives and Referendum Petitions, and §24.01, Charter Amendments. The word"of' following the word "comprising" is superfluous and should be removed in both ballot questions since"comprising"means "consisting of. Mr. TenBruggencate moved to notify the County Clerk that the Commission would like to remove the word"of' following the word"comprising" for ballot questions relating to §§22.03 and 24.01. Mr. Justus seconded the motion. Mr. Justus recommended in the Explanation for the amendment for 23.02 9� � .A Charter Review Commission Open Session August 27, 2012 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION H that the word"need"be removed from the last sentence because it implies unintentionally that there is a need for them to take a break. Attorney Winn said that was not a grammatical correction but a change to the purpose of a section which was previously approved by the Commission. Motion carried 4:0 Business CRC 2012-10 Voter Education—Explanation of County Charter Amendments Proposed in the General Election a. Time line for Charter Amendments(revised 4/24/12) b. Voter Education Distribution Areas c. Taping of Mayor's "Together We Can", October 5, 10:00 a.m. Ms. Davis explained that the legal size form titled Explanation of the County Charter Amendments Proposed in the 2012 General Election will be included in the mail-out of all absentee ballots. Additionally the Elections Office has said there would be a large poster with the Explanations at all polling sites. It was noted that the same two corrections will be made to this document as was specified for the transmittal to the County Clerk. Chair Stack and Mr. Guy will participate with the Mayor in taping a discussion on the proposed Charter amendments for the"Together We Can" Discussion only; there was no Commission show. action CRC 2012-05 Memorandum dated 4/10/12 from the Prosecuting Attorney's Office proposing charter amendments to Article VIII relating to the Office of the County Attorney(deferred from 6/25/12) b. Proposed changes from Commissioner Ed Justus to Article VII Mr. Justus recapped that of the original suggested changes he had proposed Charter Review Commission Open Session August 27, 2012 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION three sections have been removed from consideration. The suggestion for changes to §8.02 has been deferred to November. The suggestion for adding Mediation has been deferred until November. The only current item for discussion is §8.03 Qualifications. Mr. Justus suggested increasing the number of years the county attorney would have to practice law in the State of Hawai'i from three years to five years. This suggestion came from the Prosecuting Attorney's Office to Mr. Justus and the County Attorney also thought this was a reasonable suggestion. Chair Stack asked what the derived benefits would be. Mr. Justus said you would get people that are more qualified in the field of law. The County Attorney's personal opinion is at the very least, you have somebody who would be better established and have a good grasp of the laws in the State of Hawai'i. It was also his opinion that most lawyers, after five years,will probably want to move to something more lucrative. Ms. Suzawa asked if five years was too restrictive and they might have problems finding staff. Mr. Justus said that was not Mr. Castillo's opinion and he thought three years was hardly adequate. Mr. TenBruggencate suggested Mr. Justus defer this item because he would vote against it. Mr. TenBruggencate said he does not buy the argument in part because you could get a former Attorney General of the United States who has been practicing law in Hawai'i for just three years and he would have far more experience than anybody. The only benefit is somebody would have to practice law in Hawai'i for longer. It does not seem that necessarily ensures extensive legal experience by itself or accomplishes what is intended. Secondly Mr. TenBruggencate does not recall ever having a candidate for county attorney with less than five years experience. Kauai Count does have some very powerful, experienced legal minds who have Charter Review Commission Open Session August 27, 2012 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION stepped up to be the county attorney. Mr. Justus moved to defer §8.03 to the November meeting. Mr. TenBruggencate seconded the motion. Motion carried 4:0 Announcements Next Meeting: Monday, September 24, 2012, 4:00 p.m. Adjournment Mr. Justus moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:25 p.m. Ms. Suzawa seconded the motion. Motion carried 4:0 Submitted by: Reviewed and Approved by: Barbara Davis, Support Clerk Patrick Stack, Chair ( ) Approved as is. ( ) Approved with amendments. See minutes of meeting. WEBSITES FOR PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTS w ➢Kama ' aina Tab: What's New?! ➢Government Tab: What's New?! ➢Charter Review Commission : Announcements ➢Boards & Commissions: 2012 Proposed Charter � Amendments ➢Elections: Documents 0 0 a Attorney Commission Amendment Article XXXIII—Attorney Commission Section 33.01. Organization. There must be an Attorney Commission composed of seven members not employed in government service. Of the seven members, the Mayor and the Council must each appoint three members each, and one additional member is selected by the members previously appointed by the Mayor and Council. Members appointed by the Mayor must be removed by the Mayor with approval from Council. Members appointed by the Council must be removed by the Council with the approval of the Mayor. The one additional member selected by the previously appointed members may be removed by the Mayor with the approval of Council. {follows language in Section 23.02} Section 33.02. Goal. The goal of the Attorney Commission is to provide an independent process in the selection, removal, and general oversight of the County Attorney in order to provide a balanced environment where the County Attorney can serve the all branches of the County. Section 33.03. Requirements. Two of the three members appointed by the mayor and two of the three members appointed by the council must either have been or be licensed to practice law in the State of Hawaii, and must be in good standing before the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii. Section 33.04. Rules. The commission shall establish its rules of procedures and adopt rules and regulations pursuant to law. {follows language in Section 29.04} Section 33.05. Powers, Duties, and Functions. The Attorney Commission shall: A. Have the power to appoint and remove both the County Attorney by majority vote of its members. B. Review the annual budgets prepared by the County Attorney and make recommendations thereon to the Mayor and Council. C. Review the departments'operations, as deemed necessary,for the purpose of recommending improvements to the County Attorney. D. Evaluate at least annually the performance of the County Attorney and submit a report to the Mayor and the Council. E. Hear complaints of citizens concerning the County Attorney, its department, or its personnel, and, if the commission deems necessary, make recommendations to the County Attorney on appropriate corrective actions. CRC 2012-11 F. Submit an annual report to the Mayor and the Council regarding its activities. G. Except for purposes of inquiry or as otherwise provided in this charter, neither the commission nor its members shall interfere in any way with the administrative affairs of the County Attorney. {follows language in Section 11.03} Section 33.05.Administration and Operation. The Mayor and Council shall provide an annual appropriation sufficient to enable the commission to secure clerical assistance and pay other operational costs in the performance of its duties. {follows language in Section 29.06} Additional Section to be Changed by this Amendment: Article VIII —County Attorney Section 8.02.—Appointment and Removal. The eCounty aAttorney shall be appointed and fffay 43,e removed by the Attorney Commission. Section 8.08. — Vacancy, if there is vacancy in the position of County Attorney, by either removal, retirement, resignation, or death, the First Deputy County Attorney shall serve as Acting-County Attorney until the Attorney Commission has appointed a new County Attorney. {suggestion} Proposed Ballot Question: Shall there be an Attorney Commission, whose function is to appoint and remove and have oversight of the County Attorney, with its members appointed jointly by the Mayor and Council? CRC 2012-11 2011 /2012 Tracking of Proposed Amendments Charter Proposed Amendment Legal Review 2nd Commission Future Action Section Review Sent Rcd CRC 2011-01 Correcting non-substantive language to 3/1/11 3/7/11 2014 Consideration §24.04(new) Charter .;. CRC 2011-06 Establish a permanent Charter Review Deferred to 2013 §24.03 Commission (comments rcd from Admin&Council CRC 2011-09 Establishing a Department of Human 6/28/11 Defer indefinitely XV Resources via CCC CRC 2012-02 Mayor's authority over commission- Deferred until after §7.05 appointed department heads Declaratory Order has been issued by the Court CRC 2011-17 Council Districting Deferred to December 3.03 2012 CRC 2012-04 Specifying the powers, duties and Pending proposed Charter §IX A functions of the Office of the language Prosecuting Attorney CRC 2012-07 Giving budgetary control for OPA Deferred indefinitely §XIX directly to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney and County Council CRC 2012-05 OPA proposal relating to the Office of Deferred §8.02, §8.03 & §VII the County Attorney Mediation(new)to November CRC 2012-06 OPA proposal relating to the Police Deferred indefinitely §XI Department O Charter/Tracldng of Proposed Amendments_2013/2014(updated 9/12/12)