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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/02/2014 Special Council Meeting minutes - Interviews SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 2, 2014 The Special Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kaua`i was called to order by Council Chair Jay Furfaro at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Room 201, Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on Wednesday, April 2, 2014 at 9:07 a.m., after which the following members answered the call of the roll: Honorable Mason K. Chock, Sr. Honorable Gary L. Hooser (present at 9:14 a.m.) Honorable Ross Kagawa Honorable Mel Rapozo Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura Honorable Jay Furfaro Excused: Honorable Tim Bynum Chair Furfaro: Thank you very much. The purpose of this Special Council Meeting is for interviews and I would like to see if I can get an approval of the agenda? APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Mr. Rapozo moved for approval of the agenda as circulated, seconded by Mr. Kagawa, and carried by a vote of 6:0:1 (Mr. Bynum was excused). PUBLIC COMMENT. Pursuant to Council Rule 13(e), members of the public shall be allowed a total of eighteen (18) minutes on a first come, first served basis to speak on any agenda item. Each speaker shall be limited to three (3) minutes at the discretion of the Chair to discuss the agenda item and shall not be allowed additional time to speak during the meeting. This rule is designed to accommodate those who cannot be present throughout the meeting to speak when the agenda items are heard. After the conclusion of the eighteen (18) minutes, other members of the public shall be allowed to speak pursuant to Council Rule 12(e). There being no one present to provide public comment, the meeting proceeded as follows: INTERVIEWS: 1. LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION • Paul N. Endo —Term ending 12/31/2016 There being no objections, the rules were suspended. Chair Furfaro: Good morning, Paul. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 2 APRIL 2, 2014 PAUL N. ENDO: Good morning Council Chair. Chair Furfaro: Nice to see you this morning and thank you for stepping forward. Mr. Endo: Good to see you again. Chair Furfaro: Paul, may I ask that you give us an overview of your background and so forth. We have your resume but for the public that is watching and then we will go into some questions. Go right ahead. Mr. Endo: I have been a resident of Kaua`i for approximately twenty-seven (27) years. My current work status is that I am a Vice President and Team Leader for our Business Banking Team for First Hawaiian Bank in Lihu`e. I have also served as a East Kaua`i Lion and I am proud to say that. For the last 26 years. Aside from that, I live in Lihu`e and that is basically about it. Chair Furfaro: Well, I too am a North Shore Lion, an original chartered member and I like to roar on certain days too and I thank you for sharing your activities with the Lion's Club that have done so much for Kauai. Mr. Endo: Yes, we appreciate that too. So I know about your association with the North Shore Lions also. Chair Furfaro: Are there questions from the members on the Council before we go any further? JoAnn, you have the floor. Ms. Yukimura: Paul, I was surprised to know that you have been on Kaua`i for 26 years. I thought you were always a Kaua`i boy. Mr. Endo: No, I moved here in 1987. Actually, with Bank of Hawai`i. Ms. Yukimura: Where did you grow up? Mr. Endo: I grew up on Oahu in the Kalihi area. Ms. Yukimura: Okay. I think the Liquor Control Commission's work is pretty straightforward and you seem to understand it clearly. I just wanted to say that what is also under the Liquor Control Commission is underage drinking has been an issue. So those of us, who have been very concerned about alcohol use and drug abuse basically, have really appreciated that the Commission is a partner in this. I am glad that you are going to be on the Commission, because I know that is a concern of yours. Mr. Endo: Yes. Ms. Yukimura: It is a very key thing to control and regulate that issue. I did not know if you had any thoughts about that, but I just wanted to give you a heads up that that has been a focus of the Liquor Commission. Mr. Endo: I see. I think it has always been there, I believe, a concern regarding underage drinking and drug abuse. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 3 APRIL 2, 2014 Ms. Yukimura: Thank you. Chair Furfaro: Other questions, members? Paul, I do have a question or two for you. First of all, as people are cited for violations, businesses and licensees and so forth, we have concerns as JoAnn mentioned dealing with the fact that we want to put the emphasis on prevention. Is there any new, creative concept you would see for a licensee that has a record of some violations that they might somehow get involved with some public service, speaking to schools, and so forth as it relates to liquor rules enforcement? Do you have any thoughts about that? Mr. Endo: You know, Council Chair I really have not given it much thought at this particular point, but that is something that I would be concerned about or I would really think about as far as it might be something that would be...yes, I believe would work out very well and would consider that. But again, it is something that for me, this is something that is very new, but to provide the public service, I welcome that, yes. Chair Furfaro: I appreciate you considering that maybe one of the consequences for the licensee would be to get involved with educational programs with youth. So if you can continue to give that some thought. You definitely have my support. I will be supporting you in vote for the Liquor Control Commission. Mr. Endo: I appreciate that. Chair Furfaro: Thank you very much. Mr. Kagawa, go right ahead. Mr. Kagawa: I just want to thank you for volunteering to serve and like the Chair and Councilmember Yukimura, I will be supporting you. I am impressed by your background, Vice President of Business Banking and that is the kind of individuals that we like to see, highly-qualified individuals serving on our boards and your work with the businesses here on Kaua`i can help. You do your job well. Again, I want to thank Paula, she is doing a wonderful job with stellar appointees and thank you in advance for volunteering your services as a Liquor Commissioner. Mr. Endo: Thank you, Councilmember. Chair Furfaro: Mr. Hooser, any questions for Mr. Endo? Mr. Hooser: No questions, I just want to give him a hard time. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Seeing you sit there made me think about working with you in the Kapa'a Rotary Club and short story and many people probably do not know, but 18 years ago or so I tried to convince you to run for public office and you told me no way. I am happy to see you here volunteering for public service this way. Thank you very much. Mr. Endo: Thank you, I really appreciate that. Chair Furfaro: Paul, thank you for being here and we will be voting on your appointment much later, but thank you again. No further questions. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 4 APRIL 2, 2014 Mr. Endo: Thank you, Council Chair. Thank you, Councilmembers. 2. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION: • Nancy P. Golden—Term ending 12/31/2016 Chair Furfaro: Good morning, Nancy. NANCY P. GOLDEN: Good morning. Chair Furfaro: Nancy, I will allow you an opportunity to give us a little bit of a background. Many of us have your resume and know you, but for the public, if you could give us an overview? Ms. Golden: I have lived on Kaua`i, it will be 22 years in June. Since I have moved here the majority of my time has been developing the program at Nana's House. Before we opened, or maybe you want to know before I came here? Do you want to know what I did before I came here? Chair Furfaro: You can touch on it. Ms. Golden: I moved here from Northern California and I was at Stanford University. I ran a very large program for children, infants through five. It must have been somewhere between 150 and 200 children in this program. I was there for eight years. Before that, I would love some water, thank you. Chair Furfaro: Eddie will get you some water. Ms. Golden: Thank you. I helped...I worked on...there were three of us that worked on developing the childcare program at Apple Computer for the children of the employees at Apple. Before that, we lived in Southern California, and I was at the University of California, the Irvine Campus for ten years. When I came here, my children were sure that they got me here, you know, because I had my first teaching position in 1950, before any of you were born probably. They were sure they could get me to retire, you know? But within a month or so I had a job, with Child and Family Services doing parenting education and then in 1996, they got the contract for the program at Nana's House and asked me if I would develop the program there. Is that enough? Chair Furfaro: That is good. Ms. Golden: I mean do you want to know more? Chair Furfaro: I think that is good. Ms. Golden: Okay. Chair Furfaro: I want you to know that I was 2 when you started teaching, I did make the cut. Ms. Golden: I feel better. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 5 APRIL 2, 2014 Chair Furfaro: May we go around the table, go ahead, Mr. Chock. Mr. Chock: Thank you. There is not too much people that I would say have dedicated their entire life to community service and to our youth, but I can definitely say that about Nancy Golden and very honored to have her serve in any capacity for the needs of our community. I thank you for putting your name in the hat for us and continuing to serve way after you have already given everything that you can. Ms. Golden: Thank you. I have some personal qualities that I feel will be suitable for the position if I understand it enough. There are also things that I have questions about, you know. It is the legal part that I am concerned about. Paula was very reassuring and she said there is an attorney that sits with the Commission and is helpful to know in that arena. I have been a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), I have been a Guardian Ad Litem for six or seven years now and I should know something about the law, maybe a smidgen but this kind of thing I really am not qualified for. I feel like in some of the arenas, I will need a lot of help. In terms of being, I think, unbiased, that I know I am and fair. Those attributes I think are okay. But I feel it would be a very interesting thing to do. Mr. Chock: I think you are coming in with the right frame of mind and new set of eyes for it. Like you, I am also on that learning curve. So we can learn together. Thank you. Ms. Golden: Even though I am an old lady I still enjoy learning. Chair Furfaro: Other questions? Mr. Kagawa? Mr. Kagawa: I do not have a question, but I wanted to thank you for volunteering to serve. As I read through the responsibilities of the Civil Service Commission, it just strikes me that we need people that are fair and who have the ability to make decisions with good common sense in mind and with fairness in mind. I have seen your background as a manager for so long and being a teacher, I feel assured that you fit those qualities to the highest extent. Ms. Golden: I thank you. I will do my best. Mr. Kagawa: To answer your question, whether you feel qualified, just stepping into the Council seat, the learning curve is surely there, but I am sure with your background, you will really hit the ground running and pick it up very fast. Ms. Golden: I will do my best. Mr. Kagawa: I will be supporting you. Thank you. Ms. Golden: Thank you. Mr. Kagawa: Thank you again, Paula, great choice. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 6 APRIL 2, 2014 Chair Furfaro: Mr. Hooser. Mr. Hooser: I just wanted to say thank you, number one. Ms. Golden: I thank you all of you. Mr. Hooser: Thank you for your continuing and ongoing service. You are clearly a role-model for myself and for all of us. Knowing the law is part of it, but I think more importantly is your instincts for people and your communication skills and your willingness to ask questions and not be shy about that. So just thank you very much. Ms. Golden: I am a very good question-asker. Mr. Hooser: Thank you. Chair Furfaro: JoAnn? Mr. Hooser, thank you. Ms. Yukimura: I feel like I should probably disqualify myself, because Nancy Golden is one of my favorite people on the island. I am slightly biased. Thank you, Nancy for continuing to serve. I do feel this is a good fit for all the reasons that people have mentioned on this Council floor. I just wanted to let you know that the Civil Service Commission does also have a role in the selection and oversight of the Human Resources Director. Ms. Golden: That is good. Ms. Yukimura: The County has been moving to transforming what has been known as the Personnel Services Department is now moving into a Human Resources paradigm, which we think is going to be a huge improvement to the County. But any journey of that sort needs really good leadership to watch over that process. So it is one of the roles the Commission will play, and I am delighted that you are willing to be part of that process. Ms. Golden: Thank you. Ms. Yukimura: So yes, we need critical leadership and your record shows that you have played that role continuously in your life. Ms. Golden: Thank you. Ms. Yukimura: Thank you very much. Chair Furfaro: Nancy, I want to let you know that I too will be giving your nomination my support. I want you to also know that I believe that you are a great qualified candidate for the role that you will need to play in this, based on your understanding of fair play, merit, and evaluations of performance. I think those are all very important parts of the Civil Service Commission and I will be very proud to support you in that appointment. Ms. Golden: Thank you very much. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 7 APRIL 2, 2014 Chair Furfaro: If there are no further questions, we will be voting on this on next week's agenda of the full Council. At that point, I say thank you and we will be in touch with you soon. Ms. Golden: I thank all of you for all you do. Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Members on that point, I am going to end this Special Council Meeting. I would like to be back at the table in ten (10) minutes. ADJOURNMENT. There being no further business, the Special Council Meeting adjourned at 9:26 a.m. Res. - - y submitt- :, ice. .- , -�� DIM 1 t TO ' = I/JR. Administrative Assis..nt p e County Clerk :lm