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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-09-15 CCC Minutes approvedCOUNTY OF KAUAI Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Board /Committee: I COST CONTROL COMMISSION Meeting Date March 9, 2015 Location Mo'ikeha Building — Meeting Room 2A /B Start of Meeting: 1:30 p.m. End of Meeting: 2:39 p.m. Present Chair Laurie Yoshida; Members: Dirk Apao, Jan Hashizume, Joanne Nakashima, and Sandi Sterker Also Deputy County Attorney Matthew Bracken; Board & Commissions Office Staff: Support Clerk Mercedes Omo; Administrator Paula Morikami Excused Vice Chair Glen Takenouchi Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order Chair Yoshida called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. with five (5) members present constituting a quorum. Public Hearing The meeting began with Chair Yoshida opening the floor to allow testimony on on the proposed the proposed rule changes, seeing that there was no one present to give amendments to testimony, Chair Yoshida closed the public hearing. Rule 7, Organization (b) Appointment of Secretary. [Subject to Civil Service and Compensation and Policy laws, the Secretary of the Commission shall be such officer or employee of the subsections (b) County of Kauai as the Commission shall appoint.] The Cost Control Appointment of Commission shall request secretarial and other support services from the Secretary; (c) Office of Boards and Commissions. Election of Chair and Vice Chair; (c) Election of Chairman, and Vice - Chairman. The members of the and (f) Commission shall annually elect [in the month of November] a Chairman and Commission Vice - Chairman to serve for the ensuing year. In the absence of the Chairman Meetings, of the at any meeting, the Vice - Chairman shall preside over the meeting. Cost Control Commission (f) Commission Meetings. The regular meeting of the Commission shall be Rules of Practice held [once a month] at least quarterly [on a date, at a time, and a place and Procedure designated by the Chairman of the Commission] on a date, at a time, and a Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session March 9, 2015 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION place designated by the Office of Boards and Commissions. Special meetings may be held at the call of the Chairman or Acting Chairman. Three or more members of the Commission may consent to postponement of any meeting to any other date. Commissioner Sterker moved to adopt the proposed amendments to Rule 7, Organization and Policy subsections (b), Appointment of Secretary, (c) Election of Chair and Vice Chair, (f) Commission meetings, of the Cost Control Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure. Commissioner Apao seconded. Motion carried 5:0. Approval of Regular Open Session Minutes of February 9, 2015. Commissioner Sterker moved to approve the Minutes meeting minutes of February 9, 2015. Commissioner Nakashima seconded. Motion carried 5:0 Business Communication dated February 10, 2015, from Chair Laurie Yoshida to CCC 2015 -05 County Grants Program Manager Ann Wooton, requesting for information on grants that the County provides to the various organizations for fiscal year 2014 -2015. (a) Communication dated February 23, 2015, from County Grants Program Manager Ann Wooton, responding to a request for information on grants subsidized by the County. Ms. Wooton began by explaining to the Commissioners that she does not manage the County's General Fund account, but oversees the review process to see if the application meets all of the legal requirements. Commissioner Sterker asked why some of the organizations that are listed Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session March 9, 2015 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION showed a higher payout than the amount the grant was originally appropriated for. Ms. Wooten explained that the final payout amount includes in -kind goods and services that are non - monetary, but are often assigned a financial value for tax and legal purposes. Commissioner Sterker then asked why the Kauai Humane Society was not on the list to which Ms. Wooten replied the KHS has a contract with the County which is mandated by the Hawaii Revised Statutes. Commissioner Nakashima asked if it was right to assume that some of the organizations that are on the list have overlapping grant funding from other sources. Ms. Wooten stated some of the organizations do receive additional grant funding from the State and Federal to run their project. With regard to Police and Fire, those agencies do in fact receive funding from the Federal that is passed through the State because the State is the only entity eligible to receive the funds from the Federal Government, Chair Yoshida stated the Commission can only make a recommendation relating to County funded grants, so it would make no sense for the Commission to ask for a list of organizations that receive grant funding from the State and Federal. Deputy County Attorney Bracken stated if the Commission wanted to, it could ask for a list of organizations who have overlapping grant funding from the State and Federal Governments, Commissioner Sterker asked what percentage the departments cut to cope with the County's budget shortfall. Ms. Morikami stated each of the departments was asked to cut 8 percent of their budget. She commented that if the Commission wanted to make a recommendation to reduce the grant funding by a certain percent, it had time to do so before the County Council makes a final decision relative to the 2016 Budget. Commissioner Hashizume asked who or what County agency determines Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session March 9, 2015 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION the appropriations for the next year's budget in terms of the grant funding. Ms. Wooten replied the decision primarily comes from the Mayor, Council and the Office of Economic Development who has the lion's share of the County grants. Commissioner Hashizume asked with the upcoming Departmental Budget reviews whether the prior year's recommendations will serve as a guideline to either add or subtract from the current list of organizations that receive County funding. Ms. Wooton indicated that the County does not have a set upper or lower limit on the size of a grant that it will award because the size of each grant and the number of grants awarded each year will vary. Chair Yoshida stated she can say for certain that Project Graduation would not have been possible without the support of Councilmember Ross Kagawa although, this year Mayor Carvalho did appropriate funds for the project which she hopes will continue for many more years. She added that Project Graduation is a well - organized, adult - supervised, and alcohol -free event which often last through the night and held at a local hotel. Chair Yoshida stated the grant requests are usually directed to the Mayor or a councilmember and then goes through a review process to see if the project is worthy of County funding, and if it is, the Grant Manager would have to find a place for the grant, but if there isn't a current program that the grant can be applied to, a decision must be made whether or not to approve the grant application as a line -item in the budget. Chair Yoshida asked Ms. Wooton if she could provide the Commission with a list of overlapping county grants that receive funding from the Federal and State, and a list of grant projects (when available) that are being considered for fiscal year 2015. Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session March 9, 2015 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Commissioner Sterker stated the fact that the County departments had to take an 8 percent cut makes her wonder if the Commission should consider making a recommendation to the Mayor that he reduces the total amount of grant funding from 8 to 10 percent. Chair Yoshida voiced her concerns that some of the organizations may use a portion of their funding to cover unforeseen cost. Commissioner Sterker stated if an organization needs to cover the 8 percent cut, perhaps they should get it from another source. Chair Yoshida asked if it is within the Commission's purview to recommend a cut to a line -item. Commissioner Nakashima stated just because the Commission makes a recommendation does not mean that it will happen. Chair Yoshida stated at this point, she thinks it would be difficult to ask the Mayor to cut a percentage since there are only three (3) months left in the current fiscal year. Ms. Morikami stated the recommendation, if any, would be for the new fiscal year. Chair Yoshida informed the Commissioners that she would have to recuse herself from the discussion because she happens to be applying for a grant. Commissioner Nakashima informed the Commissioners that the expenditure of public funds should be used to improve County services which brings the question whether the organizations who are receiving County funding is doing that. She added at this point, the Commission does not know what the County's Budget Team is proposing in terms of reducing or increasing the amount of grant funding. Commissioner Sterker stated she feels an 8% cut may not be a lot, but it can Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session March 9, 2015 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION add up if the county decides to increase the amount of funding every year. Commissioner Nakashima questioned the amount of the projects that are repetitive. Commissioner Apao stated from what he can see, most of the organizations that are on the list actually do good things for the community which is why it would be hard for him to support a cut to the total amount of grant funding. Commissioner Sterker stated no matter what the Commission decides, it would be up to the Council to make the final decision on how much percentage to cut. She stated the fact that the departments had to take an 8% budget cut makes her wonder why the organizations cannot do the same. Commissioner Hashizume stated in light of the fiscal concerns she would support Commissioner Sterker's recommendation to cut from 8% to 10% of the total amount of grant funding. Chair Yoshida asked for a list of the total amount of grant funds that were issued in the past three (3) years in order for the Commission to see whether or not the budget has been growing. Commissioner Nakashima stated that funding certain projects is always a good gesture on part of the County, however, this is a new era and the County is not taking in as much money as they are spending. She stated she does not think that the recommendation to cut from 8 to 10 percent of the total amount of grant funding is as drastic as others may think. Chair Yoshida asked if the recommendation was officially made to which Commissioner Sterker replied she would like to Commissioner Sterker moved to cut 8 percent officially make the recommendation. of the total amount of grant funding for fiscal year 2015. Commissioner Hashizume seconded the motion. Discussion Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session March 9, 2015 Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Chair Yoshida asked if the recommendation should appear on the next agenda to allow the public a chance to testify. Ms. Morikami explained because the item CCC 2015 -07 is already on the agenda, the Commission can make the recommendation and vote on it today. Chair Yoshida stated in the past whenever a recommendation was being proposed, the language usually appeared on the agenda. She asked if the wording on the current agenda was sufficient to move forward with the recommendation, or must the wording be sufficiently detailed on the next agenda to provide the public with adequate notice to choose whether or not to participate. Chair Yoshida stated relative to the credit union recommendation the Commission received a lot of written and verbal testimony. Ms. Morikami explained relative to the credit unions that recommendation did not appear on the next agenda because the Chair came to the Office of Boards and Commissions to review and sign the letter. Chair Yoshida stated she is still unclear whether or not, for procedural purposes, the recommendation should appear on the next agenda. Ms. Morikami replied the recommendation does not have to appear on the next agenda because, based on the current discussion relative to item CCC 2015 -07, that's what lead to Commissioner Sterker making the recommendation. Deputy County Attorney Bracken explained because the item is on the current agenda, the Commission could proceed with the recommendation. Commissioner Sterker stated the County Council needs to know that the Cost Control Commission is following through with its responsibilities. Commissioner Apao stated with all considered he would not be supporting the recommendation. After the motion was made, Chair Yoshida asked for counsel advice as to With (3) ayes from Commissioners Hashizume, Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session March 9, 2015 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION whether or not the motion passed. Deputy County Attorney Bracken called Nakashima and Sterker to support the for a five (5) minute recess to do some research on the outcome of the vote. recommendation to reduce 8 percent of the total amount of grant funding for fiscal year 2015; At 2:28 p.m. the Commission went into recess. (1) nay from Commissioner Apao; (1) recusal At 2:35 p.m. the Commission reconvened. from Chair Yoshida. Deputy County Attorney Bracken explained in order for the motion to pass, there needs to be a current vote of the majority meaning that the majority vote should be four (4) out of the seven (7) members therefore, the motion did not pass. Chair Yoshida stated based on the information that is being requested, the matter would still remain on the agenda for continued discussion. The motion did not pass. Announcements Chair Yoshida announced that the next meeting is scheduled for April 13, 2015, which is the start of the second quarter which means that the Commission's next meeting will commence in July and October. But if there is a matter that needs to be addressed sooner, the Commission has the flexibility to meet in May. Chair Yoshida asked when would be an appropriate time to ask the Budget Team to make a presentation to the Commission. Ms. Morikami stated because of the Departmental Budget reviews, it would be less cumbersome for the Budget Team if they could make their presentation after the budget reviews are completed, which would be in July. With no further business to discuss, Chair Yoshida called for a motion to adjourn. Adjournment Commissioner Sterker moved to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Nakashima seconded. Motion carried 5:0 Cost Control Commission Regular Open Session March 9, 2015 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION 2015. ( ) Approved as At 2:39 p.m. the meeting adjourned. Submitted by: Mercedes Omo, Staff Support Clerk (x) Approved as circulated on April 13, 2015. ( ) Approved as amended. See minutes of _ meeting. Reviewed and Approved by: Laurie Yoshida, Chairperson