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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/27/2015 Mayor's Office (Including Boards & Commissions, Life Choices, EEOC & ADA) 3/27/2015 DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET REVIEWS 2015- 16 OFFICE OF THE MAYOR (Including Boards & Commissions, Life Choices, EEOC & ADA) • Office of the Mayor Honorable Mason K. Chock Honorable Gary L. Hooser (present at 11:53 a.m.) Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i Honorable Mel Rapozo Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro Excused: Honorable Ross Kagawa The Committee reconvened at 11:52 a.m., and proceeded as follows: Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back from recess and we are going bring up the Mayor's Administration and they will go over the Mayor's Office budget. I want to stay upfront once they are done with the presentation, then we are going to go through each item. So when you have your questions, please put them together by item. So we will have the Office of the Mayor, including Life's Choices Kaua`i, then we are going to move to the Youth Work Program, then the ADA Office, then the Office of Boards and Commissions. As they go through the presentation, try to put your questions in those categories because we are going to move through each category and we are not going to turn back. Nadine, thank you. NADINE K. NAKAMURA, Managing Director: Good morning. Nadine Nakamura, Managing Director, and I am here to give you the presentation for the Office of the Mayor. First of all I would like to talk about the Holo Holo 2020 vision, which is what we are all working toward. That is an island that is sustainable, that values our native culture, that has a thriving and healthy economy, cares for all, from keihi to hupuna, and has a responsible and user-friendly local government. This is our 2020 vision and our actions, our funds are all toward achieving this vision. The mission of the Mayor's Office is multi-fold, to carry out this vision by directing the management of all of the departments, offices, and agencies, we serve as a liaison between the Administration and the County Council; we facilitate State and Federal legislative agendas, we coordinate internal and external communications; support all boards and commissions; manage our capital improvement program; manage our Life's Choices Kaua`i Office; and we also have an individual who serves as our EEO or Equal Employment Opportunity and American's with Disabilities (ADA) Coordinator. I wanted to talk about our successes and achievements in five major categories. There will be some overlap in some of the things that the Mayor went over earlier this morning. We wanted to focus on some of the employee initiatives, our financial sustainability, the Holo Holo 2020 priority projects, government efficiency, initiatives, and new partnership initiatives. First of all I would like to...I think one of the major achievements was articulating last year the customer service mission statement and this year the value statement for the County of Kauai. And the great thing about this is that it was employee-driven. Headed by Debbie Ponce and there were representatives from different departments that worked on the process over several months. You have probably all received table cards with the mission statement and value statement. We have subsequently added this information to the County's website and we have included posters in our conference rooms and places that people pass through. So we are now in this next phase of trying to translate our values into actions. And one of the important values that March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 2 we have is gratitude. And one of the things that we want to do is to just express our gratitude to the over 1,200 employees who work for the County of Kauai. As we talked about earlier this morning, their wages and benefits comprise over 80% of the General Fund operating budget. They are hard-working, caring, and committed employees. The great thing about this job is to...when we receive letters of commendation from the public, from people from other agencies, from State government, thanking and appreciating our employees for the work that they have done. The Mayor and I have tried to make it a point, when we receive those, in expressing our...in carrying out our values is to go and to acknowledge the work individually. So all of our employees are working in many different ways to improve the quality of life for this island. Our Employee Council wanted to recognize Max Kato-Klutke, who has served as President for many years. We have added new members to a very small group that was running it for several years. They are now 25 strong and the goals are to improve the moral of the County workforce, improve working relationships, and address employee concerns. I want to thank Eddie Topenio, for representing the County Council on this body. These are pictures of the fried-rice rice competition. Some of the concerns raised over the past year include earlier morning security for custodians who come in very early, 4:00 a.m. in some cases and there were situations that made it very dangerous. So we have arranged for increased security. We placed bird spikes to prevent droppings in heavily traveled areas as a safety and beautification concern. The traffic changes are in and around the Lihu`e Civic Center were a concern so we started a brown-bag luncheon program to bring in the Public Works resources to help share our plans for Hardy Street and this potential bus transit area. As you can see in this photo there are many activities that the Employee Council arranges throughout the year that help to bring our County employees and their families together in fun ways. The Council is welcome to participate. There is a picture there of Mel Rapozo emceeing one of the events. You are all welcome to attend. It is a great way to have fun with our employees. Also we kick-started the employee newsletter. I would like to recognize Laurie Kelekoma, Department of Finance, who serves as our editor. There are 10 contributing writers, which is why we asked them to move from semi-annual to quarterly publications and thank you to your staff person Yvette for participating in that process. When we met and have our jointed goal-setting session, sustainability was at the top of the list of concerns. I wanted to just layout some of the key elements of our strategy is to work on our five-year financial plan. Ken Shimonishi will take the lead and share more details there. Grant Management Committee. We asked Ann to move away from being a Budget Analyst and to coordinate this effort, because as our County finances are reduced, we need to find other sources of funds and leverage our County funds. So one of the first things Ann did was to purchase grant management software that will help all departments and she is working with representatives from all of the departments and formed a committee and will be looking at better ways to seek grants, manage grants, and work together to make sure that we have good data when we go ahead and apply for grants. Also, we have the Building Permit Review Task Force, which is an initiative of the Mayor to listen to the voices of the private sector on some of the ways we can improve our building permit review process, and we will be pulling together the public and private representation to see how we can make some changes and improve the time that it takes to get building permits through our process. The Mayor touched on many of these projects. I am going to quickly go over the Hobo Hobo 2020 CIP priority projects. I tried to highlight those that were priority projects in our joint discussion. The solid waste solution, Larry Dill is taking the lead. We had a March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 3 request for information. We had many responses to that. We are reviewing that and at the same time we will be working on a request for proposals this summer, evaluating, and hopefully awarding by the end of the year. Bus shelters, again, that was talked about earlier. But Celia Mahikoa and Keith Suga are taking the lead. We have 6 shelters that are complete, 12-16 shelters in progress, and 49 shelters whose funding is in front of the State Legislature and we are fortunate that our State Representatives and State Senator put that into their request. Affordable housing, Kamuela Cobb-Adams, this was another area that was a strong priority area that Kamuela has spent a lot of time. He will probably not tell you this in his presentation, but he has spent a lot of really good thinking about how to value-engineer the Lima Ola project. The phase 1 development is a very small portion of the overall development, but his very creative thinking has gotten us to the point where it can be a manageable project that will minimize the risk to a non-profit or private developer who might come in to actually do the project. He is also pursuing and will be telling you more about the Kaniko`o Rice Camp phrase 2. The Adolescent Treatment and Healing Center has also been a top priority for this Administration. We have received three responses to an RFI. I think this time last year we were focused on the Ma'alo site on Grove Farm lands, but since then we have been made aware of the potential to have a license on a portion of the Kahili Mountain Park site. So we are evaluating that and having discussions with the landowner. They seem to be receptive and though we are pursuing discussions, we would like to secure a memorandum of understanding and we will need to come back to the Council for a land license if we are to pursue any of these sites. We hope to do that in the 2nd quarter of this year and then begin the process of issuing the RFP to select an operator for the facility in the 2nd quarter of this year. Another priority project identified through our joint goal setting was the Kaua`i Nui Kuapapa project and Nalani Brun is taking the lead. You have seen the moku signs, and the Ahupua'a signage will come up along with work on web-based resources and curriculum. There are other Holo Holo 2020 projects and you are going to be hearing about these in more detail when the Office of Economic Development does their presentation before you. But basically the cultural stewardship agreements, agricultural steward agreement, and North Shore Shuttle are other important projects that we are tracking. We spent some time when we did our joint goal-setting workshop about government efficiency projects, so I wanted to describe these to you mainly because many of these projects happen because we are bringing together people from different agencies to have the conversation and it is going to take collaboration and making mistakes along the way, but trying to fix it as we go along to have what we need to put in place for a better, more efficient County government. Especially as we look at making cuts to our budget and our salaries, we have to have the tools to be more efficient. These are some of the strategies that we put in place. You will be hearing from Janine Rapozo and Brandon Raines about the Human Resources Information Task Force. And the progress that they are making to move from paper time sheets across 16 agencies to one coordinated system that can be done electronically. We are going to be...as you know the Motor Pool Task Force is in full force. Training has taken place with our employees. Just last week I was able to use one of our...use the swipe card and learn how it works. I also went to an Employee Council Meeting where there are concerns about how it is being implemented and how we can try to fix it. So Sally Motta and Ben Sullivan will be working on...so any time you do something new, there will be issues and concerns and that is what we are trying to address in this process. The Vacancy • March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 4 Review Committee is headed up by Ernest Barreira and I must say, they have done quite a bit since they started in November. I think last time during the budget cycle, I think I talked about how we wanted to get this off the ground and put together a committee and have a clear mission for what they were going to do. We made changes along the way with what forms to use and our processes, and it is still a work in progress. We have come a long way. The budget before you and the reduction in costs is largely in part to the work of the Vacancy Review Committee. Keep in mind every member of that Committee, except one...Karen Matsumoto who is formerly from the Department of Personnel Services, who is volunteering her time, all have other jobs that this takes away from, but we feel very fortunate that they are very committed to doing this work. The Land Information Management Task Force really pulls together the Planning Department, Real Property Tax, and Public Works along with IT to help coordinate the discussion about how do we get all of our departments talking to each other on one system? And how do we take the internal systems and make them available to the public? So that they do not need to come in and they can get information online, which is how you can do it in some of the other counties. We have a long way to go, but the first thing we need to do is to come up with a plan. We are committed to getting us to that point. So we can take the steps to get to where we need to be and Brandon will be talking to you. The government efficiency initiatives and we talked earlier about the supervisory training, leadership development, Janine Rapozo is taking the lead on that. She will be telling you more about our efforts there. The whole idea there is how do we reduce the numbers of claims, grievances, lawsuits, that come across, that come to the County by being proactive, by training our supervisors and to know who to go to when these problems first arise? That is how we will be able to reduce lawsuits. The other is an Information Technology Steering Committee and we want to thank Scott Sato, who is representing the Council on this Committee, which is just a high- level discussion on how our information technology resources are directed and prioritizing our needs. The Energy Management Task Force is headed up by Ben Sullivan and that again is to pull together the different resources from various departments to continue the progress that we are making in reducing our overall energy costs. The procurement improvements is an ongoing effort, Ernest Barreira is taking the lead on this to look at ways...I think it is one of the areas when we did a survey of department heads about what are the most frustrating things about the County system and procurement came up as one of the issues. And part of it is educating and part of it is...I think Ernie has made a lot of improvements that we all recognize, and appreciate. So it is just taking another look at what are some of the tools that can be used to improve even more on it. So you will be hearing more about that. So those are sort of the big-picture, countywide successes and achievements and where we want to head. The Office of Boards and Commissions is attached to the Mayor's Office. I want to recognize the work of Paula Morikami and her team, serving 14 boards and commissions and three committees and four Life's Choices Kaua`i committees. There are over 160 volunteers who serve on various board and commissions and committees that we want to recognize. They continue to offer training opportunities to build the capacity of our boards and commissions. They are offering training in effective meeting management, parliamentary procedures, new board member orientation and the new training, evaluating department heads for those who have supervisory authority. Our capital improvement program is managed by Keith Suga and we are very pleased with the work that he has done March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 5 in contributing to the six-year CIP report and also for really helping to move the projects along by working with project managers, by just helping in every way. He is also out in the field, on Saturdays, you know, making sure that the volunteers helping with bus shelters are getting the support that they need. So I really want to thank Keith for his work. As was mentioned earlier, eight million five hundred thousand dollars ($8,500,000) was been spent so far this fiscal year and they expect another five million dollars ($5,000,000) to be encumbered by the end of this fiscal year. I want to recognize Theresa Koki for her work with the Life's Choices Kaua`i. Last year they hosted the drug summit and there were many people there, but it included 80 county supervisors and managers who received training in reasonable suspicion and drug recognition. This is training mandated by our collective bargaining contracts. She was able to work it out so we were able to accomplish the goal, which is to hold this drug summit, but also to provide these continuing education credits to our own County employees. Theresa has also worked closely with many other non-profits to host the annual Health and Wellness Fair. This past year there were 50 vendors, over 256 parking lot parking participants and a lot of need and interest for this fair. The preschool partnership...first-round forty-two thousand five hundred dollars ($42,500) was awarded. In this last round eighty-eight thousand dollars ($88,000) was distributed to organizations and the third round there will be less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) that will be awarded. I think in your package there is a breakdown of those who received awards and the amounts of the awards. We have been busy also, the Mayor's Office coordinates sister-city relationships, and there have been many visits over the past fiscal year. We had a delegation of 17 from Moriyama, Japan that participated in a tree planting ceremony and a delegation of 25 from Iwaki-Hawai`i Exchange Association that also attended the Matsuri Festival in October of last year, 2014. In May of last year, a delegation of 8 from Iwaki City came to Kaua`i and participated in the blessing and dedication of the Port Allen buoy. That buoy came...drifted from japan after the earthquake in 2011 and made its way to the west shore of Kauai and in partnership with Alexander & Baldwin we were able to...and the Kaua`i Visitors Bureau we were able to set up this monument and that is a great memorial with our sister-city relationship with Iwaki City. As you know, we have a very active Mayor, who is out in the community, and is recognizing all of the good work that is done by individuals and organizations. Our Office wrote and presented 150 proclamations and wrote and presented over 250 certificates last year. We also oversee our Washington, D.C. Consultant, Smith, Dawson, and Andrews, and Mary Cronin has been instrumental in helping us identify potential grant sources, holding one-on-one meetings with our departments, and discussing grant possibilities. She is also providing guidance and suggestions on how we approach our priority Federal grants. We will be coming to the Council shortly to discuss a TIGER grant, which is related to various transportation improvements in the Lihu`e core. The Mayor's Office is also responsible for communications between the County of Kaua`i and the public. We have a team that responds to public and news media openly, accurately, and promptly and I underline "promptly." They work above and beyond and work on shifts. On weekends they are on- call 24/7 to address concerns as they arise and to coordinate with our various State and Federal government agencies. But I wanted to just let you know that our Communication Team is the Council's Communication Team. And that if you have any need for press releases and so forth, to please coordinate with Mary Daubert and Sarah Blane. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 6 The Equal Employment Opportunity — Americans with Disabilities Act, we oversee it in the Mayor's Office. We have one person, Linda...does an incredible job. She is one person, but she is responsible for language access and the Equal Employment Opportunity. Linda is proactive, bringing resources and working with our departments to prevent complaints. An example of this is that in the past we would normally have 10-12 ADA complaints and so far this year, we do not have any complaints. So hats off to Linda for her preventative work here. I think what we want to do on the EEO side is to be more proactive as well. We will be incorporating that training in our supervisory training. Some of the challenges and I think the Chair of our budget process raised this was that there are actually two Deputy Director positions that remain unfilled due to pay inversion issues. And this is something that has been raised earlier. This is, I think, is one of the consequences of this system as it is currently designed. It is unfortunate and I think we need to put our heads together to address this challenge. The other one is that negotiations, as was said earlier and the Mayor articulated there are units that are currently in negotiations and anything that comes out of this will need to come out of our unassigned fund balance. And then next year, we should probably expect another eight million dollars to nine million dollars ($8,000,000 - $9,000,000) of additional negotiated or budgeted for and just something to think about. Because some of these...because of the multi-year agreements we are already locked in. Additionally, this came up earlier, that we will not know until the first week of May of this year about...that is when we...prior to turning in our supplemental budget, whether we will have any general excise tax (GET) surcharge authority and what that would be used for, if we do? We will not know until May of next year, 2016, about our potential changes to the transient accommodations tax (TAT) allocation. So those are some of the challenges and unknowns moving in this budget. As mentioned earlier, there are...going through the budget process, there are many things that departments would like to have that we just could not include in the budget to balance it. And some of these include a hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in road repairs. Both in just creating new roads and maintaining roads. Nineteen million dollars ($19,000,000) in heavy equipment replacement between 2016 and 2020. We know these are coming down the line. And five million three hundred thousand dollars ($5,300,000) in vehicle replacement between 2016 and 2020. That excludes police vehicles. So we have many challenges ahead. Just focusing back down to the Mayor's Office and our budget, we are showing overall a decrease in our salary and wages line item from last year by thirty-four thousand dollars ($34,000) and we have a corresponding decrease in benefits. We are keeping utilities and vehicle equipment the same as last year. And we have made an eighty-one thousand dollars ($81,000) reduction in operations. I wanted to just explain that to you. But the total reduction is one hundred twenty-eight thousand five hundred dollars ($128,500). Again, the thirty-four thousand dollars ($34,000) decrease in salary and wages, we did eliminate a position in Boards and Commissions. Now this does not come without consequences. One of the things that I want to recognize Paula Morikami, because what she was able to do was work with various boards and commissions to reduce the mandated number of meetings that they have each month. And with their consent, we were able to make changes to their internal rules. So it gives them flexibility that they do not have to meet if there is nothing to meet about. And that way, that frees up your staff time, because it takes up quite a bit of time to do the minutes for each of those, to do the agendas, and March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 7 send out packets ahead of time. All of that gets reduced as a result. So there is a lot of work that went into that to make that happen. Also the corresponding decrease in employee health benefits, and then the reduction in operations is a result of reducing our advertising budget in Boards and Commissions. Reducing our Granicus contract and we actually wanted to move this line item to the Council's budget because I think 80-90% of it is Council-related funds. But we were strongly advised to keep it in the Mayor's Office budget. We did...the Mayor felt that one way to contribute to the budget reduction is to terminate his weekly "Together We Can" show, that is a twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) cut. And also terminating the Police Commission monthly meeting which is a three thousand dollar ($3,000) cut. We ran that by the Police Commission Chair and leadership of the Police Department before making that recommendation. And we also included a reduction in the Council's portion of the Granicus contract of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you for the presentation. Ms. Nakamura: So I just want to say that we look forward to respectful dialogue as we move forward over the next few weeks as we develop our new budget. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I look forward to respectful dialogue also. We are moving towards lunch. I do not think we will have time to ask questions so I think the plan will be we will take a one-hour lunch and be back at 1:30 p.m. and come back with questions. I know the presentation covered a lot of departments. So just keep in our Councilmembers' heads that some questions although they cover transportation and housing, it may be better directed to those departments as we get through them. We are just going to go in the order that I said earlier. And we are just going to move on after we get through those questions. We will take our recess until 1:30 p.m. There being no objections, the Committee recessed at 12:26 p.m. The Committee reconvened at 1:32 p.m., and proceeded as follows: Honorable Mel Rapozo (present at 1:54 p.m.) Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Welcome back. So Nadine did her presentation on the Office of the Mayor. I just want to make an announcement to Councilmembers that HR has provided an updated quarterly report on vacancies and it is in your boxes. So thank you again Nadine for your great presentation. And I guess we are going to open it up to questions. We are going to start with the Administration and Life's Choices Kauai. So direct all your questions towards that and we will move on to the next item if we do not have any more questions for that. So any questions from the Councilmembers? Councilmember Hooser: Questions about the presentation that was made or specific areas, did you say? Committee Chair Kaneshiro: It is going to be specific questions to the areas. The presentation did an overview of what the Mayor's Office is doing and it included all of the Mayor's departments. But I think these questions are going be more targeted towards their actual budget that we received. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 8 Councilmember Hooser: I had a list of questions from the presentation. Should I just go through them? Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Sure. Councilmember Hooser: Okay. Good afternoon. Hope you enjoyed your lunch. Ms. Nakamura: I did. Councilmember Hooser: You had mentioned two unfilled, I think, Deputy positions due to pay inversion. Is that because the existing employees do not want to step up to that and take less pay, is that how it works? Ms. Nakamura: Yes. Councilmember Hooser: Yes. Ms. Nakamura: So the people serving in tiers that would move up into that position with that supervisory experience make more than that Deputy position maximum salary is. Councilmember Hooser: Okay. Are there other opportunities to provide maybe other benefits or items that would make it more attractive in terms of work hours, other things out outside of the pay that we could do or could we hire a retired person and they get their retirement and come back? Ms. Nakamura: It might be good to have those conversations with the departments impacted. The two departments would be Fire and Police. To have the conversations with the Chiefs, to see about their thinking behind this? But at this point, both of those positions are open. Councilmember Hooser: Okay. And the vehicle and equipment was twenty-one thousand dollars ($21,000) for the year? For the budget item for the Mayor's Office I think is twenty-one thousand dollars ($21,000). Is that...it seems like a lot for an office. Ms. Nakamura: I believe that is the lease purchase price. Councilmember Hooser: So that is a built-in cost? Ms. Nakamura: Built-in cost, yes. Councilmember Hooser: Okay. And then one of the items that most concerned me was the cutting of the Police Commission and the Council's Granicus coverage. It seems like we could find other places to cut it. Transparency in the Police Commission is an important body that is charged with protecting the public's interests. I think...and I am curious to...you may have mentioned this already and I apologize if you did, but the Mayor's Office cutting the Council's portion rather than the Council cutting the Council's portion. How does that happen? March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 9 Ms. Nakamura: We were just trying to find areas to reduce costs and it was in our budget. We tried to maintain most of the funds in there. I think it is just a very small percentage of your overall budget. So it was just...the Mayor was cutting his program out. So if the Council would consider also making a similar cut? Councilmember Hooser: Right. The Council is official business, right? The recording of official meetings? As opposed to just a general informative kind of program. Ms. Nakamura: Some of your workshops and so forth may not be...it may be...that is what we were looking at, maybe some of the things that may not need to be televised. That would be entirely up to the Council and if the Council wanted to restore those funds, that is your prerogative. Councilmember Hooser: And what percentage of the overall...how does it impact our overall video? Because for the public's perspective what I am talking about is cuts to the budget which would decrease the amount of Ho`ike coverage by the Planning Commission and by the County Council? Ms. Nakamura: Right. I believe the total amount of the budget was one hundred twenty thousand dollars ($120,000) total. Councilmember Hooser: Is that for the Council only? Ms. Nakamura: All. That is the entire Granicus portion. Councilmember Hooser: Okay. Ms. Nakamura: So that is one hundred twenty thousand dollars ($120,000). Councilmember Hooser: And the Council portion of that, do you know off of top of your head? Ms. Nakamura: I believe I think the only other piece that we are going to maintain was the Planning Commission hearings, which is I think was another three thousand dollars ($3,000). So that would be the remaining amount would be...it would be another close to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)...over one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) is the Council's portion. Councilmember Hooser: Okay. So this represents a 15% cut in coverage? Ms. Nakamura: Something like that. I could give you the detailed breakdown, but those are generally the numbers. Councilmember Hooser: Thank you. That is all I have for now. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thanks. Any other questions from the members? Councilmember Yukimura? March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 10 Councilmember Yukimura: I want to follow-up. Do you know how much we spent this year and whether it would take us into...or what our spending rate was for the last three years? And what kind of deficit it might have us face or maybe we always ended up with fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) surplus. So cutting it would not necessarily mean such a detriment. Ms. Nakamura: I am looking behind, because maybe when Paula comes in, we can have that question answered. I believe it is a set amount in the contract. I do not know if it is billable by hours of use. Councilmember Yukimura: Really? Ms. Nakamura: It might be a flat-fee contract. Let me find out and I can get back to you on that. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Ms. Nakamura: Just sort of the historical budget and then historical use. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. Thank you. Should I continue or maybe there are other questions about that Ho`ike /Granicus? No? Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I missed the question. Councilmember Yukimura: I just wondered...I can continue with other questions I have, but I was thinking Councilmembers...and I think Councilmember Kuali`i said they have questions about this Granicus contract. It is Granicus' contract, not Ho`ike? Ms. Nakamura: That is correct. Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. I thought we could get the questions out on that issue before we move on. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I realize that I was trying to break it up, but the Mayor's Office budget is pretty small and we can combine Boards and Commissions and everything. I know we started on the Granicus and Boards and Commissions and I am fine going over whatever budget items because it is a small budget. If you have other questions, you can feel free to ask. Councilmember Yukimura: Mr. Chair, if we are on one subject, maybe we can check around to see if anybody wants to check about that subject? Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions regarding Granicus? Councilmember Kuali`i? Councilmember Kuali`i: Along the lines of that one hundred twenty thousand dollars ($120,000) line item going forward for video and web streaming service, is that...there is not significant change from the prior year? The small amount you are talking about is just the changes? Because I saw a total including legislative tracking and lobbyist service of other services, where it is the largest expense in that category "other services." For 2014, one hundred ninety-six thousand dollars ($196,000), but for 2015, at March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 11 two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000). It seems like a huge change. But you are only talking about a reduction of...what was it? Workshops and the Mayor...thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) total. Ms. Nakamura: There was a reduction in that line item. I think it is where advertising...that may have been...Paula, here we go. So can you repeat your question for Paula Morikami? PAULA M. MORIKAMI, Boards and Commissions Administrator: I am sorry I am late. Councilmember Kuali`i: I was just trying to understand the savings, if you will, the reductions on the line item that is "other services," that has the video and web streaming at one hundred twenty thousand dollars ($120,000)? I only see from another piece of paper here that in 2014 the total line item for "other services" was one hundred ninety-six thousand dollars ($196,000), but in 2015, under "Council Review" column it was two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000). So it does seem like there is a sixty thousand dollars ($60,009) decrease. So besides the filming of workshops and I guess is the Mayor's talk-story here too? Ms. Morikami: The other services included things, like, the Charter Review Commission's legal counsel. It included also Granicus of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000). It also included on an as as-needed basis a lobbyist. Councilmember Kuali`i: Yes. Because actually that tells me right there, Granicus went down from one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) to one hundred twenty thousand dollars ($120,000) and that is the thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) you are talking about. Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura: May I? Actually I have another question on this. So Granicus is the web streaming. It is not Ho`ike? Ho`ike is a totally separate contract? Ms. Morikami: Ho`ike is subcontracted by Granicus. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. So we are talking about potential limitation on the video or the televising of Council meetings and workshops? Ms. Morikami: No, what we did, we took a summary of all of the expenses for the last few years, what percent was County Council? What percent was the Mayor's show? What percent was Planning Commission and Police Commission? Based on those figures, we figured that in eliminating the Mayor's Show and Police Commission, we would keep the Planning Commission and the County Council, and looking at the last year's costs, we felt we could reduce the Council Services...your budget...because part of that included the lengthy budget sessions you had, plus the workshop and hearings that you had on Bill No. 2491. So that was an exception to the year and thought it would be ample. Councilmember Yukimura: So you think the figure with the fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) cut would still cover all of our needs? That it would not cause any cut in coverage? March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 12 Ms. Morikami: Yes. In looking at the last three years, the amount that we allocated for Council Services should cover you. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you for that explanation. So if I could stay on Boards and Commissions, since we have Paula here... Ms. Morikami: I am sorry, I am late. My apologies. Councilmember Yukimura: I just want to thank you, Paula, for such incredible service in your position. Ms. Morikami: Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura: It is hard for me to conceive of you not being there. And I really want to acknowledge all that has been accomplished during your tenure. So with respect to...I think this is under "Boards and Commissions." Boards and Commissions sponsored training. One of the things that you highlighted was the new course offering for evaluating board and commission appointed department heads. Ms. Morikami: The six boards and commissions that appoint a department head do the evaluations annually. What we are trying to do is have a more systematic approach so everybody is doing pretty much the same form, doing the same type of processing. So the Boards and Commissions Office is working with HR to make that happen. The form will be similar. The evaluation will be similar. So that is supposed to be starting this next fiscal. Councilmember Yukimura: Well, I commend you for that, because this is such an important function. The appointing of a department head and then the holding of the board or commission accountable, as well as supporting good department heads, you know? So very important. And my question is, you know the Council does the same. We have a Clerk and an Auditor that we appoint and it seems to me we could use this kind of training and would we be able to participate as well, assuming that the Chair would approve and work with schedules? Not everybody around this table or in the other commissions actually have experience or background with executive appointments. You know, and how to make and hold accountable high-level managers? Ms. Morikami: That would be something that you could work out with HR and I am sure they will be more than glad to help you in that respect. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay, because sometimes the Council needs training too. Thank you. You want a follow-up? Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Hooser had a follow-up question. Councilmember Hooser: For boards and commissions, with regards to selecting new commissioners, do you have an advertising budget that you advertise? Ms. Morikami: We do not advertise to fill vacancies on boards and commissions. We have an active list of people who are interested in serving, and we have nominations that keep on coming throughout the year. And we start off with that. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 13 Councilmember Hooser: Okay. I guess I would encourage the Administration to consider expanding that. You know, the situations that are hard to fill. We recently had the discussion about the environmental position on the Planning Commission and there are others that require different criteria. And I believe that if we made a stronger outreach into the community and more people knew, we might get more applicants rather than have the applicant pool focused on people who either watch Council meetings or know county employees or involved in the circle. I do not know if you could consider that in terms of just increasing the outreach? And if it costs money to run an ad for looking for a Planning Commissioner or this commissioner or that commissioner that goes to the question of gender balance also? I am continually somewhat disappointed that we do not have greater gender balance and if the pool is too small, I would encourage you to expand that pool. Ms. Morikami: I believe in the last two years you have seen a large increase in the number of women serving, and also coming to you for interviews. We realize that is an issue and we have been working on it. I think if you look at this past year and the year before, you will see that we are moving up where there is gender equality, equal. Councilmember Hooser: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any other questions from the members? Councilmember Chock: A follow-up on the Granicus. We always talk about how that expense is really big for us and it is so important that we continue the service. I was wondering on the opposite side of cost-savings with the company, and having discussions in terms of how we might be able to do cost-savings and take some shortcuts, because I certainly see the value of the Police Commission, for instance. And Ho'ike "Together We Can" show for the community. Has there been any discussion with Granicus in terms of savings? Ms. Morikami: The contract expired January 22nd. We are waiting for the signed pieces to arrive for this next year. We were fortunate in our negotiations with Granicus there was no increase, which we felt was really great. As far as looking at the costs more than that, they were thinking of raising it, but they kept it the same. So we were pleased with the results of keeping it exactly the same, same contract as the previous year. Councilmember Chock: And are there any other competitors that are part of the process, the procurement process in providing this service? Ms. Morikami: We go out and we seek through competitive bidding, but Granicus is the one, because of the fact that we already have the software and hardware in place in the county. So I can see why it would be come back because they have all of their infrastructure sort of in the IT Division. To remove that complete and start again would be an awesome task and expensive. Councilmember Chock: I do not know what I would do without B.C. No offense, B.C. Just looking at what we can do to improve. Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura: I have some questions on Life's Choices. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 14 Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We have one more on Boards and Commissions. Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: Just a quick question and at the risk of getting buried in the weeds on a small amount, but the legislative tracking website; B&C management software line item, I am curious how it breaks down between the two pieces. As far as the legislative tracking website how many users are we entitled to and where are they throughout the county? Ms. Morikami: The legislative tracking is budgeted at fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) and each one of you are listed on the website tracking along with every department. And it is a useful tool, because at any given time within a 20-minute period of Senate or House action, you will actually get the results of that meeting. That is fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) and the other six thousand dollars ($6,000) is software to look at ways to streamline our Office in compiling forms, compiling logs, et cetera. In speaking to Lani Agoot, we decided last week to take a harder look at that, because perhaps we do not need that service. Our Office is doing a pretty decent job of monitoring and tracking the log of members. And so we do not have a contract with them. It is just 30-day notice when we decide not to use them. We tried to see and test to see how effective it would be, but in the end, Lani and I decided that we probably will be removing that. Councilmember Kuali`i: That is just the B&C management software? Ms. Morikami: Yes. Councilmember Kuali`i: I wanted to say thank you for the legislative website tracking and I know as the Chair of Intergovernmental Relations with staffs assistance, we have used it a lot in this legislative session and we have been kind of connecting with the rest of you as far as sharing our testimony as well. Thank you. Ms. Morikami: Ashley is very familiar with the process. So she is always there to help you. Councilmember Kuali`i: She is awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Why are the Fire Commission travel expenses in the Mayor's budget? Usually, like the Planning Commission...you know, their expenses and the Liquor Commission are all associated with the departments, the respective department's budgets. It seems strange to have it in the Mayor's budget. Ms. Morikami: I guess the overall game plan was eventually to have all of the...since we oversee boards and commissions, we are moving things over to our Office. Board of Review for example, moved over. Civil Service moved over. Fire Commission and Police Commission have moved over. And so since it is part of Boards and Commissions, that is why it is removed from the various departments into ours. Councilmember Yukimura: You are not moving Liquor though, are you? Ms. Morikami: Liquor is quite different, I guess because of funding... I am not sure of the reason, and the same with Water. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 15 Councilmember Yukimura: Is this not a way to expand the funding? You are just actually making a one or one transfer and in budget time there is no one for one, because theoretically you are starting from scratch. Ms. Nakamura: Philosophically the issue is one of who is approving this travel? Who is controlling the travel? And because we want the boards and commissioners to be independent, and not tied to the decisions of the department that they are overseeing, that it made sense to combine it into the Boards and Commissions' budget. There is always this issue of parity, or equity, that some boards and commissions seem to travel more than others. So we were also looking at it from that angle too to make sure that really are those opportunities for the different commissioners to broaden their knowledge and therefore contribute better to the boards that they serve on. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions on Boards and Commissions? Any questions in general? Councilmember Kuali`i: I have a general question. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i? Councilmember Kuali`i: I noticed in your presentation on page 11, where you talked about the 14 boards and commissions and three advisory committee and four Life's Choices Kauai committees. On the three advisory committees, Equal Access, Arborist, and Status of Women, I was curious at what Arborist was? Ms. Morikami: It is an advisory committee so they deal with endangered...if somebody said someone is trying to cut down a monkey pod or whatever, in the code of ordinances it is considered an exceptional tree. That is when they come before the Arborist Committee. Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay. Then the only other thing along those lines with the media recommendations for another advisory committee, if you will. In the other presentation that we received in writing, there was a bullet under "operations." The third bullet...fourth bullet says, "It is estimated that more than 40% of maintenance work is vandalism-related with increases during the summer." So 40% of maintenance work throughout the County...I am curious as to know what kind of dollars does that represent? And then if so, it seems like that is something that we need to attack and maybe we can use a citizens' group that helps us do that much in the ways we have neighborhood watch or just recently, in the last few days, we had folks here doing wildfire management and updating the plan. I was with a group of folks from the Anahola community participating in that. So we are looking at forming our CERT committee with Fire and Civil Defense for the community emergency response and also the piece of wildfire management because of all of the brush fires we have been having. It seem like besides Police and the enforcement folks that deal with vandalism, there might be a community / neighborhood kind of answer that could help save the County money. Ms. Nakamura: I think this is going to come up in the discussion when Parks and Recreation presents. Because it is an ongoing problem. It is an anecdotal percentage based on conversations and I have been trying to get some hard data, but I have March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 16 not been...I do not have that right now. But I think the problem is getting worse and it costs the County so much to have to redo things that they have already installed and put in place and so I think it is a good discussion to have with Parks and Recreation. They are looking at the different options and I think it is a good conversation to pursue. Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. Ms. Nakamura: I think adopt-a-park and getting the community groups and that involvement upfront, also builds in a lot of people who oversee and look out for and maintain it. So I think that is a program that we should continue to support. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. Since we are on general questions. I do want to congratulate the Employee's Council and the Mayor's Office for the work that is being done. I carry the customer mission statement in my purse and it is a very good statement. I know a lot of work went into it, but all the ways that we are empowering and connecting our employees is really a good thing. So I just wanted to mention that while we are in the area of"general" and on the issue of vandalism, I just want to say that I thought the Parks Director's comments and press release, if that is what it was on the vandalism in the park by the skateboard rink was really appropriate. And I appreciate the initiative to bring that to the public's attention. And then there was one more general comment I wanted to make. I believe it was...your government efficiency report. Those are slides 20 and 21 where you have the various task forces. I find it very terrific and I want to really commend you on that. I do have a question about the Vacancy Review Committee. As I understand it, it does not review positions that a department wants to keep. Such as the Ag Coordinator position. That did not come to the vacancy committee, did it? It did? Ms. Nakamura: I believe it did. I would like to describe...because that came up earlier. I would like to have that discussion; that although we choose not to fill the Ag Specialist position, it is not that we are not going to continue the important Ag initiatives. It is just that we are going to be doing it differently. And the way we are going to do that is that George Costa will be taking on some of the ag initiatives that are priority items. And some of his duties as manager of the Office of Economic Development will be transferred, some of the internal duties will be transferred to Nalani Brun. Councilmember Yukimura: I am concerned that George is a wonderful person and manager, but he has no background in agriculture. And I feel like there was not adequate coaching and working with the IClauea people...even the update materials that came before us which were deferred were inadequate in terms of proper management of a hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) of County. That project has two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) of public money because the State I think is funding a hundred twenty thousand dollars ($120,000). So that is two hundred twenty thousand dollars ($220,000) and there is a real stewardship responsibility, but I do not see it being played out by that Office. So that is my concern. And I mean, actually if you count the amount that was put into Kimura International, we are getting probably close to half a million dollars spent on that ag park. And nothing yet can be really shown for it. So I mean that is my concern. That when you eliminate the position and you do not describe the skills that are needed, then there is less possibility that we will have those skills. And agriculture has to be a top priority. Okay. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Hooser. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 17 Councilmember Hooser: Just a brief follow-up. I share Councilmember Yukimura's concerns and the Council is in a difficult position, because the Administration has basically stated this is what you want. So even if we in our wisdom added the position back in or funded it, the lack of desire or enthusiasm from the Administration is it money well-spent? Budgets are about priorities and this to me shows agriculture is not a priority. The first value on the Holo Hobo 2020 vision is an island that is sustainable. And the one agricultural position is being eliminated. We have multiple issues that have been going on the last two years regarding agriculture and we have an emerging renaissance of farmers and I believe we need to support this. Ms. Nakamura: We should also take a look at the budget when we get to the Office of Economic Development, and you will be able to see all of the ag initiatives. It is not just about the County doing all of this ag. It is working with the people who are doing it now, supporting their efforts, building capacity where needed, and following through on priority projects that we have identified. So we believe that with George taking the lead on some of these ag initiatives, and with bringing in Randy Francisco to take over some of the important priorities in that Office, that we have the capacity to do what we can. So I think that is the best time to have that discussion when we are looking at the budget, we are looking at what is being funded? And where the County needs to get involved to facilitate and to be a catalyst? I think that we can have that discussion. Councilmember Hooser: Okay. I would be happy to have the further discussion later. I just felt compelled to express my concerns about the decisions. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I appreciate your concerns, too. I think Nadine has done a good job of trying to answer them and if we can remember these questions for when George is up here, he might be a better person able to answer it. BERNARD P. CARVALHO, JR., Mayor: I just want to say something from my standpoint, that I am totally dedicated to agriculture. We did a thorough overview of what this position and the duties and responsibilities are to carry through the initiatives that we have started. Looking forward to the initiatives that have not started, but will start. And I believe in all of the duties and responsibilities have been merged into really a good, good, effective way with of managing that Office. You will see when they come up as a team how we have restructured and reorganized and reengineered that Office for all the needs, tourism, agriculture, sustainability, all of it. I feel strongly to mention to you folks that we have the commitment that we are not just putting off to the side...agriculture is a big part of who we are. I am committed to that. I just wanted to say that. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: Well, Mayor, thank you. I do not doubt your passion and commitment, but in order to get implementation, you need people with the skills and especially with a lot of projects in the area of ag...that is my concern. Mayor Carvalho: And part of the skills is outreaching to the right people in the community and bringing people to the table and having the foresight and the understanding of what to do. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 18 Councilmember Yukimura: Part of the skills is knowing how to empower and require community groups to do good planning. Mayor Carvalho: Right. Councilmember Yukimura: And to do good budgets, and to hold them accountable. Mayor Carvalho: And we will. Councilmember Yukimura: I have not seen it. Mayor Carvalho: Give us a chance. We are restructured right now. Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: I think when George comes in, we could ask them the more detailed questions and they might be better able to answer them also. Keep those questions in mind when they come up again so we can ask them the questions. Councilmember Chock. Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Chair. Slide 36, the hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in road repairs that have been identified. I was just wondering if we could get...maybe this is better addressed when we have Public Works up. A breakdown of what that hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) looks like in terms of priority? There has been some discussion and I think it was even the last meeting about procurement and these goes out to two companies, if you have a response? That is why we have these discussions, thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Chock: I think he is going to respond, if possible. ERNEST W. BARREIRA, Assistant Chief Procurement Officer / Budget Chief: Good afternoon. I know we will have further, more thorough discussion on Monday with Public Works. I was troubled as well after having heard third-party some of the comments made about procurement in terms of road construction and repaving. That is a competitive bid that goes out every two years and, in fact this is a unique year. I think we will go out this year as well on a smaller scope to expend some moneys that are available. But that is a competitive bid that goes out each year to construction companies and those procurement records are public and accessible and I am happy to share them with the Council. It is not something that is pre-arranged. There is no collusion between two with companies that take turns each year. I am not sure if that was the inference, but I was concerned when questions of proper procurement were raised without being here to address it and I can assure procurement is done competitively as is required by the Code and we have results based on the best value to the County primarily with a low bid and ensuring that the companies select have had the qualifications to perform the duties. Councilmember Chock: Thank you, Chair and just a follow-up. Thank you for the clarification. And so the hundred million dollars ($100) that we are looking at is not based on bids, for instance, or assessments from contractors, correct? March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 19 Mr. Barreira: No. Of course Public Works will speak to this eloquently on Monday, but it is based on an objective analysis using their software of the roads that require the most attention and all of the roads that require some form of maintenance. Councilmember Chock: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura follow-up question? Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. Regarding that hundred million dollars ($100,000,000). You know, I was so grateful to receive that figure in your last budget, since I think we asked for it about three or four years. But I am trusting that you are going to be presenting a plan for how to address the hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) backlog? That is what I expected this budget, and I presume that is what was being worked on over this past year. Ms. Nakamura: I believe that Public Works is working on that plan, and we will see what they will be presenting next week Monday. Councilmember Yukimura: Because the more we delay, the more expense...I mean that hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) will increase, you realize, right? Because the worse the roads get, and if you have to go into reconstruction rather than just repaving, it is four times more expensive at least. Mr. Barreira: Absolutely. Councilmember Yukimura: And so if you just, I will let you know next year, or next year and in the meantime, our roads...we do not want to get it to the level that the City and County of Honolulu is having to deal with now. Ms. Nakamura: I think that is also a reflection of how much we have set aside for road repairs and reconstruction. So I do not know if the plan is going to fix...the plan will tell us how much...how many miles of roads need to be reconstructed. How many miles of road need to be repaired, in different categories, based on their current level, current conditions. So the plan will hopefully layout how we plan to address the different levels of need there. It will go back to how much money we set aside to address the plan. Councilmember Yukimura: And our willingness to give money requires a plan. I mean, you know, it is not like...I mean, my commitment to the Vehicle Weight Tax is only if I see a plan that is going to tell us how this money is going to be used in a really thoughtful way to get us out of this terrible arrears of repair. Because that is the Administration's responsibility to give us a plan. If we get so much a year in Fuel Tax money, in Vehicle Weight Tax money, in General Fund moneys, this is how we are going to address it and in 20 years we will be up to preventative maintenance standards or something like that. That is what I have been waiting for, for a year. And I am hopeful that that will be presented. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura, that is a great question to E-mail to them, because it may take some time for them to get it together, but I think it is a fair question. Very good question. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 20 Councilmember Yukimura: I already E-mailed it two weeks ago or three weeks ago. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: There is a follow-up question from the Chair. I will ask real quick, do we have any more questions for Boards and Commissions? No? So you guys are good to go. You do not have to sit here. Follow-up questions, Chair Rapozo. Council Chair Rapozo: Yes, it is a follow-up to the roads issue. Because I mean, it bring us right back to reality. There are only so many miles of roads that can be fixed or repaired in a year, not based on money, but contracts and even if we gave hundred million dollars ($100,000,000), it is very unlikely we could pave every road that the computer program told us and we need to be real and ask how much need to be paved? We do an assessment and I will use my house as an example and I could go with a checklist of all repairs that I would like to see done. Some I need to do now, some I have a 3-year window, some I have a 5-year window, some I have a 10-year window....That is what we are asking, to toss hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) out there to the public, that is...how real is that? How much of that is let us say category A? We need to do it this year. How much of it needs to be done in three years? That is what we are asking for, not just the hundred million dollars ($100,000,000), because we know there is no way we can do it. You have two guys bidding and I do not think Mr. Kagawa inferred that the procurement process was corrupt or there was collusion. I think what he said he had heard from contractors that it was the contractors that were legally playing the system. No collusion with the County, I did not hear that from Ross that the procurement process was flawed, but the fact that the two contractors can share the wealth and I think that is what he was trying to say. I do not think he was saying that your procurement process was corrupt or flawed. So I just wanted to make that point. That is what I heard from Ross that day. And I understand Public Works...I am not sure...if we can get least get an idea of what we are asking on Monday, so they come prepared. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: On this hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) and miles of roads to be repaved as the Chair said it is either a physical limitation or it is a monetary limitation. And I was just...we have 300 miles of road, though I do not know if you have to break it down to lanes. But say we have 300 miles of road. A road has a 10-year life generally or 15, but 10 years for discussion purposes. That means we are supposed to be repaving 30 miles a year. Okay? And we have been repaving 10. Mr. Barreira: 2.4 miles every other year essentially. Councilmember Yukimura: 2.4...that is not the amount? Mr. Barreira: Well, generally speaking it is as we know $1 million a mile, generally speaking, in very layman terms without having the Public Works engineers here to speak to that. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. So we do not have to figure it out here, but I am thinking...my lay mind is saying 300 miles of road and ten-years' life. So every year we are supposed to be repaving 30 miles. And because we have not been doing that or anywhere close to that, we are in hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) arrears. I want to see the light at the end of the road, because if we do not address it, it just gets more and March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 21 more expensive. As I said, not only to us, but if we do not do it in a timely basis, to the people who drive and their cars. In Honolulu, the driving on deteriorated roads costs each person seven hundred dollars ($700) a year to repair their cars on the average. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: Just when I look at the total for "special projects" it comes out to be about two hundred thirty-four thousand dollars ($234,000) and the highest line item is "Kekaha Host Community Benefits CAC Facilitator" for sixty thousand dollars ($60,000). So that is not a position of any kind, right? Because that would be in salaries otherwise. So what does that give us? How many meetings per year? Out in the community? What kind of report-backs, what do we get for that sixty thousand dollas ($60,000)? CYNDI AYONON, Mayor's Administrative Aide: Good afternoon Councilmembers. My understanding is that we have a facilitator and we go through the procurement process annually. And this person prepares the agendas, does the meetings, and contacts and recruits all of the community members that sit on this committee. And I believe there is a process that they go through, which is pretty much a community-based selection process. And then when they have the grants available, they go through the committee. So it removes our Office from the process and they handle it at the community- level. Councilmember Kuali`i: So how many meetings and what kind of report backs? Ms. Ayonon: They meet once a month. Councilmember Kuali`i: Monthly. Ms. Nakamura: We can get you the details. I believe Nalani Brun works very closely with the facilitator. Councilmember Kuali`i: Is it safe to assume this was a similar line item last year? Ms. Nakamura: Yes. Councilmember Kuali`i: I could get reports on what has been happening for the last couple of years? So I know that we are getting the bang-for-the-buck. Ms. Nakamura: Yes. She is also helping us assist in the grant selection or award of grants. Councilmember Kuali`i: I had one more question. It is a category, 10, 15, different projects and it is small amounts in most cases. That sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) was the highest amount. These special projects total two hundred thirty-four thousand dollars ($234,000). And then over in the Office of Economic Development, there is another grouping of grants, if you will...projects. How do we distinguish between which projects come in this group, and which projects come in the Office of Economic Development's group? Because in a sense, something like "sister-city" seems kind of like not beyond goodwill, but also tourism or what have you? So why would something like that March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 22 be in the Mayor's Office and not in the Office of Economic Development? And is it just a stylistic thing? And how do you qualify...I guess, does this group of special projects, is that the Mayor's discretion? And then the group in the Office of Economic Development is by grant application through the Office of Economic Development? I just want to understand the basic difference. Ms. Nakamura: So I think many of these requests came to the Mayor's Office or have been historically set up this way. Some of the...they all go through a grant...they submit grant applications, and I believe they use similar forms that the Office of Economic Development uses. Similar format. Some of these may not be specifically Economic Development oriented and more general island wide focus. So that is why it may also be in the Mayor's Office. But you are right, many of them are non-profit type of organizations. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. For efficiency purposes I want to go through, do we have any questions for the ADA Office? What about the Youth Work Program? We still have lots of questions. So everybody has to stay then, I guess. I had a quick question. For Kaua`i Planning and Action Alliance, we allocated an additional $10,000 to their line item to make it $35,000. Is there agreement that we have with them or any negotiated deliverables as far as what they are going to do and why they had the increase? Ms. Nakamura: Yes. This specifically targeted to the indicator study that is done every other year, I believe. One of the things that we wanted to ask KPAA to do this year, which is above and beyond what they have done in the past, is to expand their telephone survey of all Kaua`i residents to include questions that would give the County of Kauai some feedback on what residents thought about services they received from the County? About where they would feel, if there were any cuts in services, which ones might be acceptable to them? And information that will help in your future budget process. We thought because they do...it is a phone survey. I believe they are expanding it not just land lines, but to cell lines to catch younger families as well, and because it is statistically significant. It is a survey with results that will give us a pretty good pulse on the public's thinking, that it would be a wise use of kind of working with their existing system and just adding on some questions that then we can use in our budgeting deliberations with some guidance. Rather than how we do it now, which is we go to the Farm Fair. We get people who go to the Farm Fair to answer surveys. It may not be...sort of open-ended types of questions. This one would be very specific and geared towards a telephone survey. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Trying to expand how many more people you can reach so the survey is more accurate? Ms. Nakamura: Yes, we are looking for accuracy at this point. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: It is something that will happen every other year? Ms. Nakamura: I believe that is how they do it, but I should probably double-check on that. I think this is a best practice under GFOA, to get community feedback, but this would be a way to get it in more a scientific way. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Council Chair Rapozo? March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 23 Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. How much does the County contract with KPAA throughout the entire budget? Ms. Nakamura: I think it varies. I believe there is this piece in the Mayor's Office budget and there is also a piece in the Office of Economic Development. And over the years that has varied depending on the projects it has been assigned to work on. This year I believe there is a Keiki to Career line item in the Office of Economic Development and I believe there is this piece. Council Chair Rapozo: And what you just talked about the survey, or expanding the KPAA's role to get the ten thousand dollars ($10,000) extra. How do we get around procurement in something like that? I mean with a non-profit, they have an existing contract with us. How do we get around the procurement issue when we are expanding...it sounds like a whole different thing than what is being done. Mr. Barreira: The Procurement Code, Chair, good question again. The Procurement Code identifies certain exemptions that are approved by rule or law. In the case of the Mayor's Office, as well as in the Office of Economic Development under the 30-00 account where we have a large amount of grant funds the law provides for exemption by law that establishes consistently with Chapter 42F, where the Administration can initiate the conversations and seek Council's approval to appropriate funds for specific purposes and / or for specific entities. Which is completely allowable and legal under the requirements of the Procurement Code. It is considered an approved exemption by law under 103D-102 and carried out quite routinely. We do facilitate the grant application process and make sure that there is a selection criteria in place. Council Chair Rapozo: But this has already been determined who the recipient will be? Mr. Barreira: Yes. And that is acceptable. Because in any case of an approved exemption by rule or law, you can exempt competition or you can exempt basically a process. And in this case, if the exemption of competition is based upon best interest of the County, in the event that it is advantageous and in the County's best interest, it is permitted by law. Council Chair Rapozo: Who makes that decision that it is in the best interest of the County? Mr. Barreira: Ultimately it is initiated by the departments and we cross-check in the Division of Purchasing under our central purchasing authority to make sure there is an established justification. Council Chair Rapozo: I would like to see the justification for that. I know the University of Hawai`i has...they offer a lot of these surveys with their students. The students need to do projects and I am not sure if we explored that or not? One the toughest things in the budget is looking at the amount of moneys going to non-profits and as we think about how we are going to reduce the budget, that is unfortunately some of the places...do we need to do that this year I guess is the question? Is that vital for this year enough so that we are increasing more non-profit funding? Because some of these things just got to wait. Unless it is vital, that we need this information to move forward. My position is that we just got to wait. We just have to hold off. Staff, if you could make a note March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 24 on the question. • I am just curious to see how we exempt some of these things that are professional services that may have others that are willing to do it, I am just curious to see what it is. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i? Councilmember Kuali`i: We are going anywhere right? Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We have an ADA question, too. Councilmember Kuali`i: I had the youth...so on the Youth Work Program, what is that? Is it stipends for interns? How many interns do we get? Ms. Nakamura: There are two sets of interns, summer interns usually college students. There are 18 participants who provide various services to departments countywide. And then there is an additional...I need to clarify the breakdown. There are some additional students who are part of cost-share program. Where the County provides half of the funds and the private sector provides the other half of the funds for something like six weeks during the summer. In order to receive a student intern in your department, departments are now in the process of putting in requests. And the request has to be for a very specific project that is sort of time-sensitive for the department to complete, and serves a real need in the department. That has to be articulated and then there is a committee that reviews them, and then selects which departments will get an intern. So it is not just to do paperwork. It is some defined project. Councilmember Kuali`i: And the last piece of that is so these internships are made available to the public how? Ms. Nakamura: I believe there is a press release that goes out to let people know that there is this opportunity, and then there is a selection process and then there is also placement of students either in one of the county jobs or in the private sector positions. Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: A follow-up on the Youth Programs. I am really glad to hear about this specific process where the departments have to specify a project that can be done during the intern period or a portion of it anyway. I think that will increase the chances that the young people who take on these positions will have some real learning, rather than serving as a kind of errand person. Ms. Nakamura: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: So good for that. I have some questions on both our Equal...what is the Office called? EEO, and our Life's Choices. Does it matter? I guess let us start with Life's Choices. Council Chair Rapozo: I have one more question under special projects. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 25 Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We started bouncing around earlier. The budget is small enough we can bounce around. We were able to get Boards and Commissions out. If you want to go through it again and maybe stay specific. Council Chair Rapozo: I had a question on the Red Cross funding. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: We will take your questions and,bounce around. Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. So my questions are about indicators for success. I was reading the Public Works' narrative. I wondered what our indicators for success are in the Life's Choices Office? Ms. Nakamura: Okay. I think one of the main indicators of success, first of all the Life's Choices Office has a range of activities. The four committees that deal with enforcement, treatment and integration, prevention, and then the heads of all of those groups come together to look at the big-picture. So we are in the process right now of taking a close look at the updated Drug Response Plan to take a look and see what is working. What has been accomplished? What has not been? And what should be the strategic direction ahead? So that process has initiated. And we will be getting the results of that. That will help to describe of what some of those targets are. Councilmember Yukimura: So that is what was reported at the last budget hearing that you were looking at the Drug Response Plan. Ms. Nakamura: We actually did not fund it. We did not ask to fund it and the Council did not fund that process. So we had to look internally for funds in order to make that happen. Councilmember Yukimura: So the identification of your goals and objectives and indicators of success. Your Office has been operating without any of that then? THERESA KOKI, Life's Choices Kaua`i Coordinator: Theresa Koki for the record, Life's Choices Kaua`i Coordinator. We use our Drug Response Plan for our Office and the goals and objectives and our second plan was 2008-2013. We came before you in April to give you an update with all of our measures of success. At that time we did specify that the Treatment Committee was looking at indicators and a survey. And during 2013 until today we were still doing some goals in that current Drug Plan. It was dollar-funded last budget. It was completely eliminated in the budget before. And now, like Nadine said, we looked for other funding sources. We are in the process now of updating our plan, and making new goals and objectives and indicators. Councilmember Yukimura: If you are in the process of updating your plan, how are you doing that if you needed money? One way, which if you do not have a budget is to work with the four committees in a year's process to go through it. So you are saying you cannot have current goals and objectives without updating your plan? Ms. Koki: No, that is not what I stated. I am sorry. Nadine indicated that we did take money from other sources in my budget because we felt that during this hard economic time and with nothing to really present, we canceled the Drug Summit this year. So we took funds from there and looked at other places where we had cuts for professional development, for instance. I took some funds out of there, because I did not have money to travel. So therefore, trainings usually occur on other islands and we try March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 26 to have them here, and took moneys because we did not use moneys for classes and trainings. Councilmember Yukimura: I commend you for rearranging your budget with your priorities and to focus on making sure you know what you are aiming towards is really your top priority before you can talk about programs or anything. So that is good. So you are using the moneys from this year's budget to redefine or to reengineer your goals and objectives. Do you plan to have that done by the end of this fiscal year? Ms. Koki: We are going to receive the draft plan at the end of the fiscal year in June. And then whatever input at that meeting of the presentation of the draft plan, we will get additional ideas. And then probably accept a final draft in August. And the publication of the Drug Plan around September. Councilmember Yukimura: So your timetable is to get a draft plan ready this fiscal year i.e., June and vet with the public and your constituents and then turn that into a working plan in August? Ms. Koki: Yes. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. And so in that plan you will have your goals and objectives, your indicators for success, and your strategies for moving the needle? Ms. Koki: Correct. Councilmember Yukimura: That is very, very good. I have a question about the Adolescent Drug Treatment Center. RFI, request for information completed in January, 2015. And you are now talking about going for an RFP. So from the RFI, you got enough information to know you can create a sustainable Adolescent Drug Treatment Center and you have identified funding sources? Ms. Koki: We received three requests for information proposals. And two of them are self-sufficient operations that are currently running on the mainland. One of them, which is in the State of Hawaii, did request some additional funding from the Department of Health, which they would transfer contracts or enter into contracts with them to service our Kaua`i kids. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. These people who responded, they are viable entities that have a good track record for operating adolescent drug treatment centers? Ms. Koki: That is correct. Councilmember Yukimura: And one actually has a track record for operating such a center in Hawai`i? Ms. Koki: Correct. Councilmember Yukimura: So where is that center? March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 27 Ms. Koki: We are not going to disclose that information right now because of procurement and best practices. However, we are not legally prohibited to give you that information at a different venue. Councilmember Yukimura: I think one of the concerns is that there is actually a credible manager and you know, adolescent drug treatment centers have closed in several islands in Hawaii. So it is a very relevant concern and that has to be, I hope, one of your concerns. Ms. Nakamura: I think that is why we are very happy with this one Hawaii-based operator who is familiar with the State systems, with working with the Department of Health, and knowing the State procurement system. Because once we have a site identified, we can work with this provider to help us get to where we need to be. I think having the site will help move those discussions along, and while we are preparing that site, and going through the environmental work, going through either the new construction or rehabilitation, depending on the site we go with, to work with the provider to see how we make the operations financially sustainable. Councilmember Yukimura: So I am expecting that operations will not come to the County to use County money for operations, is that correct? Ms. Koki: At this time I would not like to prematurely make any assumptions. Councilmember Yukimura: I think that is a policy decision that should be settled before we go forward, because if we have to include these things in the budget, we need to know what it is going to look like? Ms. Koki: Sure. And at this budget session, we are not asking for any funding. Councilmember Yukimura: But it needs to be a policy decision before we go out with an RFP. Ms. Koki: Understandably, Ms. Yukimura, we will not make any decisions without all of your input. Ms. Nakamura: I think that the idea was to try to find a way to work with State or find some Federal funds, work with the State to see what we could do? Now because one potential operator understands the State process, knows who the players are, we can see...we can push that question further along. Councilmember Yukimura: However, Dr. Shimabukuro in the State said that if they allocate funding for beds on Kauai, that means that they will have to take away funds from Bobby Benson and would put an existing drug treatment facility in jeopardy. So even though there is potential operator who knows the State process, if, in fact, that is the dilemma of the State with the number of beds that are authorized, that does not sound like a very viable way to go. Ms. Nakamura: And it does not preclude us from going back to the State to see if they can add to the pot. Right now we are looking at a fixed number of beds and to go that route and see if the State will be a partner in this specific facility work. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 28 Councilmember Yukimura: That would be very key, to have those two things established. Whether or not the County is going to have to fund from our moneys on an operational basis, which I do not agree to. Because it is not our core function. And we are already scrambling just to do our core functions. And the other is whether the State is actually going to be able to give any moneys? And I would hope to get a letter in writing from the State that says that before we go out for an RFP. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Follow-up question. Council Chair Rapozo. Council Chair Rapozo: Did I hear you right that you said you are not coming to us this year for funding? Ms. Koki: This year. Council Chair Rapozo: This budget? Ms. Koki: This budget. Council Chair Rapozo: This budget we are looking at? Ms. Koki: Yes. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Ms. Koki: This budget right now. Council Chair Rapozo: The one we are discussing? Ms. Koki: Yes. Council Chair Rapozo: Next year's budget? Ms. Koki: Maybe supplemental, I am not sure. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. I see it a little different from Councilmember Yukimura. It is not our core function, but it is our kids. And I commend the Mayor, I commend Theresa and your team for moving forward on this. It is something that we need to do. We need to get done. I would expect you folks to come to us if there was any funding needs, because it is our kuleana to take care of our kids. It is. Again, I guess my point is you cannot take my opinion as respective of the Council, nor any other Councilmember. So I just wanted to commend you folks. My question is for Theresa. How much do you have available or access to for true grants? I mean all I am seeing in this budget here, I believe I just saw ten thousand dollars ($10,000), ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for mini grants. Ms. Koki: Yes. Council Chair Rapozo: Is that all you have access to? Ms. Koki: Yes, right now. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 29 Council Chair Rapozo: County money? Ms. Koki: To ask for County funds, it is ten thousand dollars ($10,000), and I appreciate that because it was six thousand dollars ($6,000), and before that it was four thousand dollars ($4,000) so I could help four agencies. Council Chair Rapozo: Was it not forty thousand dollars ($40,000)? Ms. Koki: My whole entire budget was forty thousand dollars ($40,000) but it was not to give out to people. Council Chair Rapozo: I thought we had upped the program money, the Council did to forty thousand dollars ($40,000), maybe it was when Roy was here. I specifically remember forty thousand dollars ($40,000). Anyway, I guess...we cannot really have an effective drug prevention program here if you do not have the resources to provide it. And I am not going put you on the spot and ask you how much you need, but I know ten thousand dollars ($10,000) does not...and unless you have some grant money and we can talk offline. You are just scratching the surface. We constantly talk about this issue and what are we doing? As I look through all the special projects in the Mayor's Office and Economic Development and all of these great projects, all of them are great project. When you prioritize, and I ask myself what happened to the war on drugs and we are giving our soldiers BB Guns and I hope this Council feels the same way that we can have some resources available for your Office. So we can actual help some kids, some adolescents and as far as the adolescent drug treatment center you have my total support to move forward as quickly as we can. Ms. Koki: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Kuali`i. Councilmember Kuali`i: So just as a follow-up to understand this better, too, I did see the slide about the first-round of forty-two thousand five hundred dollars ($42,500), six organizations, second round eighty-eight thousand dollars ($88,000), and the third round yet, to be awarded. These are funds that are from a grant that is no longer there? So once it is all awarded out, is that what it is? Ms. Nakamura: This is a one-time pilot program that one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) that the Council approved about two years ago. It was targeted for after-school and preschool programs and those are the ones that have received these funds. Councilmember Kuali`i: Okay. Ms. Nakamura: And it was also at the time that it was setup and it was established to go through the Hawai`i Community Foundation to assist with the release of the funds and to manage it, because we only have one person in the Life's Choices Kauai Office. Councilmember Kuali`i: Is it safe to assume then with the moneys went the basic message of making good life's choices and we were supporting these programs for youth for that particular purpose but we are not equipped to do that going forward as far as any moneys being budgeted? Just one-time? March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 30 Ms. Nakamura: Yes. I believe Hawai`i Community Foundation is working on a report. Ms. Koki: I think it was on Monday that we sent...we answered questions from Councilmember JoAnn Yukimura. I sent it to your attention, Chair. There were detailed reports and graph charts and I believe a very good report that I worked with Hawaii Community Foundation in producing. Because of the timing of the funds and their agency's grants flex funds it was hard for them to administer all of the funds at once. And one of the hardships that we noticed people were not ready for the funds. In speaking with the Mayor, and our Managing Director, we decided that it is okay for them to go in increments, and they helped a lot of agencies, I believe. The second round of reports is due soon. And then the third round of grant funding will be awarded this fiscal year. Ms. Nakamura: I think the bottom line, the takeaway from that report and we should probably give copies to all Councilmembers. Is that there is...that the funds, they were able to use, the non-profits were able to use the funds to really expand their program and to target kids that would not normally be able to have these programs. So a lot of good things are coming out of it. But again, it is the limitation of the funding itself. Councilmember Kuali`i: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura. Actually let us keep the questions for Theresa and when we are done, we can let her go. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. I actually would like to ask for the responses you get in the RFI. I presume that is public record now? No? Okay. Theresa you mentioned there are other ways to legally get it. So whatever is appropriate and proper. And then I just want to say that I support a really aggressive anti-drug program, but I need to see what your goals are, what the measures of success are?And what are the strategies? So we can learn what is working and what is not working? We are asking that of all the other departments and divisions? That is just good management of the program and I commend you for having that as your top priority. Because that will enable money to flow to you when you have that kind of framework for all of us. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions for Theresa? Are you sure? Okay, Theresa, I think you are good to go. Any further questions? Let us focus on the ADA Office. LINDA NULAND-AMES, EEOC and ADA Coordinator: Well, I am Linda Nuland- Ames, EEO and ADA Coordinator. Thank you for inviting me up. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Thank you. Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: I am really happy with the work you have been doing, Linda. I think a lot of departments feel your support. And in slide 33, it indicated in the past we have had 10-12 formal ADA complaints a year and no formal complaints this fiscal year. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 31 Ms. Nuland-Ames: Actually I looked back 12 months and there has not been a formal complaint Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Ms. Nuland-Ames: It does not mean that things do not come up, but I am notified early and I am brought in and people want to talk situations with me, so problems do not occur. Councilmember Yukimura: That is very proactive and preventative and all of the kind of things that we want to see. With respect to civil rights and EEOC complaints, what is our record in terms of the number of complaints filed per year? Ms. Nuland-Ames: Well, with language access, we have not had any recorded complaints. I sort of fell into doing that because it is about being accessible to everyone. Councilmember Yukimura: Right. Ms. Nuland-Ames: I realize that the County was not staying proactive and up-to-date on that, and I just sort of fell into it. Trained language access contact person in every department, got the posters up with the different languages, and I have done a survey of which ones we encounter. And now that people are more aware of it, they will call me and say we need something translated or need an interpreter in a meeting. It has not reached the point of being a complaint. We are handling it. Councilmember Yukimura: Excellent. What about EEOC? Ms. Nuland-Ames: Nadine has the data. Ms. Nakamura: The EEOC data is compiled by the County Attorney's Office and anticipating this question, Mauna Kea Trask put together some information. In Fiscal Year 2011, there was one EEOC complaint. In 2012, five. In 2013, 10. In 2014, 9. And this fiscal year we are back down to 5. Councilmember Yukimura: Back down to 5. Ms. Nakamura: 5 to the present with several more months to go and hoping that we will go with the downward trend. Councilmember Yukimura: Can you provide that information to us in writing? Ms. Nakamura: Sure. Councilmember Yukimura: Do you have similar data for civil rights? Ms. Nakamura: These are EEOC complaints. Councilmember Yukimura: They are both...I mean EEOC is under the Civil Rights Act. Excuse my ignorance. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 32 Ms. Nuland-Ames: All of these acts are tied together. Councilmember Yukimura: So that is the main indicator, number of complaints filed. The other indicator number of complaints sustained or for which there was some actual underlying cause, right? Ms. Nuland-Ames: Well actually what is happening now in this field across the nation is that sometimes it is a very weak complaint. But the co-workers or the supervisor reacts perhaps inappropriately, and then it becomes retaliation. It is retaliation claims that are just skyrocketing across the nation right now. Councilmember Yukimura: So what it means is if we train our people to respond appropriately, then our liability will be much reduced. Ms. Nuland-Ames: Yes. That is another thing I am working on. I have been tailoring trainings to very specific groups and issues. Councilmember Yukimura: Good. Ms. Nuland-Ames: I find that way people understand and they are more interested and there to learn about a situation that they have. And I am working with a State trainer, who has a presentation specifically for supervisors. Not so much department heads, but the immediate supervisors need to understand first of all to be up- to-date with their employees and not just shrug their shoulders because some people are not getting along. That needs to be resolved so it does not get into something bigger and it needs to be documented. So if there is a problem employee with an EEOC complaint and an empty file that does not report the problems or job performance reports, showing where the person needs to work on things, then it is very hard to be successful. Even if the County was, the supervisor has to know how to behave while that is going on and not suddenly write up a person for everything, for example. So we are going to get into very practical things and hoping to do this in June. Councilmember Yukimura: That is excellent. Can you submit the data on EEOC complaints? So the indicator of how many complaints are filed, number one, and do we have any way to say how many complaints had some real cause with it, or that it was mainly process problems and failure to respond appropriately? Do we have that data? Ms. Nakamura: I do not have that information. But it is something we can follow-up on to see if we can see what was sort of the disposition of each of those cases. Councilmember Yukimura: Yes. Okay. And it sounds like you are already working on what seems to be the main problem, which is proper response. Ms. Nakamura: I would also like to add that hand in hand what Linda is doing, we are with also trying to do more collaboration with the department heads. So when an issue arises, we have the department head siting with the County Attorney's Office, with the head of Department of Human Resources, Linda, and myself, so we are giving...getting the information, giving advice from the very start of the process. And just this morning we were doing that with one of our department heads, and he was very happy to have this support early on which we did not have with the Department of Personnel Services. With the Department of Human Resources and the focus on preventing these March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 33 things from happening, and escalating into a problem or getting into a retaliation situation, we can address the issue. Councilmember Yukimura: It sounds like a day and night improvement and I think it will translate into avoidance of lawsuits and costs. So thank you very much for that kind of change. Very good. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Council Chair Rapozo. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. So where does your function end and HR begin? Is there two different heads on the dragon? I look at your position as Equal Access and HR is the training office. Is there any overlap? Ms. Nuland-Ames: We are still sorting out who exactly is going to be in charge of different things. At one point language access was in Personnel. They did not have anyone really well-trained in it who understood the law. So I just picked it up and brought it into current time. Mostly I collaborate with people in HR. For example, I can have a request from an employee for reasonable accommodation but the person is recovering from a workers' compensation injury. I do not do workers' compensation, but I have to understand enough of it to know where it fits in with ADA. So usually there will be someone from HR at the table with the supervisor, the employee, and me. Council Chair Rapozo: I guess I am a little confused because historically, I think your position was simply...not simply because it is a gigantic job. ADA. So are you getting involved in personnel issues as well and not HR? Ms. Nuland-Ames: There is an overlay of all of these laws. Primarily I am ADA, but that also brings in the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, and Civil Rights Act for starters and a few others, and Transportation...the U.S. Department of Transportation has regulations that impact ADA and some other agencies too. So there is no clear-cutoff point. I have to be a bit involved or have only in knowledge of that and have people with me at the table who specialize in those areas. Council Chair Rapozo: I guess what I do not see is the specialized personnel in HR, and I am having trouble because HR should be in charge of the training and you as a resource to provide...we have the County Attorney who provides the legal background. They are the only ones that can afford legal advice to any department. And the ADA Coordinator from what I understood was a result of the...what the heck was that settlement? Berkhalter, whatever his name was that settlement to create the position that would make sure that this County did things that provided for equal access for the community, the disabled community. And not to be personnel-related. So I guess... Ms. Nuland-Ames: The ADA actually required a coordinator and the County did not have one. Council Chair Rapozo: Right. I am very familiar with how that came about, because we had a lot of discussions with this years ago. But as I remember, the settlement it was really to address the disabled community, not employees, but the disabled community and making sure that our facilities were accessible. Because that was the basis of the lawsuit, right? We had denied access based on inability or inaction of making it March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 34 accessible. So we get sued and we get to the settlement to work on the curbs, gutters, "manapuas" on the crosswalks. Ms. Nuland-Ames: I can help with you that. If we are bigger like the state governments you would have an EEO and ADA person in every department. Council Chair Rapozo: We have 18 people in HR. Ms. Nuland-Ames: And actually the EEO compliance person is not supposed to be under a department head unless that EEO Compliance Officer is only for that department and reports to the department head. But if it is applicable to other departments by federal regulation, that person that is supposed to report to the top. People are not real happy when someone comes in talking about civil rights and it is to give the person actually the freedom to speak freely what the situation is and what the possible problems may be and then work with the attorneys for some kind of resolution, if necessary. The ADA is usually that way. Language access is always reporting to the top because it falls under the Civil Rights Act. So I know it has not been done that way in the County. There is a bit of a mish mash and now we have Janine and me and Nadine and we are sorting out how we will handle the information. One thing that happened was I get the correspondence now from the Hawai`i Civil Rights Commission and from the EEOC, there was not a central person before. Now I get it and it is logged into the Attorney's Office so there is say a record of it and the parties who need copies get copies. We are starting to centralize that and it is going smoother. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Hooser. Councilmember Hooser: Thank you for being here all day again. I appreciate you being here, Linda. Ms. Nuland-Ames: Thank you. Councilmember Hooser: Your experience and background on this is reassuring. So thank you. My question follows on Council Chair's ones. When the EEOC complaints record was read out, were those only EEOC complaints that related to language and ADA or all EEOC complaints? Ms. Nuland-Ames: Those were the actual ones about employment conditions. Councilmember Hooser: Sexual discrimination, age discrimination, harassment, those were included? Ms. Nuland-Ames: Yes. Councilmember Hooser: All departments that we deal with inside the Executive Sessions, EEOC, you are also engaged in those? Ms. Nuland-Ames: Yes. I should say yes. I am just so comfortable talking to you again. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 35 Councilmember Hooser: Thank you. That is a compliment, thank you. So that clears that up. I was not sure it was just ADA or language. Ms. Nuland-Ames: An employee could have a disability and have a cause of action under both the ADA and the EEOC. Councilmember Hooser: Sexual and age also, you would deal with? Ms. Nuland-Ames: Yes. There is a possibility, yes. And that is what attorneys look for a plaintiff is which route to take or just plead them all. Councilmember Hooser: You mentioned the annual track record and could you tell me how many are outstanding, unresolved? Ms. Nakamura: I did not ask that question, but that can be followed up on. Councilmember Hooser: Thank you that is all I have. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: A follow-up. Can you also give us a cost of all of these complaints in terms of settlements? Ms. Nakamura: If they have been resolved, we can get that information, yes. Councilmember Yukimura: Costs and attorneys' costs. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions for Linda? You are good to go. Thank you for coming. Ms. Nuland-Ames: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any other further general questions? Councilmember Kuali`i? Councilmember Kuali`i: I think this is my last general question and it is along the lines of the motor pool. In the Mayor's budget, there is one vehicle, a vehicle lease purchase for $21,250. I guess it is the second year of a three-year lease. Is that vehicle the Mayor's vehicle or a vehicle shared by the department? Ms. Nakamura: I am happy to say that it is part of the motor pool. Councilmember Kuali`i: It is part of the motor pool. Ms. Nakamura: It has been outfitted with the device and equipment to be part of the pool. It is parked and convenient for the Mayor to go in and out, because he is out and about quite a bit, but it is part of the pool. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 36 Councilmember Kuali`i: So how does the pool operate? People sign up and share across departments? Ms. Nakamura: Yes. Councilmember Kuali`i: Geographically, there are people in different places, right? Ms. Nakamura: Right. So the pool right now is set up to serve people, the employees at the Lihu`e Civic Center. The motor pool vehicles are supposed to be parked in sort of a central area here. Everyone who is part of the motor pool gets a card. And you swipe the dashboard with your card, which then opens the door. The keys are located in the vehicle itself. It will track where you are going and usage, and you are able to reserve the car through just by using your phone or computer. Councilmember Kuali`i: It is centrally located at the Civic Center? Ms. Nakamura: Yes. Councilmember Kuali`i: And that is where most of the cars are? How many cars are in the pool? Ms. Nakamura: I believe the number was 14. Councilmember Kuali`i: That sounds in the range. That is all I have. Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions? Council Chair? Council Chair Rapozo: Nadine, does that include our cars as well? Ms. Nakamura: I believe we equipped your cars with the hardware, but we did not include them in the pool for rental. Council Chair Rapozo: Why would we put the hardware in our cars if it is not in the motor pool? I was shocked to know it was done and wish I would have known ahead of time, because I do not know why we would equip the Council Services vehicles with the hardware and not be in the pool? Those two pieces of hardware could be in two County vehicles that could be in the pool. Ms. Nakamura: We thought the Council might want to put their vehicles in pool at some point in time. Council Chair Rapozo: No, no we would not want that. I cannot imagine why we would want to do that. Councilmember Yukimura: Why not? Councilmember Kuali`i: We might. March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 37 Ms. Nakamura: And allow you to be part of our pool, so if you wanted to use an electric vehicle. Council Chair Rapozo: To use the Mayor's car? That would be fun...I just wanted to know why. Because is it not true you could have put it in two other cars that would be utilized in the motor pool? Ms. Nakamura: I think at the time the committee did the assessment, it was...I think the Council cars were...it was thought because we were in the centralized part of the pool. That was just the thought. That was our compromise to put in it, but not include it. We had thought there was interest at one time when we brought up the idea of the motor pool. So we were mistaken. Council Chair Rapozo: I think it was the Council that brought up the idea of the motor pool. That was some years ago. Ms. Nakamura: Right, so we thought you would be want to be part of it. Council Chair Rapozo: I just figured, the hardware is useless right now, it is not being used. So anyway, I just was curious why...how much is the hardware per car? Ms. Nakamura: I am not sure. We can find out. Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Hooser: How many cars do we have? I thought we always had one? Council Chair Rapozo: We have the Elections van and the Explorer. That is all we have. Ms. Nakamura: I guess the thought was if there was not an election, we might be able to access it. Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Councilmember Yukimura. Councilmember Yukimura: I am going to ask the question now that I hope it will be addressed in Solid Waste. You know the County's strategic goals and objectives. Our integrated solid waste plan was supposed to be a long-term solution and there is no mention here of the plan. Are we abandoning the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan? There is no...diversion plans are part of the long-range solution. How do you reconcile that? March 27, 2015 Office of the Mayor (ss) Page 38 Ms. Nakamura: Well, I believe that the budget that you will see in Solid Waste recognizes and moves towards the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan by the amount that is going into diversion activities. I do not think there is any change in the intent to move towards the goal of the 70% diversion by 2023 set by the Council. Councilmember Yukimura: But that is a long-range goal and there is no mention here and this is the County's strategic goal and objectives. Ms. Nakamura: The solid waste solution is by going out to an RFP it gives us the opportunity to look at all potential opportunities to address our solid waste, and to look at not just new technologies, but other systems. And it is really an open...it is a chance to revisit and to see what can be done to address our solid waste and to do it in a financially sustainable way. Councilmember Yukimura: I do not mind doing that, but when you indicate that that is the only goal for 2016, it seems very misguided and inaccurate. Ms. Nakamura: I. think you are going to see much more detailed goals...this is sort of the big-picture perspective. When you look at the Solid Waste budget, and budget presentation, and the numbers, you will see all of the details that you need that shows our commitment to that activity. Councilmember Yukimura: Why is it not in your list of strategic goals? Ms. Nakamura: I think because I think that is the big-picture piece for this coming year. That is the big-picture piece. All of the details will follow. Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. Committee Chair Kaneshiro: Any further questions from Councilmembers? Okay. Well, I want to thank the Mayor's Office for being here the whole day. I also want to thank the Councilmember for being patient with me. I think we had a very productive meeting. And I think there were very valid questions that gave heads up to the other departments what they should be expecting when they are out there and hopefully you can relay some the messages to them. I want to thank you and thank you the Councilmembers for a great meeting and at this time I would like to recess the Departmental Budget Reviews. We will reconvene at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, March 30th and hear from the Department of Public Works. There being no objections, the Committee recessed at 3:21 p.m.