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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/06/2023 Council minutes COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 The Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kaua`i was called to order by Council Vice Chair KipuKai Kuali`i at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Suite 201, Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, at 9:04 a.m., after which the following Members answered the call of the roll: Honorable Addison Bulosan Honorable Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr. Honorable Felicia Cowden Honorable Ross Kagawa Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i Excused: Honorable Bill DeCosta Honorable Mel Rapozo APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Councilmember Carvalho moved for approval of the agenda, as circulated, seconded by Councilmember Cowden. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Is there any public testimony or discussion? Hearing none. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as follows: The motion for approval of the agenda, as circulated, was then put, and carried be a vote of 5:0:2 (Councilmember DeCosta and Council Chair Rapozo were excused). MINUTES of the following meeting of the Council: August 9, 2023 Council Meeting Councilmember Carvalho moved to approve the Minutes, as circulated, seconded by Councilmember Cowden. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Is there any discussion or public testimony? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as follows: COUNCIL MEETING 2 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 The motion to approve the Minutes, as circulated, was then put, and carried be a vote of 5:0:2 (Councilmember DeCosta and Council Chair Rapozo were excused). Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: The motion is carried. CONSENT CALENDAR: C 2023-200 Communication (08/22/2023) from the Director of Finance, transmitting for Council information, the Condition of the County Treasury Statement quarterly report as of May 10, 2023. Councilmember Cowden moved to receive C 2023-200 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Bulosan. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Is there any discussion or public testimony? There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as follows: Councilmember Cowden: What did jump out at me was the State's grant funds, but the Department of Finance is not present, so I was just looking at how much we had moved in that category. Oh, this is for the end of this last season, so of course we moved it all. I was thinking, "We just started and we moved all that money." Okay. (Councilmember Kagawa was noted as not present.) The motion to receive C 2023-200 for the record was then put, and carried be a vote of*5:0:2 (*Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of Kauai, Councilmember Kagawa was noted as silent(not present), but shall be recorded as an affirmative for the motion; Councilmember DeCosta and Council Chair Rapozo were excused). Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Motion carried. Next item, please. COMMUNICATIONS: C 2023-201 Communication (08/23/2023) from the Fire Chief, requesting Council approval to accept a donation from the State of Hawai`i Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting (ARFF) Unit, of one (1) Mako self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) Air Compressor, valued at $26,900.00, to be used as a spare piece of equipment if the current mobile air compressor becomes inoperable. Councilmember Cowden moved to approve C 2023-201, seconded by Councilmember Carvalho. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Are there any questions of the Administration? COUNCIL MEETING 3 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 Councilmember Cowden: I see Chief Gibson here and I just have a really quick question. MICHAEL GIBSON, Fire Chief: Good morning, everyone. Councilmember Cowden: I appreciate that when we had the TOUCH-A- TRUCK event and seeing the amazing apparatus' that are in the fire trucks now, so they have breathing equipment, it is almost like they have scuba to go into a fire. We just had a big example in Lahaina of what happens when people do approach a fire and being able to have good air. Is this one (1) individual piece that costs twenty-seven thousand dollars ($27,000) per person? But almost every fire seat has them in it, right, they sit and they put it on right before they get out. Mr. Gibson: There are separate components. Mike Gibson, for the record, Fire Chief. This piece of equipment is the compressor, so it is actually the fill station where we can fill the bottles. These brand-new are about ninety thousand dollars ($90,000). We did purchase one brand-new two (2) years ago and it is stationed at the Hanapepe Fire Station. Our goal is to have two (2) machines, so that there is one (1) strategically on each side of the island. We currently have a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) air compressor fill station that was given to us on a grant in 2003 that we made last this long. Typically, they last ten (10) to twelve (12) years. The other components you stated the SCBA harnesses...the harness and the air (inaudible) on the back, those components cost about twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) each. Councilmember Cowden: Wow. Mr. Gibson: We own about sixty-five (65) or so of those. We are not asking for that today, but will in the future. Councilmember Cowden: That was interesting. I was appreciative of the TOUCH-A-TRUCK event because I had no idea how much weight these folks put on themselves. Do they use that for every house fire? Mr. Gibson: Yes. We use them for every house fire, structure fire, brush fires that may contain automobiles or trash in them, so they do not breath in those contaminants. The only difference between SCBA and self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA)...is basically the same concept, you are breathing in only the air that is supplied in the bottle in the back and not breathing in any outside air to mix with that. Councilmember Cowden: Thank you so much. I support this. Thank you for having it. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Are there any further questions? Being there are no further questions and while the rules are still suspended, do we have any registered speakers? No. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify? Is there any further discussion? COUNCIL MEETING 4 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Cowden: I am glad that we have this equipment and as I am putting a lot of focus now on our fire capacity, I can see how extra important it is. I am glad we have it. The motion to approve C 2023-201 was then put, and carried be a vote of*5:0:2 (*Pursuant to Rule No. 5(b) of the Rules of the Council of the County of Kauai, Councilmember Kagawa was noted as silent (not present), but shall be recorded as an affirmative for the motion; Councilmember DeCosta and Council Chair Rapozo were excused). Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Motion carried. Next item, please. C 2023-202 Communication (08/23/2023) from the Executive on Transportation, requesting Council approval of the indemnification provision included in Section 8.2, (i), and of the clauses for future obligations in Sections 7.4, 7.7, 7.18, 7.20, 7.24, 9.4, (a), 12.4, and 14.6, (d), for a service contract between the County of Kaua`i and Masabi, LLC for the implementation of an electronic fare system for the Kaua`i Bus. Councilmember Cowden moved to receive C 2023-202 for the record, seconded by Councilmember Bulosan. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Are there any questions of the Administration. Councilmember Cowden: Aloha, thank you. This is a big step, one that Councilmember Kagawa has been asking for, for some time. Can you provide us with a basic overview? I know this is just indemnification, but I would like to know about this electronic fare system and how will it function? There being no objections, the rules were suspended. CELIA M. MAHIKOA, Executive on Transportation: I am Celia Mahikoa, Executive on Transportation. Thank you for asking about the project and I would like to provide a little background first. Our leadership team is fully committed to wanting to improve the ways in which the public can access public transit and make it much more user-friendly and simpler, for the public. Couple years back, we saw an opportunity whereby the Community Transportation Association of America had an N-CATT program, National Center for Applied Transit Technology that offered a sharing of their expertise to assist with technology implementing projects within transit systems across the United States (U.S.). We submitted an application, thankfully we were given that opportunity, so we have been working with them for the past two (2) years now, in order to identify what would be the best type of system for Kaua`i's rural operation and what we could likely afford. Thankfully, funding had been provided for this initiative and we were able to assist and provide us with professionals in the industry who were able to help guide us through the process and assist getting us to this point. COUNCIL MEETING 5 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 (Councilmember Kagawa was noted as present.) Ms. Mahikoa: We are now at a point where we have gone through almost the entire procurement process, we are at the point of contract award with Masabi group who was identified as the bidder, of whom we are going to be awarding the contract to, and we are just trying to get the contract completed. Councilmember Cowden: Is the consultant helping you pick the software or are they the software provider? Ms. Mahikoa: Are you talking about Masabi? Councilmember Cowden: Yes. Ms. Mahikoa: Yes, Masabi is the software provider who is going to be providing us with the service. We are entering into the contract with them on the assumption that all is well. Councilmember Cowden: I have a lot of questions, and Councilmember Kagawa has been someone asking these questions. Would this basically help us to track ridership? If people are using it, are they using a card that they would swipe? Would it be a bus card or would it be their regular bank card? How would this work? Do they have a special bus card? Is it like going into a grocery store without getting cash back? Ms. Mahikoa: I am going to let Leonard take it from here. He is the lead in tracking this program through. LEONARD PETERS, Assistant Executive on Transportation: Aloha, Councilmembers. Leonard Peters, Assistant Executive with the County of Kaua`i Transportation Agency. To clarify the consultant question, we have been working with N-CATT and IBI group. They have been the consultants. They did not help out with selecting who it was that we awarded the bid to, they just helped us through the technical terms and the understanding, more so the technology that is offered out there from the various vendors. This system is going to be account-based. Clients will have the opportunity to manage their accounts online. We will have smart cards. This system will enable us to utilize smart cards and open payments, meaning credit cards, Google pay, Apple pay, those types of things on the bus. Councilmember Cowden: Okay. That is a lot of flexibility. Can people still pay with cash? Mr. Peters: Yes. Councilmember Cowden: Because that is important too. When there is an account-based, just because this is something I heard people say they would like. Say there is someone who has a parent who helps them whether they are a minor or an adult, if they put two hundred dollars ($200) on to their bus card, does that mean COUNCIL MEETING 6 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 they would get one hundred (100) rides out of the card? Does that sit there in (inaudible) off of a bus card? Mr. Peters: The system will allow you options of either having a stored value or prepurchase their tickets. You can buy your tickets ahead of time or you can go off of stored value, meaning it will detect the value from the account for each ride, whatever the cost or the fare rate is for that individual. Councilmember Cowden: That will give people a lot of flexibility, especially because some people are not good at holding on to the last of their money, so it could be held on that card. Will this have anything in it that can give us some level of understanding of the ridership or is it just the banking system? Mr. Peters: It certainly will. Right now, we just track how many riders are riding our systems, but this will give us an opportunity to identify what types of riders, whether it be senior riders, paratransit riders, youth riders, or the regular commuters. Councilmember Cowden: You said you already got the money. Was that a grant? Thank you for working on grants. How much did it cost, roughly? Ms. Mahikoa: It was a little over five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000). Councilmember Cowden: Five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000). Is that per year or is that five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), and then will there be an annual subscription fee? Ms. Mahikoa: Yes, it is the initial investment. Mr. Peters: That would be over the next three (3) years. Councilmember Cowden: The five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) will last for three (3) years? Okay, I am happy with all of that. I like that there is a flexibility for the cash riders and that we are going to get a better sense of ridership, so we can put the emphasis of which loads are heaviest. Does anyone else have questions because I could go on? Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Are there further questions? Councilmember Kagawa: No. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Go on. Councilmember Cowden: I know that we have a shortage of people with commercial driver's license in the community. Do you still offer the paid training, so we can increase that number? Are we hiring any new drivers? We just streamlined and eliminated some of our rates, how are we doing?Are we going to be able to bring some of them back up? COUNCIL MEETING 7 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 Ms. Mahikoa: That is our ultimate goal and that is all dependent upon our ability to get those additional full-time drivers onboard. We have been wholeheartedly working on that, over the past years, literally, trying to get ourselves to that point. We are hoping that we will be able to achieve that within...hoping for no more than just several months of this, but it is all reliant upon us being able to successfully have fully qualified drivers onboard. Councilmember Cowden: When will this be implemented? When will it start? Ms. Mahikoa: Are you asking about the time frame for the fare payment system? Councilmember Cowden: Yes. Mr. Peters: Once we issue the Notice to Proceed, it is about an eight-month deployment. Councilmember Cowden: Okay. Mr. Peters: I am thinking early next calendar year. Councilmember Cowden: Okay, and the reason I was asking, I was curious when we have a surge of students, do we have kids replacing the lack of buses, do we have a student surge on our buses? Ms. Mahikoa: Yes, some. Councilmember Cowden: Is there enough room on the bus for people who are going to work? Ms. Mahikoa: We have been encountering some situations whereby there is not enough space on board and individuals have needed to wait for the next bus to come, so all the more so, we are seeing the need to get Sunday back and be able to additionally layer the service during those peak demand times to have sufficient capacity. Councilmember Cowden: At the skatepark in Kapa'a near the roundabout, are there many riders left there in the afternoon? Are you able to fill those buses, basically the after-school kids leaving?Are you able to pick up those kids or are some being left behind? Ms. Mahikoa: Typically, that is when we have our highest demand, is the after-school group. Councilmember Cowden: Are they all getting on the bus or are they sitting there after the bus leaves? COUNCIL MEETING 8 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 Ms. Mahikoa: There are occasions whereby they are needing to wait for the next route. Councilmember Cowden: Thank you so much for all the service you provide and being the "pinch hitter." Ms. Mahikoa: Thank you. We appreciate all the support. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Are there further questions? If there are no further questions and while the rules are still suspended, I know we have one (1) person signed up to speak. First up, Alice Parker. ALICE PARKER: Alice Parker, for the record. I am going to explain that it is going to be a process where you have various ways of paying, both cash and card, etcetera, that really helps. The other thing is, you were talking about people being left, and I mentioned in my letter, they have to examine the route for the seventy, because there are too many people on the bus...when the ships come in, there is only standing room only. It is like a subway train in New York. At least there you can hang on and read the narrow paper, but here, no. Okay, thank you. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Is there any further testimony? Come forward. MIKE CURTIS: Mike Curtis, for the record. The only question I had was the cancellation of the Sunday route for the bus. Councilmember Cowden: What is your question? Mr. Curtis: What do you think of that? Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: That is not actually on the agenda, but we can talk about that off-line. Mr. Curtis: You can follow the agenda, if you address it. Thank you. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: It has been addressed. Is there anyone else for public testimony on this item? SHERRI CUMMINGS: Sherri Cummings, for the record. Malama Anahola. I see this as a missed opportunity. Many months ago, when we were talking about branding and how we were going to brand the bus transportation, I brought up a company name, Ulu HI-Tech. Ulu HI-Tech won the award for the software for O`ahu, who is actually doing my software for my nonprofit. Cynthia and I had a conversation. Why I said it was a missed opportunity is because we were engaging and then she asked for the name of the company, and I could not reach her, I tried to call, I went there a couple of times, but nothing. When I say "missed opportunity" what I mean by that is there was a gentleman in the room who talked about the amazing software program that Honolulu has experienced, and he had ridership also COUNCIL MEETING 9 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 in Oahu. I am all for supporting natives regarding business people and they are native as native will be. I am certain in a Request for Proposal (RFP) process you have to be unbiased, but let them play and be a part of the entire process. They are amazing. I did mention to her that they actually put in the bid for all the different counties, the four (4) counties and everyone had their each individual hangup where they said that they could work with, but never had the opportunity to work with, but they are amazing and I just wanted to put out. They are here. We talk about circulation and keeping money within the State, they are here, they are present. You look up these folks, they are a United Kingdom (UK) company. Keep the money within the State. That is all I have to say. Thank you. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Thank you. Is there anyone else for public testimony? Alice. Ms. Parker: Alice Parker, for the record. I want to suggest that you do need skilled drivers. They also need to be trained with how to deal with people, because you have a couple of people who really are not people-people and they need to know how to grit their teeth. I worked with the public and there were some people that grit my teeth, especially when I am asking them to pay more taxes. The other thing is instead of stopping bus services on Sunday, perhaps schedule the stops more hours apart, at least you can get somewhere on Sunday, maybe it would be twice per day or something, but at least you can get where you needed to get. Thank you. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to testify for the second time? No. Thank you. Members, is there further discussion? Councilmember Cowden. There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Cowden: I am thankful that we are moving forward on this. I appreciate what Ms. Cummings had to say. It is always good to do something locally. I think they probably have done their homework hard. I am watching them nod their heads back there. There are always several limitations, but I appreciate what you had to say on that. It sounds like they have determined who they are going to use. I appreciate that and I know that the Sundays are off. I have been pushing on the buses very hard because we have so much need and they already trimmed down the other days, and we need it back. We need it for the workforce, we need it for people attending church, etcetera. They are highly aware that we are in a crisis. I am sure I am speaking for them when it is not coming from a hard or uncaring heart that we have this challenge. It is tough when we only have a bus every hour, but that is one (1) driver. Well, that is two (2) drivers, right? So, we have two (2) drivers on a route, so we can have it every hour as opposed to every other hour. It is tough when we must leave people for another hour to either not make it to work or they hitchhike home or whatever that might be. Thank you for getting this underway. I know that when some people only have so much money and buy a pass, and then cannot take the bus several times, this way it sounds like they would have that credit, and it would be able to push it out. If they missed the bus, not because of their own choosing, COUNCIL MEETING 10 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 but because it is unavailable or it is full, it at least spreads that cost out, so I think that is good. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Kagawa: I am all for electronic. A lot of times it saves the County's need for additional manpower to handle those tasks or as long as we do our due diligence and make sure the fare system is the right size system for our island, I am one hundred percent (100%) behind it. I am hoping that it works out well for us because we are already having trouble with workers, finding workers for the pay that we have, so going electronic, to me, is a win-win. Thank you. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Is there any further discussion? I too want to say mahalo nui loa to Celia, Leonard, and the entire team at the Transportation Agency. I know it is a struggle elsewhere with getting adequate staff. I know that you are doing the best that you can with what you have and we thank you. I think the electronic fare system is a good thing. It will help people. The motion to receive C 2023-202 for the record was then put, and carried be a vote of 5:0:2 (Councilmember DeCosta and Council Chair Rapozo were excused). CLAIMS: C 2023-203 Communication (08/16/2023) from the County Clerk, transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Daniel Chiaramonte, for vehicle damage, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i. C 2023-204 Communication (08/22/2023) from the County Clerk, transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Clerkin, Sinclair & Mahfouz, OBO USAA Casualty Insurance Company, ASO Adam K. Hussey and Kylie Hussey, for damage to their vehicle, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i. C 2023-205 Communication (08/22/2023) from the County Clerk, transmitting a claim filed against the County of Kaua`i by Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative, for damage to their equipment, pursuant to Section 23.06, Charter of the County of Kaua`i. Councilmember Carvalho moved to refer C 2023-203, C 2023-204 and C 2023-205 to the Office of the County Attorney for disposition and/or report back to the Council, seconded by Councilmember Cowden. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Is there any discussion or public testimony? Seeing none. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as follows: The motion to refer C 2023-203, C 2023-204, and C 2023-205 to the Office of the County Attorney for disposition and/or reportback to the Council was then COUNCIL MEETING 11 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 put, and carried be a vote of 5:0:2 (Councilmember DeCosta and Council Chair Rapozo were excused). Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Next item, please. COMMITTEE REPORTS: PARKS & RECREATION / TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: A report (No. CR-PRT 2023-03) submitted by the Parks & Recreation / Transportation Committee, recommending that the following be Received for the Record: "PRT 2023-03 — Communication (07/12/2023) from Committee Chair Bulosan, requesting the presence of McKenna Allen, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources, to provide a briefing clarifying fishing regulations on Kauai and to speak on what the Division of Aquatic Resources is currently doing on Kaua`i," Councilmember Carvalho moved for approval of the report, seconded by Councilmember Cowden. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify on this item or any discussion? Seeing none. There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as follows: The motion for approval of the report was then put, and carried be a vote of 5:0:2 (Councilmember DeCosta and Council Chair Rapozo were excused). Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: The motion is carried. Next item. HOUSING & INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE: A report (No. CR-HIR 2023-02) submitted by the Housing & Intergovernmental Relations Committee, recommending that the following be Received for the Record: "HIR 2023-02 — Communication (06/21/2023) from Committee Chair Kuali`i and Committee Vice Chair Bulosan, requesting the presence of the Housing Director and James Koshiba, Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness, to provide a briefing on sheltering and housing the unsheltered people on Kaua`i, including the various categories of people affected: kupuna, keiki, `ohana, indigent, disabled, medically-compromised, veterans, Native Hawaiians, and others who are suffering," Councilmember Carvalho moved for approval of the report, seconded by Councilmember Cowden. COUNCIL MEETING 12 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Is there anyone in the audience wishing to testify on this item? Come on up. ANA MO DES: Aloha, good morning, Ana Mo Des. I am speaking in continuation from last week. To recap, the State provided a report that I believe is inaccurate using the root of the cause as the gap for the housing crisis, resulting homelessness. I feel that the root of the cause is the exploitation, which as I stated in capitalism you are not allowed to profit off exploitation. It results in the drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, crime, trafficking, and eventual suicide. The County reported basically the same solutions that have not really worked and what I am trying to get at is that with having twenty percent (20%) of whatever the eighty percent (80%) that goes into the market that can be priced at whatever it would be paid for. There is always going to be a buyer for that. You are asking the developer to provide funding for eventual affordable housing and you are never going to catch up to that. The county showed that there is not enough funding, you are asking the State to continue investing in it. What the County does with the Home Buyer Program is more of a solution to (inaudible) to basically compare taking that and expanding that to be the solution in perpetuity. We need to identify what the actual cause of the issues are if we want to correct them, because we are going to just keep spinning our wheels and having this issue be exacerbated. Quite literally the solution the County proposes exacerbates the problem whether it is intentionally or not, it is actually happening. I know I am repeating myself, for those who have heard me for five (5) years, but some of you have not. There is a verbiage in the proposal where you are identifying the native Hawaiian and those needs, and I heard many times and I know I am not kanaka, so I am not speaking to the split, but just in my observation and from people stepping forward for these years, many have been stepping up in their community, showing that when they have the connection to the `aina that there is healing that takes place. This is a generational trauma. Having access to ahupua a, the native practices, the hunting, the fishing and the gathering, the living is also part of it. There are community members who have stepped forward, Uncle Tom Kanahele and Allison Lewis are having an issue now with the County and they were not able to come today, but it is worth bringing people forward that have this connection, this history...may I continue for my second round? Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: I need to caution you, you are drifting away from the agenda and mentioning specifics about Uncle Tom or someone. Ms. Mo Des: I see. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Just on the item, which is the minutes, the Committee Report of the Housing & Intergovernmental Relation Committee. Ms. Mo Des: This is about the Report and what was stated last week on what the issues were and that the County said that there was not anyone showing up to take on that responsibility. We need to make a better effort. The problem is being severed for so long, it is really hard to step forward in that capacity and it is not about making camps better, it is about really changing our approach to...if we are actually going to solve this issue or if we are going to keep making these COUNCIL MEETING 13 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 little small band-aids that exacerbate the problem and then make it seem like we are doing better. The Housing Director said that Kauai, compared to the other counties is really the best, but we have to understand that as "Kaua`i"we have a responsibility to being the last to be affected by these issues, so we can see on the mainland what happens, we can see on the chain of the different counties what happens. We are the last to be affected. We have the responsibility to look at what has not worked and not attempt to try that. We are the ones that need to come up with actual solution that can be perpetual and have the others take note of what we are doing and make those changes, because what happened on the mainland obviously did not work. Five (5) years ago was not as bad as it is now. I was trying to sound alarm bells. Many people stepped forward about this issue and if we are going to acknowledge what the actual problem is, then we can move forward with true solutions that will work. I believe that there are many people that are very innovative, creative, inspired, and want to come forward to have these solutions be what they ought to be and the community is the one that really supports that. There are people that work in the ministry-side that are willing to step forward and have people that have been identified in different camps to be that possibility. I do not want you folks to just receive this for the record and have it end here. The conversation obviously must continue in a very meaningful way, but what was proposed for the different departments to work together, the State, the County, the community, and the nonprofits to work together was really wonderful. That was worth having that meeting yesterday. Not that it was not worth it, it is just having that come out of it, the fact that they are not communicating, they are not working together, and the push for that to happen will be a wonderful resolution moving forward. I do appreciate you all for your time. Thank you. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Ms. Cummings. You were here at the last meeting also, so this is the Housing & Intergovernmental Relations Committee Report. Ms. Cummings: Yes. Sherri Cummings, for the record. Malama Anahola. We are sitting in the same room as last week hearing the same thing and unfortunately, we perceive differently when someone says something. I did not hear Adam saying that he had the answers. I never hear Adam saying that we tried our hardest and failed. What I heard was a cry out for people to step forward, whether it be different entities, nonprofits, whoever, and not because we are visible does not mean we are not in the trenches doing the work to help homeless people, because we are. I can name a couple people, which I refuse to, because they are not here themselves to testify on their behalf of how we address it, and not because the government, we are not, because in our own capacity we are. I think everyone understands one (1) thing because everyone says it, we have a product, but we do not have a place. Unfortunately, there are only two (2) places, well, three (3). If a private owner going to open up his land, if the State is going to say, "okay, you can use State land," or the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i cannot testify in his capacity of who he is, but I can, because I held the presidency for some years and I was part of the Sovereign Counsels and we fought just because there was exploitation on our lands and we could not do things. When I speak about native Hawaiian, I am not going to duck, before we used to. We have rights and opportunities that others do not. That is why I come here all the time and testify and I say we can leverage funding. In our capacity and our reach, we are very different and we are COUNCIL MEETING 14 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 going to act different, and there is a reason why we are different, so no one should be "throwing blows," so to speak, when we talk about native Hawaiians, because, sorry, we are the host culture. Everyone uses the term loosely—the kuamo o. That is true. You folks are on our backs and if we cannot be the ones to help solve the problem, then you folks have the problem. We are part of the solution and we are working with different organizations and different entities, probably the same as they work with. There is no right or wrong, but there are many reasons why we are homeless, and I am going to use my extra three (3) minutes. There is a variety of reasons why we are homeless, there is no one (1) reason. In 2020, I smelt and tasted homeless. I made over one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per year. I had an emotional breakdown that put me in a place where...I have eight (8) other brothers and sisters and in their capacity, they could not take me. If it was not for a family member from O`ahu that picked me up and brought me home to them in O`ahu, I was homeless. We cannot identify and say one (1) solution going fit all, because it will not. Another issue that was a component that they talked about was the medical side of the homeless situation. Who is not represented and is the serious minority is the youth. I know you know my niece, grandniece, who there is no...and I only realized that recently, because we were part of the entire process, there is no representation for psychological help for minorities. My niece who needed that extra help was locked up in the Emergency Room (ER) for two (2) days until they could have a state room for her. Homeless is way more than what we think and we need to get all the masses together, not to figure it out, but to be part of the solution, because there are many reasons why we are homeless. She was right. How do we bring everyone together to elevate the houseless communities, so that they can stand because that is the objective of Malama Anahola—creating and levitate and you make them stand next to the next person and fight for the same job. That is what you want out of homeless people. That you can elevate them and let them be right there with the next. It is a process, but it does not mean there are no working groups in the community that are in the trenches doing the work and still trying to solve the problem, and we are working with the County. Thank you. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to testify? Is there any further discussion? There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Councilmember Cowden: I appreciate people being passionate about this issue and speaking to it, I want to say I appreciate the nonprofits, the public/private partnerships that do happen to support those developable percentages on the affordable housing requirements. I also want to acknowledge that the County has really had to shift to be the developer of affordable housing. We are building...there are five (5) things starting to move, one (1) has broken ground and it has the buildings going up. We have shifted so deeply in the past four (4) years, that we are the builder of affordable housing and the Mahelona has federal moneys, State land has County help on there, we are working altogether, and we have a number of non-governmental agencies, the Veterans Administration, nonprofits, Habitat for Humanity, and the agreement that you are telling us is pointing in the right direction COUNCIL MEETING 15 SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 and I just want to lift you up and let you know, we are already walking in the stride. We are doing it and we are trying hard and it is still a heavy lift. Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: Is there further discussion? I would just say that the briefing that we had last week was obviously not meant to be something that we just receive and put aside. It was meant to be informative, informational, and for me it is also motivational as the Housing & Intergovernmental Relations Committee Chair. I think it is just the beginning. Having James Koshiba present from the Governor's Office and hearing some specifics about the Kauhale Village and the funding that they have, and how they are committed to doing projects here on Kaua`i, is important. It is also important that the County through our Housing Director and we heard it from our Mayor as well, as putting forward we are not necessarily in the position to be the lead partner or champion, I believe that is how James Koshiba called in, on such a project, Kauhale, because we, like what Councilmember Cowden said, already have the projects that we are working on. Big projects like Lima Ola with multi-pieces to it—kupuna housing, low-income housing, single-family housing, some of it already coming up, and then Kealaula, the transitional supportive housing there right near the Department of Water, and the rentals across the street. Kealaula is just the first example that we brought forward with special funding during COVID-19 with Governor Ige with the emergency funding. Now, with Governor Green, we want to continue that as well. Kealaula type of projects should be happening in different parts of the island as well. We also need these Kauhale Villages as well. The hope that Ms. Cummings mentioned, too, was the cry out for folks to step forward to help us identify who those champions are. We know that there are folks in the community. It is just the beginning. We are going to continue to push to bring more resources and more partners to our biggest battle right now, the biggest challenge, housing of all types—from the most affordable, at the lowest end, even up to the gap housing where people need housing. The motion for approval of the report was then put, and carried be a vote of 5:0:2 (Councilmember DeCosta and Council Chair Rapozo were excused). Council Vice Chair Kuali`i: The motion is carried. Next item. ADJOURNMENT. There being no further business, the Council Meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m. Resecilly submitted, i JADE . U NTAI N-TANI GAWA County Clerk :dmc