Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-16-2009 Special Council Meeting Minutes SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 The Special Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kauai was called to order by the Council Chair at the Council Chambers, Historic County Building, 4396 Rice Street, Room 201, Lihu`e, Kauai, on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 8:39 a.m., after which the following members answered the call of the roll: Honorable Tim Bynum Honorable Dickie Chang Honorable Jay Furfaro Honorable Daryl W. Kaneshiro Honorable Lani T. Kawahara Honorable Derek S. K. Kawakami Honorable Bill "Kaipo" Asing, Council Chair APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Mr. Furfaro moved for approval of the agenda as circulated, seconded by Mr. Chang, and unanimously carried. Chair Asing: Thank you. Can we have the first item please? PETER A. NAKAMURA, COUNTY CLERK: The next matter is a resolution, Resolution No. 2009-53. Resolution No. 2009-53 -RESOLUTION APPOINTING THE COUNTY AUDITOR OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI: Mr. Furfaro moved to approve Resolution No. 2009-49, seconded by Mr. Kawakami. Chair Asing: Any discussion? Councilmembers? Councilmember Furfaro? Mr. Furfaro: Yes, thank you Mr. Chair and before we find ourselves taking public testimony, I want to thank you for the relatively appropriate and timely selection of our candidate that is in the resolution today. I believe that, you know, I was very active in introducing to this full Council the idea of our own audit department that would be part of the legislative branch of government for the purpose of monitoring some of our single biggest cost in the County. In particular, payroll staffing guides, also being able to read and make projections off of special funds that we are obligated to manage from other political subdivisions that have certain expectations and commitments of those. And I wanted to say that I am very pleased with the process and certainly the outcome with Ernie being identified as the County Auditor. He then will appoint a very important, but selective department of personnel including some legal assistance, some financial and accounting assistance, as well as some clerical assistance. And, SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING -2- September 16, 2009 you know, we started this back on August 6 through notice in the public paper. We have a small committee that reviewed those applications including Councilman Bynum, myself, and you to make sure that they fit the criteria of the application for the position. They had the right credentials in place and the right work in place. I also think that although we spent a lot of time on the interviews, we did narrow it down to three (3) finalists and through the interview process and response to certain questions, Ernie certainly showed that he was fully ready to accept and he has always, always, in my opinion, showed, you know, he is very focused on the particular requirements without bias to getting his work done here at the Council and his financial background will only be a very big plus for what we want to accomplish. Thank you Mr. Chair. Chair Asing: Any further discussion? If not, I just want to acknowledge Councilmember Furfaro for placing this really on the ballot. It was a choice by the people and the people had a choice to either approve of this department or not approve. The people decided to approve it and, therefore, we are here now with Ernie being the candidate selected. So I just want to recognize Councilmember Furfaro for his leadership and projecting the need for an auditor, so we are here today with that final outcome. Mr. Furfaro: Thank you Mr. Chair. Chair Asing: With that, roll call please. Mr. Furfaro: We have people... Chair Asing: My apologies. Glenn? There being no objections, the rules were suspended. GLENN MICKENS: Good morning Councilmembers. For the record, Glenn Mickens. Thank you for... I have a short testimony and you have a copy of it. My printer didn't put it into too good of a form, but I think you can read it. Put it in the record. This resolution appointing my good friend Ernie Pasion to County Auditor is a good one. I have known Ernie as a hard working, intelligent, always available person who has done his job for the County for many years. However, in my opinion, this auditor's position should have been a person of extremely neutral characteristics with no ties to our government. In many municipalities and I am sure that you are aware of this, the auditor is either an elected position or served by an outside contractor. With all due respect to my friend Ernie who I have no questions about his honesty or integrity... this isn't about Ernie for me, this is about the position. There would still remain the appearance of impropriety in any decision making whether or not an infraction took place. On another note, section 32.02 A 2 --- powers, duties, functions says that performance audits of the funds, programs, and operations of any agency or operation of the County as requested by the Council by resolution as authorized by section 3.12. The question that I have regarding this SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING -3- September 16, 2009 is how does this section fit with the $500,000 authorized by the Council six (6) or seven (7) years ago for the performance audit that has never been done. And, finally regarding the appointment of Ernie again, I also note that under Section 32.01B, the requirements for this position are extremely rigid and, again, with all due respect to my friend Ernie, I must ask if he meets all of these conditions. I presume you reviewed that. I didn't get a chance to see that, but I presume that he is a certified CPA, etc. But, maybe, if you can, can you answer that question about the $500,000? Chair Asing: Okay, with that, Councilmember Bynum? Mr. Bynum: I will defer the $500,000. I just want to assure you that the committee had three (3) very strong candidates that we interviewed. Ernie meets all of the requirements. Ernie has, as you mentioned, the integrity, and he fully understands the independent nature... one of the strongest... you know, one of the strongest positions that he shared with us was that this position is independent, that he understands that it is potentially controversial, and may be in the lime light, and I have every faith in the world that he has the independence and understands that role, and really has an opportunity to shine. You know, one of the joys for me of working on Council has been meeting Ernie and his depth of his understanding and knowledge has maybe been a little underutilized in his current position, and I think he has a real opportunity to shine. So I want to assure you that he totally meets the criteria, he interviewed very strong, and there are some advantages with his knowledge of the internal workings of the government. But we have to respect the professionalism of the people that work for the County. They know how to know people and still fulfill their roles as independent thinkers, and I have no question that he will be able to do that. Mr. Mickens: Well, I certainly appreciate that Tim. Again, I have no qualms or questions about Ernie's character, about him personally, none whatsoever. It is just there is still this connection that he has been with our government, and, you know, it is like the typical fox guarding the hen house. You try and get somebody as neutral as possible and you can't be completely neutral if, in fact, you have been a member of the organization that you are now possibly going to point the finger at. Mr. Bynum: Well, I will respectfully disagree with you Glenn. You know, I trust in the professionalism of the professional people that work for the County of Kauai and I know that Ernie knows how to make those distinctions, and I don't think, you know, if there is an appearance of impropriety. Those are powerful words and, you know, you have a tendency to use powerful words, right? You know, I am not concerned. Mr. Mickens: Well, I am not saying there is impropriety. I am saying that in the appearance if there is a conflict and he is making a decision or whoever the auditor happens to be makes a decision... you know, like if it is like SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING -4- September 16, 2009 Marion Higa. She makes the decision, but, you know, but I have always rest assured that she was separated. She wasn't part of the government, so in that particular process, you know, I was always happy, but I understand exactly what you are saying. I appreciate your work, but if you can answer the other question about the $500,000. Chair Asing: Councilmember Furfaro? Mr. Furfaro: Yea, I just wanted to follow up on the other part. I want to make sure we understand that the auditor makes a report. The auditor doesn't make a decision. Marion Higa makes a report. Marion Higa doesn't make a decision. Mr. Mickens: I understand that. Mr. Furfaro: So that is the connection between this legislative body and the County Auditor. We send this individual out to review issues that we have whether they are in Public Works, Parks, Special Funds, Housing, and his job is to investigate, summarize, and make a report with certain suggested improvements that can be initiated or changed as suggested to the Council by the Council. The Council is the decision making body. Chair Asing: Thank you. Anyone else? If not, thank you Glenn. Is there anyone else? If not, I would like to call the meeting back to order. The meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Chair Asing: Any further discussion? If not, roll... I am sorry, go ahead. Mr. Chang: Thank you Chair. You know, I just wanted to address Mr. Mickens because I do think it is very important to have some knowledge of the government. We interviewed and we had a criteria and we all followed the criteria and believe me... I believe the Councilmembers asked all candidates some very, very great questions. I think he is neutral, I think he is independent, and I think he is a very likeable guy, and he has a staff. And keeping in mind if there are people that may be a little resistant, you know, to give out information, he has the power to make things and move forward. He is going to be the auditor and he has a great staff, and I think I see nothing wrong with having government ties because, you know, we are so relationship driven, people like them. I think... I don't see any resistance and I don't see any controversy. I think he will be neutral and I think he will do a great, great job along with the staff that I am sure that he will confidently build, I think we are in a great, great situation that we can do something that the public wanted for many years. And I am glad that we all... through this difficult process, I think it should be noted that he was elected unanimously seven (7) to nothing, and one of the things that I would just like to SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING -5- September 16, 2009 leave with is something that the Chair said that stuck to myself. I mean being somebody that is new, Ernie has been around in this County and with this Clerk's Office for many, many years, and one of the things that the Chair said, is he really wished we utilized him much more with all the skills that he had. I mean when you think about all the difficult budgets we have been through and being a CPA... I mean he stated clearly that we wished he got more involved in the process because we could have used him, you know, in those decision making processes when we perhaps was in some sort of quandary. I think he just quietly kicked back and said, well, they didn't ask me anything, so I am not going to say anything, but I am sure... you know, again, he really stick to me when the Chair said, we wish... well, he wished that we utilized Ernie that much more and now we have that opportunity to utilize him, you know. So nonetheless, that is what I wanted to say. I just want to say that, you know, thank you for your aloha and support for Ernie, but I am very confident that he will be doing a great job. Thank you. Chair Asing: Thank you. Any further discussion? If not, roll call please. The motion to approve Resolution No. 2009-53 was then put, and carried by the following vote: FOR ADOPTION: Bynum, Chang, Furfaro, Kaneshiro, Kawahara, Kawakami, Asing TOTAL - 7, AGAINST ADOPTION: None TOTAL - 0, EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL - 0. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:52 a.m. Respectfully submitted, `~~U~-. PETER A. NAKAMURA County Clerk