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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-11-2010 Special Meeting SPECIAL MEETING AUGUST 11, 2010 The Special Meeting of the Council of the County of Kauai was called to order by the Council Chair at the Council Chambers, Historic County Building, 3371-A Wilcox Road, Lihu`e, Kauai, on Wednesday, August 11, 2010, at 8:38 a.m., after which the following members answered the call of the roll: Honorable Tim Bynum Honorable Dickie S. Chang Honorable Jay Furfaro Honorable Daryl W Kaneshiro Honorable Lani T Kawahara Honorable Derek S K. Kawakami Honorable Bill "Kaipo" Asing APPROVAL OF AGENDA Upon motion duly made by Mr Furfaro, seconded by Mr Kaneshiro, and unanimously carried, the agenda was approved as circulated. Council Chair Asing: With that, why don't we start with the interviews? Before we start with the interviews, Councilmember Kawakami is going to recuse himself, just because of possible conflict with his business employment. Mr Kawakami was recused and excused from the meeting at 8.39 a.m. Council Chair Asing: With that, could we have Dane Oda up first? INTERVIEWS LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION: • Dane K. Oda -Term ending 12/31/2010 (Mayoral Appointment) DANE ODA. Good morning, Council Chair Asing: Good morning Dane. Dane, I guess you've gone through process before. It's nothing new for all of you here today Thank you, really, for serving and all the years that you put into serving the community With that, I'm going to open it for you, Dane, give some background and any information you care to share with Councilmembers. i SPECIAL MEETING 2 AUGUST 11, 2010 Mr Oda. Just a quick one. It's been a while since I appeared before this Council before. But as far as my background, I was in the police department for about 10 years in my early years when I was younger, and after that I joined the stevedor company and managed the local office for about 25 years, took retirement in. got apointed to the Hawaii State Paroling Authority Board, and that was what I was doing for the last 7 years. Just last month I decided to retire from that position and I think by the experiences that I had in all the years of working, being part of the liquor commission, I think I could contribute some background information, and hopefully if there's any decisions to be made in regards to violations, etc., and would help the present board members by giving a fair viewpoint of what my thoughts are. And now basically it's time to give back to the community again, and I guess in my last years of being around, I hope to do what I can. Thank you. Council Chair Asing: Thank you. With that, before I open it up, I just want to recognize two people in here. I'd like to recognize Eric Honma, thank you for being here, Eric the director of liquor, and Cyndi, welcome back, good to see you, thank you. With that, Councilmember Furfaro. Mr Furfaro: Thank you Mr Chairman. Dane, thank you very much for being here, and I also want to thank you personally for your work on the parole board and your service to the community I also feel that your work within the police department over your professional career, structure, understanding regulations and so forth will be a big for us to have you on the commission. And I just wanted to say thank you for being here, and I fully support this nominee. Council Chair Asing: Thank you. Councilmember Bynum. Mr Bynum. Mr Oda, thank you for being here, and congratulations on your retirement. Thank you very much for your willingness to continue to serve. All your contributions to the community are greatly appreciated. Thank you. Council Chair Asing: Anyone else? Councilmember Chang. Mr Chang: Thank you. Good morning, Dane. Hi. You know, we all know you, and of course, thank you very much for your service, but weren't you one of the original or with the KIUC board originally, or Mr Oda. No, I wasn't the original KIUC member Mr Chang: The second wave? Mr Oda. Probably about the third. I served there for 3 years, the normal course of time, and I did not get re-elected, but that's how I guess life goes, and just tried to do what I could to support the so-called owners who SPECIAL MEETING 3 AUGUST 11, 2010 are basically the community And I guess right now they have some problems they have to take care of that continued from what we had at the time. Mr Chang: We just want to make sure we recognize you, because that's not of course an easy, you know, position to be sitting on. So we just wanted to thank you and recognize you for that stint. the 3-year so thank you, Mr Oda. Mr Oda. Thank you Councilmember Mr Chang: Thank you Chair Council Chair Asing: Yes. Councilmember Kawahara. Ms. Kawahara. Good morning, it's nice to see you here. I notice that there was the 2003-2010 with the State Paroling Authority, and before that was with KIUC? Because I only have this sheet. Mr Oda. That was part of my beginning years with Hawaii Paroling Authority; that was on a part-time basis. Ms. Kawahara. Which one? Mr Oda. The KIUC board, that was a part-time basis. Ms. Kawahara. Okay, okay Thank you. And what do you think is the most important role that you're going to play on this commission? Mr Oda. I think with the background that I stated I had, enforcement and some in terms of the correction side, I think I could add to the present board members who have. being judges I believe, and they have perspective, which is I think good. And by having some of the experiences that I've had, I could add some balance to that. An example would be, with the Hawaii State Paroling Authority, one individual, the chair, who was involved in the correction side of everything, and we had another very intelligent individual who had a law degree, although did not practice law, he was a pilotibusiness instructor at the Hawaii Pacific U, and there was myself in the law enforcement side. So each one of us had a different perspective that we would question the parolees and find out what answers we needed to find, and we could add different areas of expertise. Hopefully I can do the same with the commission. Ms. Kawahara: Okay Just one last question. All of the boards, you're aware that the director is appointed by your board, yeah, and may be removed also by your board members. Okay, thank you. Council Chair Asing: Thank you. Councilmember Kaneshiro SPECIAL MEETING 4 AUGUST 11, 2010 Mr Kaneshiro: Thank you Chair I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank Dane Oda for a lot of his services that he's given to the community You know, serving on the planning commission, I know you served on the KIUC board for a while, Hawaii parole authority, water board, I mean you know, all of these and just think that Dane and I are classmates, and I'm retiring from politics now, but you can see how, I guess, the 66 people are, how much they get involved and continue to do and serve their community So thank you very much, Dane, you know, you make me proud of being a classmate or 1966 grad of Kauai High School. Mr Oda. I guess we have to make our little (inaudible) Council Chair Asing: Thank you. Any other questions, Councilmembers? Mr Furfaro: No, I just want to know Is this where I mention that Daryl is only two days older than me? Congratulations to the Class of 66. Mr Chang: October 12. Council Chair Asing: Well, I don't have any questions for Dane. You've served the community well and continue to serve the community well. I just want to say thank you very much for your help and assistance, and you, I'm sure, will make a very good contributing member of the group. So thank you very much. Mr Oda. Thank you Mr Chair and fellow Councilmembers. Thank you for the opportunity Council Chair Asing: Thank you. With that, Josephine Sokei. Also someone who is. has been here before. Nothing new Served well in many groups and committees. So with that, I'm going to open it up to you, Josephine. • Josephine Ann Sokei -Term ending 12/31/2012 (Mayoral Appointment) JOSEPHINE SOKEI. Sounds like 1966 was a very notable year-that's when I first arrived on this island, and I've been here ever since. So I came in 1966, and I began teaching. I taught 20 years at Kapa`a High School, then went up to the district, and I see a lot of former students. I retired from the DOE in 2006, and my time now is taking care of grandchildren and enjoying what I could never do as a teacher I think teaching sets you up for community service, and so I'd like to give back to the community, and I've served on other boards as such. Council Chair Asing: Okay With that, Councilmembers? Councilmember Furfaro. SPECIAL MEETING 5 AUGUST 11, 2010 Mr Furfaro: Yes. Ms. Sokei, thank you again for offering your volunteerism to the County of Kauai, but also, let me say, and compliment you on your investment in our children over your teaching career I know my wife was one of your students at one time, and we have had an opportunity to have you working in areas that deal with a lot of community outreach, and that has been very much appreciated, and I thank you for stepping forward again. And later this afternoon I believe we're voting on these agenda items, and I will be supporting you, and I just want to say thank you very much for stepping forward. Ms. Sokei: Thank you. Council Chair Asing: Thank you. Councilmembers? Councilmember Bynum. Mr Bynum. Just thank you very much, and congratulations on your retirement. you spending time with the grandkids. My grandson just started King Kaumuali`i, so.. same school my kids went to, so thank you for your years of service and your willingness to continue. Thank you very much. Council Chair Asing: Councilmember Chang. Mr Chang: Hi Josephine. First of all, if you want to mention 1966, I just want to congratulate you, because I can just imagine. I don't know where you're from, but landing on Kauai and teaching Kapa`a for 20 years, that must have been. Ms. Kawahara. Watch out. Watch out. Mr Chang: What I mean is. You know what I mean. You coming over, it's. Ms. Sokei: I came from Michigan. Mr Chang: You came from Michigan, okay So that must have been an adventure. Ms. Sokei. It was. Mr Chang: Just the. I think on both ends, on the students' ends and I'm sure on your end also But nonetheless, just wanted to say thank you, and I also notice in your review here, you also are very concerned about underaged drinking, and I think that's a very, very big problem right now So hopefully you can get involved with that, and you know, throughour your commission, and with Eric, and your association with the teachers and everything else. Because I know it is a big problem, and I guess we hear that all the time, because every now and then it's notified that there are different establishments that get, I guess, cited for SPECIAL MEETING 6 AUGUST 11, 2010 underaged drinking, and a lot of times, you know, we don't know how easy it is to obtain alcohol. So that. when I see you making that a part of your priority, if you will, or being a part of that, I think it's really good, because a lot of people don't want to talk about stuff as such, but it is a big problem in our community So just want to say welcome and congratulations, and we're just happy that you're volunteering to be a part of the community and continue to be a part of the committee. Thank you very much. Council Chair Asing: Councilmember Kawahara. Ms. Kawahara. I can't let you go without saying to Mr Chang that I am a Kapa`a High graduated, and this was my favorite English teacher, and we didn't give her too hard a time, I think. But I'm glad to see you here, and I know you're been retired for a while and been keeping busy I'm glad to see that you're coming back to the liquor commission to do some good work for the community So thank you for everything that you've done, and thank you for being a English teacher Council Chair Asing: Councilmember Kaneshiro. Mr Kaneshiro: Thank you Chair Here's another one that I want to take the opportunity to thank for serving, because as long as I've been in politics, you know, she's been on some commission or volunteering for the community, and I know you served many years on the board of water supply So I just want to thank you, take this opportunity again to say mahalo, and you know, with your experience and your knowledge and your passion for kids and students, you'll be a great, you know, asset serving on the board for the liquor commission. Thank you. Ms. Sokei. Thank you. Council Chair Asing: With that, it's again thank you very much for continuing to serve the community; appreciate all the things that you do. Looking forward to your service again. Thank you. We'll have Councilman Kawakami in this portion here. With that, can I have Mr Machado, please. Mr Kawakami was noted back in the meeting at 8:54 a.m. SALARY COMMISSION: • Michael Chavez Machado - Term ending 12/31/2012 (Mayoral Appointment) Council Chair Asing: Mike, good morning. SPECIAL MEETING 7 AUGUST 11, 2010 MICHAEL MACHADO- Good morning, Mr Chair Council Chair Asing: How you doing? Mr Machado: Great. Council Chair Asing: I guess you've been through this before too Nothing new for you. Thank you again for serving. I'm going to open it up to you first, give some background, any information you care to share with Councilmembers. Mr Machado: Okay Council, just a real short history I've been in Kauai since 1976. I have served on the planning commission approximately 5 years. I've done some other public service. I am currently the Kauai division director for the ILWU And I feel that this commission I can hopefully contribute some of my knowledge on the labor management side and dealing with salaries and whatnot, and I think I'd like to help as much as I can and give back to the community in that way Council Chair Asing: Thank you. With that, Councilmembers, any questions? Councilmember Furfaro. Mr Furfaro: Yes. First of all, Mike, thank you very much for stepping forward and offering your services. In 1976 when Mike arrived on Kauai, I had the opportunity to offer him employment, so I know Mike from his role with the resort business. I also know that he really worked very diligently, and recognizing his upward mobility within the ILWU and becoming. I guess is it a business agent, and currently you are? Mr Machado: The division director Mr Furfaro: The division director So I think that shows a great stewardship and understanding of the labor and salary process that we have currently I full-heartedly support you stepping forward again, Mike, and I would like to share with you that recently I took some time and made an appointment to get on the agenda for the civil service commission, and I introduced to them the upward appraisal process that I think you're familiar with. We sat on opposite ends of the table at Princeville, which is a performance appraisal that allows feedback from below up, versus the typical evaluation which is from top down. Obviously we would like eventually to see that the salary commission and the civil service board has some time to evaluate this process, and I just brought a short presentation of what I've shared so that the county can consider that going forward. I think it's important with the salary commission that there is a structured uniform review process that is expanded from what we have right now And so I just want to say thank you for stepping forward, and if you don't mind, I'd like to re-familiarize you SPECIAL MEETING 8 AUGUST 11, 2010 with the upward appraisal process as part of the performance review for the salary commission. Thank you Mr Chair Council Chair Asing: Thank you. Councilmember Bynum. Mr Bynum. Mike, thank you very much for stepping up You sure you don't want to go do the planning commission again? Mr Machado Did that one already Mr Bynum. I just wanted to take a minute, besides thanking you for your service, and I think you'll be an outstanding member of what has been a really, I think, good commission over the few years. You know, the Charter changed the role of the salary commission. Salary commission right? I got the right commission, okay, good. Changed their role, and since that time, I think the salary commission started with doing what in my view was long overdue of bringing department head salaries to a reasonable level that makes us somewhat competitive with the private sector We had a situation where, you know, department head salaries were often well below the civil service workers that they supervised, and I appreciate the salary commission bringing those salaries to a level that make the county more competitive and compensate those people more commensurate with their experience. And since then, you know with the changing economic conditions and request from the mayor to hold off on scheduled salary increases, in my view has created some inequity in. because I think that was also a goal of the commission, to provide kind of cross department equity on the salaries. And with some of them being held and some of them continuing to increase, I think we've lost some of that equity between members. And so I'm hopeful that you and other salary commission members will look at that issue, you know, to bring. And I think there were other outstanding issues about should each, you know, department heads be paid the same, because some require, you know, high-level professional licensure and others don't. And so those are some of the issues, as I recall, that the salary commission, I think, was grappling with, but I think the changing economic conditions has created some differences between some department heads and others. I actually appeared at the salary commission some time ago, and I don't. you know, I haven't done my homework, I don't know if they responded or they're working on that at this point, but we had a situation where some department heads were being paid greater than the mayor, for instance. And so I think the salary commission did a great work at bringing equitability, is that a. of making the salaries make sense and have face validity, and hopefully we don't move away from that. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of those thoughts, and I'm thrilled that you're stepping up to be a member of what has been a strong commission. Thank you. Council Chair Asing: Councilmember Kawahara. SPECIAL MEETING 9 AUGUST 11, 2010 Ms. Kawahara: Thank you. Hi Mike, good morning. I was just saying that. well when I saw you this morning that I was really glad to see your name up for salary commission. I feel really comfortable of being able to support your nomination for this board, because I know you'll be a really strong advocate for fair wages and good work places in the county So thank you for stepping forward and coming on to this commission, and I wish you the best of luck, and thank you for all the service you've provided so far Council Chair Asing: Thank you. Any other Councilmembers have any questions? Councilmember Kaneshiro. Mr Kaneshiro: Here's another good example of serving, you know, and giving to the community again, because for all the years I've known Mike, you know, he's served on the planning commission, and I just want to say that, you know, when you. Especially when you serve in this area as a salary commission, one of the part that I really like is when you said that to help and formulate fair wages based on experience in the labor area. So that really caught me when I saw this and went over your application. So obviously, you know, there's no doubt that you'll have my full support, and I just want to thank you again, take this opportunity to thank you. And also, you know I have to mention this, you were on the State library commission? Mr. Machado: Yeah. Mr Kaneshiro: So you know you knew Lam. Mr Machado: Yeah. Mr Kaneshiro: from then on then. I had to add that in for you, Lani, serving as a librarian. But again, thank you very much, you know You add up all these years, you know, it's quite a bit of years that you've serve on boards and commissions. Thank you. Council Chair Asing: Any others? Councilmember Chang. Mr Chang: Mike, I guess I just want to say thank you. Everybody went across the room and I want to just say congratulations, and thank you for once again serving with us publicly Thank you very much, Mike. Mahalo. Council Chair Asing: Any others? If not, thank you, Mike, again for stepping forward, serving, helping the community Appreciate all your help With that, thank you. Mr Machado: Thank you Council. SPECIAL MEETING 10 AUGUST 11, 2010 There being no further business, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 9.13 a.m. Respectfully submitted, PETER A. NAKAMURA County Clerk