The Charter Commission: A Champion for Open and Transparent Government
Published in West Hawaii Today 9.9.2010
The Charter commission meets once every ten years to propose changes to the Hawaii County charter. Their first public meeting is Friday, September 11th at 6:00 pm in Kona at the Sheraton. See the charter commission in action that same day (same place) at 1:00pm.
The charter commission is appointed by the Mayor to consider changes to the Hawaii County Charter. There are three ways the Hawaii County Charter can be changed:
1) the County council can pass a bill with language to amend the charter,
2) by citizen’s initiative petition or
3) by the Charter commission. Voters must approve ALL changes. We now have an incredible opportunity to propose changes to the charter, then these changes will be put on the ballot in 2010 to let the people decide. The county council is also hearing some of these proposed charter amendments.
The charter commission has been meeting since March of 2009. Their website, where you can view the agendas and their word-for-word minutes: http://www.hawaii-county.com/council/CharterCommission.htm.
To see the text of the charter go to: http://www.hawaii-county.com/council/charter/charter.htm
There are 11 Charter Commission members appointed by Mayor Billy Kenoi’s office and confirmed by the County council. The members appointed are: Edmund Haitsuka- Attorney, Kona, Chairman, David Fuertes-north Kohala, Vice Chairman, Daphne Honma- high school teacher and UH basketball coach, Casey Jarman-professor UH Richardson School of Law and ex- Hawaii county clerk, Guy Kaulukukui, Jamae Kawauchi-Hilo attorney, Joseph Kealoha-Retired police officer, Kohala, Alapaki Nahale-A- Director of Ka Umeke Ka’eo Hawaiian Immersion Public Charter School in Keaukaha, Hilo, Susie Osborne- Principal of Kea O Ka La Charter School in Puna, Todd Shumway- Director for Global Exchange at UH Hilo and Scott Unger- Manager of AmeriGas. I searched the website, but saw no biographies of the Mayor’s appointees, this information was taken from their first minutes.
The Mayor’s appointments to the charter commission are indicative of the greater issue of appointments to boards and commissions. Right now the Mayor appoints ALL members of Boards and commissions. Since these are island wide commissions, (except in the case of the Planning commissions), shouldn’t the council members appoint reputable members from their districts, where they know the active and well -informed community members? Then the Mayor could do background checks and approve of these appointments in front of the council. In an effort to be transparent, and to inform citizens what types of skills are necessary to join a board or commission, should the criteria for selection of their members be posted on each commission’s website? Shouldn’t citizens be entitled to see the names, short biographies and qualifications of members who are making decisions on our behalf? This would require a change to Article XIII- Commissions and Boards.
At the first meeting of the Charter Commission, Mayor Kenoi said (from minutes): ” And all of you will decide whether council people should have the consideration of four year terms. Maybe they need to be “at large” and everyone should campaign island- wide. Maybe you guys will decide that we shouldn’t have a Mayor system of government, and maybe we might want to have a City Manager system.” The Mayor suggested 4-year council terms, to the charter commission that he appointed. What check and balance do we have on an out of control or non-responsive government if we do not have elections for 4 years? Article XII of the Charter -Recall is the logical check and balance and could be changed to make it easier to recall elected officials. How vacancies would be filled is another part that needs to be changed. The existing provisions in the charter to fill vacancies can be viewed under Section 5.1 for the Mayor, Section 3.4 for the Council and Section 9.5 for the prosecuting attorney.
In order to see how difficult it would be to recall an elected official today look at Article XII: Recall of the charter. To recall a council member, citizens must obtain valid signatures of 25% of the number of registered voters in the district within 30 days. To recall the Mayor citizens must collect 25% of all registered voters on the island in 30 days. There were approximately 99,000 registered voters to vote in the 2008 election. IF you succeed in this quick and onerous process to recall a council member, you will not have accomplished much, because the section on vacancies says the county council will appoint a successor. IF there is a vacancy in the office of Mayor, the managing director, who is appointed by the Mayor, takes the County office. The first deputy, who is appointed by the prosecuting attorney, would fill a vacancy in the office of the prosecuting attorney. This could strengthen the existing majority of the council and have very little effect in the offices of the Mayor or prosecuting attorney. Since these elected officials are supposed to represent the people, shouldn’t we be allowed to have an election to replace them if we recall them? A well-written charter amendment on recall and elections to fill vacancies would provide a dose of accountability and transparency and a much-needed check and balance on our county government. To their credit the charter commission has made some changes to Article XII, but I hope they also consider taking it a few steps further to provide for vacancies and elections.
Many of these changes in the recall procedure should also be adapted to Article XII- Impeachment, especially a provision to hold an election to replace an impeached elected official.
In Honolulu County, voters approved a charter amendment to set aside 1% of property tax revenues each year and created the Clean Water and Natural Lands and Affordable Housing Fund. Half of these monies go to each program. Remember Oahu has a much bigger property tax base, so 1% of their tax base is bigger than our 2% amount. I believe that a NEW charter amendment to set aside 2% of property taxes each year, that would create the Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation fund, as a special fund, should be a charter amendment. THAT way, only voters could change it and we would not be involved in the political wrangling at each budget time. Citizens could be assured that the funding would be available, as they voted, to attract matching funds at the state and federal level to save the Big Island’s great places. Voters approved this in 2008 by 63%. Let’s put it on the ballot again, and let the voters decide one more time.
Another important way to ensure transparency and accountability is by audits by the office of the Legislative Auditor- Section 3.18-. Voters changed the legislative auditor to an independent auditor in the 2008 election. In 2009, during budget hearings, the county council tried to gut part of this department’s budget. This needs to be changed, so that the Auditor’s budget is a percentage of the overall county’s budget. How can the auditor be independent if the council can control the funding? To see the impressive work of the Legislative Auditor’s reports on Recycling, the Public Works department, County vehicles, and an evaluation of the animal control program go to: http://www.hawaii-county.com/la/reports.html
In 2008, citizens approved a charter amendment brought forward by the League of Women Voters on Initiative and Referendum. The part of the charter that governs Article XV- Charter Amendment or Revision could be changed to implement the same procedures and process for citizens to propose charter amendments, so that citizens could write or amend laws. Citizens should have an easy to understand process to change the laws that govern the county. I am not saying the process should be too easy, but the process should be easy to follow and fair for both the county and citizens.
Get involved and plan to attend the charter commission’s public hearings. You can testify and ask the comission to make changes, or you can email your testimony to the commission at: keoff@co.hawaii.hi.us They will be meeting on 9/11 at the Sheraton in Kona at 6:00pm, in Waimea on 9/19 at 9:00 am, and on 9/19 at 1:00 in Honoka’a, in Pahala on 9/26 at 9:00am and at 2:00 at Kea’au. Their final meeting will be on October 9 in Hilo at the council chambers at 6:00 pm. For an exact schedule of their meetings go to: http://co.hawaii.hi.us/council/CharterCommission.htm#phs
Now is the time to speak up for accountability and transparency and to make your contribution to building a better Hawaii county government.
Debbie Hecht
Kailua-Kona
Hecht.deb@gmail.com
989-3222