NC May Minutes, City and County of Honolulu

NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION

CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING

MAY 10, 2005

COUNCIL CHAMBERS

HONOLULU HALE

CALL TO ORDER: Chair Roy Wickramaratna called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with a quorum present.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Ed Gall, Jeanette Nekota, Tom Heinrich, Kalene Sakamoto, Clara Ching, Mike Ellis and Roy Wickramaratna.

MEMBERS ABSENT: Ben Sanchez.

GUESTS: Michael Golojuch (Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board No. 34), Jennifer Waihe’e (City Deputy Corporation Counsel), Clifton Takamura and Ron Lockwood (McCully/Moiliili Neighborhood Board No. 8), Alice Greenwood, John Ridings, Larry Bartley, Cindy Vershure, Tommie Filing, Roselyn Brown, and Sylvia Young (Nuuanu Punchbowl Neighborhood Board No. 12 – Commissioner-designee).

STAFF: Executive Secretary Baybee Hufana-Ablan and Elwin Spray.

INTRODUCTIONS/WELCOME: The Commissioner’s introduced themselves. There were seven members present (Gall, Nekota, Heinrich, Sakamoto, Ching, Ellis and Wickramaratna). Chair Wickramaratna welcomed the audience and introduced Executive Secretary Baybee Hufana-Ablan and Elwin Spray of the Neighborhood Commission Office and Jennifer Waihee, Deputy Corporation Counsel. Chair Wickramaratna especially welcomed new Commissioner Mike Ellis and, in the audience, Commissioner Designee Sylvia Young, both coming from the Nuuanu Punchbowl Neighborhood Board No. 12 area, where Commissioner Ellis is a former Chair (a dozen years ago) and Young is a current Board Member (twenty years). Commissioner Designee Young will assume a term June 30, 2005, appointed by action of the City Council, filling the slot of Commissioner Tom Heinrich. Chair Wickramaratna noted that absent Commissioner Sanchez was ill.

APPROVAL OF REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2005:

Chair Wickramaratna noted that the Regular Meeting Minutes of March 10, 2005 were not yet distributed and had deferred approval until the next Commission meeting. It was discussed that the Regular Meeting Minutes of January 11, 2005 had been passed without approval of the New Business section (which included motions whose language was under review by the Corporation Counsel’s office to verify completeness, since the motions dealt with mitigation on Complaints). Chair Wickramaratna asked that both minutes be prepared for Commission action at the June meeting.

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PUBLIC INPUT: Public comments were made on the just-completed Neighborhood Board Elections, addressing election issues for:

1. Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board No. 24: testimony was offered that the brochures included within the ballot packets were mixed, causing general confusion in the community, to the point were a re-balloting was warranted. Testimony was received from Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board Member Maralyn Kurshals and community members Alice Greenwood and Rosalin Brown.

2. Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhod Board No. 34: candidate John Ridings reported that a recount was done for his contest area and at the manual hand count he observed that ballots without punch-out holes were not tabulated. He requested that the ballots that clearly indicate the voter’s selection (marked with an X or filing in the block) be certified as valid, explaining that the instructions requiring the hole were not sufficiently clear for a voting system (including failing to allow for non-English speakers as a first language).

3. McCully-Moliliili Neighborhood Board No. 8: Board Chair Ron Lockwood expressed concerns that a challenge had been made to a candidate’s residency, that there had been no resolution, and that the issue of Candidate and Board Members residences should be closely reviewed to see if Neighborhood Plan language needs to be changed. Board Member Clifton Takamura also spoke on the need to be able to confirm resident addresses.

Larry Bartley, Kailua Neighborhood Board No. 31, made additional public comments. He noted that the City Council had proposed a management audit of the Neighborhood Commission and he recommended an increase in training for Board Members. He introduced Cyndy Vershure, who offered to discuss (along with Bartley) possible training ideas with the Commission Office staff.

Kailua resident Tomie Filing reported that she would be filing a complaint against actions of the Kailua Neighborhood Board No. 31 in that the Board’s creation of a committee (dealing with the bed and breakfast issue), was not fully open to community participation.

EXECUTIVE SESSION Chair Wickramaratna noted that the agenda provided for an executive session, defined under Hawaii Revised Statutes Sections 92-4 and 92-5(a)(4) and (8) for the purpose of consulting with legal counsel on questions and issues pertaining to the commission’s –powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities. Sakamoto moved and Ching seconded to convene in Executive Session. The motion was unanimous: 7-0-0.

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY’S REPORT: Executive Secretary Baybee Hufana-Ablan announced the completion of the election process, a successful transition of new staff into Commission Office positions, a successful meeting held with Board Chairs (with Managing Director Jeff Coelho, Deputy Managing Director Trudi Saito, and the Commission Office staff), plans to move a portion of the Commission Office to Kapolei Hale next week, and, plans for the new member Installation and training to be held on May 14. Hufana-Ablan explained that Saturday’s training (May 14, 2005) would include

both a first session of the required training on information practices (Sunshine Law) and a Parliamentary Procedure/Meeting Tools workshop. She explained that the Council mandates the information practices session for both Commission and Board members, that the State Office of Information Practices is conducting the training, and that she has already requested additional training session, but that the date(s) have not yet been established by the State. She noted that the Commission Office would be conducting additional training, including the traditional new member orientation session, within the next few months. She also noted that she has had successful visits with Councilmembers (including the budget planning process) and to almost all 32 of the Neighborhood Boards.

Discussion was held on the advisability of Commissioner participation at the planned future meetings of the Executive Secretary and the Board Chairs. Hufana-Ablan expressed concern that if Commissioners were to participate the gathering becomes a public meeting, where if only one Board representative comes, the group can dispense with formal meeting requirements. Vice-Chair Gall offered that this gathering is of great interest to Commissioners; even to the extent he is offering to pay for event taping. Heinrich suggested agendas and minutes be done to permit Commissioner participation.

2005 NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD ELECTIONS: Copies of the Commission-appointed Chief Monitoring Officer Robert Chung’s report on the election were distributed, including: the Chief Monitoring Officers certification of the results of the election and two written reports on election challenges: Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board No. 24 was ruled to have been properly provided with ballots within the time period defined and Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board No. 34 ballots was ruled to have been properly tabulated under the rules distributed with the ballot.

Board election results had been reported in the newspapers and had been posted on the City’s web-site: www1.honolulu.gov/nco

Election results had been challenged by submittal of petitions in the above two Board areas, based on comments already provided to the Commissioners under Public Input above. CMO Chung accepted the petitions as valid challenges (sufficient signatures obtained within the deadline required).

1. CMO Chung reported that the Neighborhood Plan provides for ballots to be distributed by the 4^th Friday in March, a requirement that was achieved by the Commission Office’s mailing vendor; the Plan has no requirement for brochures to be distributed, only ballots.

2. CMO Chung reported that the Plan requires that the manner of marking of the ballot is required to be contained on the ballot and that the defined marking was followed in the tabulation of the ballots.

Both challenges had originally requested a recount of ballots. In both cases the request was agreed to, but following the recounts, the point of challenges were changed to a different issue. The recounts had no changes to the election results.

Nekota moved, seconded by Ching, to defer verification of election results by the Neighborhood Commission pursuant to Section 3-7.9, Revised Neighborhood Plan 1986 (1998 edition). The motion passed unanimously, 7-0-0.

PENDING COMPLAINTS: Hufana-Ablan reported 14 complaints were outstanding from prior years, and discussed that she is proposing to call for a meeting on each issue, and if there is no response, to

recommend Commission dismissal. She explained she is waiting final response from the Corporation Counsel.

Vice Chair Gall moved, and Heinrich seconded, that the Commission support the Executive Secretary’s concept, being a plan to send a letter to the individuals in the outstanding complaint issues (with the advice of Corporation Counsel) to determine of the issue warrant further Commission action. Sakamoto requested that the motion be modified to include that the Commissioners will be advised in the process. Sakamoto’s amended was agreed to unanimously, The motion passed unanimously, 7-0-0.

COMMISSION OFFICE BUDGET: Hufana-Ablan explained that the Council appears to be on track to approve a Commission Office budget very close to the current budget, which would mean that the Boards would have the same or similar funds.

COUNCIL RESOLUTION FOR A NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION OFFICE PERFORMANCE AUDIT: Hufana-Ablan explained that the Commission Office would be responding to the Council at the end of May 2005.

RESOLUTION TO RENAME NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISIION OFFICE: Heinrich requested the item be deferred, and explained he planned to offer a written resolution at the next Commission meeting to rename the Office to Neighborhood Board System Office.

COMMITTEES: Sakamoto announced that the Budget Committee would plan to continue meeting (meeting next month in advance of the next Commission meeting). Nekota announced that the Training Committee would plan to meet soon.

NEXT MEETING: Chair Wickramaratna announced that the next Commission meeting would be June 14, 2005.

ADJOURNMENT: Without objection, Chair Wickramaratna adjourned the meeting at 9:15 p.m.



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