2026-10-20 - Finance Committee

02:02Mhm.

03:15>> Hello, and welcome back to the Committee

03:17on Finance. Today is the 46th session.

03:19It is October 20th. It is 1:01 p.m.

03:23This meeting is being held at the West

03:25Hawaii Civic Center in Kailua-Kona.

03:27Today's meeting is being

03:31attended by council members, council

03:33member Kagiwada, Eustace, Karkowits,

03:36Onishi, Inaba.

03:38Council member

03:41V. Aguiar and Kimball are excused, and

03:43council member Glipa is joining us as we

03:45speak.

03:47Mr. Clerk, is there any testimony at the

03:51beginning of our meeting?

03:54>> Thank you so much, chair. Just

03:55confirming we do not have any testifiers

03:57here at the meeting at this point.

03:59>> Thank you, Mr. Areseli. Mr. Clerk, let's

04:01go to the top of the agenda.

04:03>> Communication 23.4 through report of

04:05fund transfers authorized August 1st

04:07through 15th, 2026 from Controller John

04:09Arboles, dated September 13th, 2026.

04:14>> Have a motion to close file

04:15>> Chair, motion to close file on

04:16communication 23.43.

04:18>> Second.

04:20>> We have a motion to close file on

04:21communication 23.43 by Council Member

04:24Huisman, seconded by Council Member

04:25Kirkwood. Any discussion?

04:27And for those members or anyone who is

04:29not knowing, we do have Director

04:31Nakagawa in our chambers with us.

04:36Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

04:37the floor. All in favor?

04:40Any opposed?

04:42Hearing no opposed, motion carries with

04:441 2 3 4 5 6 7 eyes. Council Members

04:48Kimball and Villegas excused. Thank you.

04:52>> Is there any testimony for communication

04:5323.44?

04:57Hearing none, communication 23.44 report

04:59of fund transfers authorized June 16th

05:01through 30th and August 16th through

05:0331st, 2026 from Controller John Arboles,

05:05dated September 13th, 2026.

05:08>> Chair, motion to close file on

05:09communication 23.44.

05:13>> Motion made by Council Member Huisman,

05:14seconded by Council Member Inouye, to

05:16close file on communication 23.44. Any

05:18discussion?

05:20Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

05:21the floor. All in favor?

05:24Any opposed?

05:26Mr. Clark, motion carries with seven in

05:28favor, two opposed, sorry, two excused,

05:31Ms. Villegas and Ms. Kimball.

05:36>> Is there any testimony for communication

05:3898.8?

05:42Hearing none, communication 98.8 first

05:44quarter report of persons employed under

05:46contract for less than 90 days, July 1st

05:48through September 30th, 2026

05:50from Human Resources Director Summer J.

05:52Tokihiro, dated October 1st, 2026,

05:54transmitting the report pursuant to

05:56Section 2-12.5

05:58of the Hawaii County Code.

05:59>> Chair, motion to close file on

06:01communication 98.8.

06:02>> Second.

06:04>> Motion made by Council Member Huisman,

06:05by council member Onishi

06:07to close file on communication 98.8.

06:11Any discussion?

06:14Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

06:15the floor. All in favor?

06:17Any opposed?

06:19Mr. Clerk, you have seven members in

06:21favor, Ms. Viegas and Kimball excused.

06:25Motion carries.

06:27>> Is there any testimony for resolution

06:28resolution 705-26?

06:33Hearing none, resolution 705-26

06:35authorize payment of funds of later

06:37fiscal years to enter into a multi-year

06:39lease agreement for 14 multi-function

06:41copy machines to be used by the police

06:42department. Authorize the mayor to enter

06:45a five-year lease agreement with an

06:46estimated monthly cost of $1,113.

06:49Introduced by council member Connie

06:51Clodfelter by request.

06:52>> Chair, motion to forward resolution

06:54705-26 to council with a positive

06:56recommendation.

06:57>> Seconded.

06:58>> Motion by council member Hustead and a

06:59second by council member Kirkwood to

07:02to forward resolution 705-26

07:05to council with a favorable

07:06recommendation.

07:07Any discussion?

07:10Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

07:12the floor. All in favor?

07:14Any opposed?

07:16Mr. Clerk, motion carries. Seven eyes,

07:18two excused, council members Viegas and

07:20Kimball.

07:22>> Is there any testimony for resolution

07:24714-26?

07:28Hearing none, resolution 714-26 accept a

07:31donation of charitable funds for

07:32disaster relief from Hurricane Laura

07:34Laura to be used by the office of aging.

07:36Donation from US Aging Disaster Relief

07:38Fund in the amount of $10,000 will be

07:40used to support older adults in need of

07:42recovery assistance. Introduced by

07:43council member Connie Clodfelter by

07:45request.

07:45>> Chair, motion

07:46bill 203. Sorry.

07:49>> Thanks, Mr. Clerk.

07:50Chair, motion to forward resolution

07:51714-26

07:53to council with a favorable

07:54recommendation.

07:55>> Seconded.

07:56>> Motion by council member Hustead,

07:57seconded by council member Onishi.

08:00Any discussion on the resolution?

08:02>> Council member Hustead?

08:03>> Thank you, chairs. Office of Aging here

08:05with us online.

08:11>> Uh yes, uh Mr. Aki from Office of the

08:13City Attorney.

08:15>> Thank you for joining us, uh Mr. Aki.

08:16Just a question on

08:19where the It says in the resolution

08:21these funds are being used. Could you

08:22really dive into

08:24what what you intend to use this this

08:26funds for? It says

08:28gift cards, products, and other

08:31supplies.

08:32I'm really curious what

08:34>> So, it's pretty broad, um

08:35we do

08:37plan to to use uh at least partial of

08:40these funds to um

08:43to purchase uh

08:45disaster preparedness kits.

08:48Um and essentially just

08:51various supplies that

08:53um

08:54are already um affected and impacted

08:56already uh on needs from the recovered

09:00recovery efforts.

09:02>> Thank you, Mr. Aki. Chair, I think the

09:03resolution needs to spell that out

09:06a little more specifically.

09:09Okay, thank you.

09:11Council members, any further discussion?

09:17Okay.

09:18Mr.

09:21It could be something you address uh the

09:23next Steering & Council or you can make

09:25a motion to suspend or

09:28>> Chair, I think just the resolution

09:31I think the department needs to kind of

09:32come back and

09:33propose that amendment there to make

09:35that specific change. What what they're

09:36purchasing. If they're just listing

09:38gift cards and products, I have I have

09:40no idea what it's going towards. If it's

09:42going specifically to supply kits, then

09:44let's That needs to be called out in

09:46that space.

09:47That's just my recommendation.

09:48>> Okay.

09:50Understood.

09:52Council member Reynoso.

09:53>> Mr. Aki, would you please reach out to

09:56Council member Fuentes to make sure that

09:58we have an amendment for um Council

10:00reading in 2

10:00>> Yes. Yeah, we'll do.

10:02>> Thank you.

10:02>> Yeah.

10:04>> Thank you, Reed.

10:05Any further discussion?

10:08Okay. Hearing and seeing none, motion is

10:10on the floor to forward resolution

10:12714-26

10:14to council with a favorable

10:15recommendation.

10:17All in favor?

10:19Any opposed?

10:20Mr. Clerk, motion carries seven eyes,

10:23two excused council members Kimble and

10:25Viegas. Thank you.

10:28>> Is there any testimony for resolution

10:30716-26?

10:34Hearing none, resolution 716-26

10:36authorizes payment of funds of later

10:38fiscal years for the funding of cost

10:40item adjustments associated with the

10:41Hawaii Firefighters Association

10:43bargaining unit 11 and certain other

10:45employees excluded from bargaining unit

10:4611 for the contract period beginning

10:48July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2029.

10:51The estimated cost for the four years of

10:53the new contract resulting from cost of

10:54living increases would be $38,888,033,

10:58an increase of approximately $13,595,173

11:03over the amount previously approved by

11:04resolution number 550-26

11:07introduced by Councilmember Kanie

11:08Kleinpeter by request.

11:09>> Chair, motion to forward resolution

11:11716-26

11:13to council with a favorable

11:14recommendation.

11:16>> Motion by Councilmember Hee says

11:17seconded by Councilmember Onishi to

11:19forward resolution 716-26

11:22to council with a favorable

11:23recommendation.

11:24Any discussion?

11:28Hearing and seeing Councilmember

11:29Kikuoka.

11:30>> I'll just disclose that my partner is a

11:32member of the fire department.

11:34>> Thank you.

11:36Okay. Any further discussion?

11:46Thank you. Thank you for disclosing

11:47that. I think that's that's appropriate

11:49for what we're required to do. Council,

11:51any further questions?

11:52>> I do. Um, is Corporation Counsel

11:55available to speak to this particular

11:58agreement?

12:00And the only reason why I'm asking is

12:01because there was a lot of um

12:04information being shared on social media

12:07and I know that HFD the Firefighters

12:09Association was getting involved in

12:11negotiations.

12:13Um I believe that a prior agreement was

12:17not advantageous to firefighters. So, if

12:19you could just provide us with um

12:21information on how this is supporting

12:23the men and women

12:25in the fire department to ensure that

12:27they're getting proper step increases as

12:29they advance through different roles and

12:31positions within fire department.

12:34Thank you Thank you, Deputy Edemoto, for

12:36being here.

12:37>> Sure. Yes, Deputy Corporation Counsel

12:39Steven Edemoto.

12:40Um and yes, there was an interest

12:42arbitration on this matter.

12:44Um and the arbitrator ultimately uh

12:48issued a decision. And I think that's

12:50the decision you're talking about that

12:52uh was talked about on social media. And

12:55under the decision, the firefighters

12:57received

12:59uh step uh increases of 3%, 3%, 2.5%,

13:04and 2.5%

13:06from 2026 to 2029.

13:09Uh and subsequent to that arbitration uh

13:13decision,

13:15the firefighters uh union

13:18submitted a prohibited practice

13:20complaint to the HLRB.

13:22Uh and long story short, there were some

13:25negotiations to try to settle that

13:27prohibited practice complaint. And as

13:30part of those negotiations, the two

13:32sides came to an agreement to offer

13:373%, 3%, 4%, and 4% uh annual increases

13:42and also to reinstate the steps, which

13:45had not been approved by the

13:47uh

13:48arbitrator at arbitration.

13:52Um so, if you have any more questions

13:54about that, I can definitely uh

13:56provide more insight.

13:58>> No, Deputy, that was helpful. I just

14:00wanted to make sure that um

14:03the events as they happened were

14:06captured for the record and you can just

14:07share the differences between um the

14:09original agreement and what now is

14:11before the council. Thank you.

14:13>> You're welcome.

14:15>> Thank you, Ms. Kricklous.

14:17Uh please let the record reflect Council

14:18member Viegas has joined us.

14:21>> Any further questions?

14:24Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

14:26the floor to forward resolution 706-26

14:29to Council with a favorable

14:31recommendation. All in favor?

14:33Any opposed?

14:35Mr. Kirk, eight members in favor, Ms.

14:37Kimble excused, motion carries.

14:41>> Is there any testimony for bill 202?

14:46Hearing none, bill 202 amends orders

14:48number 26-44

14:49as amended the operating budget of the

14:51County of Kauai for the fiscal year

14:52ending June 30, 2027.

14:55Appropriates funds in the state grants

14:56cool bay account $136,319

14:59and appropriates same to the fund cool

15:00bay state account salaries and wages

15:03$124,980

15:05and equipment $11,411 for a total

15:07appropriation of $846,063.

15:11Funds to be used for costs associated

15:12associated with ocean safety. Introduced

15:14by Council member Kounis Gabler by

15:15request.

15:16>> Sure, motion to forward bill 202 to

15:19Council with a favorable recommendation.

15:21>> Motion by Council member Eustace,

15:23seconded by Council member Nishiguchi to

15:24forward bill 202 to Council with a

15:26favorable recommendation. Any

15:28discussion?

15:30Hearing and seeing none, motion is on

15:32the floor. All in favor?

15:34Any opposed?

15:36Mr. Kirk, you have eight members in

15:37favor, [snorts]

15:38Council member Kimble excused, motion

15:41carries.

15:43>> Is there any testimony for bill 203?

15:47Hearing none, bill 203 amends orders

15:49number 26-44 as amended the operating

15:51budget of the County of Kauai for the

15:53fiscal year ending June 30, 2027.

15:55Appropriates funds in the office of

15:56aging private contributions account

15:58$10,000 and appropriates same to the US

16:00aging disaster relief fund private

16:01account. Funds to be used to support

16:02older adults in need of recovery

16:04assistance. Introduced by Council member

16:05Kounis Gabler by request. This is

16:07companion resolution 714-26.

16:10>> Sure, motion to forward bill 203 to

16:12Council with a positive recommendation.

16:15>> Motion by Council member Eustace,

16:16seconded by Council member Nishiguchi to

16:18forward bill 203 to council with a

16:20favorable recommendation. Is there any

16:22discussion on the bill?

16:25Seeing no lights, seeing no discussion.

16:30All in favor?

16:31>> Aye.

16:32>> Any opposed?

16:33Mr. Clark.

16:35You have eight members in favor, one

16:37member excused council member Kimball.

16:39That brings us to the end of our agenda.

16:42Motion carries. Boom, that's nine in a

16:44row.

16:45Motion

16:46>> [laughter]

16:47>> Uh seeing no further business on our

16:48agenda, we are adjourned. Our next

16:50meeting will start shortly. Thank you

16:52very much. Bye.

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