It is unlikely at best that the Charter Review Commission will place an amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot to let voters decide if the county should switch from a strong mayor form of government to a county manager system,
It is unlikely at best that the Charter Review Commission will place an amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot to let voters decide if the county should switch from a strong mayor form of government to a county manager system, officials said this week.
“There are too many open questions that we have to ask and get answers to before we could put it on the agenda,” Charter Review Commission Chair Jonathan Chun said. “The county manager system is something we have to take a nice, hard look at and understand completely. I’ve never been a fan of rushing … as opposed to getting it done right.”
Under Kaua‘i’s current strong mayor form of government, voters elect a mayor who heads the executive branch at the county level.
In a county manager system, which some residents strongly support, an elected legislative body hires someone to manage the municipality. This person is accountable to the council, Chun said, not voters.
County Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said that those who advocate a county manager system say it is run more professionally and usually with more continuity.
“It would be a radical shift,” she said. “People would need to study it before there’d be a comfort level.”
It has proven successful at many cities on the Mainland, she said, but should be thoroughly evaluated before implemented here.
Kaua‘i was governed under a city manager system in the 1960s, he said. An elected council at that time appointed a manager within its ranks, typically the chair, who functioned as a mayor. When the county charter, Kaua‘i’s constitution, was established over the next decade, the drafters changed the system to a strong mayor form, Chun said.
Yukimura said a city manager, who undergoes professional training, is somewhat insulated from the direct vote — which can be good or bad.
“I’m in favor of a good look at it,” she said. “I’m not in favor of just putting it on the ballot right now.”
The thinking behind the strong mayor form of government is that “the buck stops with the mayor … you know who’s accountable,” Yukimura said, adding that there is still a division of power with the legislative body.
It could be “suicide” for the commission to put it on the ballot this year, Chun said. The commission would not fulfill its duties if it failed weigh the “good sides and bad sides,” study the financial impacts and educate voters prior to placing the charter amendment on the ballot, he said.
“It would be worthwhile for us to have separate workshops and meetings on this,” he added.
Chun, a private attorney, also said he would want to know what problem he is solving by changing systems.
Some residents say there is no accountability with the present system because the mayor blames council and council blames the mayor, he said.
“How is that going to change with county manager system?” he said.
In a county manager system, the council could fire the manager — “But who steps in the meantime?” Chun said.
This would be a mild start to the list of questions that would need answered before deciding to put the measure on the ballot, officials said.
Residents at Charter Review Commission meetings have proposed the amendment be put on the Nov. 4 ballot, but it is up to the chair if it is placed on the agenda.
Items for the 2008 ballot will need to be simple issues; an issue like the county manager system is an important one but too complicated to be put on the 2008 ballot, Charter Review Commissioner Sherman Shiraishi said at the commission’s Jan. 28 meeting.
Kapa‘a resident and government watchdog Glenn Mickens, however, said told the commission that the county manager system is not too complex for residents to grasp before Nov. 4.
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.com.
