LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i County Council began in earnest its role in determining the island’s budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year by hosting representatives of four governmental departments — the offices of the Mayor, Economic Development, County Attorney and Prosecuting
LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i County Council began in earnest its role in determining the island’s budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year by hosting representatives of four governmental departments — the offices of the Mayor, Economic Development, County Attorney and Prosecuting Attorney — on Monday, the first day of its annual budget review process.
With essentially no members of the public in attendance and the Ho‘ike television cameras powered off and covered up, the seven-member council started its work on likely its most important function and the task its members are elected primarily to manage: divvying out more than $150 million in projected expenditures for the year starting July 1.
Before departmental reviews began, an initial overview centered on two major impacts on potential revenue for county coffers.
Some $12 million in projected transient accommodations taxes could be rescinded from the county by the state Legislature in coming weeks — something Councilman Derek Kawakami described as “scary.” On the other side, as-yet-unknown quantities of federal funds could be made available in the form of myriad grants under the umbrella of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as “the stimulus.”
Budget and Finance Committee Chair Daryl Kaneshiro, who led the meeting, said potential stimulus funds should be looked at largely as a means of assistance, arguing the council should not rely heavily on the help it might receive from the federal government as it makes budgeting decisions.
Councilman Tim Bynum disagreed, saying the ARRA funds are “not just gravy” and will be an integral part of the county’s general fund, encouraging all departments to take a serious look at evolving stimulus grants for any and all opportunities.
“In the past, Kaua‘i has not gotten its fair share of state and federal funds because we didn’t stand up and ask for them,” he said. “You have not because you ask not.”
Using county funds to finance programs that could be covered by stimulus grants with the expectation that if the stimulus funds eventually come through, the county funds can be moved elsewhere is dangerous because it could remove the motivation for departments to push hard for those grants, Bynum said, citing “the human factor.”
The council was visited by a pair of former members. Mel Rapozo, a veteran of six budgets who left the body last year in a failed run for mayor, urged a conservative fiscal approach and told first-time council members they should ask each department head to appear in the next two weeks if each proposed expenditure is essential for the coming year. If one is not, Rapozo said, it should be cut.
Also returning to Council Chambers was new Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, who outlined a restructuring of her office that will involve the firing of two veterans who had been working in victim witness service. Much of the grant money that has been funding those two positions will be transferred to the YWCA and other nonprofit agencies in an attempt to stop crime before it reaches the courts, Iseri-Carvalho said.
YWCA works with students from preschool up through college to educate about the dangers of domestic violence and sexual assault and prevention education is one of the core services it provides to the community, Executive Director Renae Hamilton said in an interview.
“We know the more prevention we do, we have people report more, they feel more supported, and we take a lot of steps in stopping it in the first place and hold offenders accountable,” Hamilton said.
Meanwhile, Iseri-Carvalho’s budget requests include new positions for a special investigator and a legal clerk, who together will work to serve legal documents and cut into a pile of 4,000 outstanding documents left over from the previous administration, she said.
The county Board of Ethics’ Thursday agenda includes discussion of an advisory opinion regarding a contract bid by Rapozo, a private investigator, to serve legal documents for the prosecutor’s office.
Iseri-Carvalho withstood questioning from Bynum, Council Vice Chair Jay Furfaro and Councilwoman Lani Kawahara on her decision to re-allocate the funds and restructure the department, with Bynum coming down the hardest on his former colleague.
“I have a problem when you let two long-term victim advocates go and then ask us to fund those (other) positions with the general fund,” Bynum said.
“If you feel you can run the prosecuting attorney’s office better, then by all means go ahead,” Iseri-Carvalho told Bynum. “County taxpayers are getting a great bang for their buck.”
During the heated back-and-forth, Bill “Kaipo” Asing — chair of the full council and vice chair of the Budget and Finance Committee — cut Bynum off by loudly rapping his gavel and telling him that the disagreement would have to stop.
“Don’t go try to manage someone else’s department. That’s not your function,” Asing said.
Kaneshiro agreed, saying, “How in the world are you going to change Shay’s vision for her office?” Earlier, Kaneshiro had said with a chuckle, “Hopefully she’s got that well planned because we’d hate to have something come back and bite us.”
Earlier, the Office of the Mayor was the first to go under the microscope, represented by Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s Administrative Assistant Gary Heu, who said the office’s $193,430 increase from Fiscal Year 2009 to Fiscal Year 2010 was created by a change in accounting practices that moved $206,215 in “other post-employment benefits” for employees and $200,000 for Ho‘ike’s broadcast contract from the Finance Department’s balance sheet this past year to the Mayor’s Office for next year.
Those changes aside, Heu said a more appropriate “apples-to-apples” comparison would show a reduction of $212,785, representing 10 percent of the office’s 2009 budget of $2.12 million.
Also under review was the Office of Economic Development, represented by Director George Costa. The council, specifically Kawahara, briefly discussed the $500,000 in proposed expenditures, in partnership with the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau, that will aim to bolster the island’s tourism industry.
Another department making an appearance was the Office of the County Attorney, under new leadership in Al Castillo. Much of the discussion centered around the proposal to move an as-of-now dollar-funded position designed to provide legal counsel to the Kaua‘i Police Department out of KPD’s control and under that of the County Attorney, a move lambasted by Rapozo during his testimony.
Castillo pointed to his years of service in the prosecutor’s office and a long-standing positive relationship with KPD and said the position — whenever it is fully funded — would be most effective in helping prepare KPD for accreditation if under his management, even if the employee is physically housed at police headquarters.
Schedule of budget reviews
Today
Fire Department 9-11 a.m.
Liquor Department 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Civil Defense Agency 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Kaua‘i Humane Society 3:30-4 p.m.
Thursday
Police Department 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Personnel Department 1:30-3 p.m.
Office of the County Clerk 3-4 p.m.
Monday
Housing Agency 9-10 a.m.
Agency on Elderly Affairs 10-11 a.m.
Transportation Agency 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Finance Department 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Planning Department 2:30-4:30 p.m.
April 14
Parks and Recreation Department 9-11 a.m.
Department of Public Works noon-4:30 p.m.
April 16
Department of Public Works (continued, if necessary) 9 a.m.-noon
May 11-12
Deliberation and preliminary decision-making 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
For further coverage of the weeks-long budgeting review process, see Wednesday’s edition of The Garden Island.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
