Efforts for a county manager proposal

Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a two-part series on the county manager system form of government. The conclusion will run on Saturday.

Although the use of a city/county manager system has existed for nearly 100 years in our country, it has been considered on Kaua‘i only in the past five years. Across our nation a majority of the communities similar to Kaua‘i have adopted a council-manager type of system.

Advocates claim it is a more efficient form of local government that will improve government operations and reduce taxes. They substantiate their view with the observation that many more governments are currently changing to a manager form than are choosing another one (The ratio is over five to one).

For Kaua‘i, the adoption of a manager form of government would require an amendment of the Kaua‘i County Charter by the voters. A proposal for such an amendment may arise in theory from our County Council, from our Charter Review Commission or from a voter petition. In practice, initiation by the council is precluded by its obvious conflict of interest. Beginning in 2005, citizens have thus sought support of the charter commission for the manager program.

Tradition leaves a large footprint in Kaua‘i. Since the adoption of our charter 40 years ago, we have had what is called a strong mayor form of government. People have become accustomed to it. Politicians have found it useful in perpetuating their power.

So it was hardly surprising that when some citizen activists sought approval for placing a proposal for a county manager system on the ballot in 2006, the Charter Review Commission politely listened to them, but firmly rejected their overtures. The excuse used by the majority of the commission was that “we don’t know enough about the system.”

After the activists flooded the commission with data as to the system and its use elsewhere, the excuse was feeble, but a majority of the lame duck commission members said the subject should be further studied and presented to the next commission.

In 2006, Kaua‘i voters adopted by a large margin a proposal to have a 10-year initial life for a new charter commission. But the mayor was in no hurry to implement this authority, and for over a year after the 2006 election, no commission was seated.

When the new commission sessions began, our activist citizens reminded the commission that substantial public support for the manager program was displayed in the prior commission’s local meetings and that the program should be again entertained. It soon became apparent, however, that the appointments by the mayor to the new commission were not disposed to be favorable to a manager proposal. In fact, of the seven-member commission, only one member, Walter Briant, was willing to work for a manager proposal and to develop the details required for its consideration.

Mr. Briant had served the county for over 20 years and was well familiar with the nature of its operations. The commission, with some reluctance, appointed Mr. Briant to a committee of one to provide a report to them concerning the system. Undaunted by this manipulation, he tried without any assistance from governmental or other commission personnel to structure a report on the subject that included a draft proposal containing his suggestions for issues necessarily involved in the proposal.

Although the basic concept of the manager proposal is quite simple — having a person educated and trained for municipal management act as chief executive for the administration of county services, there are a number of collateral questions such as the role in this environment of the mayor. The proposal prepared by Mr. Briant was given to the commission members in April 2008, but its terms were never considered by the commission at any meeting.

In November 2008, the courageous efforts of Mr. Briant were brought to an end by his untimely death. Sharing her late husband’s views about the desirability of a manager system, his widow, Carol Ann Davis-Briant, sought appointment as his replacement on the commission. The appointment was made and she became a member in February of this year with high hopes that she could provide information and persuade open-minded commission members that the people deserved to have the chance to have the manager issue on the 2010 ballot.

But the status quo forces were ready for her. Aware of her agenda, the commission chair arranged for a committee of commission members to be created to consider Kaua‘i governance. To this ostensibly three-person committee, two members — Ms. Davis-Briant and Jonathan Chun, considered an opponent of the manager program — were appointed at the February meeting.

It was obvious that the committee could not function meaningfully without its third member, and it took until May to have the third appointment, Ms. Barbara Bennett. The effect of this arrangement was to shield the commission from any information about or discussion of the manager issue.

As questions about the legality of the manager system had arisen, Ms. Davis-Briant recognized that they involved state, rather than county, law issues and sought and received a favorable opinion from the state Attorney General as to the validity of the county manager concept.

She also organized, partly at her personal expense, a visit to Kaua‘i by Dave Mora, a representative of the International City/County Managers Association, a trade association composed of more than 1,000 managers of communities. The successful informational meeting held in June was attended by the commission members and well over 100 Kaua‘i citizens.

However, following the July commission meeting, a transfixing event occurred which led to the resignation by Ms. Briant-Davis from the commission and in practice ended the commission consideration of the manager program. The second and concluding installment of this two-part series, appearing in this space tomorrow, will give you the story of this event and the disturbing consequences that arise from it.

• Walter Lewis is a resident of Princeville and writes a biweekly column for The Garden Island.