LIHU‘E — Despite the departures of two of its three members in recent months, the county Charter Review Commission’s Committee on County Governance is moving forward with plans to explore a much-discussed and questionably legal county manager system of government.
LIHU‘E — Despite the departures of two of its three members in recent months, the county Charter Review Commission’s Committee on County Governance is moving forward with plans to explore a much-discussed and questionably legal county manager system of government.
Barbara Bennett, the only remaining member of the committee and one of just four sitting commission members, said at Monday’s regular monthly meeting that she will be making a final recommendation to the full body next month, providing “information necessary to move forward and make a very important decision about the balloting of this very important subject matter.”
Those remarks were part of a three-page prepared statement Bennett read refuting statements made by former commission and committee colleague Carol Ann Davis-Briant, who resigned during the September meeting, complaining that her efforts to move the county manager proposal forward were “systemically blocked” by the existing county power structure.
“I can say with authority there was never any intention not to further the process and plan of this special project by the commission or committee,” Bennett said, adding that the plan had been “moving forward in a positive and supportive way,” but Davis-Briant’s resignation “interrupted the process.”
Pressed for support during and after the meeting by outspoken Kapa‘a resident Glenn Mickens, Bennett, speaking on the front steps of the Historic County Building in the presence of three members of the public and The Garden Island, likened some proponents of the county manager system to the “Ku Klux Klan.”
Asked to clarify the statement Wednesday, Bennett said the group of people who have “badgered” her about the proposed amendment are like a “clan,” but the first two “K” words just “slipped out” and the racist connotation of the white supremacist hate group does not apply to county manager proponents and is not relevant to the current conversation..
“I am totally for this proposal,” she said. “I keep telling these guys that I will bring it to ballot. ‘I support you.’ I wish they would stop.
“You won’t get people to come and volunteer to do the work when there’s this type of harassment,” Bennett said, adding that she has been “bashed and abuse” by “derogatory” “skepticism” almost to the point of “mental torture.”
Opinion of law
Earlier, Bennett had taken two significant steps moving the proposal forward. She moved to release to the public a legal opinion provided to the commission regarding the legality of the county manager system of government, and the motion passed 4-0.
However, unlike the county Board of Ethics, which has in recent months ignored legal advice and waived its attorney-client privilege to release opinions, the Charter Review Commission approved the release subject to yet-to-be-approved procedures from the Office of the County Attorney, which will be applied to all boards and commissions.
Deputy County Attorney Mark Guyot said after the meeting that he expected the policy will be completed soon. Until it is released, the public will have to piece together the county attorney’s stance from a smattering of public statements and rumors.
Earlier this month, Deputy County Attorney Mauna Kea Trask, who authored the still-confidential opinion held by the commission, said the county manager system is “problematic” but could be legal based on “proposal-specific” details that would need to meet the requirements that Kaua‘i residents have the right to vote for their leaders and that separate branches of government have checks and balances on one another.
Commission Chair Sherman Shiraishi said he is comfortable placing the matter on the 2010 ballot “as long as it passes legal muster.” He wants to let the “experts decide.” He said it’s not as simplistic as putting a question on the ballot and replacing every instance of “mayor” with “county manager” because the entire county charter would have to be redrafted — “a daunting task.”
“If the county attorney advises me that a proposed charter amendment (would be illegal), I’m not going to have it, as long as I’m chairman,” he said.
Shiraishi said the “rumor is true” that the opinion says one proposal would be illegal, but added that there could be different proposals that would meet the county attorney’s standards. Bennett said there are at least 100 different county manager systems nationwide.
When asked by Vice Chair Leonard Vierra if he would like to proceed even if a proposal is deemed illegal by the county attorney, Mickens said he would get a second or third opinion, just like he would with a doctor.
What comes next
Bennett also announced the next step in the Committee on County Governance’s plan to move the proposal forward.
As part of the public education process, the commission will hold a public meeting on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihu‘e, Bennett said. Topics will include an overview of state and county government structure and relationship, the role of county government in Hawai‘i, and Kaua‘i county government as defined by charter and process for changing it, according to an event flyer she produced.
Panelists will include University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School of Law Kudo Professor David Callies, former City and County of Honolulu Charter Commission member John P. Whalen and retired Honolulu Advertiser writer Jan TenBruggencate, the flyer states. The event will be moderated by veteran news reporter and former KUAI radio executive Bill Dahle and Kaua‘i Planning and Action Alliance President and CEO Diane Zachary.
Bennett confirmed after the meeting that her final report to the full commission would take place at the monthly meeting on Nov. 23 and would incorporate information from the public meeting just days earlier.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com.
