LIHU‘E — After much controversy earlier this year, when Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. put Kaua‘i Police Department Chief Darryl Perry on leave, voters will not decide whether the mayor or the Police Commission has such powers over the police chief.
LIHU‘E — After much controversy earlier this year, when Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. put Kaua‘i Police Department Chief Darryl Perry on leave, voters will not decide whether the mayor or the Police Commission has such powers over the police chief.
The Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday defeated a resolution asking voters if they would want a Kaua‘i County Charter amendment to clarify the charter’s Article VII, Section 7.05., specifically stating the mayor has the power to “exercise direct supervision over all administrative departments, except those that are headed by either an elected official, or an official appointed by a board commission or the council.”
The current language in the charter states the mayor has direct supervision over all departments “except as otherwise provided.” Such language was interpreted earlier this year by County Attorney Al Castillo as giving Carvalho power to place Perry on leave.
“In my opinion, the mayor was very wrong when he suspended our police chief,” said Glenn Mickens, Kapa‘a resident and self-described nitpicker. “Our Police Commission was put in place to prohibit politics from playing a role in this type of decision-making and this charter amendment could, if passed, stop any future problems like this from happening.”
Mickens’ opinion was met by council members Mel Rapozo and KipuKai Kuali‘i, the only ones who voted for the resolution.
Rapozo said the supervision of KPD lies in the hands of chief, not the mayor. This structure has been challenged in recent months and now the issue is going to court, he said.
The council recently approved $10,000 for the Police Commission to hire legal counsel to seek a legal opinion on who has authority over the police chief.
Kuali‘i sided with Rapozo, saying the resolution “clearly came about” because of the question of disciplinary authority over the police chief. The commissions can hire and fire department heads and this includes supervisory and disciplinary duties, he said.
Other council members were of a different opinion.
Council Chair Jay Furfaro said the commissions cannot manage the daily business of the county because they meet once a month. That job belongs to the mayor, the county’s chief executive officer, he said.
Council Vice Chair JoAnn Yukimura said she is “strongly opposed” to the resolution, and that such an amendment is not functional. If the voters approved the charter amendment, it would create chaos in the county, she said, as boards and commissions are made up of “volunteer, lay-people” who meet intermittently.
“I think it makes sense to have a commission that does the hiring and firing (of department heads) to give some buffer as to the politics, but the day-to-day supervision cannot be done by a part-time commission,” she said. “This is a major shift in our structure. … The CEO has to be accountable for the operations of the county.”
Yukimura’s words calling commissioners “lay-people” didn’t sit well with Rapozo, who said all of them are appointed by the mayor. That also irked Furfaro, who was “a little offended,” being the only council member who has served on the boards and commissions.
Councilwoman Nadine Nakamura said she would like to “work through the current course of action in place,” meaning that she would rather wait for the court’s decision.
“This has never been a problem for this county all these years,” said Nakamura, pausing for a second before continuing. “Or maybe this has been.”
The last three police chiefs have experienced some kind of power struggle between the mayor and the Police Commission.
Councilman Dickie Chang echoed some of his colleagues’ concerns, saying it is difficult for commissions to supervise daily operations when they only meet once a month, and that he hopes to get some clarification from the courts on the issue.
A 2-4 decision (Councilman Tim Bynum left the meeting early due to illness) on a motion to approve the resolution put the nail on the coffin on hopes to let the voters decide in November who has supervision over the department heads.
The Charter Review Commission also toyed with the proposal earlier this year, but dropped it after being advised by the Boards and Commissions administrator, according to Rapozo.
A third way of introducing a charter amendment would be gathering enough signatures from registered voters.
Visit www.kauai.gov for more information.
∫ Léo Azambuja can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
