LIHU‘E — The Charter Review Commission on Monday addressed a couple of grammar mistakes in the proposed amendments to the Kaua‘i County Charter it had transmitted Aug. 9 to County Clerk Ricky Watanabe. Now, it’s all up to the voters
LIHU‘E — The Charter Review Commission on Monday addressed a couple of grammar mistakes in the proposed amendments to the Kaua‘i County Charter it had transmitted Aug. 9 to County Clerk Ricky Watanabe. Now, it’s all up to the voters to decide at the Nov. 6 General Election on eight proposals to amend the charter.
The revisions are similar, and address an additional two-letter word, “of,” in two questions, which are:
• Should it be clarified that an initiative or referendum petition must be signed by registered voters comprising of the established percentage of the number of voters registered in the last election?
• Should it be clarified that a petition for a charter amendment must be signed by registered voters comprising of the established percentage of the number of voters registered in the last election?
Since the questions were already sent to the state Elections Office in Honolulu, the commission will leave it up to the printers on O‘ahu to either change “comprising of” to “comprised” or delete the word “of” from both questions.
On its last meeting, July 23, the commission gave its final approval on seven charter-amendment questions to be included in the Nov. 6 General Election. An additional question was sent by the Kaua‘i County Council.
The commission, on its recently released explanation of charter amendments, states the charter is unclear as to whether a signatory to a petition for an initiative, referendum or charter amendment must be a registered voter. The amendment would clarify that the petition, referendum or charter amendment must be signed by registered voters comprising a certain percentage of voters registered in the previous General Election.
The other proposed charter amendments approved by the commission to be included in this year’s ballot are:
• Should a county board or commission member whose term is ending be allowed to serve on a different county board or commission without being required to wait one year?
Board and commission members are prohibited from serving more than two consecutive terms on the same or different board or commission unless they take a one-year break from serving. According to the commission, this restriction discourages qualified individuals from continuing to volunteer and use their experience and knowledge in other areas of interest that may be beneficial to the county.
• Should a candidate for County Council be required to run in the General Election even though the candidate received at least 30 percent of the votes cast in the Primary Election?
Currently, by the charter, any council candidate who receives 30 percent of the votes in the primaries is elected without needing to run in the General Election. The commission, however, does not agree with that — it believes that the candidate should be required to run in the General Election even if he or she received at least 30 percent of votes in the primaries, according to its official explanation.
• Should the mayor’s salary be established by the Salary Commission? The charter states in its Section 7.03 that the mayor’s salary is to be set by the council, while on its Section 29.01 it states that it is the Salary Commission that establishes the mayor’s salary. The amendment updates the charter’s Section 7.03 to confirm the current practice whereby the mayor’s salary is established by the Salary Commission, in accordance with the charter’s Article XXIX.
• Should the Salary Commission establish maximum salaries for officers, which shall include the prosecuting attorney and all deputies, and allow for elected officers to accept salaries lower than the maximum?
The charter does not allow for an elected official to accept a salary lower than what the Salary Commission established. The amendment would allow elected officials to accept a salary lower than what the Salary Commission established.
• Should the waiting period be eliminated before the council’s salary changes become effective?
The charter requires that a salary increase for the council must be delayed until after the next election, preventing council members from giving themselves a raise. Since the charter now gives the Salary Commission authority over council member’s salaries, the Charter Review Commission feels this provision is no longer necessary, according to its official explanation.
The last question in the ballot was approved and sent by the council to be included in the ballot.
• Shall the provisions that allow the mayor after submitting the proposed annual budget, to submit suggested budget modifications before the council enacts the annual budget be deleted?
The mayor “shall” submit to the council an annual proposed budget by March 15. The charter, on its Section 19.02, Article XIX, allows the mayor to submit to the council a supplemental budget about eight weeks after the first submission. The amendment would deny the mayor to send this second budget to the council.
One of the positive outcomes, should voters decide to vote yes on this proposal, is that without a supplemental budget, the council would have more time to review, consider and perform necessary research on the mayor’s proposals, according to the explanation released by the commission. Also, the amendment would give the mayor only one chance for an official budget submittal, but it would provide the council with more definitive fiscal information for their budget deliberation.
On the flipside, the administration would not be required to provide suggested budget modifications if there were any changes to the county’s fiscal situation that could be caused by the state Legislature, which runs parallel with the council’s budget review sessions. The Legislature, according to the explanation released by the commission, could reduce county allocations or enact legislation which places additional fiscal requirements on the county.
Additionally, if voters approve this last question, the council and its staff would need to have complete access to all financial information from the administration that they currently do not have, and make any adjustments that need to be made after the March 15 budget submittal, and this information may not be readily available or known to the council and its staff.
Visit www.kauai.gov/boardsandcommissions and click on Charter Review Commission or contact the county Elections Division at 241-4800 for a copy of the charter amendment proposals.
