• Keep manager-council talk going Keep manager-council talk going Walter Lewis again nails the bull’s-eye with his Nov. 14 letter, “Manager-council system would benefit Kauai most.” Regretfully, the majority of the people on Kauai are not familiar with this manager-council system,
• Keep manager-council talk going
Keep manager-council talk going
Walter Lewis again nails the bull’s-eye with his Nov. 14 letter, “Manager-council system would benefit Kauai most.”
Regretfully, the majority of the people on Kauai are not familiar with this manager-council system, so let me briefly give you some information about it:
1. The mayor is elected as usual but administration and council wrangling will be eliminated.
2. He performs his civic duties.
3. But he sits as chair of the council and has an equal 1/7 vote on all issues.
4. Councilmembers are elected as usual.
5. Council hires the manager.
6. Qualifications for a manager are very stringent and these qualifications are strongly enforced to prohibit political appointees.
7. The council delegates their work to be done and their problems to the manager who sees that they are done in the most cost-efficient method possible.
8. The manager hires only qualified department heads since hiring “pals” or incompetent people could put his job in jeopardy — he can be fired at any time with just cause unlike the mayor, who serves his four-year term.
Incompetency is rampant throughout our present system of government, with higher taxes on everything instead of cutting waste and over-employed positions with unqualified people at the positions.
I firmly believe that the majority of the citizens on Kauai are not satisfied with the direction our island is going. More taxes and higher fees are not translating into better services for all of us — our roads, parks and recreational areas and infrastructure deteriorating, while seeing our county using uncontrolled spending.
The manager-council style of government that Mr. Lewis writes about is one that I lived under in Santa Barbara County, California, for 50 years and it worked fine and is still being used. Over half of the cities and counties comparable to Kauai use the manager-council system and they are predominantly rated among the best-run communities. There is not space to print all the municipalities that are using this style of government but go on the web and spend some time checking them out — their use over the mayor-council system is revealing with the efficiency and financial savings the manager system brings.
We only ask that this system be put on the ballot in two years and let the voters decide if they want it. And please, citizens, educate yourselves as to why this system is far superior to what we now have and you will be happy to try it.
Contact me if you want more information about this system and I will be happy to send it to you.
Ken Taylor
Kapaa
