BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Council of the County of Maui
MINUTES
April 17, 2014
Council Chamber
CONVENE: 9:15a.m.
PRESENT: Councilmember Mike White, Chair Councilmember Gladys C. Balsa, Member (out 1:56 p.m., in 2:00 p.m., out 3:40 p.m., in 3:44 p.m., out 4:27 p.m. Councilmember Elle Cochran, Member (in 11:06 am., out 2:00 p.m., in 2:47 p.m., out 3:58 p.m., in 4:00 p.m.) Councilmember Donald G. Couch, Jr., Member Councilmember Stacy Crivello, Member (out 2:49 p.m., in 2:50 p.m.) Councilmember Don S. Guzman, Member (out 2:00 p.m., in 2:47 p.m., out 3:35 p.m., in 3:37 P.M.) Councilmember Michael P. Victorino, Member (in 2:44 p.m., out 3:45 p.m., in 3:50 p.m.)
EXCUSED: VOTING MEMBERS: Councilmember G. Riki Hokama, Vice-Chair Councilmember Robert Carroll, Member
STAFF: Michele Yoshimura, Legislative Analyst Chancy Hopper, Legislative Analyst Jordan Molina, Legislative Analyst Yvette Bouthillier, Committee Secretary
Tina Thompson, Executive Assistant to Councilmember Crivello, assisting at Molokai Council Office (via telephone conference bridge) Denise Fernandez, Council Aide, Lanai Council Office (via telephone conference bridge) Dawn Lono, Council Aide, Hana Council Office (via telephone conference bridge)
ADMIN.: Sananda Baz, Budget Director, Office of the Mayor Teena Rasmussen, Economic Development Director, Office of the Mayor Tina Silva, Economic Development Specialist 11, Office of Economic Development, Office of the Mayor Tracy Bennett, Economic Development Specialist III, Office of the Economic Development, Office of the Mayor Robert Parsons, Administrative Assistant II, Office of the Mayor BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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Jeffrey T. Ueoka, Deputy Corporation Counsel, Department of the Corporation Counsel
OTHERS: Lisa Paulson, Executive Director, Maui Hotel and Lodging Association Richard Lucas, Program Manager, Friends of Old Maui High School Juli Patao, CareerLink Director and Cooperative Education Instructor, University of Hawaii Maui College Jennifer Brown Nadine Quinsaat Lori Sanada Cassandra Gabrielle Cantos Brian Zamora Efrenila Paet Rhon Rarogal Tamara Sherrill, Interim Executive Director, Maui Nui Botanical Gardens Anne Jenny Craig Swift, Business Development Corp. Director, Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. Jenny Chan Takemoto Warren Watanabe, Executive Director, Maui County Farm Bureau Jeanne Skog, President and Chief Executive Officer, Maui Economic Development Board Leslie Wilkins, Vice President, Maui Economic Development Board Yuki Lei Sugimura, Marketing Coordinator, Maui Friday Town Parties Stephanie Ohigashi, Chairperson, Maui County Sister Cities Rosemary Robbins
Others
PRESS: Akaku: Maui Community Television, Inc.
CHAIR WHITE: .. . (gavel). . . This meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee will come to order. Today we will be reviewing the grants provided through the Office of Economic Development. And just a reminder, Members, that we have a bare quorum, so you may not leave the room without us going into recess. So, with that I'd like to welcome our Council Chair Gladys Baisa.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Good morning, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Good morning. And, Committee member Stacy Crivello.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Good morning, Chair.
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CHAIR WHITE: Aloha. Don Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Good morning, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Aloha. And Don Guzman.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Good morning, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Good morning. And excused for the day are Members Bob Carroll, Riki Hokama, Mike Victorino. And Elle Cochran will be joining us after an early morning appointment this morning. So, Mr. Hokama and Mr. Victorino are on Oahu today lobbying the House and Senate Conference Committee to lift the cap on the TAT. So we forwarded them some additional numbers this morning to help them with their, with their lobbying. So, we wish them the best of luck in their efforts. We've also mentioned to them that since Oahu is significantly quicker in growing back from the recession with their visitor revenues up about 35 percent over 2007, and the neighbor islands are still flat or down compared to 2007. Additionally, the economies on the neighbor islands are still suffering from a lack of construction work while Oahu is up 30 percent compared to their 10-year average. The Big Island is down 30 percent. Maui is down 34 percent, and I believe Kauai is down about 52 percent. So, hopefully, if they're not wanting to give up a lot of revenue, at the State level, we can convince them to do a little bit more for the neighbor islands than they're doing for Oahu. So, we wish them all sorts of luck. And, Members, we've got a busy agenda today, and then we go to--I believe it's Lihikai, right?--this evening for our Kahului hearing. So, without further delay let's move into public testimony. And we will take five testifiers here and then go to our District Offices. So, our first testifier this morning is Lisa Paulson, and she will be followed by Richard Lucas.
...BEGIN PUBLIC TESTIMONY...
MS. PAULSON: Good morning, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Good morning.
MS. PAULSON: Members of the Committee. I'm here to testify on two budget items. So, I will get through.. .1 did some written testimony on both of the line items I'm here to testify for. So, if I don't make it through both, I do request that you look at my written submitted testimony. Thank you. I'm here as the Executive Director of Maui Hotel and Lodging Association. I'm here today also as the Board Co-Chair of the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, which I'll refer to as AOHT for three high schools here on Maui. It is a part of Maui's Lodging and Tourism's mission to provide workforce development. On behalf of the Maui Hotel and Lodging Association, I ask for your support of the $10,000 funding for the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism Program in the County's Fiscal Year 2015 budget. The Academy of Hospitality and Tourism is a 501(c)(3) organization with approximately 220 -3- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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students enrolled from Baldwin, Lahainaluna, and Maui High Schools. The goal of AOHT is to provide exposure to students who would not ordinarily have an introduction to the industry, and to offer exposure to a visitor's point of view. Our main objectives are to provide internships for hands on experience in the workforce, and to provide scholarships to those who wish to continue their education in the visitor industry. Understanding the significance and relevance of Hawaii's host culture; it is one of AOHT's primary objectives to educate students of the need to foster goodwill amongst the industry and the community, to cultivate respect for the host culture, to preserve this special place, and to balance the benefits and challenges of tourism. A lot of these students do go on and have internships and job shadowing, and often hired after proficiency. . .proficiently learning the skills that qualify them for regular employment. This valuable employment opportunity allows them a head start on careers within the industry as they pursue their individual careers or more importantly degrees at the post-secondary level. From 1992 to 2007, and Fiscal Year 2011, the AOHT Program received funding support from Maui County's Office of Economic Development. From 2004 through 2008, additional funding was received from Hawaii Tourism Authority, HTA. HTA's funding stopped in 2008, and we have since gone through our funds to support this program. We were advised this year to seek a line item funding from the County for $10,000 a year to ensure the continued success of this program. These funds do go to support our annual student conference that's held at UH Maui College every January. I do know some of you have been able to attend that. It helps to fund school enrichment programs, teacher development, and our annual graduation luncheon. Later today and next week, you will get to hear from some of our students who are passionate about their futures and the opportunities this program provides for them. We strongly believe in the value that the AOHT Program brings to our students and urge you to support our program with this much needed funding. Thank you for allowing me to testify.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Ms. Paulson. Members, questions for the testifier? Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Ms. Paulson, for being here. So, in 2008, HTA stopped your funding?
MS. PAULSON: Correct.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Did they say why?
MS. PAULSON: They funded to the CTE Program. They diverted all the funds to the CTE Program so their funding could go throughout to all the public high schools.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay. And who advised you to come and ask for a line item here?
MS. PAULSON: The Office of Economic Development.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay. All right. Thank you.
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MS. PAULSON: You're welcome.
CHAIR WHITE: Any other questions, Members? Seeing none, thank you very much, Ms. Paulson.
MS. PAULSON: Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Lucas will be followed by Juli Patao.
MR. LUCAS: Committee Chair White, Council Chair Baisa, and Members of the County Council, aloha.
CHAIR WHITE: Aloha.
MR. LUCAS: My name is Richard Lucas. I am the Program Manager for Friends of Old Maui High School at Hamakuapoko. And I'm here today to testify in support of the budget request for the Office of Economic Development. As you know our project involves the preservation, rehabilitation, and reuse of the Old Maui High School campus. And one of the bedrock principles of historic preservation is to find an adaptive reuse for historic buildings after they've been restored because to restore an historic building and then allow it to sit vacant invites decay, deterioration, and damage. We have been fortunate to have our grant through the Office of Economic Development because OED, and in particular its Director Teena Rasmussen have been tireless advocates on behalf of our project. In addition to managing our grant, they have acted as a partner in helping to identify and put us in contact with groups and individuals in the community who represent potential users for the project after it's completed. This has significantly increased the opportunity for our project to be a success. Everybody talks about the economy but the County Council through the Mayor's Office, and through the Office of Economic Development are actually doing something to further the economy of Maui County. We would strongly urge you to continue your support of the Office of Economic Development. The results that OED gets are not all fireworks and marching bands but the results are real, and the results are important, and they represent a tangible benefit for everybody who lives and works in Maui County. So we thank you for your continued support of OED.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Mr. Lucas. Members, questions for the testifier? Seeing none. Thank you for your testimony.
MR. LUCAS: Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: And Juli Patao will be followed by Jennifer Brown.
MS. PATAO: Good morning, Chair. Good morning, Council members. On behalf of University of Hawaii Maui College, my name is Juli Patao. I am the Cooperative Education Instructor as well as our Career Center Director. I'm here today to share testimony with you along with my students that will soon follow to urge you to support our $50,000 line item grant to allow - 5 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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our students at the college to participate in internships at your various County of Maui departments. Fortunately, we have been able to teach our students to explore government work, what that means. And not to duplicate what Lisa already said but we know how valuable internships are for our students in their learning experience and for them to practice actual skill sets they'll need as they transition into the workforce. With that said, I will share with you several things. UH Maui College also has outreach centers on Lanai, Molokai as well as Hana. Last summer, I had several Molokai students that participated in an internship directly with the Office of Economic Development office there and they, too, enjoyed their experience. Though I don't have them available here for testimony today, I do want you to know that we outreach to all of our remote sites including Hana and Lanai. I continue to urge you to support our grant that we have been graciously funded over the past years, and I also want to urge the County of Maui to hire our Maui College students. Recently, last semester, one of our students got hired with the Department of Water and he's a microbiologist today, and this was just recent in October, and you'll be hearing testimony from him at Lihikai School because he's working during the daytime. I also have other students that have participated in our program. I'll give you an example, Sandy's daughter Mailani she is currently completing her schooling through this internship program at UH Hilo as a pharmacist. So, equally, I have students from diverse backgrounds computer, accounting, business, the Police Department, and Fire Department. So, this grant supports our community members not just in a specific field but diverse fields that will contribute and give back to our community in the future. Thank you for your time.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Ms. Patao. Members, any questions for the testifier? Seeing none. Thank you for coming this morning. And following Jennifer Brown will be Nadine Q uinsaat.
MS. BROWN: Good morning. Aloha.
CHAIR WHITE: Good morning.
MS. BROWN: My name is Jennifer Brown. I'm a non-traditional student, excuse me, attending Maui College. I am here to support the Cooperative Education Partnership Grant and I am currently interning at Maui County Department of Planning. I am a fuiltime 4.0 Business Technology student and have recently fulfilled the 225-hour internship requirement for my program of study at the Department. Being able to meet the main objective for my clerical position at the Department, which in my case is to manage a workload enabled me to demonstrate the knowledge I have obtained through studies at the University. Although this internship is primarily designed to teach me processes and procedures directly related to my major, it has also provided an environment in which to show my abilities by completing tasks successfully. The positive feedback I have received at the Department for my workmanship is confirmation that this real world experience has been a benefit for all involved. I am scheduled to graduate this year and have begun applying for a position at the County of Maui. I am grateful that Maui College has sought partnerships to fund specialized education. Students need financial support to afford the cost of living in order to graduate on time. -6- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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Receiving stipends has also motivated me to follow through with this internship by seeking fulitime employment with the County. Being a non-traditional student, I approached returning to school with an ambiguous outlook but was determined to overcome personal obstacles. Now with business technology training, and particularly because of my internship in seeing how I am able to apply advanced skills, I know that I will be employable in several areas. I can't thank the County of Maui and Maui College enough for how that makes me feel. Maui College believed in me before I believed in myself affording me an education. I accepted that help and in return am now beginning to truly give back to my community and share my talents and time. Thank you to the County of Maui for helping me grow and learn and feel part of something very special and important. It has been a privilege to serve the people and the County of Maui. Please continue to support the University of Hawaii Maui College Cooperative Education Partnership Grant for future students of our program to allow them the opportunity to experience to explore working for the County. I'm really appreciative. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Ms. Brown. Any questions for the testifier?
MS. BROWN: Sony.
CHAIR WHITE: Oh, you're off the hook. Thank you. And Ms. Quinsaat will be followed by Lori Sanada.
MS. QUINSAAT: Good morning, honorable Council members. I am Nadine Quinsaat and I was an intern for the County last year from September to December. And I was at the Finance Department under Ms. Anne Jenny the Internal Auditor. I was tasked with shadowing the Accounts Division staff and documenting the steps to the daily tasks that they did. And after my internship I mean after my internship was done, I compiled a procedures manual that I eventually presented to the Director of Finance. And the procedures manual was important to them not only for auditing purposes but also because the staff's daily tasks were written down on paper. And during my internship, I learned so much. I learned not only academically but I also learned to identify my.. . identify my weaknesses and how to strengthen them, and I also learned how to identify my strengths and how to use them effectively. And I also learned to not be afraid to speak up and to be a better person as a whole. And honorable Council members, please continue to support the UH Maui College Cooperative Education Partnership Grant because it's such a wonderful learning opportunity for us students. And.. .yeah, thank you so much for your time.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you. Members, questions for the testifier? Seeing none. Thank you very much for coming today. And Ms. Sanada will be followed by Cassandra Cantos.
MS. SANADA: Aloha, honorable Chair White and Council members. My name is Lori Sanada. I am the Maui High School AOHT Director. Just a little background information, when I first started teaching Maui High School in '93, I had a travel class that was in my line, and I researched this particular program called the Academy of .. at that time it was Academy of -7- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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Travel and Tourism. My uncle Bruno Ariyoshi, he was a Lahainaluna principal, he suggested that I research this particular program. So, I was invited to go to Chicago and as a result I learned about this outstanding program. The thing that I liked about the program was the fact that it prepares our students in high school to be career and college ready, not only one or the other but to be able to do both. So, when I started teaching at Maui High School, I started the paperwork to start an academy, and I've been the academy director for 20 years now. I have passion for the program because I am a business administration major and I wish that I had a program like this for myself. I went through the University BYU Hawaii. I majored in business administration. I minored in Japanese. I came out. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my major as opposed to what this program offers my students. When they get out of the program they know exactly what they want. They're offered a lot of hands on activities such as service projects within the industry, fundraising. Don't think that they don't fundraise because my students fundraise. They don't expect free money unlike other high school students. They have to work hard for their money and they know how to work hard. They are offered career shadowing opportunities not only hotel properties but at the airport as well. They have internship opportunities at hotel properties. They find their jobs either at restaurants or other places. The most popular one is TSA. So, they're able to intern at the airport as a Federal.. .in a Federal Government department. So there are many opportunities. What I wished for my students is. . .the reason why I started the program was I wished that I had these hands on activities so that I would be better prepared for my future. When I graduated from college I didn't know what I was going to do. Here I had this piece of paper but what am I supposed to do with it. You know my students through their career shadowing, I tell them to be open-minded and to get as much from the experience as possible. If they didn't like the experience then fine, then they cross that particular department or that particular career off of their list of to dos.
MS. YOSHIMURA: Three minutes.
MS. SANADA: And so, another thing is that they are able to take a college course while in high school as well. So, I would like to have your continued support allowing my students this opportunity to progress in this program. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you. Members, questions for the testifier? I think it's important to point out that your Uncle Bruno Ariyoshi started the very --
MS. SANADA: Yes.
CHAIR WHITE: --first chapter.
MS. SANADA: And you were the.. . you were still at KBH, right, the seed money.
CHAIR WHITE: I was part of it.
MS. SANADA: Right. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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CHAIR WHITE: But he provided the impetus and it's now grown to provide programs throughout the State, and it's another... it's another item like MEDB has done with their STEM programs. Where the, once again, the County is helping start things that the State isn't doing in the educational system so.
MS. SANADA: That is so true.
CHAIR WHITE: These are things that are very, very important for us to be mindful of and I've seen many of the same things you've seen ... (inaudible)...
MS. SANADA: And another thing, too, because I've been the director for so long it's exciting for me being a teacher, being able to see my students actually in the industry. They're all managers at the Grand Wailea and things. So that's my success not.. .definitely not the pay or the added work but to actually see my students success and in the industry.
CHAIR WHITE: Well, thank you for all you do, Lori. Our next testifier is. . . oh, okay, I mentioned Ms. Cantos so we'll go ahead and take her and then go to our District Offices.
MS. CANTOS: Good morning, Chair and members of the Committee.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Good morning.
MS. CANTOS: My name is Cassandra Gabrielle Cantos and I am from Maui High School's Academy of Hospitality and Tourism or AOHT. I am currently a senior and have been a member of AOHT for about two years now and I'm speaking on behalf of funding the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism Program. Being a student in the Academy has helped me gained many skills, benefits, and values that would help me in the future in my career and adulthood. Familiarization trips or fam trips expand students' knowledge and passion about the hospitality and tourism industry because they learn of what and how the industry works. Fam trips also enable students to experience various careers in the industry while having fun. From these experience and fam trips, job shadowing. and even highway cleanups do we learn how to be more responsible, organized, and motivated young adults. Like many of the past classes before me during their senior year they have experienced going off State such as California, Washington, and even off country to Canada. Unfortunately, because of the lack of funding this year, my class is not able to go to one of the biggest events in our AOHT career which is our senior off State fam trip to New York. My class and I were ecstatic and anxious about this trip the whole first months of our senior year. Unfortunately, we also learned that we did not have enough funding for the trip. We tried to rely on our famous cookie fundraisers and our own funding but in the end did not suffice to the required cost of the trip. Also, during our process of planning and fundraising, we have lost a sufficient amount of funding essentially leaving our AOHT class of 2014 the first senior class of the program to not have our senior fam trip. Thus funding the AOHT should continue because it
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would allow students in the Academy who are interested in the hospitality and tourism industry the opportunity to gain the full experience of the program. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you very much. Members, questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you for coming today. And we'll go first to our Hana Office. Dawn, do you have any testifiers this morning?
MS. LONO: Good morning, Chair. This is Dawn Lono at the Hana Office. I have no testifiers waiting but I did have this morning the high school students and their teacher come to the office and experience the program here, and how it works, and to go a little bit through the Budget. And they wanted me to pass along a message to Aunty Stacy Crivello to say aloha and mahalo for her hospitality.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Dawn.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Aloha.
CHAIR WHITE: She sends her aloha. I don't know if you could hear her.
MS. LONO: Yes. Thank you so much.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Great. Thank you very much. And next we'll go to Lanai. Denise, do you have any testifiers there?
MS. FERNANDEZ: Good morning, Chair. This is Denise Fernandez on Lanai and there is no one waiting to testify.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you very much. And we'll go to our District Office on Molokai. And I believe Tina is there instead of Ella this morning. Tina.
MS. THOMPSON: Good morning, Chair. This is Tina Thompson at the Molokai Office and we have no testifier waiting.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Ladies, we have quite a number of testifiers here in the Chambers. So, since you have no testifiers at this time, if you do have them please e-mail our Committee Staff and then we'll come back to you; otherwise, we will continue in the Chambers. Thank you, ladies. And our next testifier is Brian Zamora and he will be followed by Efrenila Paet.
MR. ZAMORA: Good morning, Chairperson Mike White and members of the Budget and Finance Committee. My name is Brian Zamora, a current senior at Maui High School and I'm currently a two-year member of the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism at Maui High School. I'm speaking on behalf of continuing funding for the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism. As a two-year member of this elite organization, I can clearly say that I have gained many beneficial skills and traits. Throughout this program I was able to grow and - 10- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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mature. For instance through this program, I was able to gain clear insights and understanding that the hospitality and tourism industry is a driving factor in our economy. Moreover, the industry encompasses a variety of careers such as hotels, airports, travel agents, and so forth. As my fellow peer previously testified our senior fam trip was cancelled on the grounds of lack of funding. Although $7,000 may seem to be a mere amount allocated to our chapter, the $7,000 would have essentially been a major help in defraying the total cost of our senior fam trip. With that being said, this $7,000 would have been allocated to ground transportation, food, and activities. Furthermore, with the lack of funding from the Hawaii Tourism Authority or HTA has also played a major role in the cancellation of our fam trip. It is important to note, that HTA and Maui County are the two main sectors of funding for our program. With a cessation and lack of funding from these two sectors could ultimately result in the downfall of our academy. I was able to first handedly see what Ms. Sanada, our AOHT Director, had to explore further means to find funds for our fam trip. In the end, there was no other means which resulted in the cancellation of our fam trip. In Ms. Sanada's 20 plus years as director, we are the first class not to have our senior fam trip due to lack of funding. Furthermore, it is also important to note that the hospitality and tourism industry is a prominent source.. .tourism industry is a prominent source for revenue not only to Maui but to the State as a whole. In essence, funding for the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism is basically funding for the future success of our State. Having taken a brief survey among my senior class of 32 people; 20 people are pursuing a major and career within the hospitality and tourism industry. Finally, I ask you members of the Budget and Finance Committee to please resume the allocation of funds to our Academy. It is also important to note that indeed our keiki is our future. I believe that it is conducive to have programs such as AOHT, Health Occupation Students of America, and various career technical education pathways as it provides a firm foundation in the students for a better future. Providing funds to student oriented programs such as AOHT will ultimately have its gains in the future. I would like to take the time to thank each and every one of you for giving me the time to speak on behalf of AOHT. Mahalo.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Brian. Any questions for the testifier? Thank you. And Efrenila will be followed by Rhon Rarogal.
MR. PAET: Good morning.
CHAIR WHITE: Good morning.
MR. PAET: I want to thank you for the opportunity to be...
CHAIR WHITE: Could you state your name just in case I got it wrong?
MR. PAET: Efrenila.
CHAIR WHITE: And last name? BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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MR. PAET: Paet.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Thank you.
MR. PAET: I want to thank you for the opportunity to be a recipient of the Maui UH.. .Maui County UH Cooperative Education Partnership Grant. I've interned with Ms. Cecilia Suzuki at the Maui County Department of Housing and Human Concerns, Senior Services Division at Kaunoa Senior Services in Paia. I've just recently finished my 150 hours of intern. And I was fortunately enough to go to all the programs that they had and was able to participate with the seniors. One thing I've learned from this experience and the seniors that I've met is that you can never be too old to have fun, explore, and live life to the fullest. And I'm very thankful to the Kaunoa staff cause they've been so very welcoming and they made me feel like I was part of their family. The grant have helped me with my education. I am majoring in Medical Assistant II and will be expected to graduate next Spring 2015. Please do continue to support the Maui UH College Co-op Education Partnership Grant for the future students of our program to allow them the opportunity and experience to explore working for the County.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Efrenila.
MR. PAET: Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you. And Mr. Rarogal will be followed by Tamara Sherrill or Tamara Sherrill.
MR. RAROGAL: Test. Good morning, Chair. Good morning, Council members. My name is Rhon Rarogal and I'll be testifying regarding the Co-op Education Program at Maui College. My Co-op Program started in Winter break. I went to see Ms. Juli Patao and we were searching for an internship site and we stopped at Maui College. I stopped there because of three things, one, focus, you guys focus on the community and helping people and that's great, you know. Two, was stability. I know after I'm done at Maui College and I'm done at West Oahu you guys will still be here helping people out. And, three, the stipend. I'm a working college student. I work fulltime and, you know, it's quite expensive school. So, I need to support myself. Throughout this internship, I interned in three divisions. One at Payroll and the other two is in the sixth floor Treasury and Purchasing. So I got to work with Ms. Angelita, Jack, Dana, Michele, Lyn. And then the Payroll crew, we have Daniele, Diane, Erika, and Debra. All of them are really nice people and provided support throughout my accounting learning experience here at Maui County. It provided me with work experience that I know will be very helpful when I graduate this May. I'll be searching for a job but, yeah, it will be very, very valuable. I look forward to applying for Maui College and see what I can do for the County and helping people out. I want to say thank you for taking the time to be here and thank you for funding this grant, and please continue to help students like me throughout their college careers. And thank you.
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CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Mr. Rarogal. Members, questions? Seeing none, thank you very much. And we will go on to Tamara Sherrill followed by Anne Jenny.
MS. SHERRILL: Good morning, Committee Chair White, and Council Chair Baisa, and honorable members of the Committee. My name is Tamara Sherrill. I'm the Interim Director at Maui Nui Botanical Gardens. And I'm here to tell you why supporting the line item in the OED Budget for Fiscal Year 2015 is a good investment for Maui County. No other garden has a collection that specifically displays native plants and Polynesian introduced plants from the islands of Maui County. For an example we steward 170 ancestral types of taro, sugar cane, sweet potato, banana, and kava. And this represents more than 2,000 years of horticultural expertise and an agricultural history that is unique to Hawaii. The plant collections are a valuable resource for farmers, schools, visitors, and residents. For a reasonable cost to the County, we not only maintain and operate this public garden but we have been leaders in influencing people to plant native plants in their own gardens. This outreach has built strong community support, as the written testimony will show. More than half of all garden labor hours were donated by volunteers this year. This year we hosted 2,000 students in 28 school visits, 400 service learners, and 5 free community events. We gave more than 800 free horticultural consultations and tours. We distributed more than 4,000 native plants to the public. All of these interactions with all of these people have one main purpose to connect them with the unique, natural, and agricultural history of Maui County and to convince them to value both. We do this by teaching people about how these plants were used for survival by the first Polynesian settlers to Hawaii and we host workshops that show people how the plants in our collection were and are still used in Hawaiian culture. We help people responsibly source native plants to save water, and start growing a traditional crop or plant a landscape that doesn't just look like any other tropical tourist destination. This is a good investment. As a nonprofit, your operating funds allow us to leverage funding with other sources, and they show private funders that local government supports our mission. And we continue to innovate to increase our self-sufficiency. This year we have increased memberships by offering new benefits. We've begun charging admission fees and selling plants six days a week in addition to our events. We have attempted negotiations with our lessor, the Parks Department, to be more available for public use and therefore raise funds through rentals to groups of 100 people or less. I humbly request that you support OED for this next year so that we can continue to work towards making this goal a reality. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Ms. Sherrill. Any questions, Members? Seeing none, I appreciate you coming this morning. And Anne Jenny will be followed by Craig Swift.
MS. JENNY: Aloha. Good morning, Council members. Chair, it's good to see you all. My name is Anne Jenny. I have the honor of being the Internal Auditor for the Finance Department and even more importantly the Intern Coordinator for the Finance Department. I came to the County from the college itself. I was a professor of economics there. And I understand the value of the investment that you make with these students each and every day. Luckily, Nadine was one of my students and was my first intern. It turned out to be an excellently.., an excellent and highly valuable partnership. The materials that she created - 13 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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would have cost us far more to hire a consultant to do 'cause we just don't have the staff time or availability in the Finance Department to do a lot of the work that she did. Mr. Rarogal is proven to be highly adaptable and I can point him in the direction and say go, and he takes it right off and it's been an honor to work with both of them. And I look forward to this program continuing. Oh, I didn't mention. Rhon besides working fulitime commutes here from Lahaina. He is really committed to the work that he does and the job that he's doing for the County. That investment in that program has provided benefits beyond just the work that those students provide for us but a new perspective, a fresh perspective, and it's keeping it local perspective that sometimes we have the... we would lose otherwise. I can't tell you how much I appreciate having had the opportunity to work with the college. One of my mentors in teaching told me that if I'm not learning as much as I'm teaching, I'm not doing a very good job teaching. And each and every one of these interns has taught me something. So, I really do encourage you to support the Co-op Education Grant and if you can find a little extra to tuck in there so we can get some more students I would really appreciate that, too. Thank you so much.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Ms. Jenny. Members, any questions? Seeing none, I appreciate you coming this morning. And Mr. Swift will be followed by Jenny Takemoto.
MR. SWIFT: Good morning, Committee Chair --
CHAIR WHITE: Good morning.
MR. SWIFT: --and Council members. Good morning. My name is Craig Swift and I'm the Director of MEO's Business Development Center. And I'm here today to ask for your continued support of our grant funds from OED that operate and help operate our MEO's Microenterprise Program. I know many of you are familiar with it but I just again it really. ..the strategy with the program is primarily three fold. And the first one is in the area of business development; the second one is community economic development, and the third is really poverty alleviation if you will. So a little more on those areas is in the business development side, helping new businesses to get over the hurdles of starting up, assisting established businesses to grow and increase their profits with specialized technical assistance targeted to specific problems, and then, of course, providing of access to capital with the Microloan Program. Under the Community economic development side, what you see is outcomes that include new businesses on the street, new sources of income for residents, and new jobs for targeted population, which is low and moderate income, and increased community assets and economic vitality. Under poverty alleviation, we're doing a seeking to empower the clients by increasing their economic literacy and business skills with business plan training courses. So those are the three primary areas that we are looking at withjn the community and the OED's grant support enables us to do all three of these. Office of Economic Development with Teena's staff, they're excellent partners throughout the County and again we work Molokai and Lanai and then of course here on Maui. But always asked, too, is well what are some of the numbers, what's really happening out there? And so just looking back since Fiscal Year 2012, there were 298 technical assistance consultations with - 14- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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Maui businesses here. I would like to think that all of those consultations were supportive of keeping those businesses going and growing. There were 24 loans made to 22 businesses in the amount of $338,000. Nineteen of those 22 are still in business so that's a good sign. Thirdly, there were 24 loans to 15 startups and 9 existing businesses. So it's both the startups and the existing businesses. And then job creation, there were 66 fulltime equivalent jobs in the County that were created since again this Fiscal 2012. And over 350 individuals have graduated from the Core Four Business Planning course --
MS. YOSHIMURA: Three minutes.
MR. SWIFT: --throughout Maui County. So, again, you know, I'm here to ask for your certainly continued support in OED's grant for the MEO Microenterprise Program. Thank you very much for your time.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Mr. Swift. Any questions for the testifier? Mr. Swift? Ms. Crivello has a question. Ms. Crivello.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Not so much a question but maybe. I first want to, you know, say thank you for the program that your Microenterprise for the.. .on Molokai. I can actually confirm that those that have gone through the core classes have businesses that are sustaining themselves today. As well as the employee that you have there now, today is looking at the long-term results for economic recovery by being in the high school with financial literacy. She's just on a part time payroll. So I know we've talked about trying to expand 'cause I've attended her graduation program and, you know, I only hear good things as well as, you know, saying, oop, I don't think I can get into business now after going through this course. So does this monies set aside here allows her employment to be fulltime, the appropriations or the request of proposal that we have here?
MR. SWIFT: No, it does not.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Okay.
MR. SWIFT: It's the same as last year and not fulltime equivalent; 75 percent equivalent but.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Okay. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. I believe she deserves to be on a fulltime basis.
MR. SWIFT: I do as well.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Okay.
MR. SWIFT: And I know OED is supportive of that. Thank you.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Thank you. - 15 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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CHAIR WHITE: Thank you. Our next testifier is Jenny Takemoto followed by Warren Watanabe.
MS. TAKEMOTO: Good morning. My name is Jenny Chan Takemoto. I live on the west side and at times I do have to take the bus or carpool over for classes that was offered 3 years ago. I attended the core class all the way down in the Cameron Center. And the story is this that I used to work in the hospitality field. I immigrated from Hong Kong to Honolulu when I was 16. I worked my way up from a Foodland clerk as making $3.58 an hour as minimum wage to director of finance for a hotel on the west side. When the bubbles burst, I find a way of trying to survive with two children. One was attending at Lahaina Intermediate and one was at Sacred Hearts preschool. And at that time, I trying to find a way of better myself and put tools in my belt. I was able to get resources from Karen's office, which is Maui County Business Resource Center, and there was a flyer there, a blue flyer, core class, and I thought well it's all the way down in Cameron Center. I don't have a motor vehicle 'cause I turned in my key to, you know, the financial who owns my car. Anyway, to make the long story short, two months of training at the core class get me to who I am right now. I'm a business consultant, international consultant. I'm also a member and council secretary of the Hawaii Pacific District Export Council. I know it's a mouthful. I serve as a consultant on the board and I was appointed by D.C. to help the Hawaii Island and Pacific including Samoa and also Guam. So, my mission here is to say thank you for the resources that the County of Maui have offered not just to myself to my two children. My son Austin had graduated Lahainaluna High School 2011. He got benefit from the investment from the County of Maui from the STEM Program. He participated in the Robotic Program. First time from Lahainaluna that's only two of them. One male and one female and they didn't have a fancy t-shirt to participate in Honolulu but they won their own division but they didn't get the final. However he also was in the PATH Program as well. By the way, he graduated 2011 Lahainaluna from the west side. So he also benefit from it. And through his graduation he graduated three honors. He got scholarship from the mainland. He also got $1,000 scholarship from Blackies. To make the long story short, now the current one. My daughter who's seventh grade at Lahaina Intermediate. She's seventh grade but she got invited to go to the eighth grade for the participation of the STEM Program. And during Spring break --
MS. YOSHIMURA: Three minutes.
MS. TAKEMOTO: --she's doing her video program editing. And through the funding of the County of Maui through this STEM Program, and both of my children benefit. Myself benefit as education for my own career. And I feel that for myself, and my background, education, cultures, and career is the core of my family. And I have two children and they have benefit from being here in the County of Maui. Although they have a choice to be in Honolulu but we elected to stay in the County of Maui and I've been here 12 years. And thank you for all of you to continue support the MEO program and also Teena who's the Director of Office of Economic Development Travel Industry. She's doing an excellent job of having the Second Friday as well other avenue to sustain, I would say, the cultures as well as the economic growth for the County of Maui without destroying our nature. And also - 16- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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pursue--what do you call that?--perpetuate our culture from Hawaiian to Chinese to what have you. And I'm a strong advocate of continuing the Wo Hing museum and the Second Friday 'cause I'm on the committee of the Second Friday with all of that. So, again, thank you for all your support from education to economic, the business development for the MEO Program, and then the community development. I benefit as myself and my children benefit. And mahalo.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you very much. Members, questions for the testifier? Ms. Baisa.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Thank you, Chair. And thank you so much for being here this morning. You know, we sit here during the budget process and we search our souls about what we can and cannot fund, and I'm a huge advocate of course for social services and also for business development. You know people like you that come back and prove the value of the investment. I really want to thank you because you represent so much. You represent immigrant. You represent a woman, and you represent, you know, the person that can really make it with the right kind of encouragement. So, I want to really thank you for coming to share your story because it's inspirational to us and to others. Thank you.
MS. TAKEMOTO: Mahalo. And I would also like to emphasis my core class was waived. The 200-something dollars it was an issue for me because at one time it was either buying toilet paper or rice. I prefer to buy rice. But it was very generous that there was funding --
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you.
MS. TAKEMOTO: --for my tuition.
CHAIR WHITE: We can only allow you to keep talking if she asks you a question.
MS. TAKEMOTO: Sorry. I apologize.
CHAIR WHITE: No problem.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Thank you very much. I think we got the message and, you know, thanks for taking the time. Thank you.
MS. TAKEMOTO: Thank you. Sorry.
CHAIR WHITE: No problem. Thank you. Our next testifier is Warren Watanabe followed by Jeanne Skog.
MR. WATANABE: Good morning, Chair White and members of the Committee. My name is Warren Watanabe, Executive Director of the Maui County Farm Bureau. And I'm here to ask for your support for our line item through the Office of Economic Development. Some of the programs that we do for Maui County Farm Bureau is the Grown on Maui Program. -17- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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This program was actually developed under then Mayor Linda Lingle and, you know, it's a program that we used to have our farmers and ranchers remain competitive, you know, in this global market. We do have a committee, and it consists of farmers, ranchers, and also even some chefs and hopefully we're going to bring in some retail produce buyers. Some of the chefs that are on our committee is Chef Tylun Pang with the Fairmont Kealani, and also Eric Faivre with the Grand Wailea. Another program that we do, I think most of you are familiar with is Ag in the Classroom. The Ag in the Classroom Program is targeted towards any interested school at the second grade level. We also hold a field day at Maui Tropical Plantation, and the last two years, we had about approximately 900 students participate in it. Related to that, I want to also mention that we are working with the Lahainaluna FFA and the King Kekaulike FFA. The Hawaii Farm Bureau last year obtained funding both for FFA and for 4-H; FFA through the Department of Education and 4-H through College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. And I am on the committee with the Department of Education to make sure that the FFA Program meets academic standards unlike, you know, when I was going to Maui High. Also, we have our community events and this is our line item where we support our fellow industries. Specifically, we have a request for 2015 as, you know, we support the 4-H at the Upcountry Fair. Their program is expanding and they have requested that part of the Farm Bureau budget also include another additional tent at the Upcountry Fair. Projected cost. Right now, the Farm Bureau allocates $10,000 out of our budget. They are forecasting that the two tents will cost approximately 25,000 so I ask for your consideration on that. We do also the Maui County Ag Festival, which was just held recently. To kind of offset some of the expenses this year we did have a $3 admission charge, and interestingly the Ag Festival is now the second --
MS. YOSHIMURA: Three minutes.
MR. WATANABE: --most popular ag festival in the State of Hawaii second to again a Hawaii Farm Bureau project which is the Hawaii State Farm Fair. I think at this.. .1 think, you know, if you have any questions I'll be more than happy to answer. One of the things that we also address is we do have professional development for our members. And some of the issues that we do address recently, you know, with this US Department of Labor, so we are working with them to have.. .hold training sessions with our farmers. There's food safety and, of course, pesticide use. You know it's very difficult for the farmers right now and ranchers to meet and comply with all these different regulations. And so, you know, this is our attempt to help assist them to become compliant and we do want them to be compliant. Finally, I want to bring up about the. . . another item --
MS. YOSHIMURA: Four minutes.
MR. WATANABE: --in the Mayor's Budget, which is the expansion of the Ag Park. We worked with Representative Yamashita to get State funding and we're asking now for the County match. And the reason why Farm Bureau pursued this or Maui County Farm Bureau pursued this and I'm not sure if you're aware but there's a lot of... BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Watanabe, I just have to remind you you've gone over your four minutes so if you could provide a concluding sentence --
MR. WATANABE: Okay.
CHAIR WHITE: --and I know we'll see you again and.
MR. WATANABE: Yeah. Okay. It's just to provide the match with the State. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you. Members, questions for Mr. Watanabe? Mr. Guzman.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Mr. Watanabe, for coming down this morning. Is there a possibility that you can submit an itemization of all of your allocations on the breakdowns and the programs that you've mentioned?
MR. WATANABE: Yes, it's possible.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Other questions, Members? Seeing none, thank you very much, Mr. Watanabe. Sorry to cut you off but. Our next testifier is Jeanne Skog followed by Leslie Wilkins.
MS. SKOG: Good morning, Chair. Good morning, Members. I'm Jeanne Skog, President and CEO of the Maui Economic Development Board. And I wanted to start out by, first of all, thanking you for your support and ask you for your continued support of our funding. Thank you also for really believing in our efforts to foster new economic options in our community. These new options are translating into new career options for our residents and just a whole new level of opportunity for them. I will focus my comments today on our work to develop and grow new businesses on Maui. Attracting and strengthening a business in Maui begins with awareness. Awareness that there are real business opportunities here, viable opportunities in sectors such as space situational awareness, the information technology, and clean energy for example. These new businesses by the way are increasingly coming from entrepreneurs on Maui, which is very, very reassuring and encouraging. I will tell you that it's as important for us to convey this message of opportunity on Maui within our own State and as well as outside of it but definitely within our own State and continue to educate those beyond Maui, Maui island that there's some real great stuff going on here. And we regularly represent Maui's strengths in forums within the State as well. Our websites are critical to awareness and in about a month we will launch a new site that speaks even more directly to the needs and interests of businesses as they're looking 'at starting up on Maui or expanding on Maui. Brochures and other collateral are still an important tool for the quick snapshot or that quick visual that you need in a conversation. Our latest one, developed in time for the Electric Utilities Conference that was just held, highlights the myriad of energy projects and activities going on in Maui. It is substantial. We selectively exhibit as part of a Team Hawaii collaboration at conferences on the mainland. Team Hawaii includes the entities - 19- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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engaged in attracting and growing technology related activity in our State and in our case Maui. In fact, last year as result of our presence at the International BlO Conference, Maui's HNu-nanoPOINT has been contracted to send one of their products on SpaceX's scientific payload for experiments on the space station. So that's quite an honor. And actually they are vying for Best in BlO at this coming conference and we're encouraging anyone to go to the site and put your vote in daily for them. We present, of course, the AMOS Conference annually. It is the longest running Hawaii based technical conference --
MS. YOSHIMURA: Three minutes.
MS. SKOG: --offered annually, and it is the convergence of two economic drivers, scientific research and visitor industry, during that week. Maui is host to some of the top international minds on research and policy related to space debris tracking and analysis. And Maui companies regularly make fantastic connections at the conference. We offer workshops throughout the year. Our social media workshop series is an example of that where over 300 Maui businesses have taken part in those sessions. Much of our effort is devoted to one on one consultations with businesses doing whatever we need to do to help them move the dial and just get closer to realizing their business needs. I want to close by sharing one representative example of that assistance in action. We met Applied Defense Solutions when they presented a paper at the AMOS Conference. They specialize in space research and satellite tracking. Our AMOS Conference connected them to government and private sector players in their field of work...
MS. YOSHIMURA: Four minutes.
MS. SKOG: I'll close. I just met with them in D.C. again. I met with them again yesterday. They are now teamed with a Maui company on a contract. Longer story short they are setting up an office in Maui and they're going to be a sponsor at the AMOS Conference and they want to be active participants in our STEM education programs. We're really excited about that.
CHAIR WHITE: Can you please provide a concluding comment?
MS. SKOG: Yes. Yes. So, I thank you for being part of creating this new future in our community and really for our residents in STEM careers.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Ms. Skog. Members, any questions? Seeing none, thank you for coming this morning. And Leslie Wilkins will be followed by Yuki Lei Sugimura.
MS. WILKINS: Well, aloha and good morning, Budget Chair White and Committee members. My name is Leslie Wilkins and I am honored to serve as MEDB's Vice-President and to direct our STEM education to workforce pipeline initiatives. Thank you for the opportunity to report on the County's investment. I will, too, also begin by saying thank you for your visionary actions in realizing that it takes a village, it takes all of us, to invest in our future workforce. Last year we were able to leverage the County's investment with over -20- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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$1.5 million in a Federal Portfolio from five different agencies, and several different corporate awards and private donors. In addition, we secured free software agreements and training, and geospatial tools from ESRI, SketchUp design tools from Google, and Computer Aided Design from SolidWorks. These industry standard licenses can cost up to $1,000 a seat and we have negotiated it free for every classroom in our State and in our STEMworks programs. We could not have done that without you showing that you believe in our work. So I don't want that to sound like we're too rich and don't need County funding because it is key unless our own community invest in us with dollars we can't begin to convince a Federal funding that the innovation that we're doing here can be replicated in other states, in other communities across the nation. And last year, the State Department invested in us to spread our education work to the Asia Pacific. Thank you. Federal funding is getting ever more competitive and requiring more local matching dollars. Our pipeline ranges from 32 different programs that span from elementary school to business technical assistance in helping our companies find kamaaina talent. They range from career shadowing, mentoring, robotics, internships, software training, professional development for our educators, service learning, design, and our original programs of island energy inquiry, and STEMworks. Last year we served 14,560 participants in Maui County alone. Our goal is to empower more students reach the beautiful broad demographics and diversity of our State on all three islands in our County, and to keep our students engaged in that STEM pipeline. We are preparing students for higher education but for the non-college bound student our STEM programs are just as key. STEM skills are preparing our high school graduates for competitive high wage jobs. Thank you to Jenny who testified earlier, the mom of a Lahainaluna, two Lahainaluna STEM children. MEDB has --
MS. YOSHIMURA: Three minutes.
MS. WILKINS: --long realized the need to marry economic development with workforce development. Our training programs are mirroring our economic goals as a community. We are preparing a resident trained workforce for research, for geospatial GIS skills. We have original curriculum in clean energy science. We are providing our students with state of the art digital and creative media tools and training for an emerging film industry, and computer programming and coding skills for our growing cluster in the IT industry. These include STEM skills needed for the burgeoning careers in healthcare as well, and the science of agriculture. Quite frankly, every business and industry needs a skilled STEM workforce. Our hallmark is to bring industry and education together to work together. Last year, we trained 260 teachers --
MS. YOSHIMURA: Four minutes.
MS. WILKINS: --credited progressive teaching skills and gave them access to industry and business mentors and tools. This is perhaps our strongest lasting outcome. It is the investment that will keep on giving. We know that a homegrown talent pool will drive the homegrown solutions and innovation for Maui County's sustainable future. Thank you.
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CHAIR WHITE: Thank you. You could feel my warning coming.
MS. WILKINS: I saw that smile. So I went to my last sentence.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you very much, Ms. Wilkins.
MS. WILKINS: Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: And our next testifier is Yuki Lei Sugimura followed by Stephanie Ohigashi. And Ms. Ohigashi is the last one who is signed up to testify this morning. So if there is anyone else in the gallery that would like to provide testimony please sign up in the back or you can come down and testify and then do so. Please proceed, Ms. Sugimura.
MS. SUGIMURA: Good morning, Budget Chair Mike White and Council members. I'm Yuki Lei Sugimura. And first of all, I want to say I'm really happy to see Chair Baisa here. Good to see you. Thank you, all of you, first of all, for working double time for the people of Maui County. We all know how grueling the Budget process is and we appreciate you. I'm here to support the Office of Economic Development for continuing the Maui Friday Town Party funding as well as the Festivals of Aloha Maui Nui Style, which is a favorite of. . . my personal favorite. To talk about the Maui Friday Town Parties, I want to say that it started about 6 years ago or the idea came about 6 years ago, we're going on 7 years with Wailuku First Friday. And in November of 2012, OED came up with this very creative idea of creating. . . of showcasing our unique small towns and created events called Maui Friday Town Parties. I am part of the marketing team that helps to promote each event but more importantly to keep the word Maui out in the world. We receive $50,000 a year to buy advertising to do ad placements, create newsletters, releases I'm sorry news releases, create ads, and update the website. And with the latest news of the Maui Friday Town Parties.. .with the latest news of the parties in Wailuku, Lahaina, Makawao, and Kihei, we network to get our events online, printed, viewed by as many people and places that we can. We work really hard for what you may understand as what we call in business Return on Investment. The ROl is very important for what we think we have received and gotten for Maui as it has been mentioned by many readers, bloggers, viewers, visitors all around the world. We take the $50,000 that you give to us and work hard to get other placements to residents, visitors, and approximately 9,910,000 views or circulations throughout the world. And if we were to buy this ad space--now this is the free stuff. . . is what we call the free stuff--if we were to buy this various publications we estimate it would cost another $210,000. This is 400 percent Return on Investments for Maui County. These free placements are such as we're in the Hana Hou Magazine. If you look in the calendar listing every single.. .every single town is listed for their particular date on Maui. And Hana Hou Magazine was huge for us. We worked really, really hard to get there because their circulation is 120,000 copies per issue with an annual 9.48 million passenger enplanements, which means seat pockets, to about 140 US Mainland International flights a week to Hawaii and 170 daily flights --
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MS. YOSHIMURA: Three minutes.
MS. SUGIMURA: --in the neighbor island. I wanted to--I have lots more but of placements, but I think you get the idea--I just wanted to mention something that really came to us as a gift from the Maui Visitors Bureau, which I know also OED mentions, OED supports, and through the Maui Visitors Bureau we got an international mention with Risvel R I S V E L, which is a Japan website and they have 135,000 viewers on their website which got picked up by Antenna which is another Japan publication. And that got picked up again and this magazine came to visit us, Aloha Express came to visit us at the last First Friday and their reach is 700,000 viewers in Japan, and the next issue will be on Maui and we're going to be in it. This all came from the marketing support that we got from OED and I wish that you will continue funding for the Maui Friday Town Party events for this next fiscal year.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Ms. Sugimura. Members, questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you for coming today. And our next and last testifier is Stephanie Ohigashi.
MS. OHIGASHI: Good morning, Chair White and Council Chair Baisa, Council members. My name is Stephanie Ohigashi. Today I am speaking as the Chair of the Maui County Sister Cities Foundation. I'm not going to take up a lot of time. I do want to thank you for the appropriation of $30,000 for the first time as an independent autonomous agency, and we have the financials to give you if you request them. And we are here to say how much of an honor it is to maintain, sustain, enhance, revitalize your official 25 sister cities. We've enjoyed doing so. And next year our thrust is on the US China emphasis. China is the biggest market as you know. And one of our members just returned from the US Sister Cities China Conference and she has more to tell you in the next subsequent meetings but for today I just want to say thank you and we look forward to working with you in the future. And happy Easter.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Ms. Ohigashi.
MS. OHIGASHI: Any questions?
CHAIR WHITE: Any questions, Members?
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Baisa.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Thank you, Ms. Ohigashi. And, Chair, I'd like to formally request that we have a breakdown on what the money's been spent for.
CHAIR WHITE: Sure.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: I've already talked to Ms. Ohigashi earlier today. - 23 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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CHAIR WHITE: We'll do so. Thank you.
3rd MS. OHIGASHI: We just turned in our quarter receipts with OED. They do have, you know, the nitty gritty but we do have kind of a summary and if you wish I could leave that with you at this moment if that's kosher.
CHAIR WHITE: Provide it to staff.
MS. OHIGASHI: Okay. Thank you very much.
CHAIR WHITE: And we'll provide copies to the members. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the Chambers that would like to testify? Ms. Robbins, please come down. And is there anyone else who would like to provide testimony this morning. Okay. And following Ms. Robbins we will take our morning break. Please proceed.
MS. ROBBINS: Good morning, everybody. Rosemary Robbins, educator, began her education in Hawaii in 1962 so over a half century under my belt in here and this has been so exciting to hear this morning. The United States is playing catch up ball with many, unfortunately. Although in the worldview everybody wins to other countries. Didn't see this coming early enough to have headed it off the way we are now playing catch up ball to do. And I am super impressed with the Cooperative Education that's going on. Maui County, the State of Hawaii, the Federal grants that we're beginning to realize we can take advantage of but at a point in time when they have less to money to give us but we can do this. When I take a look at what's happened here about UH MCC dealing with people from Kaunoa, the living treasures that we have there people who didn't have a chance to have higher education when I began teaching in '62 and yet they were not dumb people. They were underexposed. So it's very exciting to see that we're offering this exposure to people and taking advantage, sweet advantage, of that happening. I'd also put in a plug for the fact that not just business but economics is being taught on Sesame Street. So, even though we don't have a preschool education in our State system here, we have it in our living rooms. We have it in the daycare centers. Treat yourself when you see that coming up. It's just wonderful to see. So I especially am pleased about the fact that Anne Jenny is working with us right here on the auditor level. A comprehensive thinker brings in students to us. So just all that good stuff. Please make sure that this Cooperative Education is funded well. Everybody wins. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Ms. Robbins. Members, any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, I appreciate you coming this morning.
MS. ROBBINS: You're welcome.
CHAIR WHITE: And, Members, with that--well let's check with the District Offices. Dawn, do you have any more testifiers in Hana? -24-
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MS. LONO: The Hana Office has no one waiting to testify, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you very much. Denise, any testifiers?
MS. FERNANDEZ: The Lanai Office has no one waiting to testify.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you very much. And, Tina, how about Molokai?
MS. THOMPSON: The Molokai Office has no one waiting to testify.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, ladies. And seeing there's no one else coming to the front to testify without objections we'll close public testimony.
COUNCIL MEMBERS: No objections.
.END OF PUBLIC TESTIMONY...
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you, Members. Public testimony is closed and we will take our morning recess. Please be back here at quarter to 11:00. .. (gavel).
RECESS: 10:32 a.m. RECONVENE: 11:06 a.m.
ITEM BF-l: PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 2015 BUDGET FOR THE COUNTY OF MAUI (CC 14-3 1)
CHAIR WHITE: .. .(gavel)... Members, the Budget and Finance Committee meeting will come back to order so we can proceed with the review of the Office of the Mayor, Economic Development Grants. And I apologize for the delay but we have some, some. . .1 shouldn't call it fireworks but we have hot items to get moving on. We were advised that the decision on the removal of the TAT cap has been delayed until Monday afternoon and the request from the State House and Senate Conference Committee is that we provide them with a unified plan developed by the counties in order for them to move forward. So what we've been discussing here is that Maui will generate the plan and we'll see if we can get the other guys to go along, but we've got all the numbers and they don't. So, with that I want to welcome Ms. Rasmussen back to begin our discussions on the grants. So, with that I'll turn the floor over to you.
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OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much, Chair White. Thank you for having us today to.. .we're here today to discuss the grant portion of our Budget. And I thought I would just give you just a couple items of the way we handle our grants in our office that you may not be aware of Unlike Human Services.. .the Department of Housing and Human Concerns, OED has an open grant application period that goes all the way from July 1st 15th• through March So we're basically accepting grants almost all year long, so for nine months. And the reason that actually works well for us is because that's the only way we can effectively handle the volume of grants. We actually now have 106 active grants in process right now from grants that may be from last fiscal year that haven't quite closed yet to all the new ones. We are currently managing 106 active grants. So that allows us to spread the review of those grants over the course of the year. In addition to that we have 12 new Economic Development Revolving Fund proposals and of course those will be progressing as we go forward into the next year. All of our OED grants are reviewed by three people. Our Grants Manager who's Ms. Silva, sitting next to me, reviews for documents, insurance, and tax compliance, and at the same time an OED Specialist reviews and evaluates the program or the project. And then finally, I as the Director do the final review for all of our grants. So during this process, the grantee may be asked to supply missing documents, revise sections of their grant that aren't acceptable, there could be changes that we need, and that all takes place there in our office before we move the grants forward. So, just this year we decided to do a little dashboard to see how we did on the timing of our grants, and how long we had 'em in our office, and how long it took them to get the final execution date. And we did an examination of all the grants we accepted this year, and we had them in our office an average of 19.7 business days, and our average for complete execution was 61.4 days. So I think that's actually pretty close to the target. We've always said we wanted to try to get them out the door within 60 days. But once they leave our office it goes to Corporation Counsel for review and then it has to go through multiple layers of signatures, and of course we do track that but we.. .that part is a little bit out of our hands. So but I think that our stats are pretty good and I think we do a good job of trying to get them out the door. I think we're very successful in engaging all of the communities, Hana, Lanai, Molokai and of course Maui in trying to find the best projects that we could fund with our Economic Development Grants. And our Specialists visited all of those communities and we also monitored and attended many, many, many of these programs and events that we funded. One of our— you'll.you'll see there's a couple items I want to call attention to that we've asked for increases. One of 'em is the Small Business Promotion Fund. From the success that we had from taking 18 companies to the Made in Hawaii Festival...
COUCILMEMBER COUCH: Mr. Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Pardon me. Can you.. .you were working from a dashboard? Did you pass that out to us? -26- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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MS. RASMUSSEN: No, I didn't.. .we did not because it just got completed last night.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay.
MS. RASMUSSEN: But we can give it to you.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: You're speaking about certain grants. Can you let us know what page it is on this sheet?
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah, I would prefer that we take the grants...
MS. RASMUSSEN: In order. Yeah. I think we're... you know I'm just about ready to finish my overview.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay.
CHAIR WHITES ... (Inaudible)
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah this is just my overview. I'm sorry.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: I'm sorry.
MS. RASMUSSEN: I'm sorry to confuse.. . okay. I just have two items I just wanted to call your attention to that we're asking for an additional amount of funding and why that is. One of 'em is our Small Business Promotion Fund and we can just cover it I guess we'll just cover it then, and then the second one is our Film Industry Promotion Fund. We'll cover that when we go in the order. And, and outside of that, I just want to thank our staff, very, very hard working staff. I feel very fortunate every day to be working with these people. They really put their all into their jobs and we love what we do. And so thank you for the opportunity.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you. You can move into the first grant. And, Members, the sheet shows the page number in the Details if you would like to refer to the Details at all. So, for example, the Agriculture Promotion Grant is shown on Page 11-23 in the Details.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So the first one we're looking at is the Agriculture Promotion Fund. And when we responded to one of your earlier requests, we did send you a list of the items that we funded out of the Agriculture Promotion Fund. But if you want to know the details and you don't have that in front of me, I'd be happy to tell you. It goes to several different ag entities; the Maui Flower Growers Association, the Upcountry Ag and Farm Fair. It's helping us to do the International Goyong Horticulture Show that's happening starting this next week. Of which I'm proud to say that we have spent the last 9 months and have just secured all the Federal permits to showcase our beloved silversword plant at this horticulture show. So we're very excited about that. We helped the Maui Farmer's Union with a grant. -27- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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It also helped the Made in Maui County Festival; the preplanning that we're working on on that and the Made in Hawaii Festival. So these funds are just, you know, help whatever is happening in ag, you know, we deploy these funds where we think that it will have the most impact. So if there's--do you want me to just keep going?
CHAIR WHITE: Yes, please. You can just roll.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Just keep going. Just keep going.
CHAIR WHITE: Roll right in.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. The next one you have on the list is Maui County Farm Bureau. You did hear from their executive director this morning, Warren Watanabe. They have a very, very busy, aggressive program with all of the things that they do engage in. I think he gave you the overview of some of those. I also wanted to tell you that the Farm Bureau has just completed a CPA audit of their books and the audit is going to be reviewed next week by their Board of Directors. And at that time, we will receive a copy of their brand new audit. So that should. . . that will be coming 'cause I know that was one of the questions that was sent to us. In addition to the programs that Mr. Watanabe went over with you, the Farm Bureau also has commodity groups that they give funds to. The Maui Association of Landscape Professionals, the Maui Coffee Growers are under the Farm Bureau grant. The Maui Cattlemen's Association is under their grant. And so these commodity groups also take care of their specific areas and engage in the workshops and the programs that they need to also succeed. In addition to that, they participate.. .the Farm Bureau participates in at least.. .they've listed at least 12 events that they have gone out and done ad promotion so, and plus all the kids that they work with in Ag in the Classroom. And, you know, so the list is kind of endless. If you have any other questions I'll be happy to answer that.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Members, any questions on Agriculture Promotion or the Maui County Farm Bureau? Ms. Baisa.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Yes. Thank you very much, Chair. And thank you, Ms. Rasmussen, for being here this morning. We listened to Mr. Watanabe testify this morning, and I'm a little confused as to what he was suggesting. He mentioned that he wanted to see another $15,000 allocated to the 4-H Fair 'cause they already have 10 and he was suggesting 25,000. I wasn't sure if he was adding to his allocation or their allocation or he's moving money around or. I didn't quite understand what his proposal was.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. Okay. I'll clarify that because the 4-H Fair is also something that receives a grant from this Agriculture Promotion Fund from us. Okay. But in addition to that, the Farm Bureau has always paid for the tent for the 4-H animal... for the animals for the 4-H Fair. So that has come out of the Farm Bureau Grant. The 4-H has, you know, they are. . .their tent is becoming too small and so they're anticipating needing a bigger tent next year. And from what I understand the Farm Bureau has agreed to go ahead and give them -28- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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additional funds so that they can.. .but that will come out of the Farm Bureau Grant which is flat in our Budget. They're not.. .they're not getting an increase.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: So because I'm involved in this and it's a direct reason why I'm sitting in this wheelchair. I don't have to worry about adding the $15,000 to the 10 because it will be proviso'd in the Farm Bureau the additional money.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. So they.. . within the Farm Bureau Grant--we'll give them the regular amount from OED that we --
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Right.
MS. RASMUSSEN: --always do and within the Farm Bureau Grant they'll be giving them an increase from 10 to 25,000.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Okay. I just wanted to be sure. Thank you very much. That's a very important event Upcountry. It's part of who we are. Thank you.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah. And they're working very hard to make that, you know, revitalize that so.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, other questions on those two grants? Seeing none, please proceed.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Sorry wait. Chair? Sorry.
CHAIR WHITE: I'm sorry. Ms. Cochran.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: I'm kind of following along on this, too, April 10th1 handout, Chair, and it breaks down what you just discussed from --
MS. RASMUSSEN: Right.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: --Ms. Rasmussen, in regards to the Ag Promos, the request and what's been appropriated, and then under. . . and it sort of doesn't correlate. So maybe this isn't probably the best sheet to follow cause you got Barrio Fiesta under here at 5,000 and the Maui Association Landscape Professionals has its own line item and you just stated that it comes out of Maui County Farm Bureau. So I'm kind of wondering what is this list in relation to what you're explaining?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Right. Okay. So this is not.. .these are not line item grants under here. This is Agriculture Promotion Fund. Okay. So within that fund we deploy that to all kinds of programs. So the Maui Association of Landscape Professionals some time midyear decided -29- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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that they needed to bring back the certification training to this island that had not been offered on Maui for at least the last 3 to 4 years. So that all these landscape people had to go to Oahu to get this training. It's very expensive. So they were about $7,000 short being able to offer the certification. They came to our office after the first of the year and asked us to assist. We had the funds and so that's what it went to. It's all going for the training. By the way, the first training is totally filled up already. So they have a full class. And the companies also pay for this so it's not a free program but they were running short because they needed some very specific equipment that they had to do for the training so.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: So this entity got Maui County Farm Bureau monies plus this 7,000?
MS. RASMUSSEN: That's correct. They get.. .they get money every year from the Farm Bureau but this program was not part of their original budget and so they, they came and asked for this.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Okay. And then Barrio Fiesta is under Ag Promo, too?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: At 5,000?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Okay.
CHAIR WHITE: Is that it?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay?
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Rasmussen, last year the proviso for the $10,000 for the tents for the 4-H came out of the Ag Promotion $100,000. And it sounded like you were going to put a proviso into the Maui County Farm Bureau's monies for that purpose. Is that correct?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. Because again they get. . .the 4-H Upcountry Fair has gotten from both places. So they have always gotten money out of the Agriculture Promotion Fund and they also gotten money from the Farm Bureau. So their money is coming from two places. The Farm Bureau has stepped up and agreed to add the 15,000 in their budget. So we will continue giving them--well we don't know and they may come to us and ask for more, too, but right now we're planning to give them the normal that we give them which is the 10,000.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. So they're going to get the 10,000 without a proviso. And then the Farm Bureau will...
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MS. RASMUSSEN: Well, we always, I mean, I think you did proviso it but you don't.. .1 mean you don't have to, I mean, 'cause we do support the program so.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. I guess the question is did they get $10,000.. .did they get any more money last year than they did the prior year because of the proviso?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. Because prior to that we were giving them 5 and now.., and then you proviso'd 10. So it went from 5 to 10.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Ms. Baisa.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Chair, the reason why I'm involved in this thing is, of course, I was asked to provide some history, and management help to this group because they're reorganizing the leadership of this event. And so, I'm familiar pretty much of what they're saying and they're saying that it cost them about $50,000 to put on this event. And with the $10,000 from the grant subsidy that we give them, if the Farm Bureau gives them 25 so that gives them 35 and they, of course, try to raise money with entry fees, and fundraising, and whatever they have to do. They're willing to do their part but they did ask they needed more money. So I'm happy to see that the Farm Bureau contribution is being increased because that goes.. .that's a nice increase and with their 10 now they're short 15,000 to pretty much handle the fair. So that's a big help to them. So that's what I understand.
CHAIR WHITE: Right. Yeah. I just want to be sure that they're getting the 10 and the 25.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Correct. Me, too.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes, they will.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Thank you.
MS. RASMUSSEN: And I have spoken to this group and they have said that they need to get through this year. They need to get their, you know, get the finances from this fair, this fair coming up in June, and then they're going to sit down and reevaluate everything. But this. . . because everything they were saying was kind of projection. So we want to let them get through this fair and see where their finances lay but what I have told you is our commitment to them will be 10 and it will be 25 from the Farm Bureau.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Any other questions on Agriculture Promotion or the Farm Bureau? Seeing none, please proceed.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So, you heard this morning from the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens. I wanted just to make it clear that when you look at the Budget it looks like their getting a hefty increase but this is not the case because this is a rollover of the Water Department's
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funding that Water Department was giving to them. So this is actually a flat amount of money for them. It's just changing that we're rolling it into one grant. Is that correct?
MR. BAZ: Excuse me, Mr. Chair. Sorry. There is a slight increase of about $15,000 that Mayor put into this line item as well. There was $35,000 was appropriated in the Department of Water Supply's Budget and 103 in OED. So, it's a 15 percent increase.
CHAIR WHITE: Right.
MR. BAZ: Fifteen thousand dollar increase.
CHAIR WHITE: So the thing for the Members to realize is that this is General Fund money now rather than being part General Funded and part Water funded.
MR. BAZ: Yeah that's correct. That was a request of the Water Department.
CHAIR WHITE: Right.
MS. RASMUSSEN: The background on that was the Water Department originally gave them funding years ago to create xerilandscaping type of prototype. That program, you know, I mean it's not something they're necessarily actively doing although they would help people do that if they wanted to but the Water Department just didn't feel it was appropriate for them anymore. And now they'll only have to write one grant, you know, versus two grants so.
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Rasmussen do you know if they... my recollection is that the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens provides trees for planting.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. They have an Arbor Day event where they gave away a thousand trees, so yes.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay.
MS. RASMUSSEN: And they do this every year.
CHAIR WHITE: I'm just trying to see if there's some things that they that we can still justify using Water Funds rather than General Funds but.
COLTNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Yes. Ms. Cochran.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Ms. Rasmussen, Maui Nui Botanical they supply our Parks and Rec plants, our own County Departments? -32- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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MS. RASMUSSEN: I don't believe so. No. I don't believe so. The relationship they have to Parks and Rec is that they lie in a Parks and Rec zone. So the Parks and Rec manages that that land that they're on. Well, they manage the piece that they're on but it belongs to Parks and Rec. One of the things that we've asked this group to do multiple times is, you know, to try to look at private events to try to enhance their income and unfortunately they haven't been able to do that because the Parks Department hasn't been able to relinquish any of the parking that they need for these events. So they're not able to use War Memorial Parking. They're not able to use those venues when they want to have these events. So and they're not asking to do these constantly but it would be very helpful to them because they have request to have events in the botanical garden and it really would help augment their income. So we're trying to help them be more self-sufficient but this has become, you know, within the County we're blocking them basically from doing that.
CHAIR WHITE: With, you know, with the wonderful energy that Ms. Savage has brought to the Parks Department and your, your initially bringing her into the fold. Do you think you might be able to shake some parking loose?
MS. RASMUSSEN: They're kind of overwhelmed over there at Parks but yes I mean I'm always absolutely willing to, you know, to explore that and talk to her. Yeah.
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Cochran.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Mr. Couch had his hand up.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: No.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Okay. So how did the Hoomau occur a few weeks back? They had police presence at the crosswalk. We parked all over War Memorial Stadium with no issues. So that's an annual event that's huge.
MR. BAZ: Mr. Chair, I can explain that.
CHAIR WHITE: Go ahead, Mr. Baz.
MR. BAZ: The Hoomau concert is a County permit application that's presented to apply for the area that is the amphitheater below the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens. The Maui Nui Botanical Gardens does open their area and is very generous to Punana Leo in allowing them to have crafters and other things over there. But the permit that they're.. .that Punana Leo is applying for is for the amphitheater, which is a County facility which they can include the parking for.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: But, Chair, I was there and it wasn't.. .nothing was held down at the amphitheater. The stage was up along the roadside. I mean it was completely upon...
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MR. BAZ: I didn't go this year. Sorry.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: I've been there for the last several years and I don't recall it being down in that. And I've been to a Kathy Collins event down there I think for Manao Radio at the amphitheater but the last couple years it's been up above at their...
MR. BAZ: I organized it for many years 'cause my kids went through there and I was the logistics coordinator applying for that permit. But I don't know the current status of it and we do have the representative from Maui Nui Botanical Gardens here and she might be able to provide a little bit more light on that if the Committee would like her to respond.
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Sherrill, would you mind coming down? Thank you.
MS. SHERRILL: Yes. Thank you so much. I just want to make a few corrections here. So Hoomau, yes, was held at Maui Nui Botanical Gardens. This is an outside event. The one outside event that we have been able to negotiate with Parks to be allowed at Maui Nui Botanical Gardens. They do use the War Memorial parking and they apply for a permit. We also have been allowed to use War Memorial parking by Parks for a couple of large annual events including the Arbor Day event, you know, and also our Ola Ka Honua or Earth Day event that happens every year. The negotiations with Parks that we are trying to do right now because parking is so limited there are many events that we cannot have because we're competing for that War Memorial parking event. So what we're trying to do is hold more small events. Small events of 100 people or less that will only be using the on street parking and therefore wont affect the War Memorial parking and compete with, you know, the State baseball tournaments and other things that use that parking. We have a lot of requests for things like weddings, and birthday parties, and meetings, and things like that. Unfortunately our lease stipulates that every event that we have including the small events be in line with our mission. So that's what we've been trying to negotiate with Parks lately. We could use your support in moving that through. I haven't.. .Brianne is very new and I'm sure she would be willing to meet with us but I haven't had a meeting with her yet. I haven't been able to schedule one. I know she's very busy.
CHAIR WHITE: Just a question and you may not have been involved at the time but when the... my recollection was when it was the Maui Zoo didn't the County operate it?
MS. SHERRILL: Yes. Yes.
CHAIR WHITE: And if they had a function they could use the parking.
MS. SHERRILL: Absolutely. I'm assuming. I certainly wasn't there.
CHAIR WHITE: That's something Mr. Guzman and Ms. Rasmussen can work on a little bit. It seems a little inconsistent. We've got plenty of parking and I can understand them wanting
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you to schedule things around their big events but to just have a blanket no seems unreasonable.
MS. SHERRILL: Right. No. I'm trying.. .the correction I'm trying to make is that we are not getting a blanket no from the Parks Department. That's, that's not what we're saying. They go on a case-by-case basis for each large event and every year if we are going to have a new event it's just uncertain whether or not we'll be able to have that new event because there is so much competition for the War Memorial parking. The one thing that. . . when Director Glenn Correa was there, the last negotiation we had was that there was a no to the small events that we were requesting that were not in line with our mission that were 100 people or less. So we still think that might be a viable way to bring in some funding.
CHAIR WHITE: There may need to be a lease modification then. Mr. Guzman's area. Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you for coming up here. Have you discussed with them.. .they've got that kind of nursery/baseyard right next door to you that looks like there's plenty of room for parking for quite a bit of cars. Is there a way you guys can work something out with that?
MS. SHERRILL: That's.. .yeah that would be phenomenal.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Have you asked them? I'm sure, you know, they probably won't offer that. You'd probably have to ask them to see if... 'cause it looks like there's room for quite a few cars in there. So and that's part of Parks. I think it was part of the zoo at the time, too.
MS. SHERRILL: I've never seen that used for parking but that's a good idea.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: There's empty space.
CHAIR WHITE: You're talking about baseyard area.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Yeah the baseyard area right next door to them. Between them and the YMCA.
MS. SHERRILL: Right. Yeah that's something if and when I can meet with them I'd be happy to bring that up.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, other questions for Ms. Sherrill? Seeing none, thank you very much for helping us get a better understanding.
MS. SHERRILL: Thank you. - 35 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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CHAIR WHITE: Any further questions on the Maui Nui Botanical? Okay. Please proceed.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So moving on to the Molokai Livestock Cooperative. So you can see that the funding is actually they we're asking for less funding this year. This is just about right with where he, you know, falls. He almost makes enough money to be self-sustaining but not quite but I think he's got a pretty good prognosis over there with adding deer and, you know, the pig slaughtering. I think what's going to end up happening if the deer becomes more prolific that he's going to need additional freezer space or refrigeration space. That, you know, we'll let them come, you know, they need to develop that but he's actually doing pretty well on a shoestring budget. So we're pretty happy about that.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Mr. Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Couch. Go ahead.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay. You know we talked with him while we were at the Molokai Budget Hearing and he mentioned that they're looking for some more funds for fencing but they didn't ask for it at the hearing. Have they approached you for that? He did say.. .mention the refrigeration but also if they could get enough fencing to...
MS. RASMUSSEN: This was Jack or is this Desmond?
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Desmond.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: It might have been Jack.
MS. RASMUSSEN: That's actually a different project.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: No, it wasn't Jack.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: It wasn't Jack? Sorry.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: He does not speak on behalf of the livestock.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay.
MS. RASMUSSEN: That was a different project but that's, yeah, I'm aware of that project as well.
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MS. RASMUSSEN: But he does run the deer through the slaughterhouse.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Yes he does. Okay. Thanks.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah.
CHAIR WHITE: Any further questions? Ms. Rasmussen, I know most of these grants are funded based on reimbursables. Are all of them or are some of them still non-reimbursable?
MS. RASMUSSEN: No, pretty much all of our grants are--Tina, can you think of any that aren't? No, they're all reimbursable.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. I just wanted to make that clear to the Committee. Thank you. And let's move on to UH College of Tropical Ag.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So, the short name is CTAHR you might know them as. So this is our County Extension Office and it's fairly standard across the United States that some locales especially those that have a lot of agriculture do help their extension offices provide a little additional funding for very specific things that the community needs. And so, these funds, this particular past year went to about seven different projects. One of them was to develop a protea plant for the potted market. And then another one was meeting the challenges of commercial vegetable producers by helping them with their insect pest control, also teaching them how to become more efficient and productive on their farming. And another one was classes for the landscape and golf course industry. Another one on Molokai was the production of fruit and vegetable crops and helping the farmers there. They worked on building soil health, reducing dependence on imported fertilizer, and teaching farmers more about fertilization, and then they focused on some youth focused agriculture science classes. So it's kind of a myriad of things and this takes in most of their extension agents and they all get a very small little amount of money to do that.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions on the CTAHR Grant? I think we're all pretty familiar with that.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Guzman.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Yes. May I ask, Ms. Rasmussen, if we could get a allocation breakdown of the different, I guess, programs which in each specific amounts. I'd just like to see the, you know, that's quite, you know, 75,000, 1 would like to see where the...
MS. RASMUSSEN: See how they.. .how that breaks down?
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COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Yes. Yes.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Sure. Yeah.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah. They came and provided testimony last year that basically didn't specifically identify the amounts necessary but they went through the projects that Ms. Rasmussen had just mentioned. Do you have a list of the projects that they are intending to use the funds for in the upcoming year? Are there any new challenges?
MS. RASMUSSEN: We have, no, because we typically let.. .want them to get. . . find out what the funding is before they give us their new proposal but this is what was.. .what we used the money for last year.
CHAIR WHITE: Of course we'd like to find out what they're going to use it for before we give the money.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah. No. I will, absolutely will call them up immediately and before you're done with your Budget deliberations we'll get it in your hands what they're proposing for this next year. Yeah. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Rasmussen, for the other programs like the Maui County Farm Bureau and others, do you have a breakdown of, not specific numbers, but a breakdown of what the funds go towards because I think it will be very helpful to the Members? In the past, we've gotten a list of the uses of the funds.
MS. RASMUSSEN: In your OM-4, our response to you, you had asked for the Farm Bureau's proposed 2015 Budget and that you do have that but I want to make it clear that that did not include the different commodity groups so. Because the commodity groups hadn't had a chance to meet about the 2015 Budget yet but you do have the basic budget outline in your OM-4 response that we sent to you which you should have gotten like yesterday maybe. There is a budget from the Maui County Farm Bureau in that.
MR. BAZ: We transmitted it yesterday afternoon so.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Well, we'll have that. I think it's important for us to at least get a sense of where the monies were spent not prospectively but for the past year between the commodity groups if you can.. .if you remember those numbers off the top of your head.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah, we do have the Farm Bureau Budget for 2014 in front of us. Is that what you're asking? BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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CHAIR WHITE: Yeah, if you could just let us know how the funds were used by commodity group. I think, you know, it's important for the Committee to understand...
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So the commodities, yeah, so for the 2014 Budget the Farm Bureau used for the commodities, the Maui Coffee Growers got 33,000, the Maui Cattlemen got--I got the total here--Maui Cattlemen got 8,378 and the Maui Association of Landscape Professionals got 8,700. So that would have been about close to 50,000 of their budget went to the commodity groups.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Thank you. Okay. Moving on to the Business Library Grants.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So, this grant goes specifically for basically two things. One is to produce the Maui County Data Book, which they publish and also is online on our website, on the County website as well as other websites around the State. And then they also provide research for businesses that, you know, they want to know about demographics, they want to know about, you know, what the.. .you know, different things when they're trying to make a decision on where to locate their business or if to locate here or there. Anything they want to know this office provides research for businesses, and they do this for free because Maui County gives them this grant to do that. And we've actually also used their services to do research for us. So, I do.. .they did a total of 487 research requests last year with the funds and then they also produced that Data Book.
CHAIR WHITE: Questions, Members? East Maui Cultural/Economic Development.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So, we have this in as a flat amount for 100,000. This fund goes to Councilman Bob Carroll's district. We this last year gave the funds to the Hana Limu Festival, to Mahele Farms, to the Taro Festival, building.. .to Hana Arts Society, to the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers, and the big project that was funded this year was a pretty critical one for this area. Hana found itself with no certified daycare center at all. The certification got pulled from the organization that had it and so Maui Family Support Services has stepped up. They have been able to get several other grants around the State and they are going to go out there and open a infant and toddler daycare center in Hana. And so we used--and with Councilman Carroll's blessing for this project--we used a good chunk of the funds for that.
MR. BAZ: Mr. Chair, may I add?
CHAIR WHITE: Yes, please.
MR. BAZ: There was a proviso put on by the Council last year for $20,000 for the Hana Art Center which was granted to them. In our preparation of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget we removed those provisos just as a typical practice. After submission of the Budget, I did have a subsequent discussion with Member Carroll who is not here; he had really requested that that
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$20,000 for Hana Arts be an additional amount to the $100,000 rather than just removing the proviso like I did. But Ijust wanted to share his request since he's not here.
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Rasmussen, can you give us the--you don't need to give it to us now—but could you provide staff with a list of the amounts that have been committed to.. .have we used up the entire fund this year?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. Yes we did. And we did.. .this was one of the first responses OM-2 maybe. So you do have the list with our OM-2 response.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Mr. Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you. Mr. Baz, at least in this spreadsheet we're working off of it says that the Council approved budget for last year was 100,000 but here in the details you say it's 80,000 with a continuation because of the 20. Is that the proviso we put in there'?
MR. BAZ: Yes. Because the Council initiated a proviso during the deliberations last year, we create a separate account for that --
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay.
MR. BAZ: --proviso.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: So that's how it got put down...
MR. BAZ: So it got put down. So it was 80,000 -
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: --to the next line.
MR. BAZ: --for the main pot and then 20,000 for Hana Arts. So we just put that 20 back in there that's why you see it.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Gotcha. Okay. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Any other questions on East Maui? Seeing none, Friends of Old Maui High School.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. This request is ... this year we are showing, you know, an $18,200 increase and that is primarily just because they have. . . it takes that much to keep this campus going. And they have really expended all their reserves and so we're just honoring their -40- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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request. They do keep this campus 23 acres free of crime, arson, vandalism, and they provide programs and research opportunities to their visitors and alumni. They have maintained an extensive archive of all of the old Maui High School memorabilia. And they continue to build community support for the preservation of this property. They have been working very closely with us on an REP that OED has written for the repurposing of this campus. The RFP is currently with the Purchasing Office. It is waiting for Corp. Counsel review on the mechanism that is going to work to repurpose this. And of course any repurposing would come before the full Council for consideration. So that's kind of where we're at with that. But until then this group continues to take care of this property.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions? Any questions on the increase? Mr. Guzman.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Chair, is there any additional plans to.. .aside from maintaining the Old Maui High School, is there any other plans in the future to?
MS. RASMUSSEN: There is and that's what the REP is about.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Okay.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So we're, like I said, we're just waiting for it to get, come out of the Purchasing Office.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Okay.
MS. RASMUSSEN: It has been written for pretty much a wide open.. .as long as it fits with the executive order that the State had given the property to the County in. It has to fit within certain parameters. I don't have it in front of me but I think it was agriculture, education, and social services. It has to kind of fit in that arena but it can be for profit or nonprofit. So we're kind of doing a wide-open RFP for people to just bring us proposals on how they would repurpose and how they would redesign and reuse the buildings or some of 'em do have to be torn down. I mean there's some buildings that are kind of beyond repair but.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Very good. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Other questions, Members? Seeing none, let's move on to Ka Ipu Kukui Fellows Leadership Program.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So, the Ka Ipu Kukui Fellow Leadership Program is.. .1 think most of you are familiar with it. It's basically their mission is to train tomorrow's leaders for Maui County, and to provide them a network that they can rely on going forward. A very excellent program. We have. ..I've seen a lot of really excellent people come out of this program and we do support it. I think it's very valuable for our community.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Members, any questions or comments? -41 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Mr. Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Yes, Ms. Baisa.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: No question but I'd like to add my support and my verification that this program is outstanding. And I'm just so excited as I go in the community and see where the Fellows are. They're doing really well. Thank you. We have some here.
CHAIR WHITE: We're surrounded by them.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah. It is very impressive. And it's impressive that they're building their network, you know, and they're using their network, you know, as they go out in all their different jobs and all kinds of things that they're doing in the community.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Our community is going to benefit and not just for now but for many, many years to come. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: And there's some significant similarities between the kinds of things that we heard about this morning from the college, and from the AOHT, and through MEDB STEM Programs. This is similar in that it's taking people that are little bit older and giving them a very broad exposure to how all the pieces of the economy and pieces of the environment in Maui work. And so they really go through a program that is very enlightening and I think most of us would have liked to have done it when we were their age but all the folks that are involved are very fortunate to have that opportunity. And of course we benefit by them having a broader perspective on the workings of Maui. Any further questions or comments on Ka Ipu Kukui? Okay. Moving to Lanai Economic Development and Cultural Programs.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So we did just recently give.., we have worked very hard to work with that community and get the grant funding out this year. We gave it to the Lanai Hookupu Hula No Lanai Cultural Festival that is a big hula festival. The Lanai Changes which is a organization on Lanai that is working on community development and the issues within the community. We gave a group called Kumpang Lanai who is going to build a serenity garden at the hospital. And we funded the Pineapple Festival and then we also funded the Small Business Revitalization Grant in Lanai for $10,000 of which Pulama Lanai came to the table and matched our 10,000 with 20,000 additional dollars. So we were able to give out. . . and actually we're going to be going out with a second round of Small Business Revitalization Grants for Lanai because of that Pulama match so.
CHAIR WHITE: Very good. Questions, Members? Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: So I'm just trying to read it in the details that I guess it says the budget transferred from the object code then 10,000 proposed funding is adequate.
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MS. RASMUSSEN: Well, last year they had 110,000 appropriated but we're really only, I mean, we only found --
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: So it should be a hundred...
MS. RASMUSSEN: --projects for 100 basically.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay.
MR. BAZ: Yeah. I'm sure that's a typo.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thanks.
MR. BAZ: And again last year there was a proviso put on by Council for that 50,000 for Lanai Changes so we put it back into the fund.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Any other questions, Members? Okay. We're moving on to Ma Ka Hana Ka Ike Building Program.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So, I know that you've met Mr. Rick Ortiz. He runs this program out in Hana. This program serves approximately 50 youths out in Hana. Teaches them a trade, a craft. They learn how to build. His program with all of the students that worked in the program they put in a total of 17,000 hours in their after school training programs. During this project period, 93 percent of the youths surveyed said I feel more confident and prepared for life; 97 percent said I believe in my ability to learn, and 97 percent said I think about my future now. So I think that this program that I've seen firsthand and I know that many of you have as well is just an exceptional example of what happens when people learn to work and they learn a craft, and they feel good about themselves and they can actually contribute to their community. And one of the things they do is they do go help the kupuna in Hana do repairs, small repairs on their houses and so forth. So, I can't say enough good things about this. They are asking for a small increase for this next year just to help them just deal with the extra costs that have come along, of course, for every program but from 82.000 to 90,000.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions? Ms. Baisa.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: I'm not sure what the increase is for. I'm sure that they can always use more money. But, you know, I've had the opportunity to see the work that these people do and it's really, really impressive. You know they have elderly people in Hana I think who have houses that are probably really, really old and they can't afford to do things like ramps and installing accessible, you know, alterations to their homes. And Mr. Ortiz and his group have been absolutely wonderful in helping. And I just think that learning the carpentry skills, learning the team building, and all of that stuff is really critical and it's a wonderful example of how a small community can mentor its children into careers. Really because the skills
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they learn become life skills. So I am really excited and I don't have any problem with the little increase. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Rasmussen, does the $90,000 include materials or is that?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. Part of their funding does purchase materials for their program.
CHAIR WHITE: Do you know roughly what the split is?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Their material supply from the County went.. .45,000 of their program went to materials and supplies last year. And they were able to leverage that into 79,000 of other sources of funding for their materials and supplies. So, yeah, actually a good chunk of their grant does go to materials and supplies.
CHAIR WHITE: Do you have copies of the various budgets? It looks like it.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah, we brought most of them with us. Sure.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. 'Cause we received.. .we all received copies of them back in 2012. Last year we didn't get them. And if the, Members, I think it's probably okay if you just ask them for more detailed questions when you want to. I don't think it's necessary for us to distribute all the budgets at this point but I just wanted you to be sure that they've got the numbers if you need them.
MS. RASMUSSEN: And I'll just mention on this one, none of the ... none of the County funds go to personnel for that program. It all goes to materials, tools, student stipends, shipping, insurance.
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah. It's a pretty amazing program. Okay. Moving along to...
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Chair? Sorry.
CHAIR WHITE: Sorry. Ms. Cochran.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: And so this is strictly funding for their building program because they're also the Mahele Farms?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. And then Mahele Farms received a small $5,000 grant from us as a separate, and that's a totally separate grant program for the Mahele Farm.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: It's under.. .the recipient is Ma Ka Hana Ka Ike though.
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MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah. They manage the Mahele Farm grant but it's not.. .it's a separate program out there in the Hana community. They're the fiscal agent for the grant but it is a separate program.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: And so then this other sheet that shows the salary of ED's per year and having this entity on their 84,000 is not. . . well they're like, kind of like a Tr-Isle? Like a pass through grant, fiscal grant sponsor?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. And that's why the Council had asked us for all the ED salaries but it's important for you to know that the County funds that go to that program do not pay the salary so.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Okay. Okay. Good. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Members, it's a little after 12 so we will take our lunch break and reconvene at 1:30, and with that we are in recess. . (gavel).
RECESS: 12:03 p.m. RECONVENE: 1:32 p.m.
CHAIR WHITE: .. .(gavel)... The Budget and Finance Committee will reconvene to continue our discussion about or regarding the OED Grants. And, Members, we will need to take a recess at 2 o'clock so that Chair Baisa and myself can go down and have a conference call regarding the TAT cap removal. So please bear with us. We feel that it shouldn't take more than a half hour but we are dealing with other politicians. With that, Ms. Rasmussen, please proceed.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay, So where we left off we were just about to start on Maui Economic Development Boards Program Grant, which is at 520,000. So as you heard, you heard from both testifiers this morning from MEDB of course you know the great work they do. We partner with them very often on all kinds of things. And recently, they were our co-presenter with our National Energy Conference that we had and we work great with that team over there, and they do great work. We can completely support the work they do. And within this 520,000 we have asked MEDB to do the CEDS work that the County is needing to embark on for the Economic Development Strategy for our community. And that is something that's required every I believe--I don't know S years--every 5 years and it's something that the County needs to have on records because it's something that Federal grants look at. They need to have that data prepared and so this is something we've asked them to do within their grant. They estimate that it will cost about $20,000 to do that process so.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions? Mr. Couch.
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COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Ms. Rasmussen. It's my understanding that they needed 20,000 more on top of what they've got now to do this because their grant that they have now they have budgeted out.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. And I mean we.. .they did explain that to us but, you know, considering the constraints that we thought, you know, we really are working under we just asked them to include it in their grant.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay. All right. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah, the Chair is... one of the Chair's concerns as we go through these economic development grants is that there's not much expansion in any of the economic development things and yet we've got about $18 million of salary and wage increases. So, for us to be comfortable pulling $18 million out of the rest of the economy, it's the Chair's feeling that we need to have some added focus to the economic development issues or we're not going to grow this place quickly enough to generate the taxes necessary to make those increases sustainable. So as we do our budgets we need to keep that in mind because as I've said before if you look at all of the increases that have been negotiated and arbitrated by 2017 the amount that we will pay in wages and salaries with no increased staff will be in the fourth year, just the increases, will equal all the taxes that we are currently generating from all businesses and all residents in all of Kahului, all of Wailuku, and all of my district combined. So obviously, between now and then we're not building another Kahului and another Wailuku and another Haiku, Paia, Makawao but we're going to have to find money. And it's all going to come out of our own pockets. So, the Chair is very concerned about that number and so that's why I've been trying to urge the Members to take a very, very hard look at all these numbers. But economic development is not an area we can, I believe, we can mess with because that is what helps generate the stability in the jobs market that allows people to pay the taxes we're shortly going to be demanding from them if we make no changes in the Budget.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah. Ms. Crivello.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: May I ask when you mentioned about the County needing MEDB support or assistance I guess to qualify us for CEDS as far as Federal grants. So they're adjusting with this flat budget and we don't find it necessary to contribute the additional 20 that is the cost to that?
MS. RASMUSSEN: I'm going to defer to our Budget Chair for a second but I want to make it clear that we don't... if you want to increase the MEDB budget to give them an additional 20,000 to do the CEDS project rather than taking it out of their current grant we have no objection to that. You know, we were.. .we did our budget the way we did it but you certainly have that
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prerogative and we would have no objection to that. I'd like to defer to our Budget Chair 'cause he's gone through the CEDS process before so.
MR. BAZ: Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Member Crivello.
CHAIR WHITE: Go ahead. I thought she said she was deferring to the Budget Chair.
MS. RASMUSSEN: I'm sorry. Sorry.
CHAIR WHITE: Just kidding.
MR. BAZ: The CEDS, C E D S stands for Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and this is put out by the Economic Development Administration, Federal Government. And basically what is it is a strategy for us to develop public and private partnerships in areas where that we feel that we can like our Budget Chair described grow the economy. The items in here are sometimes specific, sometimes broad but very much focused on what it takes to get our community going in certain areas and for eligibility of grants that the Economic Development Administration gives out the project should be listed in there. And so that's where it's important that as they go through the process that, you know, that we identify certain areas where it's important that we want to focus any kind of grant monies that do become available from EDA to these certain areas. And having. . . MEDB did manage it the last time that we went through this process a few years ago and did a great job at that. So I know they'll do another great job. They benefit from it. I sat on it because of MEO and MEO could benefit from it as well as the County itself. A lot of other larger organizations that do economic development stuff including Molokai, Lanai could benefit as well.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Any other questions on that item? Okay. Let's move on to the Maui High School portion of the MEDB Grant.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. This is a special grant that has MEDB is just basically the fiscal manager for. It runs the Maui High Automotive Program and it essentially pays for the instructor there, and a few supplies, and the program director. So the whole entire thing primarily is for instruction so that the program can be offered. And I know that at one time this was the only program in the County. I'm not sure is it still the only, the only automotive? There is another one. Okay. All right.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions? I think this is one of those areas where the County has led the State back to where they should have been all along. I wont say any more as tempting as it might be. Any other questions or comments on this item? Seeing none, let's move to.. .1 keep.. .why don't you just go to the next one. I wont...
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MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah. So it's the Maui Economic Opportunity Business Development Center. We have, as you know, you heard from them also this morning so I won't go into too much detail but they do offer the Core Four Classes and they do microloans for businesses. This program has been just extraordinarily successful. You've heard from even people today testify that they've gone through the program. MEO Business Development is also one of OED's partners. They've been partnering with us on many of our initiatives and we utilize their services all the time. We're completely supportive of this program. I did want to say that after we had to already submit our Budget they did come to us with a request for an increase in funding for 26,000 additional dollars, and part of that was to bring the Molokai person up to a fulltime status. Unfortunately, our Budget was already finished when we got this request so it is not reflected in our Budget but you certainly have the option to include that if you wish to do so.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Members, questions? Okay. Next item.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So this is the Molokai Economic Development Fund, which is one of the regional funds we have that is specifically designed of course to, we work on the island of Molokai. So we gave out multiple grants for programs and events over there. One was their Happy Holidays in Molokai, which is a Christmas event that they have in their downtown area. We have funded a project called the Molokai Business Directory. There is no comprehensive directory any longer for businesses over there so this group is going to be putting that together. It will be online and I think it's going to be something very valuable for them. Then the Molokai Makahiki we funded that. Molokai Farm Bureau and 4-H Livestock Fair, the Molokai Canoe Festivals Event is a special community event that brings vendors in and it provides entertainment and all kinds of things that go that is sandwiched between two of their major canoe races. So this was designed to give the community an opportunity to access all of the visitors that are coming in for those canoe races and hopefully spur some economic development on with the vendors providing food, and crafts, and entertainment, and all of those things. So this is the first time we've tried this. It will be happening. It hasn't happened yet. And then we have given a grant out to refurbish and reactivate the Molokai Made in Hawaii Brand. Another one to the Ka Hula Piko Hoolaulea, which will be happening later in the year. And then the Made in Hawaii Festival, we took several companies from Molokai to that festival. And then Kuhao Business Center has been providing some workshops where they have brought speakers in from the outside and to travel to do specialty workshops. And the last one is the Molokai Business Conference that's going to happen in May. So that was kind of the extent of our grants that we gave out for the community.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. And the increase is (inaudible)
MS. RASMUSSEN: The increase is because--it is--and we've really based this on the need that we've seen. We were not able to fund all the projects that came to us from Molokai this year. We had to make some, you know, kind of hard choices. And I feel that there's been this new--and I think it's through the work of both OED and MEO over there, and MEDB BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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also does work on Molokai. But I feel there's this new spirit of entrepreneurism that's going on on that island and I feel that they are, they are just excited and they have the willingness and they want to bring themselves out of the very difficult financial condition that their families are in. And so I think that the spirit is alive and we want to foster that and we want to see it grow, and I really did this because I saw that there was a need that needed to be met.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Further questions? Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Excuse me are these all the things that went to that fund because I only see 96,000? I did a quick calculation and it looks like there's only 96,000 there.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: I think the 4-H was increased to 19.
CHAIR WHITE: That's for this fiscal year so it's 4,000 short of the full 100,000 adopted. You're looking at the 120,000, which is their request for this upcoming fiscal year.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Understood so it's 4,000 short. I was just curious what happened.
MS. RASMUSSEN: You know within that is, you know, sometimes there's not every single penny but I mean it will be and we still have three months to go --
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay.
MS. RASMUSSEN: --in the fiscal year.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay. Okay. I was just curious.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Those were just the major projects that we funded.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Any other questions? Ms. Crivello.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Not so much questions. I want to comment. You know I think that the first rounds of some of these projects when they come in they don't quite understand the grant application process, the disbursement of funds, and what the cost reimbursement is. I'd like to thank the Department because they take their whole crew there, meet with the interested applicants and those who may consider, and they've involved Kuhao Center to check off. And I think the work that Tina Silva also works very hard with our applicants and then they're getting it and what it involves, and the receipts and the substantial evidence of documents they realize the value of that. And I think, too, what comes with all this is their outcome and the results. So, say like the Makahiki it's a one-week event and, you know, you get Coast Guard families I mean you get people that return to visit. So they've even come up with within the merchants or the town or the rent-a-cars, and the airlines, you know, how successful was this event for you on this day and this day. And that's all due to the kind of BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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request that's holding the project people accountable, you know, and not just saying here's a grant. You know and I appreciate that because they too take the personal ownership in this process. And I just want to add that this may look like just events or what have you but it's really community based. It's community driven and it's integrating our community's visions and values to see how we can earn a few dollars to inoculate something for a day or two anyway. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you. Any other questions, Members? Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you. And having been over there at a couple of these events it's really good to see. You get the whole community out there and Ms. Crivello does a good job of rounding them up. So the one person that's at the Business Center is that that is the person that wants to do the. . . go from part time to fuiltime?
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: No.
MS. RASMUSSEN: No. This is the MEO, the MEO ... the person that teaches the Core Four Classes over there. That's different than our.. .our Business Center person is fulitime. The Kuhao Business Center is fulitime.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Right.
MS. RASMUSSEN: The person that is the part time is on the MEO staff--
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay.
MS. RASMUSSEN: --who teaches the Core Four Classes and she also teaches high school financial literacy.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Any further questions on this item? Seeing none, let's move to Small Business Promotion.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So as you see we are asking for an increase in this particular line item and that is because of the success that we had taking the initiative that we had to take businesses to the Made in Hawaii Festival. We had 36 businesses apply but we only had the funding to take 18 but they were so successful they ended up getting.. .they ended up having over $100,000 in revenue from that particular day that they were over--actually, multiple days that they were over there. They ended up coming back with 95 leads for their companies and they ended up securing 20 different distributor or wholesale buyers just from doing the Made in Hawaii Festival for that four-day period. Two of those companies are now distributing to Japan and Canada and it was because of this event and the exposure they got. So from the success of that and we did poll all of those companies as to how successful - 50 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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they were that's where the impetus came to start the first ever Made in Maui County Festival. And we have already started this initiative. We have booked the MACC. It will be on 7th November and 81h and of course information will be rolling out all throughout the Spring and Summer. We have.. .we need these funds in order to produce that program. Clearly we'll have vendor income. We will be charging a small fee at the door and we will be seeking sponsorships. So clearly it will take a lot more than 25,000 to do this event but we feel that we can manage it with the leveraging with the other revenue and our sponsors. The rest of the fund primarily went to the Maui Friday Town Parties. It went to the Makawao group to do their party. It went to the Lahaina to do their party and it paid for the marketing contract for all four parties. And then it gave us some seed money to do this Made in Maui County Festival, which we've already kicked off. So that's the basic of it.
CHAIR WHITE: Questions? Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Now, I noticed that you have the Makawao Town Party and the Second Friday, and then the marketing. It's my understanding you also had 20-something that went to the Kihei Town Party. Is that for that.. .marketing?
MS. RASMUSSEN: We do and that's in a different fund. The Economic Initiative Fund.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Which we'll get to.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Is there.. . should we just put 'em all into one big Town Party thing so it's not all over the place or would that help you? Would that hurt you? Does it matter?
MS. RASMUSSEN: You know I mean we're committed to that and we have such great feedback from the towns and, in fact, I just met with them recently. We're committed to it. We'll make it.. .we'll manage it however way it happens. The Small Business Fund wasn't big enough to also give Kihei's grant so we gave Kihei their grant out of a different fund.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: But I understand that I was just wondering if it would be easier for you if we put it all in one chunk or it doesn't matter. I guess Tina would be the one to answer that one. It's up to you.
MS. RASMUSSEN: We'll still need to give out, you know, individual grants to the, you know, if you wanted to create a line item for the Maui Friday Town Parties I don't know if that's where you're going but...
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Potentially or something like that, whatever as part of the small business.
MS. RASMUSSEN: We might... -51 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Just so that whatever is cleanest I guess.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah. For us it's, you know, we're still giving out the individual grants so for us it doesn't necessarily matter. Yeah.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay. That's fine.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Any further questions on that item? Okay. Next item.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. What's next? Okay. So this is the University of Hawaii Maui College. As you see there's a line item that they were receiving for the Nursing and Dental Assistant Program. So that program has now. . .they still are doing that program but there were able to move from their rented space back on to the college campus. So they are not asking for the funding for the Dental Program any longer. They did however come with this new proposal and that is for the Emerging Health Careers. And basically what this new proposal is asking for is because of the changes in Medicaid and the changes in the healthcare laws that have recently come about they are moving away from actual RNs and more highly skilled nursing and they're moving away to certifications for health workers that are not going to be requiring the degree of education that the RNs are. And this is taking place because so much of the elderly care is now being done in homes and in home settings like elderly care homes not the more institutional places. And this is happening today, which is why you find Hale Makua has a bunch of empty beds. You know so it's kind of a drastic shift but they're finding they need to offer these certification programs and so they've come to us to try to kick this off within the college because they are unable to get the instructor, instructors paid for by the, you know, the broader college. So they're asking us to help them kick off the program and if it's successful and they get the people in it, which they definitely believe they will then they can make a case to the University of Hawaii as to why it should be a program that they should roll into their main budget. So that's the crux of it. I don't see anyone here from the University today but.
CHAIR WHITE: Questions, Members? Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: I'll be channeling my next-door neighbor here from Lanai.
CHAIR WHITE: It's fairly easy.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Yeah, I know. Why are we, you know, why are we doing something that the State.. .this is a State function? We've been helping 'em out. You know we understood the nursing thing and that's fine. They did what they said they were going to do and now we're coming in to, okay, well, we know we can get money from the County so let's try this new program.
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CHAIR WHITE: Well, I have a similar concern about this because last year we were told this is our last year.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: This is the last time. Right.
CHAIR WHITE: And, Ms. Rasmussen, do you know what the total is of the dollars that we're using to supplement the budget for the college?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Well, we have this particular grant, the CTAHR grant, and then there's one other that we pay for an aquaculture extension agent. So that's the three that we have with the college. So all total that's about.. .about 370,000.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. With that, I'm sorry but we have to recess. Ms. Baisa and I will back as quickly as we can. We will recess at the call of the Chair hopefully be back by 2:30...
MS. BOUTHILLIER: State the reconvening time.
CHAIR WHITE: I'm not going to state a time. Sorry, recess. .. .(gavel)...
RECESS: 2:00 p.m. RECONVENE: 2:44 p.m.
CHAIR WHITE: .. .( gavel). . . The Budget and Finance Committee will reconvene so that we can continue reviewing the OED grants. And, Ms. Rasmussen, if you'd like to move onto the--actually, I'm not sure whether we're done.
MS. RASMUSSEN: We are just getting ready to start Cultural and Arts Program, which is a line item program.
CHAIR WHITE: Well, before we...
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Page, page?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Five.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTOR[NO: Page 5?
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: He's going off this...
MS. RASMUSSEN: Oh, I'm sorry.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTOR[NO: Okay. So I gotta find some other paper now.
CHAIR WHITE: Michele? Sorry. Michele will come. - 53 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Alright. Sorry, everybody. Sorry, Chair, I wasn't here so.
CHAIR WHITE: No, not a problem. Welcome back. Oh, by the way, I'd like to recognize the presence of Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Thank you, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Joining us from Honolulu.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay.
CHAIR WHITE: I'm not sure that we were completely done with comments on the Maui College Grant. Any additional comments? Any more questions on the UH Maui College Grant? Okay. The next. . . we move onto the next page.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So the Cultural and Arts Program was a program that was given to us this last year that came out of Housing and Human Concerns. They felt that the grants that fell into this program were more suited to OED and we agreed. So it was just a direct transfer over. And we funded out of that, for this last year, the West Maui Youth Theatre. We did a security system for the Maui Historical Society, which was a proviso in your last budget. We funded African Americans on Maui, a program they call Building Cultural Bridges. And we did a Paia Town Strategic Plan that specifically covered their arts and cultural plan for the town. And another program called Chance to Dance that one came over from Housing and Human Concerns and then we funded the upcoming Front Street Jazz and Blues Walk. So that's the basic of that.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Any questions, Members, on the Cultural and Arts Grant? Seeing none, let's move to the next item.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So moving on to Festivals of Aloha--no, I'm sorry--Maui High School Marching Band. This is a special one-time only request that has come because this band was invited to be in the Rose Parade coming up on New Year's Day of 2015. So it's an extraordinary amount of money that they have to raise and so I think this was, you know, our way of helping them out a bit with that but it is just a one time.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you. The question is you said it was an extraordinary amount that they have to raise. Do you know how much that is?
MR. BAZ: No, we don't know exactly how much that is. Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Go ahead. - 54- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Ask Michele. Michele would know the amount.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Half a million I think. It's my understanding it's half million.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Michele would know the amount.
MR. BAZ: Mayor did want to put in, you know, some support for this 'cause he thought it was very, very important historic opportunity for us to represent Maui. The Rose Parade does have a significant amount of viewers and so, you know, promoting Maui in any way we can is a good idea. We did request that, you know, we're going to put in 25 or, you know, whatever number comes that they match it as well. I don't know exactly how much they have to raise so.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Mr. Chair, with your permission could we ask one of the mothers of one of the members of the band? I think they would have a pretty good idea, Mr. Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: I'd be willing to ask a mother of two of the members.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Okay. Well, either one will give you the answer to that question, please.
MS. YOSHIMURA: Mr. Chair, they're trying to raise $450,000 to get the band to Pasadena.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: And that's--I'm sorry can we use her as a resource for a second?
CHAIR WHITE: Well, I know Mr. Victorino thinks moving a baseball team cost a lot of money.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Yeah.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: But when you're moving.. .Mr. Chair, that's 150 members --
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: A hundred and fifty people.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: --if I'm not mistaken.
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah. It's huge.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Yeah, it's a huge group now. This is not just moving a baseball team of 25 players and coaches. No this is humungous.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: And, Mr. Chair, the reason I ask is it, first of all, gets it out in the public that--and not that it hasn't been out in the public before--but anybody else who may - 55 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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not have known that it's out there because we do need that and I'm fully supportive of this. Congratulations to the team and, you know, depending on what happens with the TAT I'm seriously considering adding more if can 'cause they need it. This is, you know, maybe through HTA or Maui Visitors Bureau because this is something that will say Maui 'cause it's an all Maui team, Maui High School. So, you know, this is... you can't ask for all the advertising this is going to bring.
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah. It will be great exposure in addition to being a great experience for the kids.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Mr. Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: You know and I may be wrong in some of my statistics but I was told that this is viewed by 75 million people on that particular day. There's over 400- to 500,000 people that sit on the side and watch this parade go by. I mean this is bigger than Maui put together then, then some. And so, for Maui High School, you know, my colleague wants to add more money and, you know, we'll take it out of his personal pay also, you know, 'cause I think that's where it should start. Put your mouth where your money is. All right. So, with that in mind, Mr. Chair, I can support this and hopefully even get more if we can find it because they have some big fundraisers coming up a dinner and some other things that all of us need to help and support 'cause this is Maui's time to shine in a world stage. This is a world stage.
CHAIR WHITE: You know you're so frisky this afternoon that you must have had a great time on Oahu.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Mr. Chair, I had a great time at the Legislature I mean for once I came back feeling good about what I had gotten done. And we'll talk about that later but let's stick with the business at hand.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Thank you.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: No it's...
CHAIR WHITE: Oh, I'm sorry. Mr. Guzman.
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COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Yeah. I'd like to take Mr. Couch's offer on that, too. Since Maui High is in Kahului that is my district so I would 100 percent support this measure as well as if Mr. Couch's amenable to losing a little bit money on his Kihei gym then we'll gladly take it for the Maui High Band. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Well, I'm sure that Mr. Couch has quite a few constituents --
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: I was just going to mention that, Mr. Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: --that are going...
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: That on behalf of the 800 students from Kihei that go to Maui High School.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Now, for the general public to know I was just joking.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Will this meeting come back to order, please. Any further questions? Ms. Baisa.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Chair, if you get my very ... what is this ... undecorous [sic]. ..what happened to decorum? We're just having a lot of fun. It's about time we laugh. You know if you don't laugh during Budget you're going to cry because this is tough work. But I do want to say something about this appropriation, as a alumna of Maui High of which I'm very proud to be a Saber, of course, I'm in support of this appropriation. And I'm, you know, I understand the importance of it and the possible benefits that we're going to accrue from sending a little school from Hawaii to the Rose Parade. I mean it's a really, really big deal. But I also want to say that I'm really, really proud of the parents and the supporters. I know that they're working really, really hard and they're going to have a jillion fundraisers. We did this last year to send my grandson to Carnegie Hall for St. Anthony and it was really, really tough. And, you know, trying to raise almost a half a million dollars is not easy. So, I'm very happy to support this cause I think the rewards will be good. And I hope those kids are going in aloha shirts and playing Hawaiian music.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Not at that time of the year you want to be in aloha shirts. It's going to be...
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Well, they better get ready for some I mean to be Hawaiian 'cause we really want them recognized as being Hawaiian kids. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: If there are no further questions we'll move onto the next item Festivals of Aloha.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Festivals of Aloha so these are for a series of festivals that took place on all parts of the island. I believe that we make them spread it around equally so that they cover each island and I believe some in Hana as well. And as you heard from Yuki Lei this - 57 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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morning I mean there's a full poster full of all of their events. Too numerous to mention here but of course we support this program.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions about Festivals of Aloha? Seeing none, move on to Film Industry Promotion.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So, this is one of those that we have not too many in our Budget that we've asked for increased funding for but we've asked for a pretty significant increase in funding. Now, I want to remind you that 25,000 of this does go to the Maui Film Festival as a grant and that is.. .so that will come out of this. But we are in a place right now where we have a film commissioner on board who is extraordinarily talented. He's got extraordinary connections. We have a film studio. We have a tax credit. And as he has found out in his.. .the many trips that actually he's already taken this year, he's been just running all over the place, he's finding out that not too many people know about our tax credit here. And believe it or not, in the Film Industry, and the people that can make the decisions in the film industry. So both of us feel and our entire Department feels that this is the time for Maui to start getting projects in here. And we feel it's doable but it's going to come with some expense because we're going to have to be at these trade shows, we're going to have to put him in front of these people in their offices, and he's going to leverage the relationships that he has created over his 17 years in the industry. And we have a fantastic opportunity here ahead of us to actually make some really good progress. So I would really urge you to support--he is here if you'd like to talk to Mr. Bennett. And we just would ask you to let us prove to you that we can actually have a fulltime very active film industry on this island.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORThO: Mr. Chair, would it be. . .that be appropriate if you will allow it?
CHAIR WHITE: I think we have time if you'd like him to come down.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORfNO: Yes, please.
CHAIR WHITE: There he is. If you could please state your name for the record.
MR. BENNETT: Aloha. Tracy Bennett, Maui County Film Commissioner.
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORfNO: Well, you know, we heard some exciting news so would you like to elaborate and tell us? We heard a guarantee. Now that's dangerous when you got a guarantee. So you're going to have to tell us what that guarantee amounts to. Please.
MR. BENNETT: Well, it's as Teena said, you know, it's an exciting time right now because I've been able to educate the studio people and the people who make the decisions on our tax incentive, and what we have to offer here in Maui County as far as infrastructure and crew, - 58- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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and whatnot. So, as I've mentioned, you know, Ethyrea is getting ready to come here. Hopefully end of May they open offices that will employ lots of people, several million dollars in Maui spend, over 60, for about a six month period. There's several other movies that are kind of in the progress right now. One of which I told you about was the Ann Margaret picture it's called 'Madam, the Grass is High' and it's based on a true story about some seniors who vacation in Hawaii and try and find love again. And they've added some more cast Bernadette Peters and Bette Midler. So that's looking like a potential Fall start. And they will occupy a hotel and film at a hotel for about 30 days. They have some plans to come and visit to scout some more locations the first week of May. Actually I'm in Los 7th 8th Angeles 'til May and they come here the to scout some locations.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Well that's fabulous news and remember what we had mentioned to you we have a leading man in this Chamber and he's sitting on top there. I think he would really look good with Ann Margaret but that's all I got to say about that. Just strictly acting. I will talk to your wife about the acting part.
CHAIR WHITE: You know, Mr. Victorino, you probably would have been better off missing your flight.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTOR[NO: I knew that was coming. Thank you, Chair.
MR. BENNETT: I just will need headshots and resumes from you all.
CHAIR WHITE: I'll send you Mr. V's.
MR. BENNETT: Yes. But we have also.. .we have Warner Brothers that was here. A producer and a director that were here last week and they have a three film slate that they would like to do here as well. So it's a matter of finances for them and the bottom line also and they were not aware that our 25 percent tax incentive is across the board and does not have a cap for actors. It's pretty plain and simple. And when you look at the other states and their tax incentives, there's a laundry list of requirements and Hawaii does not have that so we're very lucky.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Fantastic. Thank you. Great job.
MR. BENNETT: Thank you.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Any other questions? Mr. Guzman.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Thank you, Chair. Yeah, Mr. Bennett, I know that you just came back from the mainland and I guess you attended a couple of conferences and what did you absorb from that or what did you gain from that trip?
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MR. BENNETT: Well, the two conferences I went to the first was the Bloomberg International Film and Television Finance Summit and there were many studio heads and heads of finance departments at the movie studios as well as independent producers. And it was an educational time for me to learn about what other states offer in their tax incentives and then also educate other people that were there about what our tax incentive really entails. And also about what our infrastructure is and I got an opportunity to share some beautiful photos of Maui, and what we have to offer, and our crew base, and our talent base and whatnot. The second show is the Association of Film Commissioners International Locations Expo and that was at the Century... Century City Hyatt Hotel and there was 46 states there represented as well as 23 countries. And it's your Film Commission and your State's opportunity to shine. And pretty much every movie studio in town, their executives, their finance departments, their location managers, their producers they all come and they come to your booth they say hi introduce themselves. They want to know about your tax incentive. And I was amazed at how many people are not aware of exactly what our tax incentive is. So the opportunity to get to speak to them all was great. The thing that I was not pleased with was our booth as the State of Hawaii. And with all due respect to other neighbor island film commissioners and our State film commissioner, we were very underwhelming. If I can say it bluntly we were kind of Pick 'n Save next to Neiman Marcus and Tiffany and Company. Our booth, in the past, has won awards for being the best booth at this show, and their signage and Hawaiiana, and lights, and signs, and a monitor playing beautiful video footage of the islands and there was nothing this year but a backdrop of Oahu with no lights and a card table with our brochures. So, you know, I kind of felt like that we need to represent ourselves more fairly and give ourselves due diligence. And in displaying my opinion of our booth to our State commissioner, she gave me the opportunity to take control of the booth next year. So I'm very excited about that because it really is our opportunity to shine for Maui County and the State of Hawaii in general but it's really our chance to show what we have because we're further ahead than the neighbor islands.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: And, Chair, I would agree with Mr. Bennett's observation. We have to strike when the iron is hot and this is an industry that has come to Maui. We have our studio here. We've got a great commissioner that's willing to hustle. And so, we need to empower that that component of economic development to go out there and hustle and be competitive versus Oahu and the other neighbor islands. We can be number one and we will be number one if we empower that that component to have the access to the funds. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Well, not only is it important to get the initial dollars in here with the, with the movie spend but as we all know it becomes a very, you know, big marketing tool as well when the, when the show hits the theatres and all the reruns and so on. And there's a striking similarity between this and what happens out on the road. As I mentioned, I don't believe you.. . you weren't here the other day but I shared with them my staff came back from the--I'm not going to get this right--but it was the New York.. .basically a New York travel show, and the entire Hawaii contingent was occupying an area half the size of Puerto Rico. And the only ones there other than Maui Visitors Bureau was Polynesian Cultural Center and BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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one other, one other activity but it just goes to show that, you know, we don't. . . we don't have the presence that we think we have out there. And when you're going with something that's half the size and then if you look at the marketing budget for Puerto Rico, we have 21,000--well, I shared with them that back when we formed the HTA part of the basis of justification was that the State of Hawaii was being outspent by Puerto Rico by about three times. Back then I thought Puerto Rico had about the same number of hotel rooms but they actually have fewer hotel rooms than Maui. And so to put it in perspective they've got about 16,000 hotel rooms, their marketing budget for last year is $47 million. Just their media and advertising buy is 27 or $28 million. So, you know, we're very fortunate because we've got a fabulous product. We don't have to spend as much to market but we have to be in the same places that they are to the degree necessary to get the attention and keep the attention. And Mexico is coming on strong. There have been all the challenges with the safety in Mexico. So, anyway, it's just there's lots more we can and should do if we're going to be able to grow the economy enough to grow our tax base, you know. Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Mr. Bennett, for being here. You mentioned, you know, there was a card table and not much there. Are you to the point now where you think you're going to be able to get people to go and make a bigger presence? And if so, have you discussed with the Visitors Bureau, they know how to do it, they might be able to give you some pointers and whatnot because they do a job as Mr. White just said. So have you considered at least teaming up with them to find out, you know, what's the best way to present?
MR. BENNETT: I have. Yes, actually, I have a meeting in few weeks with Ms. Vend. And, you know, and seeing the videos that were playing at this show, I know that we have probably better than what most places have. So, I'm very excited for that opportunity.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Good because that that also again promotes Maui as Chair White said. The other question I have is you had these people here that were doing the movies, did they get a chance to see what facilities they have and were they interested in the studios and whatnot?
MR. BENNETT: Yes, absolutely. I was able to take most of these guys around the island for the different various locations that they're looking for and we'd make a pit stop at Maui Film Studios. And Socrates and Branscombe and Ray, the guys that are there most of the time, let us in and look around. And there's actually equipment in there now. All the sound proofing blankets are hung on the walls and it's really coming along. And it's, you know, it's amazing how big it is and how useful it's going to be and people just aren't aware of that. And it's great to be able to refresh everyone's knowledge of what Maui really has.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Good. The fact that they aren't aware of it makes your job a little bit harder because that's your job is to make it aware of it now. And I don't doubt that you'll be out there and getting Maui Film on radar.
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MR. BENNETT: Yes, for sure.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Any other questions for Mr. Bennett? Seeing none, thank you very much for your time.
MR. BENNETT: Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: And we'll move on to Ka 'Ohana 0 Kalaupapa.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So this is also one of those I guess one-time requests and it's coming from this group that wants to put a memorial up on Kalaupapa that basically honors all of the people who have passed through there. And I have not been able to see their presentation firsthand but our Budget Director has. And so, I think the Mayor felt compelled that this is a place that is in our County and that it, it deserves to be properly treated with this memorial, and the visitors that will, of course, do come there now and will come there in the future.
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Baz.
MR. BAZ: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah. I did meet with DeGray Vanderbilt and also discussed this project with Valerie Martin. They are working on this with a number of other individuals to create a memorial for the people. . . over 8,000 individuals that were relocated, forcibly relocated to Kalaupapa. And it's something that, yes, the Mayor feels like that they deserve the respect. This is only a very, very small portion of the financing that they need. They will have Federal monies for this project and I believe State monies as well for this project but this is the County's one time portion.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Mr. Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Yeah. Thank you. And while I was in Oahu, this subject matter did come up with a couple of our Representatives and they are looking to put money towards this. They all, too, agree that it is a sad chapter in our history but it is a part of our history. And so to make sure that these 8.000 people plus are not forgotten cause there's so many of them that their gravestones were washed away or lost or just eroded through the years that... and some that didn't even get gravestones. Some were just (inaudible).., you know buried. And so, you know, this is so important to get done. And there are some private. . . and they are looking at some private funding also. They're going to some foundations to try to see if they can also be a part of. And I know the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men's organization is also getting involved with this because two of our saints, two of the three saints are directly from Kalaupapa. Saint Damien and Saint Marianne. So it's so important as far as the historic and as well as never forgetting those who were forcibly -62- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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sent there. So, I can support this. I know this is something that some people have come to me and said we shouldn't be doing but you know what this is part of our history and let us never forget. But I got to make one correction, Teena. This is a separate County. It's not part of--
MS. RASMUSSEN: Actually...
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: --it's part of our County setup but it's not part of our County. But that's okay and I still think it's part of us.
MS. RASMUSSEN: And I've been there and I did not know that.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Yes.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So thank you.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: That's okay. I mean it happens, you know. And so thank you very much, Chair. And I appreciate what the Mayor and the rest of the people who work very diligently to put this on what they're doing to make this happen. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Just to add. I believe after one of our hearings I was speaking to either DeGray or one of the other people that have been involved in this. And Mr. Baz you may have heard the same number but to put it in perspective they're asking for 100,000 and I believe they have already spent in the neighborhood of 400,000 with.. .through all of the research and the travel and all the various expenses that they have incurred to date. Do you know whether that's in the neighborhood, Mr. Baz?
MR. BAZ: That sounds about accurate. And they have done a significant amount of fundraising and will continue. And of course the Father Damien connection, excuse me, Saint Damien connection there is very important. And I cant recollect the construction cost amount but it was in the millions.
CHAIR WHITE: Is there any kind of design or a map showing where this is going to take place?
MR. BAZ: They have a website with all of the detail that you can take a look at. That is kalaupapaohana.org, k a 1 a u p a p a o h a n a.org and all of the details of the memorial and what they're doing, the plan are all on there.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Great. Thank you. Members, questions? We'll go to the island representative first. Ms. Crivello.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Okay. Well, I want to thank the Mayor, first of all, to bring this before us for consideration. And, you know, I think if we would try and journey back to what our ancestors went through and whether or not you have the Hawaiian koko or the koko - 63 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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in there, you'll find you have family. You will find there is a connection of people that were just taken away from their family and had to make... survive into Kalaupapa. So whether or not it's not part of Maui County, it is part of our State and I'm happy to hear that the State is... our State Government is looking into support. So, I think like Chair Baisa always says Maui is ahead of the game, you know, you put in the.. .you plant the seed and then everything else grows throughout the rest of the State and for the world. So, I humbly ask for your support. If you have any questions you can go to the website or contact Val Monson or DeGray Vanderbilt who have just put their whole energies into making this happen for our Kalaupapa Ohana. All of us we do have a connection deep. If you have a chance journey down to Kalaupapa.
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah. And Valerie has done an immense amount of research. Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I, too, fully support this one and again if we could find a way to give more that would be great, too, but you know how that works. The question I would have I would actually need Mr. Ueoka for so hopefully he's listening and coming on up. But because it is...
CHAIR WHITE: I'm pushing the button as you speak.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Because it is not part of Maui County we're okay with giving funds to an outside entity. I think we are I'm not sure.
CHAIR WHITE: It's not an outside entity. I wouldn't think but go ahead, Mr. Baz.
MR. BAZ: Mr. Chair, thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: You're our sit in Corp. Counsel for the day.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Put your sign up.
MR. BAZ: I actually preempted. I asked him that question specifically because I had a feeling that that might come up and he did confirm that this is a valid grant that we can give out as a County.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Excellent. That makes me sleep better.
CHAIR WHITE: We wouldn't want you to lose sleep over anything. Members, any other questions? Ms. Baisa.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Yeah, I'd like to weigh in on this. I'm really excited. I think it's one of the most exciting things I've heard in a really long time. You know all of us who are born and raised here in Hawaii, we all have heard about the Kalaupapa story ever since we were little kids. And in my case, I came from a Catholic family so, you know, we were very close -64- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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to Father Damien and we're so excited to see them. . . both he and Mother Marianne become saints. And I can tell you about the research it was really interesting 'cause I was talking to Val Monson, one of the nights we were at some Budget meeting. And she came to ask me, my middle name is Coelho, and she came to ask me she said she had been looking at the grave markers and that she had seen a person by the name of Coelho. And she said, you know, I'm going to do some research to find out if by any chance that's your relative and that would mean a lot to us because we don't know any of our family that were sent but it doesn't mean it didn't happen. It was a long time ago. And I would suspect that's true of many of our Hawaii families and like Stacy said not everybody was Hawaiian it could be anybody. So I'm excited. I think it's a wonderful project and I'm sure that it will be deserving of lots of different kinds of funding. It sounds like maybe historic preservation money or maybe Hawaiian money I mean who knows. I think there's all kinds of possibilities. So anyway proud to be a part of it.
CHAIR WHITE: Any further questions? Okay. Let's move on.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Chair, sorry.
CHAIR WHITE: I'm sorry. Ms. Cochran.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Not question but through marriage the oldest living patient is my Uncle John Arruda. He lives in Kapaa but has a home down there. And, you know, to speak to the last living patients currently today and to hopefully see this come to fruition within their lifetime is going to be so touching and a moving moment. And I'm so happy that this County and all of us are standing behind this and supporting DeGray and Val for all their hard work. And Sol, I know Sol has been a big part of this, too- -Kahoohalahala--and just all the people who pour their heart and soul. And it's a wonderful place and I highly recommend going there 'cause it's.. .you'll find that it's very special and moving place to be. So thanks for, Mayor, again for submitting this and definitely it's a good one to support. Thank you, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Any further questions? Okay. Mr. Ueoka is here if you would like ask him the question. I think we've already gotten the answer, Mr. Ueoka, but thank you for being Johnny on the spot or Jeffrey on the spot. Okay. Let's move on to Lahaina Boat Days.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Lahaina Boat Day. So, as you know this is a special event that Lahaina Town puts on for every cruise ship that comes into Lahaina Harbor. This last year they met 68 cruise ships providing the entertainment right there at the dock when the people get off and it's just a lovely group of kupuna that go out and play their music and dance, and it's actually such a cool thing to see. We're asking if you would please consider giving them this as a line item this year. It is the same amount that they received but it was embedded in the economic initiatives last year. And so we're just...
CHAIR WHITE: Right. So, it's new only in that it's moved -- - 65 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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MS. RASMUSSEN: Right. It's not new.
CHAIR WHITE: --from economic initiatives.
MS. RASMUSSEN: They've been getting the funding but it was in another area and so we're just asking if you would consider giving them the line item.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: I know what you're going to say. Ms. Baisa.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: I'm glad you're beginning to read minds 'cause in your position you have to. But, you know, as we've been out in the community we had a request made to us and we heard it not only from the seniors but also from people who love them and appreciate what they do about whether or not there was a way to help these guys get some new uniforms or maybe--I don't know--attire that they wear when they do this work. And I'm wondering if this $25,000 includes that or should we be looking at doing something?
CHAIR WHITE: Well, 25,000 buys a lot of uniforms.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: I don't know what they use the 25,000 for.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Actually, what they do is I believe that they pay these entertainers, you know, a little stipend. So they don't get very much 'cause they're meeting 68 cruise ships.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: Right.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So, it really kind of.. . it goes to them. It goes to the group that does this. And so I would think that that would assist them. Actually, you know what, there is.. .I'm just looking at last year's.. .no, it was 25,000, yes, so this is a flat but it does go to the entertainers. So, I would think if they wanted to get, you know, new uniforms the 25,000 should be adequate I would think.
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: But, you know, I don't know what they do with it but I certainly would like to make sure that if they're going to represent us we don't want to have these faded seniors. I mean, you know, they are part of our tourist welcoming and it would be nice, you know, if they had some slick stuff to wear while they do this. But maybe we can research that between now and the time we're done. Thank you.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yeah, having come off the ferry when they were here on a Boat Day it's really cool to see them there and to have our visitors see that. But this brings up another issue that I think I remember discussing for a long time when I was in the Administration and I don't remember how it got resolved or what it was. So, I'd like to see if we can put an item in Mr. Guzman's Committee regarding this about potentially somehow taking a look at a fee for passengers coming off so that they can help offset this charge. I can't remember what we came up with but, you know, other places.. . other and I don't know if in the State of Hawaii but other places charge you a $2 or $5 fee for just coming off...
CHAIR WHITE: I know there's been committees looking at that --
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Right. And I can't remember what the status is.
CHAIR WHITE: --and my recollection is that Ms. Vencl was probably on the committee but my recollection is that it's a Harbors fee. It goes to Harbors. But we could ask Harbors to pay for the
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Right. Or see if there's.. .if it can be just a quick item or maybe it's a discussion that takes a little bit in Mr. Guzman's Committee.
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Vend, do you have anything you could illuminate us on? Yes. I'm sorry. You can't hear me back there?
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: No.
CHAIR WHITE: I guess I have to move the microphone a little closer.
MS. VENCL: Aloha, Mr. Chairman and Committee members. You are correct. It has been reviewed and yes there is a passenger fee of sort and it does go to Harbors.. .State.
CHAIR WHITE: Do you have a recollection of what that fee is per passenger?
MS. VENCL: No, I don't not at all. No, I'm sorry.
CHAIR WHITE: My recollection is between 4 and $5.
MS. VENCL: I want to say in that range but I wouldn't want to be quoted. I'm not positive.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. And they'll probably say that that's to cover all of their expenses.
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COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: To cover them, right. If it's possible I'd like to see if we can bring that up or if you'd like I can put a PAF on that if you'd like. Either way.
CHAIR WHITE: Let's do a PAF initially.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay.
CHAIR WHITE: Because if it's not under the purview, wait, Harbors is not really under the purview of any of our committees.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Well, this is economic development and tourism so. Okay. Thanks.
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah, that's a good idea. Okay. Any other questions on Boat Days? Let's move on to Hana Canoe Club.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. This is just a single event that has a small grant. They basically put on the Hana Regatta and it just is, you know, basic expenses to cover that canoe race.
CHAIR WHITE: Any questions, Members?
COUNCILMEMBER VICTOR1NO: Just one quick comment.
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTOR1NO: I know Mr. Carroll was very much in support of this and the community. And when we've gone out there in the past and we're going out Tuesday and I believe this is one of them they always bring up every year.
CHAIR WHITE: Right.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTOR1NO: So I think we can support this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Cochran.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Thank you, Chair. And, yeah, I'm all supportive of canoe clubs but what's the history behind.. .1 mean 'cause there's other canoe clubs obviously all through this County, and why in particular Hana?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Well, actually we fund almost every canoe race that there is. We've got Molokai races we fund. We fund I mean they're all sprinkled throughout our budget but this one, this particular one has a line item so. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Okay. So they're all funded via County but this is just singled out written in black and white. Okay. Just that's fine.
CHAIR WHITE: We'll send a request so they just give us a --
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Breakdown.
CHAIR WHITE: --list of the canoe events that they cover and to what degree.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Okay. Thank you, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Any other questions? Okay. Let's move to Maui Arts and Cultural Center.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So the Maui Arts and Cultural Center this is their regular program grant with a flat amount this year. This is the grant I mean the MACC of course is we feel is a big economic driver for our County. They had over 235,000 residents and visitors attend performances and activities at the MACC this last year. They brought in 6,372 artists and 365 individual events. That's almost, you know, one event per day, and it was manned by 5,381 community volunteers. So I think we all know we love our MACC and we love what they do there and so we hope that you'll support this again.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, any questions? The Chair would just like to point out that on Oahu, the Blaisdell Center and all the... all the facilities there are funded by the county at a cost of about $6 million a year. So the MACC comes to us for relatively small amounts of money for the kind of quality and the, you know, the precision of events and so forth that they do. Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Just real quickly, Mr. Chair. You and I both know and many in this room know that the MACC bar none is the best-equipped venue for many year. I mean we've had Elton John. We've had Santana. I mean we have big names that come in. They'll come to Maui and they'll go to Honolulu. They'll come to Maui; they'll go to Honolulu. They don't go to Honolulu come to Maui. It's the opposite way. And so I want to point that that's just the big picture. The little picture, or the smallermalle' picture, is all the students that Jake Shimabukuro and Kealii Reichel, and all the other local entertainers, that come in work with our youths for various programs for free. On top of everything else they go out to Hana. They send groups out to Molokai and Lanai to also, you know, entertain and to share and teach. So the MACC is just not a center for people to have entertainment given. It is a center for which culture and the arts is spread out throughout. Pomaikai is their school and does a lot of their teaching based upon music and arts in the classroom. So, Mr. Chair, it's something that we can very proud of and I'm thankful that Mr. Yokouchi had that big dream and today that dream has come alive and helping many, many of us. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you. Other comments or questions, Members? Okay. Go down next. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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MS. RASMUSSEN: So the next line is also for the Maui Arts and Cultural Center and this is for a Capital Improvement Project that they want to do. And this is to create basically it's to create a seamless connection to the existing 250 parking stalls that are directly behind the MACC at Keopuolani Park. And by doing this the MACC is going to be increasing. . .they'll be able to access that and create an additional 59 parking spaces and then people can access that parking lot through some stairs that are there. But as you know event parking at the MACC is I mean it's almost always full that lot is and of course everybody parks over at the college but when the college is in session then that lot many times is full. So I think having this extra--and this is a first phase of a two-phase project. They're asking for 500,000 this year and I believe next year their intent is to ask for 250,000 so that's that.
CHAIR WHITE: Questions, Members? Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. The question I have is have they worked it out with the Parks Department 'cause that's a well-used parking lot when there's functions down at the park?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes but they're anticipating mostly in the evening and that is not used in the evening. It's almost always empty in the evening and most of the MACC events are in the evening so.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Right. But have they worked it out with the Parks Department? 'Cause we can't just say yeah go ahead and ... (inaudible)...
MS. RASMUSSEN: I believe so because they have a very detailed map here and unfortunately Mr. Vento is on the mainland right now so he's not here today but I think they.. .1 know they must have been working with them from the get-go.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: And I believe the 59 stalls are on their part of the property.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah, the 59 stalls are on their side.
CHAIR WHITE: But it does opens up to the...
MS. RASMUSSEN: And it just opens up that driveway in a better way to access it. So it's only going to be a case if there was parking there, you know, that there would be access so.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: And real quickly.
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Victorino.
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COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Yes, they have discussed this with the Parks and then Parks has agreed to they utilizing that parking, that lower parking lot --
MS. RASMUSSEN: Right.
COLJNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: --which is not used very often at night.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. Yes.
COLJNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: You know that's absolutely correct. If you go there almost any evening unless there's a soccer tournament or something like that that lower lot is never used 'cause that's the only people that really use that at night. During the day you're right, you know, so and this will also give accessibility both ways. They'll be able to exit and go out and go out to Kanaloa and not have such a bottleneck on Wahineponi or Wahinepio I should say, excuse me, Wahinepio. So, yes, this is a win-win for everybody in that respect. Thank you, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Moving on to Maui Community Theatre.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Maui Community Theatre this is a flat ask this year of 51,500. As you know this group is charged with keeping our historically registered building the lao Theatre in good condition. This last year with this fund they were able to purchase a grand new drape curtain for the theatre. They purchased new seats and they purchased a new lighting board. And of course they always hold their volunteer annual clean-up day and I'm actually quite amazed that they could keep that building together with such a small amount of money from the County of Maui. So, I would say they do an incredible job of being self-sufficient up there.
CHAIR WHITE: Then I would suggest that this option is significantly less expensive than if we were to take it over ourselves.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Absolutely. I can't imagine we could do it for the little amount of money that they do.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions or comments? Seeing none, move on to Sister City Foundation.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So, this again is same amount that they got last year. I do believe that you all received something recently.. .well we answered your questions about the Sister Cities. We had given you a list of the all the visits and all of the activity, and a report from them as to what they intend to do and what they are doing. They have spent about two-thirds and they have, you know, basically three months left of activities. So they're pretty on target. Actually, they have longer than that because I think their grant wasn't executed until midyear. So they probably have about six months left on this grant so.
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CHAIR WHITE: Questions, Members?
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Mr. Chair, real quickly.
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Ms. Rasmussen, is the Mayor not on a visitation right now in Korea?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes he is. Yes he is.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: So that's part of this Action Jackson kind of situation. He's doing it and, you know, that was, that was something also down in Honolulu that I was told by some of the people that Maui gets.. .Maui's Mayor and some of the Administration people are very active getting out to the East, you know, Japan, Korea, Philippines. They're very impressed with that also, Chair, so I wanted to share that. Today was a very enlightening day 'cause, you know, somehow we were like on the pedestal but I don't know what we did to get there but we were there. I don't know what to tell you but we were there.
CHAIR WHITE: Well, quite often in this square building showing up is 90 percent of the game and that's, you know, to the credit of our Chair Gladys Balsa pulling. . .pulling the other counties together and at the same time ensuring that she's providing the funds for all of us to go down and, you know, when it's necessary so. Thank you for that. And any further questions on the Sister Cities Foundation? And then the two.. .the next two items I was a little puzzled because there's something in 2011 and then it says new.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Those are.. .those are old and there's nothing being proposed even though it says new.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. So we move on--actually before we move to Aquaculture/Marine Resources Development--Staff looked up the cruise ship charge and it's $6 per passenger effective July 1, 2013 so that's the current. It all goes to DOT Harbors. Okay, the next one.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So we're on to Aquaculture/Marine Resources. This entire amount $40,000 goes to a aquaculture extension agent that works with people in this County that want to do aquaponics aquaculture projects basically on their land that they, you know, can become sustainable as a family. So that's kind of what he's focusing on. I do know that he's also involved in a bivalve project, which is the production of oysters. And there's actually some pretty significant excitement coming out in that research that they are going to work on a pilot project on Molokai in one of their fishpond areas with the oysters. So it's, you know, there's a lot of activity going on. He's very up on that and he just makes himself available to anybody, you know, who wants to. I'm determined to get you guys through this list before 4:30 so but I'll, you know, answer any other questions.
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COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Who's the individual, Chair?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Robert Howerton is his name. Dr. Robert Howerton.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: And do you know what fishpond on Molokai? ... (Inaudible)
MS. RASMUSSEN: No I don't. I don't know which one they're looking at.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Okay. Thank you.
MS. RASMUSSEN: But we could find out.
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Moving on to Environmental Protection.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So the Environmental Protection Grants as you know is a large sum of money that I work, in our office, I work with Rob Parsons who's our Environmental Coordinator and he is here today. We have given out of course the bulk of the funds goes to Maui Invasive Species Committee and that's approximately $835,000. Other projects that we funded are the Fleming Arboretum for 25,000; the Hoaloha Ama, which is a dunes restoration program on the south side, and the Maui Nui Marine Council for their work on the coral reefs and the work they do. The Hawaii Green Growth Sustainability Measures, which is a Statewide effort that we have been invited to join into where they are trying to get standards by which each county could be measured in their progress towards sustainability. They're trying to find ways to quantify it so that we can see as a State how we are stacking up and if we're making progress or if we're, you know, falling back. So that's the kind of impetus for this so we have given them a small amount $15,000 which is what they've asked the counties to come in for to help them support their project. I do believe they also have State funding. And then the Maui Axis Deer Working Group we've funded them, and the Kahoolawe Reserve Commission for their work out there to create photovoltaic systems, and then the Maui Nui Seabirds Outreach and Research. The last one was the Huliau Independent Environmental Filmmakers. So we did. . .1 think we did some great awards for these projects. These people are very dedicated. They have great boards and I think that Maui is far and away ahead of the curve within the State on how we tackle our environmental issues particularly in the invasive species area.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions? Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I want to thank my colleagues for putting the proviso in last year for the 65,000 for the Hoaloha Ama South Maui volunteers. And if you haven't had a chance to go down to Kihei they are doing some really awesome work on dune restorations and also dune walkover facilities at the beach parks. And if we would even consider doing it at our parks it would be years and years and years away - 73 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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because of so many of the other things. So they've taken it upon themselves to get the proper permitting, and put those ADA ramps walkovers over the dunes. So, if you get a chance to go to Kamaole JIl, II, and I there's one at each of the parks. Take a look at 'em and I would certainly like to ask to add that proviso in again when we get to that point but take a look at the work they've done it's wonderful for the small amount they've gotten.
CHAIR WHITE: Any other questions? Ms. Cochran.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Thank you, Chair. And so these are what's going to be awarded again is what you folks are looking to award the same amount to the same entities?
MS. RASMUSSEN: No. No definitely not. Each of these groups has to bring a grant to us. We generally start out by meeting with all the groups talk to them about what their projects are, what they are looking to be funded for. But they.. .you know, and then we're going to look at their performance measures from their previous, you know, from their final reports. So, no, there's not a guarantee but we, we just really look at the projects individually and see. And also, you know, look at our County and see what needs to be funded and where the problems are and so forth. MISC is particularly good about, you know, being able to take this money and move it where it needs to be. So this last incident of little fire ants that popped up, they were able to attack that issue immediately because we have given them the flexibility within their grant to do that. You know we don't say you must spend this much on fire ants, you must spend this much on coqui frog, you must spend this, you know, because we don't know what the problems are going to be that pop up throughout the year. But within the scope of their grant it fits because it's all about invasive species so.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Right. Thank you. And it's 'cause they're a big chunk as you say and so the rest can you give an idea of who possibly I mean were they one time asked or ...(inaudible)...?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Well, I'm sure that all of these will come back. I am not sure about Hawaii Green Growth Sustainability Measures, you know, if they'll be back for another ask. Kahoolawe Reserve Commission I'm not sure because they now have their second round to get their photovoltaic project done. So they may come back with a different project. But typically we don't... until we know how much this, you know, the environmental funds are we don't go out and seek their grant proposals until we know what the actual funding is. But these are our most substantial environmental groups on the island so I would expect that most of them will come back in for funding but it could be for a different project.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: And in particular my question is about the Axis Deer.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. What are they doing?
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Yeah.
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MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. You know I'm going to ask Rob to come down because he does sit on that committee or that working group. I want to let you know that OED has recently sent a letter to this group telling them that this is the last year that we'll be funding them to study the deer problem. That we want action and we want them to talk about how we're going to work on knocking the numbers of the deer down within our County. And so we're kind of. . . we did this to kind of spur them to a more action oriented plan and that is absolutely what we're going to be looking for this next year. So but beyond that I'll let Rob talk to you.
CHAIR WHITE: Aloha, Rob.
MR. PARSONS: Chair, aloha. Rob Parsons, County Environmental Coordinator. Can you repeat the question you were asking about the Axis Deer Working Group is that?
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Right. Just what they've been doing basically?
MR. PARSONS: Okay. The Maui Axis Deer Working Group is a broad group of stakeholders of I'd say 12 to 15 people have been showing up on about a monthly or every other month basis since 2011, which is when I stepped in with that group. Kenneth Yamamura, my colleague and our Ag Specialist, has also sat through the meetings. We initially came to the Council and asked for some funding. There were some members of the Council who said this is a State issue we'd rather you ask the State for money and we won't spend that money until the State comes forward. We then, actually, the Council passed a resolution urging the State to take some action and to support this measure. We applied to the Hawaii Invasive Species Council for a grant funding and did get an award; however, we did not get the amount that we awarded because the amount of grants that were before the HISC were about twice as much money the State provided them. So that got the ball rolling. The first and foremost request that we made in our grant was to support a coordinator's position because with all the different landowners, stakeholders, hunting groups, farming and ranching groups that are involved in one way or another as well as the watershed groups that are, you know, have some very sensitive areas that they need to protect from axis deer and other feral ungulates. We went out and recruited for a coordinator position. We were very fortunate to find a young Hawaii gentlemen, Kanalu Sproat, originally from the Big Island was on Oahu. His wife is from Molokai. And so he has been in place for about a year now. The funding that OED is providing is supplementing what HISC didn't provide. So we're making up the difference. The direction of the group right now I would say is twofold is finishing the Draft Management Plan that the working group has been writing over the past 2'/2 years... 3 years. And so Kanalu will take the lead in presenting that to community to make sure that we have buy in so that this isn't just something that the working group itself thinks is good but it hasn't really gone to the various sectors for buy in. And concurrently he's doing population modeling studies. He's done an aerial survey. There will be some radio collar work, and we're also trying to quantify all the hunting and control efforts that are currently taking place and that will entail working with the State DLNR DOFA, which issues control permits, and with a number of others that we know are doing individual hunting efforts. I hope that's answering your question. - 75 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Yeah, I guess partly I mean if that's what they've been doing then that's what they've been doing. I guess I've just been hearing a lot of not really seeing much dent in our deer issue going on and it continues to grow every day and this has been established since 2011. And people are just asking what's been happening and why hasn't there been any kind of progress seemingly on the surface level? So I mean I hear what you're saying, Mr. Parsons, that it's been taken time to get the various stakeholders together and when you get State involved and Fed and everyone else, you know, I get it. But and then I heard Ms. Rasmussen say I guess this is the last time funding will be going towards a study 'cause it looks like it's been like 3 years in the making almost of studying. I think, yeah, that portion is well over and it's time to just start getting some action going. So I guess hopefully we'll see some of that.
MR. PARSONS: If I may, Chair? I'd just add that OED previously made a grant award to the Maui Axis Deer Harvesting Co-op with the provision that they would be on the ground doing control work. They have to date I think their tally is over a thousand individual animals. So the reason we're doing population modeling is because we don't know what percentage of the overall population that represents. And from the scientific perspective there are population model growths, and our coordinator this was his area of expertise and his graduate study at BYU, and so we need to have a reasonable idea of how greatly we need to reduce the population so that it doesn't continue to explode exponentially, which has been the case up until now. So there have been some active on the ground control efforts that have been supported by this office as well.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Okay.
CHAIR WHITE: I think many people share your frustration that there's a lot of studying and not a lot of action. Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: You took the words right out of my mouth, Mr. Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Sorry.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Sorry. You know other people in other places are doing it and getting it done. I don't know what's going on here. It sounds I don't know. I find it hard to add more to more studies. I mean we know that there's deer and there's a lot and we need to do something about it so.
MS. RASMUSSEN: I will let you know though that part of the problem is the access to the land that, you know, so you have to get permission from the landowners. So this working group does bring those landowners and stakeholders together. So there is a reason to have this group and we don't, we definitely don't want this group to go away because I think we're on the verge of seeing some real positive. But we just kind of basically put them on notice that they need to ... this is it, you know, like fish or cut bait kind of thing. So just get it, you know, -76- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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let's get it done. Let's get out there and come up with some good solutions and start getting the herds in control. So that's where we're at but I think to pull the plug on it now would be.. .that would be a mistake.
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Guzman.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Thank you, Chair. How much is exactly allocating?
MS. RASMUSSEN: We gave them 43,500.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: 43,500. Is that an increase or status quo from last year?
MS. RASMUSSEN: I think they got that for the last 2 years.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: For the last 2 years. And is there a breakdown as to where this 43,500 goes to or how it's being spent?
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes, if we could get Tina back up here she's got their budget. But I think most of it goes to the.. .1 think most of it is going to the coordinator.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: The coordinator. And then, Mr. Parsons, your involvement in the group is.. .do you act as a coordinator within the group or how does that work?
MR. PARSONS: If I may,Chair? I'm one of several stakeholders on the group. Actually, Teya Penniman who is head of the Maui Invasive Species Committee has acted as facilitator up until recently when our coordinator Kanalu Sproat came on that group.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Okay. Yeah, and this is no reflection off of you, Mr. Parsons, because I know you do excellent work and you're also part of our Ag Working Group. So I am kind of somewhat disappointed in terms of the time it's taking for this to happen. My focus is on sustainability and the last time I was in the Budget or my first time through the Budget they were talking about taking the deers and bringing it to market and having another viable source of revenue stream at least for the County or for that group. And I thought that was up and running and to find out that, you know, contracts fell through, there were no--this is what I'm hearing out in the street--you know, that basically there were some contracts that weren't fulfilled, only six deer shot, 900 claimed as being I guess disposed of but only six submitted to the vendor. And so I want to know, you know, what's going on? You know is there something that we need to do in terms of stepping in and getting things placed in order, lighting a fire? I don't know. Just like what Mr. Couch was saying there are organizations out there that is getting it done. Several of us... my colleagues have met with a person on Molokai who is getting the job done in terms of working with the Federal Government and getting all the permits and the licensing done and getting those axis deer populations under control via sustainability bringing it to market. So we can't take that model and run with it?
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MR. PARSONS: Good questions. And I would say that I share the same frustrations that you do and some of your colleagues here have mentioned that things can't move faster. And if we trace back there was actually a previous working group that studied this same situation back in 2000 - 2001 came out with a series of recommendations. So in 10 years time nothing really happened and so the group came back together with some different players. Some of the original members, too, and said we've got to do something because we can't just wait for the State to do it which was one of the strongest recommendations of the first group. So I would just say that we who have studied this in great depth for the past few years understand that what works well for one place, for Desmond Manaba's fenced acreage in Molokai, doesn't directly translate to an area of Upcountry Maui. And there are places that are very close to residential areas. There are places that are very far away. There are places that are close to a processing facility for deer and, you know, it may be that the bulk of population couldn't get to the processing facility in the time necessary dictated by USDA. There's a very strict set of USDA Federal standards that must be followed and they have a great expense attached with them as well. So I think we all recognize that Desmond has done very well managing a fenced population in one area of Molokai and getting those animals to market. And we're closer to where we want to be here with our Draft Management Plan and management focus areas and it's going to take a little more work.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Parsons.
MR. PARSONS: Thank you.
COUNCILMEMBER GUZMAN: Thank you, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Any further questions, Members, or any further frustrations?
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: It's all been said.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Let's move to Maui Soil and Water Conservation District.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So this is an increase of approximately $60,000. The issue is on this is that their funds have been cut by the State for the staffing. And the problem is for us as Maui County I mean you can.. .it's easy to say the State should but if the State isn't what are you willing to let go? In this case, it's our basically Soil Conservation practices. So they have worked on Lahaina Flood Control. They have worked on the Upcountry Dual Waterline Project. They have worked on the coral reef initiative and the Lahainaluna Drainage Project, and Southwest Maui Watershed. And all of this money goes strictly to the staffing that manages, you know, the grants, the Federal money that they bring in, everything else is done by volunteers in this group. There is no.. .most of the people working in here are all volunteers. So this is just staffing. They just are not going to be able to exist and be able to get the Federal funds that they have been successful in getting in the past if they don't have this staffing.
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COUNCILMEMBER VICTOR[NO: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions? Mr. Couch followed Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I believe if I'm not mistaken, Mr. Baz might be able to verify this, this might be where we could do that position that they were looking for when we spoke about it when Water was here that they need somebody to coordinate the grants and handle all the paperwork that's coming down from the Department of Water. I think this might be the spot where that person would go. Is that what that. . . is that going to be a second person?
MR. BAZ: Yeah. Mr. Chair? Member Couch, from my recollection of the conversation it seemed like the different organizations needed support in getting the grants written and different things like that. So I don't know that a County funded body would necessarily, you know, putting somebody in OED to do that would be...
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: I'm sorry not in OED. The Watershed Partnership was going to hire a person to kind of handle all the grants it was what we were talking about for the partnerships.
MR. BAZ: Well, I mean they're already charging 10 percent or so admin charge on top of, you know, of what they get. I guess, yeah, I mean if you want to put money in here you can but I don't know how that would work. We'd have to work with the different partnerships 'cause there's.. .you mean instead of them contracting with RCUH or? I guess I'm not understanding.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: I believe in the Water Committee I mean not the Water Committee but when Water was up here that they said that they're making them do more paperwork. Water is making them do more paperwork, understandably, for accountability and whatnot. And they said and these people are not grant writers and they're not reporters, grant reporters. They need somebody to handle that paperwork and we talked about adding some funding for a person to do that.
MR. BAZ: I believe, you know, specifically the Maui Soil and Water Conservation District funding is a different subject matter than the Watershed Protection. They do crossover as I think some of the testifiers mentioned they kind of work together but it is a different subject matter than that. If we wanted to provide additional support specifically to the.. .1 guess it 'cause it wouldn't be necessarily to the sub-grantees, to the people actually doing the Watershed Protection, it would be to their entity that they manage the grant through which is already taking about 10 percent off the top. So I guess that's where I think maybe we should have a conversation about that offline and try to figure out, you know, how you work that out.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: I do recall Ms. Pogue saying that the entity RCUH or Tr-Isle RC&D they're worried about invoices and bills. Bills and getting payments that's all they -79- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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care about. What the Water Department needs is the budgets, the grant proposal, and the quarterly reporting that is aside from that and she said that those entities don't do that and that's not their.. .that's not their job. So they need somebody to be the grant manager on their side is what we discussed.
MR. BAZ: I mean from my understanding that that.. .the RCUH does that. I mean that's what they do is, you know, help to write the grants and do all that kind of stuff. But there may be, you know, other challenges to that.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay.
MR. BAZ: But definitely. But this Maui Soil and Water Conservation District staffing person they're doing is a different subject --
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Gotcha.
MR. BAZ: --different grant.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Okay. I understand that that's a different subject but I do recall Ms. Pogue saying that they just do invoices and billing and that check writing.
MR. BAZ: Yeah. I think what she meant is that they don't manage like the program aspect of, you know, what the fencing they're doing and, you know, what plantings and that kind of stuff, which does need to be reported on. We have to have some kind of outcome measures and goals. Yeah, I agree.
CHAIR WHITE: My recollection, Ms. Rasmussen, is that this is a line item that we increased either 2 years ago or last year from like $10,000 up to the--what's the number we're looking at now?--in order to provide staffing. Is this an additional...
MS. RASMUSSEN: Actually it went ... no, back in '11. 2011, it was 40,000 and now ... and then it went to 50 and then 70 and now 132.
CHAIR WHITE: It's something about that.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Mr. Chair, you know, and you'd have to check but I think in 2008 and 2009 we cut it drastically during the downturn and you can check the records. But I remember this was one of the programs when we were in our financial woes we cut drastically, and it was up in the hundreds of thousands. And I may be wrong but I remember this. I sat here and we had the Nobrigas and others come and talk about how important this was and so, if Sandy, you could go and research that for us I would appreciate what was their funding levels in '06, '07, and I think '08 is when we had that big cutback. Because that was the year we faced the tremendous financial downturn '08 and '09. So, if you could search that and if I'm wrong I apologize upfront. But, you know, I kind of remember this whole BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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conversation and I remember them coming and asking but, you know, we were looking at places to cut and this was one of the areas we did cut the Soil and Conservation Program so.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTOR1NO: Thank you, Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah, if you can just provide us with details of what the staffing is there now and what this is going to do and are we picking up just our share of the State's cut or not. And with that let's move on to the next item.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Sorry, Chair? Wait. Ms. Crivello, you had your hand up?
COUNCILMEMBER CRIVELLO: That's okay.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Okay. In regards to this.. yeah, Maui Soil and Water Conservation I know that we utilize them through our Public Works. They are like an advisory. They comment on grading and grubbing permits and stuff like that. That's how we the County I know work hand in hand with this entity and they had via the State level I believe got a big cut. And they were like we can't even juggle the work we do now with the staff and I'm thinking this is why the boost in appropriation for this entity.
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah, no, it is.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Yeah.
MS. RASMUSSEN: They got cut by the State. They got that position cut.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Right. Yeah. So that's as much as I recall in regards but they do the overall advisory commenting for Parks.
CHAIR WHITE: And this Council stepped up 2 years ago when the Feds cut funding and now we're.. .you know, I think this Council has always shown that it's very willing to step up to the plate and protect the environment but this is one of those things. We just need a little more detail.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Yes. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Lanai Watershed.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So Lanai Watershed was in for 83,000 then 100,000. When Pulama Lanai took over they let our office know that they were not going to accept the funds. They didn't want -81 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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the funds. They're going to run their own environmental work on their watershed. And so they basically returned the money back to the General Fund.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Mr. Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Yes. Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: If I remember Mr. Hokama this was a subject of discussion when we were with Water, and he feels that something should be there that the County should have some role when it comes to environmental and other aspects of water. I know it's a private company. We all understand that. But, you know, Teena, it's something that I'm not sure how we're going figure this one out but I think Mr. Hokama and I'm only speaking on his behalf--
MS. RASMUSSEN: Right 'cause he's not here.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: --he's not here today. I was hoping he'd be back this afternoon but I think he's going to look for some way or some means so we can have some kind of way of monitoring it if you want to use that term.
MS. RASMUSSEN: I mean you could ask for them to report, you know, how they're working on it but the issue is the access to the land. They are not going to grant access. We actually pulled another grant that was already given to an organization to work on Lanai. And they would not give them access to the land because they said, you know, we have an entire environmental team that we are hiring and we are going to take care of this, and they would not give them access. So even if you put the money there, you know, they don't have to grant access. So I say, you know, it's private money that's stepped up to do what typically the government has to do and I think that that's an admirable thing, and I think we should encourage more of that. So it's like, you know, in my opinion that's great that Pulama Lanai has stepped up like that. If you want a report on what their activities are I'm sure that they would be fine with, you know, giving us information.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Thank you. Teena. I know Mr. Hokama had some ideas and some plans, too, to go and... so, well I'll leave it in his hands but as the area rep. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Mr. Baz.
MR. BAZ: Thank you, Mr. Chair. It looks like the Maui Soil and Water Conservation District has been pretty flat around $40,000 from 2006 up unto.. .yeah, so I kind of recollect what you recall. We did cut this pretty significantly but I don't think it was this line item. This line item has been around ... (inaudible)
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COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: There was somewhere we cut for them. I remember that distinctly but I cannot recall where but I remember that being a big topic of conversation, you know. Okay. Thank you, Sandy. S
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Ms. Cochran.
COUNCILMEMBER COCHRAN: Just real quickly on the whole Lanai Watershed monies and Pulama stepping in to, you know, not wanting the money and all that. I think what I heard on the island, and I spoke to Mr. Hokama also, are the people, the entities, and groups that have been up there monitoring say the birds and doing the invasive species things, and they've been doing this for years and years, and years. And they are the, you know, eyes and ears on the level, on the ground level, hands on and all this stuff. And now they're sort of.. . it's okay we don't need your services we'll do it our own. I think to have some kind oversight and not saying anything about the company. I know nothing about what their plans are but I think the people would feel more comfortable. The people who live there, the entities that have been doing it year after year I mean for decades, too, to have some type of, you know, involvement participation in the whole program. But at this point with no funding and all this, you know, on regards on the County level and it's just straight in private hands I think there's wonder and sort of they haven't had gotten any answers. And like you said they weren't let onto the private land and it's the landowner and that's their choice but. So there's concerns I think with that so hopefully we can. . . Mr. Hokama and company and everyone can sort of work together on this one. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Thank you. Any other questions on this item? Let's move to Ke Ao I Ka Makani Ho' eha' ili.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So this is a new request. Now this is funds to be used to manage and maintain 65 acres of County property at Kaehu Bay in Paukukalo but this money will not be spent until there is a lease in place. And they have been notified of that so but of course without the appropriation from the Council we wont be able to offer them if they do get the lease in place but we will make sure there is an actual lease.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Yeah, this is the acreage we bought I think 2 years ago, a year and a half a go or something like that Kaehu Bay. And I know. ..now I know why I couldn't say this 'cause I can't say this name of this group but they have approached me and asked for help. And I told them that, you know, the lease has to be executed. I mean there's no question about that and they assured me they're working at it. I don't know where they are with that mission maybe Sandy can answer that question. But they want to restore, clean up BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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that area, and again open it up to the public like we had originally planned to do. There is a lot of stuff in those bushes all along that shoreline and they really do want to help clean up and get that area restored. And then do some cultural practices and, you know, even maybe some cultural buildings will be built in that area. So but I would support this one and again I agree with you if they don't have the lease, you know, obviously you cannot and that's our rules.
CHAIR WHITE: Have they provided you with a list of the costs or the, you know, what they're intending to do and justifying the level of funding they're requesting?
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Not yet.
MR. BAZ: Not that I know of, Mr. Chair. And it's pronounced...
CHAIR WHITE: I would ask that we reach out to them and ask for a justification for the level of funding they're asking.
MR. BAZ: Mr. Parsons has been working with them on occasion and attends some of the meetings so he can contact them.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay.
MR. BAZ: It's pronounced Ke Ao I Ka Makani Ho'eha'ili in case you're wondering.
CHAIR WHITE: That's what I said.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Well was close.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Let's move to grants and disbursements for Visitor Industry.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: I think Chair Baisa was...
COUNCILMEMBER BAlSA: I think it's been beaten enough. Thank you.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. First item Maui Visitors Bureau.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Maui Visitors Bureau. Okay. We had passed out to you, which you should have received this morning, a dashboard report. Basically we asked the Visitors Bureau to take numbers that went back pre-recession that's why you see 2007 and then it skips to '11, '12, and '13. I wanted you to see some pre-recession numbers and then see where they are today. And so we asked them to bring their numbers in in this format because it allows you a chance to really compare and see where we're at. And so as you can see the visitor count has -84- BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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actually exceeded 2007 levels as of the end of 2013. And these are reported in calendar years just to let you know. And then it just gives you a good breakdown of where the people came from, and of course the Mainland US is still our top market followed by Canada and then followed by Japan. And so that gives you some good statistics. The occupancy rate, you might wonder why Molokai and Lanai are not included on the occupancy rate but apparently the hotels on those two islands do not report to Hospitality Advisors which is the entity that does the tracking. It is not mandatory for them to report and most of the hotels here on our island do. We asked them to report some website statistics because these are things that are in their annual report so it does show that they are gaining in their web presence. And then social media wasn't reported for two of those years because they really didn't have an active social media campaign that they could really track until 2012. And so as you see I think now they have a full-fledged social media campaign in place and I think you'll see those numbers grow probably exponentially. And then other things that they do is vacation planners and brochures. Now, you'll see that the number has dropped drastically on how many vacation planners that they have mailed out that's because it is online now. So that's just one of the ways that we can all save on paper and we don't have to mail it anymore. So people are going online to find that. And calls, letters, and c-mails and so forth have dropped because I think so much information is online now so I think it shows a good progression on being able to use the website and electronic media in disseminating information. So I just wanted to give you this as an overview. I think there is no question that the Visitor Bureau drives our entire economy here. When the Visitor Industry is doing well, all businesses are doing well, and it trickles down to virtually everything. We cant ever underestimate the importance of that and I do know for a fact that the world is out there to get the tourism dollar from wherever they can and they're very, very aggressive about it. Mexico is expending an extraordinary amount of money right now to woo people back to Mexico because they suffered so much from all of the crime reporting and everything that was happening there. And there's new resorts being built in Mexico. So, we do have to stay on top of our game. We can never let off because the minute you do you're going to find yourself at the bottom of the heap because there's people outspending us everywhere. So I feel that this is a large amount of money but I can't imagine it better spent for our entire community.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions? Mr. Couch.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I can't agree more with what Ms. Rasmussen said but I'm just a little confused on this dashboard. She's got.. .somebody's got the visitor count in Maui in 2013 and the first spreadsheet is 2,362,629 but then visitor arrivals to Maui County in 2013 if you total em up it says 2,481,097. Those numbers don't add up. How.. .what's the difference between ...(inaudible)...
MS. RASMUSSEN: I did discuss this with Terryl Vencl and she actually pointed it out to me as we were going over these numbers. These numbers come to Hawaii Tourism Authority or HVCB, I always get those two mixed up, but they come from all kinds of different sources. And it is not ever going to stack up exactly perfect because of the way that they're tracked. So actually after she explained to me all the places these numbers come from I'm actually BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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quite amazed that it's that close. So I think that, you know, you take a happy medium and you've got a pretty accurate figure.
CHAIR WHITE: The other question?
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Well that was one. The other was the.. .1 noticed the Korea number dropped from 2012 to 2013. I thought we had special marketing for that.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So I believe this was where it was combined as Asia. Would you.. . oh, I'm sorry she's reminding me the last number is only three-quarters of the year --
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Oh, okay.
MS. RASMUSSEN: --three-quarters of the year that's...
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Oh yeah, that's right. Yeah.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah. Thank you.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: So that's probably going to be higher.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah, so it should be.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Oh, good.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yes. Yes. Sony about that.
COUNCILMEMBER COUCH: Excellent. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Other questions, Members? The Chair will just point out that the funding 10 years ago for the Maui Visitors Bureau was $3.6 million so we're $100,000 ahead of where we were 10 years ago. During that time, most of our operations costs have gone up by probably in the neighborhood of 40 or 50 percent. You know there are certain operations that will for now remain nameless that have increased by closer to 160 percent in that amount of time. So, again, this is one of those things that we do as a County to protect our revenues generated through the Visitor Industry, which if you count the TAT and the Property Tax, the Visitor Industry is providing about half of the money that we get from Real Property Tax in total so.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Mr. Chair.
CHAIR WHITE: Yes. Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: And I wanted to also point out that if you compare the other three counties sum total not even a third of what we put in. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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CHAIR WHITE: Right.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: I think Kauai one time bragged that they put half a million I mean $500,000 and they said how much you guys put in and I said oh I think it was 3.5 and jaws dropped at that point in time. So we do exponentially put a lot of money where our mouth is as far as our Visitor Industry. So thank you, Chair, for that recognition.
CHAIR WHITE: I've shared with you before that we get a significant return on that investment because in comparing it with what Oahu generates with 35,000 visitor units, they generate less than we do with 21. And I believe the Big Island has about 11,000 units, Kauai just under 9,000, and those two.. .Kauai generates about $15 million in revenue for their county, and Big Island generates 12'/2. We generate closer to 90 million. So we put more in but we also generate about six times more than the other two neighbor islands. So we have grown to depend on those revenues more significantly than the other counties. Any further questions on the Visitors Bureau? Seeing none, Academy of Hospitality and Tourism.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So this is funding that we'd like to put back in the Budget. This group used to get funding from the County. The Academy of Hospitality and Tourism exposes high school kids to the industry. They take them out on properties; they train them and expose them to all the different components of the jobs that are available for them so they can think about their future that might be in the Visitor Industry. And of course this industry is so big on our island and it takes lots and lots and lots and lots of employees, and so we've got to keep that base of employees coming through and people being willing to work in the industry. And there are so many facets of jobs that are available everything from engineers to everything that has to do with the hotel properties and so forth. So we're just hoping that you will support this line item this year.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Chair?
CHAIR WHITE: Mr. Victorino.
COUNCILMEMBER VICTORINO: You know I've been honored to attend a number of these events that are held at the University of Hawaii Maui Campus. And, you know, the young people that are there that are partaking it, I'd like to also recognize that a lot of businesses, rent-a-cars, hotels, travel, you know, the airlines Hawaiian and others are there not only as sponsors but to look for opportunities to tell these young people these are what's available to you as you progress. So going to college and getting a degree in various travel industry areas is also very helpful. So I can support something like this. This is our economic engine and we have to give these young people a true idea of what's available not just the menial jobs. I'm talking engineering. I'm talking, you know, other areas for which they have opportunities in management. And it is really heartwarming. I think some other Council members have gone and it's just nice to sit there with these young people who have dreams BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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of bigger and better things in Hawaii. And that's our future, sir, that's our future. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: Yeah, I'll just add that they ... most of the hotels participate in internships and it's a real win-win. Mr. Baz, you wanted to add something?
MR. BAZ: One of the reasons why the Mayor wanted to support this now is because, you know, we have been supporting it in a small factor over the years. They have been working together with the college on the old dormitory rooms and creating a Hospitality Academy over there. So working of course with the hotels. They are providing different setups in each of the individual rooms and providing an opportunity for people to have hands on experience in a test case situation. So the Mayor was very supportive of providing this extra funding for them to be able to move this forward.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. Thank you. Other questions, Members? Seeing none, let's move on to Economic Initiatives Grants.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Okay. So this fund is a general economic development fund that we are very appreciative that you've given us the flexibility to pick programs that we feel are appropriate for our communities. And do you all have that list in front of you or would you like me to read the projects?
CHAIR WHITE: I think we all have the list.
MS. RASMUSSEN: You have it? Okay.
CHAIR WHITE: It's dated April 10th.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Yeah. OM2 is what you're looking for response.
COUINCILMEMBER VICTORINO: Okay. Got it.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So these are the projects that we funded with the Fiscal Year 2014 and it has given us the flexibility to jump right in and do the preplanning for the Made in Maui County Festival. It has also helped us with our International Economic Development, which is the initiative we're doing right now with the Goyong International Horticulture Show of which again we're going to be taking a silversword plant. So we're very proud of that. We have National Park is participating with us this year there and we're going to be highlighting.. .half of our booth will be highlighting Haleakala National Park. So we think that's going to be. . .because we found that every Korean visitor that comes to this island wants to go to Haleakala National Park so we thought that this would be a great way, too. The Visitor Bureau is going. They're taking hula halau, musicians. We are taking our tropical flowers, our fresh flower lei and we have hired a designer to design our booth. It's going to be beautiful and we'll come back with lots of pictures. But this fund is tremendous in helping - 88 - BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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with sports events. Kihei Fourth Friday is in here. Our Fourth of July Marathon. You know it just gives us some real good flexibility as these events pop up and that we want to really deploy funds into certain areas so. We appreciate the support on this fund.
CHAIR WHITE: Members, questions on this item? I guess we must be getting to the end of the list.
MS. RASMUSSEN: You guys are feeling it.
CHAIR WHITE: Okay. We'll move on to the next item our last one Renewable Energy Programs.
MS. RASMUSSEN: So this program primarily is there to support the efforts of the Energy Commissioner. And we did use this program this year for the seed money for our Energy Conference that we had. Out of this we also produced a solar summit last Spring. We held an undersea cable community meeting. The Commissioner is working with the LED lights and I am sorry he is not here right now. He had a family obligation this afternoon. But I think you all know Mr. McLeod and the amazing work that he's done in our Department. And so we're just asking for a flat budget amount to be awarded again.
CHAIR WHITE: Questions, Members? Seeing none, thank you, Ms. Rasmussen, for your patience with us this afternoon.
MS. RASMUSSEN: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.
CHAIR WHITE: And we'll let you all take off. But, Members, what we have just handed out to you is the Certification of Net Taxable Real Property. So this is the certification of the values and the numbers speak for themselves. They look like the certification number is a little bit higher than was presented in the Budget but there are adjustments that need to be taken out of that 259,000. So we will have a presentation on the certification by Real Property Tax and the Finance Department on Monday at the beginning of the day. So with that, are there any other items we need to cover? Yeah, just a reminder that we'll be at Lihikai School this evening starting at 6:30, right? Starting at 6:30 not our normal 6 o'clock time. And so we will see you all there. We are adjourned. .. (gavel).
ACTION: DEFER pending further discussion.
ADJOURN: 4:33 p.m. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
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APPROVED:
MIKE WHITE, Chair Budget and Finance Committee bf:min: 140417:cs Transcribed by: Cathy Simmons BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES Council of the County of Maui
April 17, 2014
CERTIFICATE
I, Cathy Simmons, hereby certify that the foregoing represents to the best of my ability, a true and correct transcript of the proceedings. I further certify that I am not in any way concerned with the cause.
DATED this 12th day of May 2014, in Wailuku, Hawaii.
symW&o.- Cathy Si ons
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