Mayor Bryan Baptiste yesterday voiced his displeasure over a decision by a Kaua‘i County Council committee to remove from next year’s county budget one of three positions for program he initiated to link residents directly to government. In response to
Mayor Bryan Baptiste yesterday voiced his displeasure over a decision by a Kaua‘i County Council committee to remove from next year’s county budget one of three positions for program he initiated to link residents directly to government.
In response to an e-mail inquiry by The Garden Island, Baptiste declared all three positions are needed to move forward the goals of his Ka Leo ‘O Kauai program.
Baptiste said “I am very disappointed with the removal of one community response position. We have been engaged in Ka Leo ‘O Kaua‘i for over a year and know that it takes three people on the team for optimal success.”
The program was formed last year to solicit public comment on community projects and issues, and look at ways government officials and residents could work together to resolve pressing community concerns.
The Ka Leo ‘O Kaua‘i program has served as a cornerstone of Baptiste’s political philosophy to connect residents directly with government officials.
But members of the council Committee of the Whole reassigned the position to the agency it was initially assigned to, the county Agency of Elderly Affairs. Legislators apparently felt putting the position back with the department could help better support or improve services for elderly residents of the island.
In defending the need for a three-person community response team for his program, Baptiste said team members do more than coordinate the program. They are involved “in coordinating systemic plans for the county and community as well as facilitate other community meetings that result from the Ka Leo ‘O Kaua‘i communities.”
Gary Heu, administrative assistant to Baptiste, said the program needs at least three liaisons for the program to remain successful. More positions would be helpful, he added.
“From day one, we always indicated that we felt it took three positions to manage the community response group and all of its activities,” Heu said.
Baptiste said the program may stumble with only a two-person team.
“We do not know at this point how we will move forward with the Ka Leo ‘O Kaua‘i program,” he said.
Options are being explored, and include reducing the number of meetings that are held, combining communities and relying on the help of volunteers, Baptiste said.
The program also relies on the use of volunteers whose participation in projects helps to save government money, Heu said.
In a “graffiti-busting program,” for instance, county officials provided the paint and the equipment to repaint defaced structures, and the volunteers provided the labor, Heu said.
The three-member team, working with residents in the community, have worked on issues like street racing, halting the spread of vacation rentals on the North Shore and building public facilities.
Last week, the Kaua‘i County Council Committee of the Whole approved a $102.5-million county operating budget and a $16.6-million capital improvement budget for the next fiscal year.
The operating budget calls for funding only two of the Ka Leo ‘O Kauai positions.
The council is scheduled to vote on both budgets on Monday, May 24.
Members of the council Committee of the Whole have said the position that was part of the mayor’s program was budgeted at $40,548.
The position was initially assigned to the county Office of Elderly Affairs of the Office of Community Assistance, and the council committee put it back with that department to serve the needs of senior citizens of Kaua‘i.
In other matters, Baptiste said $3.4 million in tax relief, the result of more homeowners taking advantage of two tax relief measures and a reduced tax rate for land for eight county tax categories, will help taxpayers.
“Absolutely. Without the tax relief initiatives of both the council and the administration, including the circuit-breaker credit, the permanent home use exemption, the 20 cents across-the-board tax rate reduction and the 15 cents land tax rate reduction, real property tax revenues would have exceeded $59 million (in fiscal year 2004-2005),” he said.
Because of the tax relief measures, Kaua‘i residents will receive tax relief of almost $6 million, Baptiste said.
With the tax relief measures and other relief, county officials are anticipating no more than $53 million in property tax revenues.
That amount, however, is still $3 million dollars-plus more than county officials receive in the current fiscal year, a critic has complained to The Garden Island.
Even with a reduction of revenues in the next budget year, county services are not likely to be compromised, Baptiste said.
“We do not foresee a need for cutbacks in services,” he said. “We will, instead, continue to try to improve services to the community, with our available resources.”
Baptiste also said that although a $1 million bond float was not granted by council members, taxpayers will benefit still from the property tax relief measures.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
