LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i’s strong mayoral form of government won’t be changing this election. After several community meetings, the Charter Review Commission’s Special County Governance Committee last week unanimously voted down a proposal to ask voters this fall if they would
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i’s strong mayoral form of government won’t be changing this election.
After several community meetings, the Charter Review Commission’s Special County Governance Committee last week unanimously voted down a proposal to ask voters this fall if they would like to see the Garden Island governed by an appointed county manager instead of an elected mayor.
“The large majority of people didn’t see it as a desirable necessary change from the current situation,” said Patrick Stack, who chairs the three-member committee. North Shore resident Joel Guy and former reporter Jan TenBruggencate are the other members.
If the commission approved the proposal, voters would decide at the next election Nov. 2 if the mayor should be replaced by a county manager.
Under the proposed county manager form of government, voters would elect a mayor who serves as the County Council chair and handles routine formalities like attending conferences and giving awards.
The council would appoint the county manager, who would assume most administrative responsibilities held by the mayor’s position in the current system.
Opponents of the change argued that the proposed system still has its problems, including lack of accountability to the people, since the county manager would respond to council members. Under the proposed system, legislative and executive powers would blur because the council makes laws and the mayor approves and puts those laws into practice.
Proponents said they had hoped the issue would have been on the ballot this year so voters could determine how they want to be governed.
A final report submitted by Stack, Guy and TenBruggencate said the committee studied several municipal governance models in other communities, gathered public testimony, reviewed documents, and considered previous efforts by the commission to address the county manager system.
Stack said a “very vocal minority” kept pushing the idea forward.
The majority of community members who participated in the process showed opposition to the change. The report said a ballot showed a two-to-one ratio of opposition, public testimony was three-to-one in opposition and written testimony showed four-to-one were against it. A petition signed by more than 700 people also favored maintaining the status quo.
Community member Walter Lewis — along with Glenn Mickens, Ken Taylor and Rich Hoepner — participated in a Citizens Ad Hoc Committee, providing “valuable assistance” to the deliberations, including the initial list of proposed changes, the report said.
Lewis said a county manager system would result in a “better government.”
“This is recognized across our country as being an alternative to the mayor-council system,” he said. “In general, it’s considered to be a more efficient way to operate.”
A county manager would have to meet strict qualification criteria, including higher education and years of management experience whereas the mayor only has to be 30 years old and registered to vote on Kaua‘i for at least three years.
“Who do you think would be the more efficient person to be running the business of the county?” Lewis said.
If the measure would be adopted, it would likely be stricter to meet qualifications for the county manager than for the U.S. president.
Lewis said voters, however, elect a president “for political reasons, not for operational reasons.”
Mickens, who also pushed for the new system, suggested a qualified outsider, new to the island, would have neutrality in controversial issues such as transient vacation rentals outside Visitor Destination Areas.
“People want to keep Kaua‘i, Kaua‘i; they don’t want these TVRs here,” Mickens said. “The status quo at this stage of the game is giving away this island.”
Mickens said the current system is “broken.” Under the new system, the council would have the ability to fire the county manager if he wasn’t doing the “will of the people.”
The council, however, recently voted to pass a bill to allow owners of TVRs located in ag lands to apply for a non-conforming use permit, a bill highly criticized by Mickens.
The new system would also strip voters from electing an official responsible for the county’s administrative obligations, a move argued as a step back in democracy by some at previous meetings.
Mickens said the current system, however, does not reflect true democracy. “We’re getting a democracy that’s the old boy system, and whoever is in power is going to do what they want,” he said.
He admitted the county manager system wouldn’t be a cure for all, and if it didn’t work, the island could return to the mayor system of governance. But he remained skeptical that the issue would be revisited.
Lewis, on the other hand, said he had no doubt it would be a “superior system.” He said that for the “well-being of the community” he hopes the question resurfaces.
Stack said a county manager may work “perfectly well” in one community, and not “so well” in another.
“What it ultimately comes down to is the ability of the person and not necessarily the title,” Stack said.
The issue will likely be revisited in the future, he said, because the County Charter is an “organic document” that should change with the times.
Go to www.kauai.gov for more information.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@kauaipubco.com.
