Mrs. Naeole-Beason goes to Washington
Puna lawmaker only council member attending convention
by Nancy Cook Lauer
West Hawaii Today
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:50 AM HST
HILO -- In stark contrast to last year, only one Hawaii County Council member is attending the National Association of Counties convention in Washington this week.West Hawaii Today
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:50 AM HST
Other council members cited the grim economic situation as a reason to stay home this year, but Puna Councilwoman Emily Naeole-Beason is attending the conference, which started Saturday and ends today.
Last year, six Council members attended at a cost of more than $21,500 for airfare, NACo conference registration fees, hotel costs, food and gifts. Only South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford, Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann and Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong did not attend last year.
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Councilors will soon be up to their ears in budget numbers, with a public hearing scheduled March 22 to take public comment on the spending plan and a series of Finance Committee sessions the last week of March for county agencies to explain their costs and revenues.
Mayor Billy Kenoi has proposed a $375.3 million budget that's 3.1 percent less than this year. The budget relies on hikes in property taxes, cuts in positions, furloughs of employees and the elimination of the county bands to make ends meet.
Council Chairman J Yoshimoto said next year's budget won't include money for trips. He said this year, it was up to individual councilors about whether to attend. The budget allowed each council member to take one NACo trip a year, he said.
Yoshimoto said he personally can't justify attending when the budget is so tight that county employees face furloughs.
"I was concerned about the budget," Yoshimoto said. "Even though we had money appropriated to travel, I just thought it is more prudent for me not to travel."
Yagong agreed. He's been to only one NACo conference in his 10 years on the council. He said information that's presented at the NACo sessions is also available online.
"For me personally when we are in a situation where we're furloughing people, it just makes common sense to get this information in another manner," Yagong said.
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RobertT. wrote on Mar 17, 2010 1:35 PM:
What ever you say.
Apparently, there is no reasoning with you for you still had to get in a sneaky remark.
I guess that's your nature.
Bye. "