BY NANCY COOK LAUER WEST HAWAII TODAY ADVERTISING ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com HILO — The West Hawaii Civic Center will soon become home to Hawaii County government’s first electric cars, as the county begins its foray into new technology for its fleet. The
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
HILO — The West Hawaii Civic Center will soon become home to Hawaii County government’s first electric cars, as the county begins its foray into new technology for its fleet.
The civic center was chosen for the pilot program because it is already producing its own power through rooftop photovoltaic cells, and also because the charging stations have already been installed in the parking area.
The vehicles will be used by different county departments. The pilot program will help the county determine the best way to make the transition to more electric vehicles. The county will start by buying or leasing one or two cars.
Currently, county workers use about 1.5 million gallons of gas or diesel a year, costing some $7 million in 2008, according to the latest data available Thursday.
“Utilization of power from the sun to charge electric vehicles will stabilize county fuel cost, promote new transportation industry in the community and allow county government to lead by example,” said Laverne Omori, deputy director of the Department of Research and Development.
The County Council Finance Committee on Thursday put its stamp of approval on using a $41,863 rebate from the Hawaii Energy Efficiency Program for the cars. The money will be added to $70,000 currently in the account.
In other committee actions on Thursday, the Finance Committee accepted $75,000 from Na Le O Hawaii for production costs associated with the videotaping of council meetings for the fiscal year ending June 30. Council members praised the local public access TV station for making the meetings available to the public.
The Committee on Governmental Relations heard a proposal from Honolulu Councilman Nestor Garcia and an aide to Honolulu Council Chairman Stanley Chang about hiring an executive director for the Hawaii State Association of Counties, a group composed of the state’s four county councils. Garcia is seeking up to $87,000 a year for the next two years. Hawaii County’s share, including its $10,000 annual dues, would be about $30,000 a year.
Garcia said an executive director is needed to bring institutional knowledge to the group and to perform day-to-day administrative tasks.
“Politicians come and go. We all know that. This is an election year,” Garcia said. “But an executive director would be there.”
Council members seemed generally in favor of the concept, but several wanted more details. South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford wanted to know if it would be a conflict of interest for an elected official to accept the position, and she wondered how many people in the state would even be qualified for it.
Garcia last year admitted to a conflict of interest in serving as executive director of the pro-rail Kapolei Chamber of Commerce while promoting rail on the council, according to Honolulu media reports. That’s not his only outside job, according to the reports.
