By NANCY COOK LAUER
Stephens Media
The Hawaii County Council will likely declare an emergency to give money to the Food Basket.
Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann said Wednesday he is drafting an emergency ordinance to be heard at the March 9 council meeting in Hilo. That ordinance would declare a “food emergency,” paving the way to appropriate $500,000 from the county’s disaster and emergency fund to help the nonprofit food bank feed the island’s hungry.
Hoffmann’s decision came after heated debate over whether the council had the authority to amend the operating budget and postponement of two measures that would have moved money more immediately.
“Even though we’ve waited 56 days, we need to make certain we do it right,” Hoffmann said. “This problem is not going away.”
Hoffmann has been trying to get money to the Food Basket since he sponsored a nonbinding resolution that unanimously passed in December, asking Mayor Billy Kenoi to find $500,000 for the project. That resolution was not acted upon.
Hoffmann’s second attempt, a bill that would amend the budget and take the money out of the emergency and disaster fund, was shot down by Assistant Corporation Counsel Kathy Garson, who said the council doesn’t have the authority to amend the budget. The council can, however, make an emergency appropriation after declaring an emergency, she said.
The whole debate irked South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford, who said Corporation Counsel’s argument was “horsefeathers.”
“The mayor doesn’t want to feed the people of this island,” Ford said.
Kenoi, after the meeting, called Ford’s comments “political grandstanding.”
“Councilwoman Ford says people are out there starving to death and that’s just not true,” Kenoi said. “I don’t have any meaningful legislation in front of me to sign, just a lot of shouting.”
Kenoi said he’s been meeting with board members of the Food Basket who say the situation is tight, but not as dire as portrayed by council members.
Another measure that was held until the next council meeting is a binding resolution by Hilo Councilman Dennis Onishi, who proposed taking $75,000 out of the County Council’s own budget for the Food Basket.
“I want to see this council take the lead and show how serious we are,” Onishi said. “The saying is to put our money where our mouth is.”
Onishi discarded his original plan to use money donated to the county by Na Leo O Hawaii public television after he encountered opposition.
Jeff Haun, owner of Out of the Sea Media Arts, in a letter opposed Onishi’s resolution.
“I am concerned (the resolution) will have the unintended consequence of taking away funds needed for videotaping and essential audiovisual support services for the council’s meetings,” Haun said in written testimony. “These meetings have been televised for almost 20 years islandwide and the telecasts have become an important and fundamental part of the public’s participation in their government.”
Instead, Onishi is now looking to trim expenses in the council and Clerk’s Office budget. That wasn’t sitting well with council members, who said office budgets are already tight.
“It takes it out of a place where we can least afford it,” said Council Chairman Dominic Yagong.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
