The Hawaii County Council this week defied Mayor Mitch Roth – and his own legal advisers – by overriding a veto.
The council voted for Assembly Bill 140 on July 10, which requires all county waste facilities to be open to the public at least two days per week. Puna Council member Ashley Kierkiewicz introduced the bill to address deficiencies at the Kalapana transfer station, which was only open one day per week at the time.
On July 24, Roth vetoed the bill. In his veto letter, Roth argued that the measure violated the separation of powers between the county’s executive and legislative branches.
The Department of Environmental Management, which oversees waste facilities, is an executive branch agency, but by passing Bill 140, the legislative body in Council has mandated DEM guidelines without considering financial or operational needs, Roth said.
In addition, since no budgetary funds are provided for the cost increases resulting from the longer opening of all waste disposal facilities, the bill represents an unfunded mandate and is therefore fiscally irresponsible, Roth wrote in his letter.
Kierkiewicz brought the issue up again at Wednesday’s council meeting and proposed overriding Roth’s veto and passing the bill anyway.
“(Bill 140) was a necessary measure to correct an injustice that the executive branch has unfortunately failed to address for years,” Kierkiewicz said, adding sarcastically that she was glad the issue had finally caught the mayor’s attention “and that it is now such a high priority.”
On July 9, even before the council passed the bill on second reading, DEM had already extended the Kalapana Transfer Station’s hours of operation to include a second day per week. Still, Kierkiewicz said adding these standards to the county ordinance will ensure that access to critical county services is not lost without warning in the future.
Some council members agreed. Kona Council Member Holeka Inaba argued that elsewhere in the county ordinance the council could set the hours of operation of other county facilities without controversy.
Inaba also pointed out two conspicuous absences from the room: Neither Roth nor DEM administrator Ramzi Mansour attended the meeting, which Inaba described as “shameful.”
“It’s disrespectful that (Roth) isn’t here in person,” Inaba said. “If you want to veto, come here in person and stand by it.”
In Roth’s place, County Executive Deanna Sako appeared and repeated the arguments from Roth’s veto letter.
Kohala Council member Cindy Evans said she believes the council has legal authority to set certain operating standards for county facilities, but she also questioned what legal action the executive branch could take if the council overrides the veto.
“What do you want to do? Sue us?” she asked.
Elizabeth Strance, legal counsel for the County Corporation, rejected this question on the grounds that it would be counterproductive to play the two branches off against each other.
Strance said she fundamentally disagrees with the idea that after a county budget is passed, the council can decide how a department spends its money or change its program policies.
The fact that DEM was able to raise the funds to increase the hours of operation at the Kalapana Transfer Station is irrelevant to this legal issue, she said.
Other council members sided with Strance and the mayor.
Matt Kaneali’i-Kleinfelder, a Puna council member and a “results-oriented” politician himself, said the bill has already done its job by getting DEM to improve availability at the Kalapana transfer station, adding that he did not want to go against the advice of the company’s counsel.
Michelle Galimba, a member of the Kau Council, was also concerned about the whole matter. She said the lifting of the veto went too far.
Council President and Hamakua Council Member Heather Kimball lamented the communication breakdown between the council and DEM that caused this and called for more transparency between county departments to avoid such conflicts in the future.
Ultimately, the council voted 6-3 to override the mayor’s veto, with Kaneali’i-Kleinfelder, Galimba and Kimball voting against. Since at least six votes are required to override a veto, the proposal passed and the bill is now law.
