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NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION

MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2007

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING

HONOLULU HALE, COUNCIL COMMITTEE ROOM, 2^nd FLOOR

530 SOUTH KING STREET

I.      CALL TO ORDER:  Chair Grant Tanimoto called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m.

      MEMBERS PRESENT:  Sheila Apisa, Clara Ching, Ed Gall, Bernard Kaahanui, Jeanette Nekota, Kalene Sakamoto, Grant Tanimoto (Chair) and Sylvia Young (Vice-Chair).

GUEST(S):  Chris Lam, Keali'i Lopez and Gerry Silva ('Olelo); Bert Narita, Barbara Miller, Daisy Murai, and Linda Wong (Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board No. 5); L. Gary Bautista and Rich Hargrave (Ewa Neighborhood Board No. 23); Albert Furuto, Les Hata, Janet Inamine, Ron Lockwood, John Kato, and Clifton Takamura (McCully/Moiliili Neighborhood Board No. 8); Robert Finley (Waikiki Neighborhood Board No. 9); Tom Smyth (Downtown Neighborhood Board No. 13); Jon Chinen, Debbi Glanstein, and Linda Ure (Kailua Neighborhood Board No. 31); Tom Heinrich (Manoa Neighborhood Board No. 7); Cynthia Rezentes (Waianae Neighborhood Board No. 24); Roy Wickramaratna; Cameron Heen, Michelle Kidani, Joan Manke and Wendy Matsukado (NCO).

II.          ROLL CALL OF COMMISSIONERS: Roll call of Commissioners taken at 7:07pm with a quorum of eight (8) members present.

III.        FOR INFORMATION: 

A.  Executive Secretary's Report:  Manke reported on the following:

1. Status of Complaints:

After the Executive Secretary's report, Tanimoto explained that he anticipated lengthy discussion concerning the Revised Neighborhood Plan (RNP). Therefore, the agenda was adjusted by moving the RNP to the end of the agenda.

B.  Committee Reports:

1.   Budget:  Sakamoto requested to defer to item IV. B. Amending Videographer Contract re DVD Copy on the agenda.

2.   Training:  Nekota reported that training committee will meet one hour prior to the next Commission meeting.

        C. Permitted Interaction Group (PIGroup):

            1. Neighborhood Board System Audit Update:  No report.

            2. Neighborhood Board Minutes/NA Minute-Taking:  Apisa advised that a meeting will be held with Tanimoto to discuss and streamline minute taking for Neighborhood Boards.  Manke will assist and provide input.

D. 'Olelo Community Television presentation regarding pilot project to webcast Neighborhood Board meetings:  Gerry Silva (COO), Keali'i Lopez (President/CEO), and Chris Lam (IT Manager) of 'Olelo Community Television, gave a presentation on web casting and offered their services to the Neighborhood Board System. 

Silva provided an overview of 'Olelo's work in covering government meetings on the cable system for more than 17 years and its operations of six channels. He explained that government meetings aired on Oahu are available to cable subscribers, and they include the City Council, State Legislature and twelve neighborhood boards. The Council and Legislature sessions may be viewed live or tape delayed; however, the neighborhood boards are not live as individual producers attend and videotape the meetings. Tapes are later edited at the 'Olelo headquarters and then forwarded to 'Olelo for broadcast.

Silva described 'Olelo's proposal for a web cast pilot project for Neighborhood Boards. He explained that web casting will allow viewing of meetings on the internet, which provides a benefit of viewing neighborhood board meetings from anywhere around the world. 'Olelo also has the capability to archive video of meetings on a large server and is able to make viewing available online for one year. Meeting agendas and attachments may also be viewed with the video and may utilize an indexing feature that allows a viewer to click on a specific agenda item that will take the viewer directly to that specific part of the video. Other features include links for closed captioning, a search engine, and creating DVDs from the video.

A sample of the pilot project was shown on an overhead screen, using a video of a recent Waikiki Neighborhood Board meeting. Indexing was completed by NCO staff, Bryan Mick, which took approximately two hours to accomplish.

Silva advised that the City Council is currently using this system and that the State Legislature has expressed interest. Following a 60-day review, City Council launched this new service online last week and has been archiving since February 2007. Silva explained that 'Olelo may archive 500 meetings for one year to include the City Council, State Legislature and Neighborhood Board meetings.

Manke noted that currently there are no funds in the NCO budget to allow for this service; however, that this presentation is timely in that budget preparations are underway for FY09. Other considerations include manpower needed to complete indexing for every meeting agenda and the possibility of producers performing this role while taping at the meeting. The matter of who will be responsible for indexing would require further discussion.

In response to questions raised, the following information was provided by 'Olelo:

·     Cost for the Neighborhood Board System to utilize this service is approximately $20,000 per year or less.  The price is lowered with more government agencies subscribing to the service. 

·     City Council paid $40,000 as they are the only subscriber at this time. Council underwent a 6-month pilot program free-of-charge prior to subscribing, with 'Olelo indexing a good portion of the 60+ video. 

·     'Olelo is willing to provide NCO the same 6-month pilot program free-of-charge.

·     The NCO would not be limited to its current 12 boards that videotape as the program may include all 32 neighborhood boards for the same cost.

·     Start-up costs are absorbed by 'Olelo, including staffing costs, initial contracts and server space. Start-up time is 48 hours or less.

·     'Olelo is not responsible for videotaping and indexing, as it is the responsibility of the client (NCO). The client may choose to subscribe without the indexing feature and just utilize the "jump to" feature to view different portions of the meeting.

·     Video quality varies by individual producers with different factors to consider, such as room size, location, sound set-up, etc. 'Olelo will train producers.

Discussion continued. Commissioner Nekota stated that the Commission has been discussing the DVD archiving process for a while and that she is concerned that there may be a possibility of adding two more hours of work for the producers, for which the NCO may need to consider compensation.

Silva explained that producing videos is a real-time operation where a three hour meeting will take three hours to produce a tape. Tapes used for broadcasting by 'Olelo cannot be purchased at any store as they are expensive broadcast quality tapes that require expensive broadcast quality decks to transfer tapes to DVD.

Commissioner Sakamoto asked about the process of producing a DVD from the web cast. Lam of 'Olelo responded that downloading directly from the web can be done quickly and that the only computer requirement is the Windows Media Program. Commissioner Ching noted that in previous email with 'Olelo she was informed that the cost for DVD recordings can be done for less than $200. Silva responded in the affirmative, explaining that video that airs on 'Olelo channels may be captured by anyone as long as it is for personal use and for their own records. Lopez of 'Olelo explained that the service they proposed is not meant to be in lieu of utilizing broadcast quality tapes and equipment to transfer tapes to DVD. The value of the proposed web casting service may provide for DVD recording; however, it also offers indexing and other features. Lopez further explained that DVDs are not the best choice for storing video for long periods of time as DVDs are light sensitive and information will deteriorate over time.

IV.    FOR ACTION:

        A. Review Neighborhood Plan:  Deferred to end of agenda, as noted by Chair Tanimoto earlier in the meeting.

      1. Approval and adoption of current draft of the new Neighborhood Plan and Commission Rules and Procedures; release of adopted Plan, adopted Commission Rules, and August 15, 2007 memorandum from the Department of the Corporation Counsel.

      2. Scheduling of Public Hearings and adoption of a tentative timeline for adoption of the Neighborhood Plan and the Commission Rules and Procedures:

B.   Amending Videographer Contract re DVD Copy:  Sakamoto referred to the hand-out that was circulated which listed email dialogue from various producers with reference to producing DVDs from video taken at NB meetings.  Information is as follows:

    Tanimoto questioned the impact of this information and 'Olelo's proposal for webcasting. Sakamoto asked for input from the Commissioners and expressed her support for a 6-month pilot project. Apisa pointed out that there is a need to explore options and discuss staffing issues that may arise from the proposed service. It was agreed that the webcasting proposal be added to the next meeting agenda for consideration. Nekota moved that the topic of the videographer providing DVD copies be deferred and that the Commission explore other avenues available.  Motion carried by unanimous consent.

  C. Ewa Neighborhood Board No. 23 Request to Amend Initiative Petition to create 11 at-large seats (from the current 5 seats in Subdistrict 1 and 6 seats in Subdistrict 2):

      Manke gave a brief summary of recent action taken by the Ewa Neighborhood Board (NB) No. 23 relative to amending its Initiative Petition. A prior request came to the Commission for approval to create 11 at-large seats, following which public hearings were held with Nekota serving as the hearings officer. The recommendation was that this matter be referred back to the board for further deliberations. Once again, the board has taken action to support the same proposal for 11 at-large seats. Hargrave, Chair of the Ewa NB No. 23, noted that there was a unanimous vote to bring this request back to the Commission. Clarification was made that the board votes were 6 in favor and 3 against. Hargrave questioned as to whether the hearing process was necessary; Tanimoto stated that the first step in the process is publishing a public hearing notice in the newspaper 30 to 60 days in advance. Nekota moved to approve the request with a clause that the hearing be held at the Ewa NB meeting as there was confusion with the last public hearing that was held separate from the regular board meeting.  Heinrich suggested that a series of demographic information may assist with the request to amend the initiative petition, not just for the Ewa NB, but for all boards. Motion carried by unanimous consent, 8-0-0. Aye: Kaahanui, Nekota, Young, Tanimoto, Sakamoto, Apisa, Gall, and Ching. Tanimoto informed Hargrave that the Commission staff will proceed and coordinate with his Neighborhood Board on the publication of the public hearing notice and the actual hearing date.  Tanimoto requested that Nekota serve as the hearings officer again and she agreed.

  D. Complaint #0409-8A-13: A. Furuto vs. McCully/Moiliili Neighborhood Board No. 8:

      A. Furuto gave a brief explanation for his written complaint filed on September 9^th, 2004 stating that according to the Neighborhood Plan Section 3-9.2 Article 9. Vacancy – a board is mandated to fill its vacancies. He requested to be elected onto the board; however his request was not considered or voted on.

      Ron Lockwood, Chair of McCully/Moiliili NB No. 8, presented his remarks in response to the written complaint filed by Furuto on September 9^th, 2004 stating that everyone present at the August 5^th, 2004 meeting were considered. Further, Blayne Higa joined the board on August 5^th, 2004, contrary to the complaint by Furuto.

      After hearing testimony from Furuto and Lockwood, the Commission found that there were no grounds for the complaint based on the information provided and in accordance with Neighborhood Plan. The Commission determined that the board followed proper procedures. Young moved to dismiss the complaint. Motion carried by unanimous consent. Aye:  8-0-0, Kaahanui, Nekota, Young, Tanimoto, Sakamoto, Apisa, Gall and Ching.

  E. Executive Session:

      Gall moved that the Neighborhood Commission enter into executive session to consult with the boards' attorney(s) on questions and issues pertaining to the boards, powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities with respect to the Neighborhood Plan. Sakamoto seconded. There was no discussion.  Executive session began at 8:12pm and ended at 8:43pm.

  F. Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of July 23, 2007:

      Sakamoto moved to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of July 23, 2007 with the addition of an addendum as recommended by Ching. The addendum is a copy of email correspondence from Gerry Silva regarding DVD copying. Gall seconded. No discussion followed. The motion carried by unanimous consent, 8-0-0. Aye:  Apisa, Ching, Gall, Kaahanui, Nekota, Sakamoto, Tanimoto and Young.

        G. Approval of Special Meeting Minutes of July 30, 2007 – deferred to next meeting.

        H. Review Neighborhood Plan:

1. Approval and adoption of current draft of the new Neighborhood Plan and Commission Rules and Procedures; release of adopted Plan, adopted Commission Rules, and August 15, 2007 memorandum from the Department of the Corporation Counsel: 

    Young moved to approve and adopt the current draft of the new Neighborhood Plan and Commission Rules and Procedures; release of adopted Plan, adopted Commission Rules, and August 15, 2007 memorandum from the Department of the Corporation Counsel. Gall seconded.  Motion carried by unanimous consent. Aye:  8-0-0, Kaahanui, Nekota, Young, Tanimoto, Sakamoto, Apisa, Gall and Ching.

      2. Scheduling of Public Hearings and adoption of a tentative timeline for adoption of the Neighborhood Plan and the Commission Rules and Procedures: 

      Sakamoto moved to schedule a special meeting on September 5, 2007 at 5:30pm to discuss the draft proposal, scheduling of public hearings and adoption of a tentative timeline for adoption of the Neighborhood Plan and the Commission Rules and Procedures to be held. Motion carried by unanimous consent. Aye:  8-0-0, Kaahanui, Nekota, Young, Tanimoto, Sakamoto, Apisa, Gall and Ching.

V.     PUBLIC CONCERNS:

1. A. Furuto clarified that he is now more informed than he was at the time of the September 9^th, 2004 complaint.

2. C. Takamura requested that in addition to Manke, a Commissioner be assigned to attend Task Force meetings as attendance is declining quite rapidly.

3. L. Wong circulated copies of minutes with corrections and read verbatim a memo stating concerns about services provided by the Neighborhood Assistant (NA) for the Diamond Head Neighborhood Board. The NA has miscalculated votes and the minutes of three months are erroneous. She stated that the minutes appeared to be sanitized and requested reassignment of staff.

4. B. Miller, recording secretary for Diamond Head NB No. 5, noted that the NA for her board is an excellent employee of the City and County of Honolulu. With reference to miscalculated votes, she referred to Robert's Rules, Article 8, Section 46 – Voting which states:  Members have a right to change votes at any time before the final vote is announced.  Changes can only be made with assembly's permission. Miller clarified that if there was an objection to the vote count, 8 board members would come together as the assembly and agree to re-take the vote.

VI.    ADJOURNMENT: 

Without any objections, the meeting adjourned at 9:14 p.m.

        Submitted by:

        Wendy Matsukado, Secretary

        Neighborhood Commission Office