State bills could impact police chief, liquor director

The Garden Island
Saturday, February 6, 2010

Paul C. Curtis

LIHU'E — A bill still alive at the state Legislature if made law would allow county mayors to remove county liquor control administrators even if that removal is contrary to county charters.

Under The Charter of the County of Kaua'i, the Liquor Control Commission has the authority to hire and fire the director of the county Department of Liquor Control, currently Eric Honma.

Senate Bill 2179, Senate Draft 1, crossed over to the state House of Representatives on Wednesday, and as currently worded would allow county mayors to remove county liquor administrators "notwithstanding charter provisions."

Honma did not want to comment on the bill for the purpose of this story Thursday.

A similar proposal also moving in the state Senate, Senate Bill 2177, Senate Draft 1, reads, in part, "A chief of police shall be appointed and may be removed as prescribed by the charter of each county."

A state House version of the same bill, called "companion" legislation, reads the same.

The county charter states, "The chief of police shall be appointed by the police commission. He may be removed by the police commission only after being given a written statement of the charges against him and a hearing before the commission."

Kaua'i Police Department Chief Darryl Perry, who has eight months remaining on his current, three-year contract, said he is against both the House and Senate versions of the bills pertaining to police chiefs.

"I am opposed to both bills because under HRS 52D.2, the Police Commission maintains the authority to select the chief," said Perry.

"If any of these two bills were to become law, then the County Charter would establish 'home rule' on the selection process. I am not opposed to home rule if used appropriately," said Perry.

"Under the bills, theoretically the County Charter could keep the current practice in place, but that would be highly unlikely," Perry said.

"A reasonable person would conclude that it would change into another format, possibly giving the mayor the authority to select the chief of police as was announced in the recent Charter Commission meeting that was postponed.

"If this comes to fruition, then by extension the chief's position would certainly become politicized. And that should be of concern to every community member," said Perry.

State Sen. J. Kalani English, D-Hana, Upcountry Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i, is chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation, Intergovernmental Relations and International Affairs, the committee that amended and approved the home-rule package of bills championed by the state's four mayors as the Council of Mayors.

He is also a former member of the Maui County Council, and is a big fan of home rule, or allowing the counties to govern matters pertaining to the individual counties.

"We need to allow for more home rule. I think that home rule is very important, and being answerable to someone (the mayor) rather than a group of someones (various boards and commissions with authority to hire and fire department heads)" is important as well, said English.

"And department heads are there to implement policies of the policy-maker," so it makes sense to give the mayors authority to hire and fire all their department heads, said English, not just some of them as is the current system on Kaua'i.

English also offered a bit of a history lesson, saying that, at statehood, the counties were responsible for hospitals, courts and police departments, then made a deal for the state to take over those functions, with the counties offering up traffic fines to help pay for those functions.

"I recognize that counties have fully matured and are capable of acting as sovereign entities," said English.

The House version of the bill on Jan. 20 was referred to the Committee on Public Safety, apparently to die in committee. The Senate version passed the full Senate on third and final reading and was transmitted to the House Thursday.

• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com.

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