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Council confirms majority of mayoral cabinet nominees, approves grants and budget measures
Summary
At its Jan. 22 meeting the Hawaii County Council confirmed most of the administration's cabinet nominees (including directors of parks, planning, public works and finance), approved multiple grant resolutions and advanced numerous budget bills on first reading.
The Hawaii County Council on Jan. 22 confirmed a slate of mayoral nominees and approved a series of budget and grant measures covering housing, public safety and parks.
Confirmed nominees included Clayton Honma as Director of Parks and Recreation, Jeffrey Darrow as Director of Planning, Renee Shonas as Corporation Counsel, William Burhante Jr. as Managing Director, Diane Nakagawa as Director of Finance, Benson Medina as Director of Research and Development, and Hugh Ono as Director of Public Works.
On the consent/resolution side the council adopted a string of grant authorizations and appropriations at the meeting, including grants to support homeless services (Resolution 46-25, later postponed for further review), police safety grants, sustainability pilot funding (Urban Sustainability Directors Network), and housing and park project appropriations. Several budget bills and first readings passed, including funding for the Waikush Stream mitigation project and other capital and operating adjustments.
Council members generally praised nominees' professionalism and public-service records while asking routine questions about staffing, implementation plans and budgets. Votes on most confirmations were unanimous or near-unanimous; where additional scrutiny occurred it was tied to procedural or conflict-of-interest questions (see separate article on the contested Environmental Management nomination).
What this means: the confirmed directors will lead their departments during a busy period of capital projects, waste- and wastewater-related planning, and county grant programs. The council left unresolved the contested Sagawa confirmation and the postponed homeless-grants package, both scheduled for reconsideration at a special meeting on Jan. 31.
Sources: confirmations, roll-call votes and adopted resolutions recorded in the Jan. 22 council meeting transcript.
