What are these questions on the back of my ballot?
Kauaʻi
County of Kauaʻi voters come Nov. 3 will choose among six obscure amendments to the Kauai County Charter. Three of them are arguably housekeeping measures that clean up or make minor repairs to language already in the charter. The three others are more important because they rectify defects in how the county chooses high-level managers for critical agencies. But none of those three changes is dramatic or would make much operational difference to the affected police and water departments or the county engineer’s office. No organized process attempts to educate voters on these measures, and none is dramatic enough to have spawned any organized advocacy or opposition.
Proposed Amendments to the Charter of the County of Kauaʻi
Question 1: KAUAI, Relating to Negligence Claims: Shall Section 23.06, establishing a time limit for negligence claims against the county, be amended to comply with state law?
A “yes” vote supports the proposed amendment to set a time limit for filing negligence claims against the county.
A “no” vote opposes the proposed amendment to set a time limit for filing negligence claims against the county.
Question 2: KAUAI: Relating to Police Chief Qualifications: Shall police chief qualifications (Section 11.04) be increased to require fifteen (15) years law enforcement experience and a bachelor’s degree?
The Police Commission decided to ask for the change after members realized that although Chief Todd Raybuck, who was hired more than a year ago, more than meets that standard, the actual language of the charter did not require it.
A “yes” vote supports requiring that the chief of police have 15 years of actual experience as a police officer and a bachelor’s degree.
A “no” vote means they should not require that the chief of police have 15 years of experience as a police officer and a bachelorʻs degree.
Question 3: KAUAI: Relating to Ethics Disclosures: Shall the list of county officials required to file ethics disclosures (Section 20.04) be expanded to include the managing director, agency and division heads, and regulatory employees?
The problem, said a member of the county Charter Review Commission, is that when the managing director’s office was created a few years ago, officials simply forgot to put in ethics disclosure language.
A “yes” vote would support the requirement to file ethics disclosures by county managing director’s office and other top officials
A “no” vote would oppose the requirement to file ethics disclosures by county managing director’s office and other top officials
Question 4: KAUAI: Relating to Prosecutor Vacancy: Shall the mayor, with the approval of the Council, fill a vacancy of less than 18 months in the Prosecuting Attorney's position if a first deputy is unable to fill the position (Section 9A.05)?
County Prosecutor Justin Kollar said the language is necessary to clarify who could take over if the prosecutor departs and creates a vacancy of less than 18 months.
A “yes” vote slightly alters the time limit for filling a vacancy in the office of prosecuting attorney.
A “no” vote opposes the altering of the time limit for filing a vacancy in the office of prosecuting attorney.
Question 5KAUAI: Relating to County Engineer Qualifications: Shall an individual who has extensive work and supervisory experience in an engineering or related field also be qualified to serve as the County Engineer, head of the Department of Public Works?
The county has had trouble attracting and retaining qualified people in this position because the current charter requires that they be licensed engineers and county executive salary schedules have proven insufficient in attracting candidates.
A “yes” vote supports this proposed amendment that would affect qualifications for the county engineer.
A “no” vote opposes this proposed amendment and would keep the requirement of being a licensed engineer in place for the position of county engineer.
Question 6: KAUAI: Relating to Water Board Manager Qualifications: Shall an individual who has extensive work and supervisory experience in an engineering or related field also be qualified to serve as manager and chief engineer of the Department of Water Supply?
The county has had trouble attracting and retaining qualified people in this positions because the current charter requires that they be licensed engineers and county executive salary schedules have proven insufficient in attracting candidates.
A “yes” vote supports this proposed amendment that would affect qualifications for the manager and chief engineer of the water department.
A “no” vote opposes this proposed amendment and would keep the requirement of being a licensed engineer in place for the position of manager and chief engineer.