January 2006 President's Message (Marianna Scheffer) Sunshine Week (Marianna Scheffer) Impact Fees Legislative Advocates (Marianna Scheffer) LWV-Hawaii County - Minutes for General Meeting - 10/8/05 (Maiden Temple) Hawaii County LWV Board Meeting - 12/9/05 (Marilyn Ednie) LWV of Hawai'i County Member Roster New LWV Website (Andrea Dean) Legislative Advocates Interviews

League of Women Voters of Hawaii County Minutes for General Meeting October 8, 2005, 11 a.m. Tex Drive In & Restaurant, Honoka'a Call to Order: Marianna Scheffer, 10:57 a.m. Members Present: George & Marian Wilkins, Sue Dursin, Marni Herkes, Maiden Temple, Sue Irvine, Andrea Dean, Marianna Scheffer, Lois Cecil, Gail Laros, Karen & Erik Hazelhoff, Glenys Spitze, Kay Uno Kaneko. Guest Speaker: Marianna Scheffer introduced the guest speaker, Barbara Bell, Director of the Hawai'i County Department of Environmental Development. Bell gave a brief history of the Department, which was established in 2000. She was the first director, starting in 2002, the same year the County Council adopted and the State Department of Health approved a Plan. She summarized the current situation: the landfill in Hilo will reach its estimated permitted capacity in March, 2006 and if it is closed and no other action has been taken, all waste will be trucked to West Hawai'i. She described her job as getting a sorting facility built in East Hawai'i. With a large graphic, she described the planned facility, which would provide stations for green waste as well as for sorting glass and cardboard for recycling; removing furniture, appliances, tires, paint, and batteries; and reloading all remaining trash in trucks for hauling to West Hawai'i. She reported that a compromise between the Administration and the Council was reached a few weeks prior to her presentation and it would allow soliciting bids for the facility and trucking. A lively question and answer session concluded with Bell's summary of things the League could do: recycle and buy items with less packaging; educate the community about the seriousness of the waste problem and ways to recycle and cut back on waste; and work on passing legislation, such as mandatory recycling of cars by requiring the payment of a significant deposit when purchasing a car. She handed out the 2005 Hawai'i Island Recycling Guide. Meeting Minutes: The Minutes for the General Meeting on August 20, 2005 were approved upon motion by Herkes and second by G. Wilkins. OLD BUSINESS/Reports: Cecil announced that National now wants to list the month and year each member joined League, so please put that information on the sign-up sheet. Irvine handed out a list of the Issues Recommended for Continued Support/Action adopted by LWV of Hawaii County. Scheffer distributed a hand-out regarding domestic violence services provided by Hawaii County Police. Herkes reported there have been 100 graduates of the Drug Court, with no repeat arrests of those graduates. Another graduation ceremony will occur on October 22, 2005. Friends of Drug Court is a volunteer organization supporting the Drug Court. Laros handed out the Position Statement of Hawai'i Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, available on the website: www.hcalg.org. Dean reported on the Legislative Advocates project, summarizing the procedure for interviews and listing the legislators who already are assigned for an interview and those needing to be interviewed. Dean and Herkes reported on the training for facilitators for the Community Development Plan community meetings and encouraged participation. Dean provided a summary of the history of Hawaii Clean Elections, announced the name has been changed to Voter Owned Elections, "VOE," and handed out sign-up sheets to support VOE. Dean announced that the website should be completed in 1-2 weeks and will use new technology that allows comments, discussion, additions, and links to news articles. Herkes moved that the LWV of Hawaii County, State LWV, and LWV of Honolulu County each pay one-third of the expenses for the website for the first year. Second by Kaneko was withdrawn after discussion and Dean agreed to pay for the expenses in advance, to be reimbursed by LWV of Hawaii County. Herkes then moved that LWV of Hawaii County pay for the first year's expenses for the website, estimated to total $200, approximately $76 of which has already been paid. Seconded by Kaneko and PASSED. Dean reminded members about D-Net, which provides information about candidates during presidential election years. “Dnet.org” presently opens the National LWV website. NEW BUSINESS: Irvine announced that Noelle Rodrigues, former LWV of Hawaii County member, asked on behalf of Global Hope, if LWV of Hawaii County would co-sponsor a meeting regarding the 2004 elections. Irvine will follow-up by asking Bob Zimmerman if he will work with Noelle. Dean added that Global Hope had worked on the Hawaii Clean Elections campaign. Meeting adjourned at 1:35 p.m. (Minutes prepared by Maiden Temple, Secretary Pro Tem)

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