"Consider a county manager style of Government..." 'Glenn Mickens' (Guest blogger)

 We would like to welcome Kauai resident Glenn Roger Mickens as our newest guest blogger.
Glenn has lived on Kauai  with his wife Ruth for the last 26 years. Born July 26, 1930 in Wilmar, California, USA) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched in four games (two of which were starts) for the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers. He also played for five years in Japan, from 1959 until 1963 for the Kintetsu Buffaloes. There, he compiled a record of 45–53 with a 2.54 ERA.  Glenn also  served in the Army for 2 years and coached baseball at UCLA for 25 years. 
Last but not least Glenn would really like to see Kauai give the county manager style of Government a chance.

Consider a county manager style of Government

Please join Mr. Mickens in testimony
tomorrow at the Kauai county building
to help ensure a county manager
system of government gets on
the  ballot for the next election....
or email testimony to;
counciltestimony@kauai.gov

First I want to sincerely thank  Kaua'i Council Chair Rapozo and Committee Chair Chock for their hours of work in gathering information on this County Manager style of government.

They both went to the ICMA conference in Seattle and with a lot of work going to many meetings and talking to City and County Managers from all over the country, they accumulated material that should be highly valuable to those who need to know just how much good this style of government can do for any municipality.

 And remember that a Council/Manager system is being used in places with a population as small as 5000 so there is certainly no problem with it working on Kauai.

For the viewing public who are not familiar with the Manager type of government, let me give you a brief overview of what it is and what it does.

The Manager is hired by the Council and must have a wide range of stringent qualifications to get the job. The Mayor is still elected by the people but will sit as one of the 7 council members with 1 of the votes on all issues. He will still have all the civic duties he has had in the past. 

Obviously, one can see that this change alone will immediately stop the finger pointing and turmoil associated with the administrative and the legislative bodies--a HUGE asset for getting the work done for our people. 

The Manager will appoint all department heads and oversee the selection process of the commission members. 

Basically the Manager is given the powers that were entrusted to the Mayor but now a person who is responsible for a $200 million budget will have the qualifications to make decisions affecting the county unlike a Mayor who is elected because of his/her popularity and is 30 years or older and has lived on Kauai for a minimum of 3 years. 

And, the Manager is not going to hire people for political reasons as he well knows that if the jobs that the council and Mayor give him are not properly done he can be fired. 

The 23 year old Kilauea gym roof leak is one of the most glaring problems that would never happen under a Manager as the Manager would have long been fired for any problem lasting a fraction of that time. 

With a County Manager we would have, amongst so many other good things, someone who is accountable for what happens. 

Just put this issue on the ballot and let the people decide what they want---just an up or down vote.

Epilogue;
Kauai residents you can either testify in person or send an email today for the county council meeting tomorrow.
Send email testimony to;
counciltestimony@kauai.gov
You can send the same simple words I sent, at this point it is important to  just get it on the ballot for the upcoming election.

Here's what I sent, send in the same email just using your name instead of mine;

I James "Kimo" Rosen am in favor of putting on the ballot for the general election
a county manager position.

I believe it's worth a try. It worked very well in my former home of Homer Alaska.

Mahalo for your considerations,

James "Kimo" Rosen

Remember it's not too late, send email testimony to;

counciltestimony@kauai.gov

P.S.
Check out Glenn's Wikipedia page;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Mickens



Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared from the internet...