Court order delays
Big Isle shutdowns
A hearing will be held on how a Supreme
By Rod Thompson and Joan Conrow
Court ruling affects contracted services
Star-BulletinHILO -- Eighty-one-year-old Hanako Yoshimura hardly goes out anymore because she is partially disabled. But she was happy that she can still count on the county-contracted bus that takes her on weekly shopping trips. George Yokoyama, whose private, nonprofit Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council provides the transportation, said many elderly can't afford car insurance. "That (transportation) is a lifeline for them."
The Big Island's elderly have a week's breathing space as a result of a court order preventing shutdown of county elderly programs and other contracted services due to privatization concerns.
Circuit Judge Riki May Amano granted the restraining order yesterday against 24 private agencies and companies and three public employee unions until a hearing next Tuesday.
The county feared the state Supreme Court's ruling, ordering an end to the operation of the Kona landfill by a private contractor, would spill over to other contracted services.
On Kauai, Mayor Maryanne Kusaka's staff today was expected to present her with a plan for transferring the Kekaha landfill to the county after a judge last week ruled that it cannot be run under a private contract with Sanifill Hawaii.
The plan is to include a schedule for obtaining state and federal permits and a process for buying equipment and training workers. Estimated operating costs, and how to come up with the money, are big issues, county officials said. Some peg the cost at more than $5 million for the next two years, not including insurance or claims that may be paid to Sanifill.
The plan will be submitted this week to Circuit Judge George Masuoka, who is overseeing the transfer.
"We're hoping to get a fair judgment on what he will say will be a reasonable time for transition," said Millie Wellington, county public information officer.
County officials continue to scrutinize some private 150 contracts valued at $140 million to see which must be canceled, and what the ramifications of that action might be.
"Everybody's getting real jumpy," Wellington said. "On some of the federal contracts, if we don't follow through, the county may have to pay back the money. That's scary."
Without the Big Island restraining order, about 13 contracts for the elderly would have been jeopardized, said county Office of Aging head Bill Takaba. "The impact would have been quite enormous," he said.
Other contracts affect public safety, such as the one with H.S.I. Corp., which provides security guards to watch police holding cells.
"Reassigning shift officers to guard cellblocks would severely degrade the department's ability to respond to calls, which are already 'stacked' and prioritized for response even under full staffing," the county's suit says.
Another area covered is construction contracts, such as the one proving safety improvements on the steep road in Waipio Valley.
"This road drops 1,000 feet in about 4,000 feet, and the county workers are not able to perform this work," the suit said.
Deputy county attorney Ted Hong said there are 31 contracts covered by the 24 agencies.
His office is reviewing more contracts and seeks to have the court cover about 60-70 others, he said.
These are most of the companies and agencies whose contracts are protected by a Big Island court order: What the court order covers
SOCIAL SERVICES
Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council: transportation for elderly and others, "meals on wheels"
PUBLIC SAFETY AND HEALTH
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
