Council Meeting - Regular Meeting

2:22 – 5:05•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Aloha and good afternoon, everyone. It's 1.03 p.m. on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2026, and I call the Committee on Government Efficiency and Customer Services meeting to order. I'd like to welcome Council Members Cordero, Nishimoto, and Kia'aina. Committee Vice Chair Weyer is excused for the time being. Pursuant to section 92-3.7 Hawaii Revised Statutes, this meeting will be conducted as a remote meeting by Interactive Conference Technology with the following procedures in effect for the meeting. Members of the public will be allowed to provide oral testimony on all items on the agenda in pers

24:04•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Okay, thank you. Members, any questions? Council Member Cordero.

24:10 – 24:31•RCRadiant Cordero

Thank you, Chair DeSantis-Tam. Hi, Director Opunna. Thank you very much for the presentation. I really appreciate it. I have a question first off on the management phase. Where in the management phase tiers recognizes or duplicative requests and where does that get, I guess, taken care of?

24:50•RCRadiant Cordero

Yes, and are there other parts during within this management phase that requests may, or applications may get lost by chance?

25:15 – 25:42•RCRadiant Cordero

Understood. Yeah, I know sometimes it takes them a while to even just check back on their application. And speaking of checking back on applications, how many of the actual applications need actual corrections? I know that a lot of the times the corrections then are beholden on the applicants to make, right? And then that's what also holds up the process. So how many of those applications are needing? Do we have a percentage?

26:13 – 26:39•RCRadiant Cordero

That was interesting. I was looking at a Building Industry Association survey. I'm sure you saw that too. The one that came just yesterday, I think. And I saw how maybe, I think, 60 respondents said that their plans were approved without comments. So I was just wondering, like, does it just mean they just got it through easily?

26:49 – 27:20•RCRadiant Cordero

Okay, that's good. But also in the same survey, the respondents, albeit only 87 respondents of them, a lot of them said that it still feels slow and arbitrary and a lot of them, both commercial as well as residential, stated that it's 365 days and longer, yeah. So I guess if there were no corrections needed, I guess what's the issue there? Have we found that out through this process?

27:37 – 27:49•RCRadiant Cordero

one cycle reviews and a snapshot of that would show that some of our longest times depending if it's a commercial project. Page 13.

28:51•RCRadiant Cordero

Okay, understood. Thank you very much for those answers and clarification. Thank you, Chair.

28:59 – 29:19•EKEsther Kiaʻāina

Thank you, Director. I'm looking at the page with regard to the HUD grant, and I'm pleased that you guys sought that. I'm assuming this was a discretionary grant, correct? meaning it wasn't formula, you had to compete for it. Do you know?

30:02 – 31:41•EKEsther Kiaʻāina

And this is something that I guess I've been saying, not just for your department, but all departments, that despite the rhetoric that you hear in the news, The fact remains that there are hundreds of millions of dollars available for jurisdictions across the country, and I feel that we're competitive. Can I ask, moving forward, that I just encourage that you guys continue to hold the line and try to be in the game with regard to securing any additional funding? as you guys continue what you need to do and of course work with the delegation because they have the appropriations process and give

32:00 – 32:56•EKEsther Kiaʻāina

And I'm confident that if we work in tandem with those external parties who care, that we could be competitive. And for my colleagues, just to let you know, the Castle Foundation is a $2 million revolving loan fund for engineers, but most of their emphasis has been in the private industry. And that's because we never asked. And so they are aware of the program because they have the dollars to be able to lend out and we wanna be able to compete for those engineers. And I just feel that even if we're at a disadvantage on pay, I just think that we have a lot to offer and we need to go after them.

32:56 – 33:37•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Thank you. Members, any other questions? If not, I have several. Okay, starting with the idea of the backlog. The backlog is really applications in minus applications out that creates the backlog. On slides nine and 10, if you take them together, it indicates that the number of applications submitted is up 34% from about 7,700 to about 10,400. But the number, of building permits issued is only up 5%. So that would imply that the backlog is actually growing. How do you, is there a different way to characterize that?

34:22 – 34:48•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Okay, I guess we'll revisit that at that time. Speaking of CivCheck, back in January of 2026, DPP had an implementation plan for CivCheck, and in March 2026, we actually had a briefing here. At that time, it was indicated that CivCheck would be rolled out for commercial permits in summer of 2026. Obviously, now it's the fall.

36:13 – 36:36•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

On slide 17, it talks about over 130 submitted applications using CivCheck. And then slide 18 talks about CivCheck's performance based on a sample of 19 residential permits that shows an average of 40 days saved. How was this sample determined? Is this actually representative of what's going on with the 130 permits submitted?

37:03 – 37:31•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Now I do want to turn to H&L Build overall. One of the issues that was identified immediately after the rollout and then also at our March 2026 hearing that we had here was the mapping of old legacy data sets. Has that process been completed and is Posse still alive? I remember the Posse graveyard that somebody built in the office. Is it a Posse zombie? What's going on?

38:16 – 38:36•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Is there a plan to... Is there a plan to have data integration so that your staff doesn't have to pause what they're doing in H&L Build, log into Posse, find it in Posse, figure it out, and then go back? Is there a crosswalk or walkway that is being built?

40:03 – 40:31•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

I want to turn to Carasoft now. We've talked about Spiridian. Carasoft, according to the contract that was shared with us, they're required to submit semiannual end user satisfaction reports. What have these reports shown us? Are there actions that DPP has taken as a result of these? Are the end user satisfaction, is that going up or down? I mean, Council Member Cordero talked a little bit about the BIA survey. What are we seeing out in the wild?

40:43 – 41:16•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Okay. I mean, they're semiannual reports, so we should have at least one by now. I understand that it maybe takes them a little while since it's been live. Okay. Thank you. In the March presentation here, DPP described H&L Build as having future capabilities to integrate with other agencies. Have there been any other agencies that have plugged into H&L Build for their permit processes? I know BWS, other agencies have to do reviews.

41:39•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Are there any immediate plans for further integrations?

42:11 – 42:59•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

One last question, I'll turn it back over to the members. One of my beliefs about the permit backlog is there are so many different permit types and some of these, even small ones, if we can take them out of the queue and deal with them in some other way that's quicker, we can help the overall system. And one of them is our sign permits. I actually talked with a bar and restaurant owner that has struggled with this for much longer than he should have. In our March presentation, you mentioned changing some of the requirements and streamlining the process. Have we started doing this for other ty

43:46 – 44:08•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Because looking at this bar chart, you know, there's different categories that I would hope that we're able to cut down on some requirements for and just streamline so they're out of the queue, right? I mean, obviously a CP major is complicated and requires a lot of agency intervention, but site grading, as long as you're not doing anything too complicated, it's reasonably simple.

44:46•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Members, any other questions here? Council Member Cordero.

44:52 – 45:35•RCRadiant Cordero

Thank you, Chair DeSantis-Tam. Director, I have a question about the contracted systems that we have here. So I know for H&L Build, that's for this, we're within the three years that we're contracted for H&L Build right now, right? Are we on year one or two? Two, right? Three. Oh, three? Oh. We're around three to four. Oh wow, okay, yeah. I guess I time traveled or I stayed back in time. That's my fault. So I was wondering then with the rest of the funds that we're looking for, are they already in our, operating budget moving forward?

46:17•RCRadiant Cordero

I see. I noticed that Project Docs e-plans upgrade is not transferred from page 21 to page 22. Does that mean?

46:33 – 46:59•RCRadiant Cordero

Ah. OK. I see. Sorry, I'm just moving along with you. OK. And so I was wondering for each of these systems and contracts, are we able to, I guess, combine them as one system at all? Or are they just all just different systems that we just need to contract them?

47:26 – 47:43•RCRadiant Cordero

OK, understood. And thank you. I think you actually helped me get to what I was going to ask, if it was one integrated system that we could contract with instead. But you're right. They're all its own individual vendors. So thank you. OK, I understand. Thank you, Chair.

47:44 – 48:32•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

I'd like to welcome Council Member Weier to the chambers. Council Member Weier, any questions? I know you're catching up on this. Okay, in the meantime, going to slide 14, I wanted to ask about commercial permits, because this has been, I think, a big frustration out there, and I understand that we're really trying to work on the commercial permitting here. Based on this sort of apples to apples, at least reasonably apples to apples comparison between Q1 2024, Q1 2025, and Q1 2026, With the little footnote here, it says excluding this long lead project, the commercial average is still 493 days

49:10 – 49:46•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

And I suppose this is all good news because this is data on permits issued, which means these things did go out. But I guess what I'm trying to get at is assurances that within each category, within each apples to apples comparison, that the average permit, the ordinary permit is indeed going down. And I think the frustration that we're hearing from building industry folks is that, well, they're still waiting, you know, sometimes upwards of a year and it doesn't feel to them that all of these things are helping them. Maybe it's helping other folks, but.

50:28 – 50:54•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

On slide 15, it indicates there's almost 2,500 permits that have been idle for over a year. I understand there's many reasons for a permit to be idle. Is there, in your estimation, a cutoff at which point we'd say, you know, please respond to us within a month if you want this to keep going. If not, we're going to cancel it. Is that three years? Is it five years?

52:01 – 52:25•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

That's good to hear. I guess we'll check in on CivCheck by November 1st, and I guess also by November 1st, how we're doing on this backlog of the idle ones. I know under ROH 18, you have the authorization to cancel permits that have been idle for over a year. What other tools would be helpful for you to have to help cut down on this backlog?

53:26 – 53:42•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Let me ask a fundamental question. Back when we had paper permits, that made sense that DPP, the director signs off on it, and you got to go pick it up at the first floor of the Fosse building. Why does somebody need to physically pick up their permit after issuance in 2026?

54:23•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Because I guess it seems to me that you collect the payment up front now when somebody submits this, right?

54:39 – 54:52•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

I guess. How can we shift the burden from you guys waiting for them to pick it up to, we've done our job. Your permit is issued. Go for it. And if you don't do anything with it, that's your problem, not ours.

55:19 – 55:36•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Now you're speaking my language, because I feel like it's not just culture change, but we actually have to make some black and white changes. OK. Members, questions? Any other questions? Council Member Weyer.

55:38 – 56:05•MWMatt Weyer

Thank you, Chair. Aloha, Director. I appreciate the thoroughness of the report and presentation. I was just wondering if you could maybe simplify it for us. What do you see as kind of the next big steps that we need to accomplish to improve just permitting overall and then maybe lay it out from there, like additional steps?

56:42 – 56:55•MWMatt Weyer

I appreciate that. Because do we have current review cycle standards, like what people should expect, how many days for their review, maybe drainage, blood plane, all that different components?

57:33 – 57:50•MWMatt Weyer

Perfect. And then I'm just curious, as we're kind of doing this assessment, do you have any particular jurisdictions you think we should look at to see, not of course replicate necessarily, but things that have been useful or areas or locations that you think are doing things

58:42 – 59:10•MWMatt Weyer

Okay, I appreciate that. I was curious, because have you heard much about Fort Worth? system. I think I mentioned it before because HPR, NPR was doing an interview and wasn't even about that, but the interviewer was raving about stuff that they've been doing. And so that's, I was just curious, we're going to dive into that a little bit more, but good to know for Boston and I wasn't sure if there's like other cities or locations we're looking at but appreciate the insight.

59:52•MWMatt Weyer

Okay. No, that's good to know. As much as we have issues, some people are asking us for help, so I appreciate that. Thank you, Chair.

1:00:00 – 1:00:42•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Thank you. Members, any other questions? I have one last one. So in DPP's own admin rules, it talks about maximum length of time for a first pass review. And then the second pass review is supposed to be half the time. So projects under a million dollars is supposed to be 28 calendar days. Projects under $10 million, 42 calendar days. Looking at slide 13, electrical alone is violating this. Is it better to have a reasonable goal here in the rules, or do we just remove these entirely because we haven't hit these in 20 years?

1:01:53•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Has that cut down? Was it like 90 days before and electrical is now at 41? How's that contract? I guess this is my first time, I guess, thinking about this contract.

1:02:28•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

How has their performance been, and are they worth re-upping?

1:02:53•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

But if 41 days is unacceptable, I mean, is now not the time to throw them everything?

1:03:22•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

So are we going to let it expire? Are we going to have a contract extension? How can we fund this?

1:03:34•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Are there lapsing funds that we can use? I mean, how much was this contract overall? I mean, are we talking about $10 million or $500,000?

1:03:53•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Because, you know, if we can get the electrical down to, you know, 24 days or something, I mean, that would make a big difference.

1:04:13 – 1:04:28•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Members, any other questions? Okay, seeing none, why don't we turn to the voluminous public testimony that we're about to receive. Clerks, do we have any registered testifiers, either in person or online, for this item?

1:04:30 – 1:05:11•TSTyler Dos Santos-Tam

Okay, going once. Anyone in the chamber? Okay, sensing nobody. I guess testimony's closed now. Members, we're in discussion. Any discussion on this update from DPP? Okay, hearing none, I do wanna thank the department for coming in and giving us a little status update. I suppose it's like going to the doctor. We started off with this new system that we all need to get used to and hopefully we can move forward in a productive way. So I wanna thank the department for their efforts and let's keep on going and moving forward. Thank you. With that, we've exhausted our agenda and this meeting is adjo