Establishing a $20,000 penalty for transient accommodations without a permit and having a managing director handle county operations instead of the mayor are among proposed charter amendments to be discussed at a Maui County Council committee meeting Tuesday.

The council’s Policy, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee also will take up a proposed amendment to have claims against the county filed with the Department of the Corporation Counsel instead of the current practice of having them filed with the Office of the County Clerk. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the eighth-floor Council Chambers of the Kalana O Maui Building.

Committee Chairwoman Yuki Lei Sugimura said her committee has until July 2 to hear proposed charter amendments. If the committee recommends approval, the amendment resolutions would advance to the full council for two readings. The resolutions would need two readings because they are charter amendments, Sugimura said. Usually, resolutions only take one vote by the full council for approval.

The resolution also needs the approval of six council members, or a super majority, Sugimura added.

The full council would need to submit the amendments to the County Clerk’s office by Aug. 23 to be able to make it in time to be on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.

Council Chairman Mike White is seeking higher penalties for transient accommodations doing business without a permit to provide a “strong deterrent” against violations of the county’s comprehensive zoning ordinance, according to a description in the resolution.

Currently, the maximum penalty for operating a transient accommodation without a permit is $1,000. But the amendment would increase it to $20,000, plus $10,000 per day if the unlawful operation persists.

Transient accommodations include transient vacation rentals, bed-and-breakfast homes, short-term rental homes and other categories of transient accommodation established by ordinance.

If voters approve the amendment, it would go into effect on Jan 2.

Council Member Kelly King has proposed an amendment to reorganize the county’s executive branch and establish an Office of the Managing Director.

In 2016, a similar charter amendment was proposed, but it was voted down in the council’s Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. So, the amendment never made it on the general election ballot that year.

Voting against the measure included some current council members: Bob Carroll, Stacy Crivello and Riki Hokama. Former Council Members Gladys Baisa and Don Couch also voted against the measure.

Voting for the measure were Council Members Mike Victorino, who headed the committee at the time, as well as Elle Cochran and Don Guzman. Victorino has been out of office for nearly a full term because of term limits. He, Cochran and Guzman are running for mayor this year.

White also voted in favor in 2016.

A Special Committee on County Governance had been formed at that time and endorsed a county manager form of government.

According to the current proposed charter amendment, the managing director would be hired by the council and the mayor through a recruitment and selection process involving the mayor, council chairperson and a three-member citizen group, according to a description of the amendment in the resolution.

The managing director would function as the county’s chief operating officer with the mayor to function as the county’s chief executive officer, the resolution says.

The managing director would prepare and submit an operating budget and capital program to the council, rather than having the mayor do so, as has been the ongoing practice. The managing director would control, manage and execute the annual budget and capital program.

Another change would be having the managing director prepare and submit periodic and special reports from all county departments concerning their functions and operations.

If the charter amendment were approved, it would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021.

Sugimura said the third proposed amendment her committee will hear was suggested by the Department of the Corporation Counsel and introduced by White.

It would have Maui County mirror the City and County of Honolulu and have legal claims filed with the Department of Corporation Counsel instead of the County Clerk’s Office.

Currently, the Clerk’s Office forwards the claims to other county agencies and provides copies to a third-party administrator, the mayor, corporation counsel and the council chairperson, according to the resolution.

Then, the Clerk’s Office has no further role in the claim process other than to forward requests and communications seeking clarification and information on or the status of the deposition of the claim to county attorneys, the resolution says.

The amendment would help streamline the litigation process, provide more clarity to claimants and eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies, the resolution says.

If approved, the amendment would be effective Jan. 2.

The committee’s meeting agenda and proposed charter amendments can be found at mauicounty.us/agendas/.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

* This article includes a correction from the original published on Saturday, June 2, 2018. A proposed Maui County Charter amendment proposes higher penalties for transient accommodations doing business without a permit. The headline published was incorrect. The Maui News apologizes for the error.