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The Honorable Chairman Gary Safarik <br />and Members of the County Council <br />Page 5 <br />March 1. 2005 <br />Fire Department: To enhance the equitable distribution ofpublic safety services, the Fire <br />Department is proposing a major reorganization to improve its operational efficiency. Part of <br />this is downgrading four Assistant Chief positions to Battalion Chiefs and the creation of two <br />new Battalion Chiefs. These six Battalion Chiefs will provide 24 hour operations command <br />and oversight for the two respective battalions. Three will be based in East Hawaii and three <br />in West Hawaii. Seven new Fire Fighter positions will be covered by State EMS funds and <br />assigned to Hawaiian Ocean View Estates. In addition, an Account Clerk is badly needed to <br />assist with personnel and payroll functions in the department. <br />New equipment items included in the budget are a fire brush truck, ladder /aerial platform <br />vehicle for West Hawaii, and a replacement fire pumper for South Kona. These three <br />vehicles will cost a total of nearly $1.5 million. <br />Parks and Recreation: P &R is one department that has been heavily impacted by the years <br />of difficult fiscal times. New positions are proposed this year to improve the equitable <br />distribution of'parks services and stewardship of public assets. <br />A new Yz time Lifeguard I is included for the Aquatics Division. Also for this division, three <br />positions are being converted from temporary to permanent and two more positions have their <br />time elements increased. This will alleviate a critical shortage of personnel at our swimming <br />pools, and improve service to the public countywide. <br />In addition, a new Park Caretaker I position to take care of the existing Pu`u Nui Park and the <br />new Ho`oko Street Park in Waikoloa is created. Due to the increased number of animals and <br />new enclosures at the Pana`ewa Rainforest Zoo, a Zoo Animal Keeper II is necessary to <br />continue to provide daily maintenance of the zoo animals and their care. An Account Clerk in <br />Administration will provide support to divisions and increased service to the public. <br />Planning: The Planning Department is a key department that has been under - funded. To <br />address administrative project priorities, three new positions are proposed. They will speed <br />up the review of building and other permits, and make the department more effective and <br />efficient. <br />Police: To enable the Police Department to meet its legal mandate of enforcing our laws, <br />four new positions are proposed. These are necessary to address the situation in Dispatch, <br />where burnout and worker's compensation are taking a heavy toll because of the workload <br />and the stress level of the job. <br />Prosecuting Attorney: Because of the increase in police officers in prior years, more cases <br />are being referred to the Prosecuting Attorney and more Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys are <br />needed to handle the workload. The addition of a new Circuit Court judge in 2005 will also <br />increase the amount of work. One of the two new deputies will be assigned to Hilo and one to <br />Kona. In addition, several grant - funded positions are being converted to County funding this <br />year. These all address the Prosecuting Attorney's legal mandate to prosecute crimes. <br />