2020-02-12 Fire Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Session Minutes February 12, 2020 Page 3 wages and all others. Every day, they have to make up for the budget shortfall. It is the Mayor's budget, and he delegates it to the Finance Director. For at least the past 10 years, the budget has been status quo. They put in supplemental requests for a lot of their apparatus. All departments have been a status quo. People look at overtime as negative, but they cannot cut overtime for required services. For 10 years, they have had the same overtime rate and have the same overtime dollar amount. They are not funded with the appropriate amount. Commissioner St. Ambrogio stated that for the past two years, she sat in County Council meetings when the Chief explained their needs. The Council knows pretty much all the events that are taking place that need to be covered. Even if they give a public statement, she doesn't think it makes an impact. Yet, the public expects services, so they can't back away. Commissioner Henkel asked if the current shortfall is because of the lower east zone eruption. Chief stated that they lost real property taxes because of that. ✓ FY 2020/2021: They are still waiting for the final budget from Finance. Alternative Funding and Grants: Chief Rosario stated that BC Bergin has contacts, and through his advocacy and hard work, an anonymous donor donated an apparatus worth approximately half a million dollars. This individual saw the benefit for the North Kona, South Kohala, and North Kohala areas, and is now donating another apparatus. BC Bergin also helped to get other equipment from other private donors. They are still waiting for word on the USDA USFS Wildland $50,000 matching grant. Application was submitted for the USFA FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant. They are working on the Shippers Wharf Grant which is for rescue boat repairs. • Human Resources Division: They have internal recruitment within the Department for Battalion Chief of Operations and WSO IV. They have Open - Competitive Recruitment for WSO I and Dispatcher I. They have Internal Recruitment within the County for HR Assistant. Emergency Operations Division: Chief Okinaka continues work on finalizing their Personnel Accountability Program. East Hawaii has seen an uptick in structure fires in Puna. In West Hawaii, they continue to monitor the Coconut Grove sinkhole. BC Kim of Special Operations took a voluntary demotion to Rescue Captain at the Waiakea Fire Station. With the passing of Captain Mahon, they lost their dive instructor. Two personnel were identified to manage the program. 0 Support Services Division