2021-08-16 Merit Appeals Board Minutes

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Merit Appeals Board August 16, 2021 MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. We have four votes. Motion carried. I'm now going to ask that the Board members and Ms. Furman remain in executive session. And all others if they could exit just for a few minutes while we have our discussion in executive session and we'll call you back once we're done—and back in open session. Thank you. There's a reason I'm going to explain to the Board members. Let me know when I can start. RECESS: The Chair called for a recess at 10:08 a.m. to convene executive session. RECONVENE: The meeting reconvened at 10:30 a.m. in open session. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. We are now back in open session at 10:30 a.m. with four members present—Mr. Ventura, from Kailua-Kona sitting in via Zoom; Ms. Cabanas, Ms. Mathews, and Mr. Kunz at the Hilo Council Chambers; Secretary -Reporter Glynis Yamada; Mr. Robert Perreira, Appellant; Relley Aracely manning the computers; via Zoom we have Ms. Heroldt from the Office of the Corporation Counsel; Ms. Amanda Furman from the State Attorney General's Office; Ms. Dee Ann Sadayasu from the Department of Human Resources; and Ms. Nancy Cook -Lauer from West Hawaii Today. Welcome, everybody. Mr. Perreira, you indicated on your appeal form to this Board that you wish to have an open hearing. Do you still wish to proceed in the open meeting? MR. PERREIRA: Yes, I do. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Thank you very much. The Board received the County of Hawai`i's memorandum regarding the Merit Appeals Board's lack of jurisdiction on June 8, 2021. Because the memorandum had not been timely served on Mr. Perreira, the Board granted an extension of the deadlines for Mr. Perreira to file his responsive brief and the County to file its reply. On July 6, 2021, the Board received Appellant's position statement on whether the Merit Appeals Board has jurisdiction in this appeal. On July 8, 2021, the Board received the County of Hawai`i's reply memorandum regarding the Merit Appeals Board's lack of jurisdiction. The briefs of the parties show that there is a controversy over whether this Board has the authority to hear the appeal. The County takes that position that this Board does not have jurisdiction to hear this appeal. In short, the County has argued that the question of whether a fair and transparent selection process took place is one that should be addressed by the administrative and/or judicial process explicitly set forth in the Uniform Information Practices Act, not by this Board. Page 5