2022 Report of the Cost of Government Commission

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ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS County Managing Director/Department Head Hiring Recommendation: Consider modifying the current system of Mayoral appointments of the Managing Director and department heads to a more permanent employment arrangement hired by County Council members to improve leadership/management stability, corporate knowledge, morale, continuity and efficiency. Evaluation: While there are various reasons for frequent turnover within several key Hawai `i County positions, (most notably DPW; six times in the past six years) one solution that our Commission has discussed to address this County -wide inefficiency is to consider the hire of a long-term Managing Director. The National Association of Counties, of which Hawaii County is a member, has recently reported that 43 percent of some 1,322 U.S. counties have an appointed administrator, this is an increasing national trend. Most of these positions are county board/council appointed, with a small number appointed by elected county executives. The benefits include: 1. The County Council, having broader, island -wide scope and experience, is potentially better suited to hire a Managing Director to run the business of the County. 2. The Managing Director would hire department heads, potentially minimizing politically motivated appointments and maintaining consistency beyond four year Mayoral terms. Department heads would be employed for their expertise, education and experience and similarly could be terminated, if warranted, without initiating a recall process for the Mayor. 3. Longer tenures would bring consistency and a longer view of changes needed by the County and the time to accomplish big projects like public works, wastewater, roads, building hospitals etc. This could result in funds being more efficiently spent. This arrangement existed at one point in Hawaii County's history and has been considered across Maui and Kauai County recently to address the similar struggles they have encountered of consistency and inefficiencies in their government structure. There has been disagreement as to which system best serves its constituents. Personnel stability, management efficiency and political influence remain major sticking points not heavily favoring either side. Establishing a major, admittedly controversial revision to an approach such as delineated in Appendix A may face significant political roadblocks, the most significant would be the need for a charter change and the time required to implement if/when it were to be approved. There may be other more tenable approaches that could be tried. 28 2022 Cost of Govemment Commission —County of Hawai'i - Final Report