2023-02-17 Merit Appeals Board Minutes

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Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 The biggest update is going to come from our Recruitment and Examination Division. I know it was requested to keep it short, but I felt that these were some important points for the Merit Appeals Board because there's a lot going on with recruitment and examination. As far as personnel, Stacie Iwasaki was promoted to the new HR Program Specialist position in recruitment that was effective February 1st We participated in a pretty big event out in Puna. It was Revitalize Puna. We had a booth out there for recruitment. It was very successful. It was a very busy event. We had a lot of people come through and ask a lot of questions, so that was a very positive opportunity for recruitment. We were finally able to connect with UH -Hilo. We had a great discussion with the head of UH and we got some opportunities that were discussed. We want to partner and create internship programs. I proposed, not only having a relationship related to recruitment but just building a relationship as an employer with the university to participate in other types of events—speaking engagements. And, as a result of that meeting, the director of the business school reached out to me and asked if I'd sit on the Advisory Board for the College of Business and Economics. And so, I accepted—and so, they're going to be coordinating that. So, I thought that was a very (inaudible) meeting and we're all very excited of our future with UH -Hilo. I also want to highlight the enhancement of our postings on social media. We've done a bunch of different things. I am excited to announce that we participated in our very first career fair at the University of Washington yesterday via the Handshake Program. I was pleasantly surprised that we did between Michelle and myself—we had one-on-one sessions with, I'd say, over 20 students who were very interested in specific positions with the County and are very motivated to move to the Big Island. So, we had the one-on-one sessions were 10 -minutes each. So, she had her own 12 and I had my own 12. And so, the discussions were very positive, they were very motivated, and I, kind of, got a feel—when I have these discussions with students, I promote the County as a community employer—community focused employer. And each of the students that I talked to yesterday, they were all very excited about that. So, nothing about salaries or compensation or retirement. They were just excited at the mission of the County. And so, that was very hopeful and very positive. MR. KUNZ: I have one quick question. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Sure. MR. KUNZ: Not that it matters, but were there any local kids? Page 7