2023-07-11 Salary Commission Minutes

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Salary Commission July 11, 2023 CHR. PAVAO: Yeah. Basically, what it is, is that there are—especially the excluded management, which I am, I work with the State of Hawaii and I am in an excluded management position. They have a lot of excluded management positions—salaried employees in the County that are making more than the deputy directors. Even my own salary, I'm an EMS, I know that I make more than almost all the County department directors, which (inaudible). MS. NAKAMA: Well, excuse me CHR. PAVAO: So, it's just getting equity with the pay because you get subordinates making more than the supervisors. We had the same problem with the current police department. They can't hire a deputy chief because all the assistant chiefs and the majors make more than the deputy chief. MS. NAKAMA: Okay. But what I want is get back to the communication so you can explain it to me. It says—Corp. Counsel department head salary 153,228; deputy salary 145,968; and it says highest paid subordinate salary as of July 1st, '23 is 83,388. Are we looking at these as increases or this is what they are being paid? MR. PATEL: Chair, if I can. This is Acting Director Patel. So, to answer your question Commissioner Nakama, that is the current salary of the highest paid civil service subordinate. So what you see in the third column there, those are the current salaries for the highest civil service subordinate for each department. That those numbers do not include the salaries for appointed subordinates. The reason being that there should really never be an inversion because the appointing authority takes that salary, essentially. So, if we go back to what the Commission's charge is under the Charter, right, and you have it in your green folders as well. If you want to look at it while I go through it. Turn to page 204-1. We're looking at the procedures for salary adjustments. So, under the Charter, the Commission reviews and shall compensate elected and appointed officials, directors and deputy directors so that their total salaries and benefits have a reasonable relationship to compensation in the public and private sectors. So, to Commissioner Namahoe's point and also Commissioner Farahi, we need to get a baseline idea of what we're looking at, and we may have our own prejudices but at that point, if part of what you're considering is reasonable for a department head vis-a-vis the civil service subordinate is their duties. At that point, perhaps, you could invite those appointing authorities to come and then you'd have an opportunity to ask your questions and have them establish what the connection is. So, if we start with the charge of the Commission, you have some baseline data in this communication that we're currently looking at. Those show some inversion for some departments. Then, if you turn to the second attachment, Commissioner Nelson also requested Page 16