Proposed Findings of Fact by the 2024 County of Hawaii Salary Commission Dated August 27, 2024

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PROPOSED FINDINGS OF FACT BY THE 2024 COUNTY OF HAWAII SALARY COMMISSION DATED AUGUST 27, 2024 Pursuant to Section 13-28 of the County Charter for the County of Hawaii (2022), as amended (hereinafter "Charter"), the County of Hawaii Salary Commission (hereinafter "COH Salary Commission") hereby makes the following findings in support of its decision to set the salary of the new Administrator of the Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience to be effective at the start of the next full pay period following formal action by this Commission: 1. The COH Salary Commission has the authority to review and set compensation for all county executive positions, elected positions and appointed positions of directors, deputy directors, and agency administrators (collectively hereinafter "Covered Positions") such that the position's total compensation and benefits have an equitable and reasonable relationship to compensation in the public and private sectors, as well as within the County of Hawaii amongst similarly situated positions. 2. The Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience (hereinafter "OSCER") was established in 2023 pursuant to Hawaii County Council Ordinance No. 23-56 (Bill 48) to address sustainability, climate change, equity, and resilience in the County through immediate, direct, and coordinated action by coordinating and managing policies and programs to address sustainability, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt to the impacts of climate change and other natural and human caused hazards. The County of Hawaii took a collaborative approach to initially set the salary for the Interim Administrator for the OSCER Agency with input from the Department of Human Resources and the Office of the Mayor. The Interim OSCER Administrator's salary was set at One Hundred and Five Thousand Six Hundred Dollars and no/cents ($105,600.00) and the County began immediate recruitment for an Interim Administrator thereafter that would serve under contract until the COH Salary Commission set a salary for this Agency Administrator. Following recruitment and standard application processing, an Interim Administrator was selected and began on February 1, 2024. 4. OSCER is a brand-new Agency within the County of Hawaii. The Agency had no positions, employees, and office space, etc. and had to be built from the ground up by the new Interim Administrator. As of September 2024, the OSCER Agency currently has four (4) employees, the Interim Administrator, an Accountant, a Sustainability Strategist, and an AmeriCorps VISTA Climate Action Implementation Specialist. At its January 17, 2024 meeting, the COH Salary Commission began receiving and considering information about OSCER and its expected parameters, duties, responsibilities, and expectations, such that it could better ascertain whether the interim salary for the OSCER Administrator should remain at the initial contract salary of