2025-10-30 Merit Appeals Board Minutes

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Merit Appeals Board October 30, 2025 CHR. CABANAS: Correct—yeah, thank you. MR. THOMAS: So, yes—I’m not sure I can lay my fingers on it, but I think somewhere in the white tab, there is a recommendation for salary modification of the Human Resources Director— and an “x” in there because she’s not recommending her own salary increase. CHR. CABANAS: No. She’s just commenting and we will have to agree with it, that it should be equitable—it’s her last page, “The salary for the County of Hawaiʻi’s HR director should be equitable and maybe a little more than that of other county human resources directors within the State, when comparing the size of Hawaiʻi County, as well as the size of the County of Hawaiʻi’s HR department and scope of its responsibility.” MS. TOKIHIRO: I’ll just add to that—that that paragraph was in the letter from the prior submission. So, I didn’t change that paragraph at all, I left that. But, again, I wouldn’t be commenting on my own salary. So, I left the Board’s prior paragraph in there, but that’s for you folks to edit. CHR. CABANAS: Correct. MR. THOMAS: Then, when you get to the blue tab—the final tab, then there is a specific number in there, I believe. CHR. CABANAS: No. MR. THOMAS: No? MS. TOKIHIRO: So, in the blue tab, it was the letter that was provided by Danny Patel at the request of the Board in 2023, but that recommendation for the salary was based on the opinion of the Board at that time. MR. THOMAS: And it didn’t say what happened to that recommendation from 2023. CHR. CABANAS: They approved it—the Salary Commission approved it. It was a 22% increase that this Board recommended. MR. THOMAS: It said 20% here. CHR. CABANAS: Is it 20? MR. THOMAS: Number 7—the previous one—the 2023. CHR. CABANAS: Oh, is it 20—okay, I may have mis-spoken. It’s 20%—wait now, I need to look at this a little further. Yes, I’m sorry, I think we talked about 22% but we agreed at 20—a minimum of 20% raise for the HR Director that was back in 2023. Page 17