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Mr. Sakaguchi asked whether Mr. Nakasone had ever attended a conference out of the <br />State. Mr. Nakasone said he has gone to California, Arizona, Utah, and Las Vegas. He said that <br />when he goes on vacation, he visits highway maintenance agencies there. <br />Mr. Sakaguchi commented that the travel was at Mr. Nakasone's own expense, then, and <br />done on his vacation time. He explained that the COGC wondered why the County does not <br />invest more money in staff development and giving employees the chance to check out other <br />states and bring back ideas. Mr. Nakasone said that he did go to Arizona and Las Vegas on <br />business and that he went to FEMA training in Maryland. He agreed that training is needed, but <br />a problem is that there has to be a report system. If he sends employees to Oahu or Arizona, for <br />example, when they return they have to prepare a written report of what they learned. He then <br />makes sure that it is incorporated into their work. Otherwise, it was just a trip. They would need <br />to go with purpose and to see what could be gained. <br />Ms. Nicholson said that some of the responses the COGC received indicated that it might <br />be good to consider getting a contractor to do island -wide pothole patching. She asked Mr. <br />Nakasone whether he agreed with this, or felt his own people were the best to handle this. Mr. <br />Nakasone explained that they recently ordered equipment, called "co- planing." In the past when <br />they patched holes, they just plopped the asphalt in and the cars would run over it, and it was not <br />a good system. So equipment was purchased for each district, and it is hoped this procedure will <br />be an improvement. It is their responsibility to try different things. He said there is nothing <br />wrong with contracting out, but if it is the County's job to repair potholes, they should make the <br />effort to do so first. <br />Ms. Nicholson asked whether or not the COGC should put forth, then, the contracting out <br />as a recommendation on his behalf. Mr. Nakasone stated that he feels they can do better and <br />should first try to make it more efficient and effective. <br />Ms. Nicholson asked Mr. Nakasone how he felt about going to a ten -hour work day, four <br />days per week. He responded that he approached the union about doing this eight years ago. He <br />wanted to do it on a trial basis. The idea was acceptable to the unions, but there was a problem <br />involving holidays which fell on a Monday or a Friday. They could not come to an <br />understanding on this. He said some employees would have to work Monday through Thursday, <br />and the others Tuesday through Friday. If a holiday fell on a Friday, what would happen to the <br />employees who worked Monday through Thursday —how would they receive the holiday? They <br />never did resolve the issue. However, the idea was well accepted by the unions, and he feels <br />they should look into this again. He believes the positives would be more than the negatives. <br />Ms. Nicholson asked whether the crews would be adequate to cover the County's needs <br />in an emergency if they went to that schedule, since they are also divided into districts. Mr. <br />Nakasone said that whenever there is an emergency, they normally bring out everyone who will <br />be needed in order to cope. He still feels they would benefit by going to the four -day work <br />week. Saturdays and Sundays would still be free, and they would still have employees working <br />on Mondays and Fridays. <br />Ms. Nicholson asked whether the Highway Division encounters a lot of overtime. Mr. <br />Nakasone said their overtime is planned and in the budget. The resurfacing requires a lot of <br />overtime, but it is also planned out. They also try their best to anticipate emergencies and plan <br />rd <br />