2006-05-04 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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engineers. She wondered whether it is standard practice in other places to use consultants the way our county does. Ms. Beck said that it is not uncommon to farm out work to consultants, as they have the equipment and expertise to do the job quickly. On the other hand, large amounts of money are spent paying consulting fees when some of the projects can be done in- house. There needs to be a balancing point to figure out what projects can be handled in -house and don't need a consultant. It would depend on the scope and size of the project. Mr. Sakaguchi asked whether engineers could work from home, and Ms. Beck said that would be great and is being done on the mainland now. However, County people may not find that acceptable. Ms. Beck said that there are a lot of County employees who are clock- watchers, people who insist on taking their breaks and talking story for 45 minutes several times a day. This would not happen in private practice, but in the government it is hard to get rid of slackers. It is just the truth that there are employees who do not work. Mr. Sakaguchi said Ms. Beck might hire six more potential problem employees, and she said she would hire the best people. If she could not find someone good, she would not hire. Mr. Sakaguchi commented that to hire an engineer for $70,000 would mean hiring someone fresh out of college. Ms. Beck agreed that it is difficult to find good engineers here, but it is still her suggestion. If she just gives up and does not try to improve her division or section, where would she be? She has a commitment to her job. Ms. Stremski said that if everyone had that work ethic, we would not have the problems we have, and Ms. Beck said that it does come down to work ethic. She has found that it is not up to 100% over here with everybody. She could look at the next person and notice they are not working very hard and so decide to just put in her eight hours. But that is not her personality, and she gives all that she has to the County. Ms. Nicholson pointed out that Ms. Beck suggested incentives as a solution, and the commissioners discussed whether that would be possible or allowed under union contracts. Ms. Nicholson said they could still list incentives as a recommendation. Ms. Beck said that it is hard to attract good employees to the County. Mainland people won't come here, as they make more money on the mainland and the cost of living is lower there. She said she took a cut in pay to come to Hilo. If salaries could be raised to attract people, or if new employees could receive sign -on bonuses, that might help bring them in. Mr. Sakaguchi said this is why privatization comes up. A private company can get the job done sooner and still get paid the agreed upon amount. They're able to earn more if they work harder and faster. But that can't be done for County employees. He questioned whether, if the County has extra money, it could be used to hire consultants to help catch up and do new things. M