2011-07-26 Fire Commission Minutes - Special Meeting

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STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS Chair Taniguchi called up Mr. Jack Minassian who signed up to testify. Mr. Minassian is the Fire Science Program Coordinator and Fire Science instructor at Hawai‘i Community College (HCC) which now offers Certificates of Achievement and Associates of Science Degrees in Fire Science. HCC also has an articulation agreement with Colorado State University where students can use their credits here as undergraduate credits and are able to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Administration through distance learning. Mr. Minassian testified he would like to recognize Chief Oliveira’s contribution to establishing and supporting the Fire Science Program and without his vision, hard work and support; HCC would not have this program. Mr. Minassian stated Chief Oliveira understands the future of fire service and is a well-educated professional. He stated fire fighters have a wide variety of jobs but the fire fighter of the future also has to be a botanist, they need to understand how fire adapted grasses have invaded the Big Island and altered the fire regime. Fire fighters also need to be archeologists, to understand that as public stewards, their roles in fire suppression operation can be damaging to the cultural resources; e.g. a dozer in the wrong place can destroy native Hawaiian resources. Fire fighters also need to be geologists to understand that soil erosion can have an impact our coral reefs. Mr. Minassian noted that the fire fighter of tomorrow must be a well-educated professional, and through the recruitment process, HCC would like to continue its partnership with the Hawai‘i Fire Department and the new Fire Chief must be equally committed to supporting the Fire Science Program. Chair Taniguchi thanked Mr. Minassian for his testimony and asked if anyone had questions for Mr. Minassian. There were no other statements from the public. NEW BUSINESS  Update on recruitment process for Fire Chief position. Chair Taniguchi recalled at the last regular session meeting, the commission authorized him to correspond with the Department of Human Resources to fulfill the requirement as listed in the commission’s 2001 Rules and Regulations, specifically to move forward in placing ads as well as transmitting the minimum requirements for the chief’s position and publishing dates. Chair Taniguchi stated that as per Rule 11, ads have been scheduled to be published and the commission must publish a vacancy of the chief’s position for a minimum of three weeks, once a week for three consecutive thst weeks. Those ads have been scheduled to be published on July 24, July 31 and th August 7, in statewide publications on Maui, Kauai, the Star Advertiser as well as the Hawai‘i Tribune Herald and West Hawai‘i Today. Deadline for submission is th August 12 at 11:59 p.m. via the Department of Human Resources on-line recruitment system, and as applications come in, the Department of Human Resources will screen each applicant for meeting the minimum qualifications as put forth in the commission’s Rules and Regulations and as advertised in the papers. th Once, that period is over, on or about August 16, the commission should have a list 2