2012-03-05 Salary Commission Minutes

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appropriate number, they would like to adjust their recommendation after listening to the Commission's discussions and deliberations this morning. They now strongly advocate that the Commission immediately move the pay scale for the Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief to step F on A -18 and A -17. Mr. Taniguchi distributed a handout of the pay scale and asked the Commission to note that steps F through J are reserved for commission - appointed department and agency heads and deputies. He stated that position of Fire Chief is not an elected position or a position appointed by the Mayor. The Fire Chief is appointed by the Fire Commission, and only the Fire Commission has the ability to appoint or remove the Fire Chief from that particular office. Chief Rosario did go through a stringent screening process and was recently appointed in September 2011, replacing retiring Fire Chief Darryl Oliveira. That time, Chief Rosario was an Assistant Chief. He was earning approximately $115,000 to $120,000 a year. When he became Fire Chief he immediately went to step A on A -18, which lowered his gross compensation to $99,000 a year. While it is not his job, while it is not his career, the Fire Department is his calling, and that's why he's doing this. The Fire Commission does not think the salary he is receiving is appropriate for his scope of responsibility. They're talking about a $40 million department with 400+ uniformed personnel, 225 volunteers, the only department in the state that has EMS built into the department, the only department in the state that has water safety officers built into the department, a department that answers over 22,000 911 calls a year, deals with Hazmat, and is critical to the health and safety of the public. As the Fire Chief would not come and advocate for himself, nor would the Deputy Fire Chief, Mr. Taniguchi took this opportunity on behalf of the Fire Commission to come before the Salary Commission. Prior to this meeting, he and Vice Chair Robinson did talk to Fire's fiscal officer and were informed that the moneys are already in the Fire Department's budget. They would not need to request a new appropriation from the County Council. The Salary Commission could, in fact, if it were so inclined, go retroactive to the date of appointment, and funding would still be available in the current budget. Again, he understands that the Salary Commission is under a microscope and has an arduous task before it, but he thinks it's a gross injustice to the Fire Chief to take a $15- 20,000 pay cut upon taking the helm with more responsibility for the department. As was discussed earlier today, it's also not in line with the Police Chief. The Police Chief is currently at A- 18(F), and the Fire Chief Rosario is at step A. Thus, they are proposing step F at $114,768. Y