2012-03-05 Salary Commission Minutes

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MOTION: Mr. De Lima moved to give the Fire Chief an increase to A -18(F) at $114,768 and the Deputy Fire Chief an increase to A -17(F) at $109,296 effective March 16, 2012. The motion was seconded by Ms. Stroh. Discussion: Mr. De Lima stated that the major reason for doing that is because basically the Fire Chief is taking a cut in pay, but the bottom line is it's justifiable to have public safety personnel paid appropriately. While Chair Handgis agreed, he stated that procedurally that does set a precedent for the Commission going forward in the next meeting in terms of what they're trying to do with the compensation review plan. Mr. Taniguchi stated that the key point is that they did the homework relative to finances in the fiscal office, and the money is available immediately. Chair Handgis stated that as citizens of the community, the Commission respects Mr. Taniguchi's and Mr. Robinson's commitment for what they do and the passion and the intellect they use in terms of verbalizing their position. Again, he just has a problem with setting a precedent. Mr. De Lima clarified that by voting the $114,768 salary today, he's still not averse to rolling back peoples' salaries, including the Fire Chief and the Police Chief, if they decide that the Mayor should only get paid $109,000. He's comfortable with rolling back peoples' salaries. He doesn't think they should do that necessarily. He would like to make some adjustments to the Mayor, perhaps to $115,000, because it would take effect down the road, but in terms of this problem right now, the last Fire Chief was paid more than 114. This goes back to the tiered approach and the impact it has, so he's trying to address this immediate concern right now, and then when they meet again, everything is back on the table. Mr. Takahashi noted that the effective date should be either the Is' or the 161' of a given month, otherwise it will present a problem. Mr. De Lima noted that the increase would be effective March 16, 2012. Mr. Robinson added that they have one last comparison. They also compared Hawaii Island to the other counties, mainly Maui. When looking at the personnel, Hawaii County has over 645 in the Fire Department. Maui has 310, but the Fire Chief of Maui gets paid $126,900. It's a significant difference. Chair Handgis stated that it doesn't make anything right. They have to do what's right within what they're doing in the County. 13