2013-08-28 Minutes Salary Commission

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Because of the incredible amount of legal services that the Corporation Counsel is committed, dedicated and determined to provide to protect the interests of the County, and for the reasons stated below, the Corporation Counsel and his Assistant Corporation Counsel's salaries should be increased to the comparable levels of the other counties, where two of the Counties pay their top civil attorneys and first deputies the same salaries as that of their top prosecutors and first deputy prosecuting attorneys. I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION2 A. Legal Experience. In 1969, I graduated from Pepperdine Law School in California. After passing the California Bar Exam, I was employed as a prosecutor for the District Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, California, from April 1970 until retiring in March of 1992. Please note that when I retired in 1992, I received a salary that was more than the current salary of the County's Corporation Counsel. From 1994 to 1996, I served as a Commissioner in Los Angeles. As a Commissioner, I presided over Civil (under$25,000) and Criminal (misdemeanors)jury trials. I also heard and decided civil motions, handled small claims and traffic cases, and did criminal arraignments and presided over preliminary hearings. B. Documents and Materials Reviewed.3 I reviewed the following documents and materials: • Section 6-5.3, Charter. • Section 13-28(d), County Code ("Code"). • "Your County Government"Pamphlet (Office of the County Clerk) (Updated December 2012). • Salary Commission's Minutes for March 5, 2012, April 30, 2012 and March 27, 2013. • June 6, 2013 letter, with Attachment"1,"to the Commission from Retired Prosecuting Attorney Charlene Iboshi. • Hawai`i Tribune Herald front page newspaper article "Officers' pay hikes may cost isle $3M,"Friday, July 12, 2013. • Hawai`i Free Press article "UPW 17%Raise, HSTA 15%, HGEA 8%," Sunday, April 21, 2013. • Honolulu Civil Beat article"Arbitration Awards State Nurses 8%Raise,"posted Tuesday, April 2, 2013. 2 I moved to Hilo in 1998. 3 I also reviewed other materials,such as other newspaper articles that reported specific lawsuits or other matters being handled by Corporation Counsel's Office. 2