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Merit Board of Appeals <br />October 15, 2014 <br />Mr. Hermes added that legally they're called "State Law Enforcement Officers and <br />County Water Safety Officers." The State Law Enforcement is comprised of sheriffs <br />in the State Department of Public Safety, a smaller number in the Department of <br />Land and Natural Resources, and even a smaller number in the Department of <br />Transportation -Harbors Division. The State may have over 600 positions in this <br />Bargaining Unit 14, the City and County of Honolulu has close to 100 water safety <br />officers, and our County may have about 40 water safety officers. <br />Mr. Hermes stated that this is a statewide initiative. You'll have the law <br />enforcement component, which is the majority, then you'll have the four counties <br />who are, basically, lifeguards. He doesn't know how they compare to each other <br />but they were grouped together. <br />Mr. Nahuina and Ms. Ota inquired whether the pool lifeguards is separate from <br />ocean lifeguards. <br />Mr. Hermes replied that at one time, both operations were under the Department <br />of Parks and Recreation. About five years ago, the water safety component moved <br />to the Fire Department. He thinks the same is true for the other counties—Maui, <br />Kaua'i, and the City and County of Honolulu where they have a department of <br />emergency management. <br />Chair Kuewa commented that with all of the things happening in the Puna area, has <br />there been a need for emergency hires of County personnel to address these types <br />of disasters, and whether we have sufficient procedures to meet the emergency <br />needs in situations like that. Ms. Toriano replied that this was her next report. <br />Emergency Preparedness Lava Flow – Pahoa: Emergency preparedness is <br />critical for the County. The Mayor has expressed to the community that <br />critical County services will be maintained. They've done their best to go <br />into the community to express what's happening—what we can or cannot <br />do—and to guide and help prepare them for, inevitably, the lava crossing <br />Highway 130. <br />To maintain critical County services, we are talking about creating access <br />roads to and from what could be an isolated Pahoa area. Building of bypass <br />roads—we've had to take equipment that was for the Parks and Recreations <br />Pahoa Complex—a $22 million dollar project, the largest project in the <br />entire County—and divert the equipment to help cut these roads. <br />Page 5 <br />