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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-02-14 Salary Commission MinutesPage 1 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS SALARY COMMISSION MEETING Held at the Hawaii County Building, 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawaii, 96720, commencing at 10:00 a.m., on February 14, 2018. REPORTED BY: TERI HOSKINS, RMR, CSR #452 ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CHAIRMAN: HUGH Y. ONO, P. E. VICE -CHAIR: FLORENCE K. IKEDA BOARD MEMBERS: THOMAS E. FRATINARDO GEORGE W. CAMPBELL JAMES W. HIGGINS MILTON PAVAO, P. E. HAROLD D. DOW NELSON H. HARANO ALSO PRESENT: AMY SELF, DEPUTY CORPORATION COUNSEL WILLIAM V. BRILHANTE, Jr., EX -OFFICIO MEMBER GLYNIS YAMADA JENNIFER SAKAMOTO MICHELE LAMKIN NANCY COOK-LAUER ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 2 Page 3 1 CHR.ONO: Call the meeting to order. 2 Okay, with that said, let's do roll call. 3 Okay? Starting on that end. George? 4 MR. CAMPBELL: Yeah, George Campbell present. 5 MR. HIGGINS: Jim Higgins present. 6 MR. PAVAO: Milton Pavao here. 7 MS. IKEDA: Florence Ikeda. 8 CHR. ONO: Hugh Ono. I don't know 9 whether I'm present. I am. 10 MS. IKEDA: Florence Ikeda present. 11 MR. DOW: Harold Dow present. 12 MR. FRATINARDO: Thomas Fratinardo present. 13 MR. HARANO: Nelson Hirano present. 14 CHR. ONO: Okay. Thank you, everybody, 15 and Happy Valentine's Day to everybody. So, hopefully, 16 we have a good day and we can go home and have an even 17 better day. 18 So, do we have any statements from the public? 19 MS. YAMADA: None. 20 CHR. ONO: None. Okay. Therefore, we 21 will limit the public statements to one hour each, but 22 we have none, so... 23 Okay. Approval of the minutes. There are 24 none. Minutes. Might the Chair ask, you know, I think 25 we've had about five meetings or so, so what is the ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 4 1 status of the minutes, if I may ask? Who am I asking 2 this of? 3 MS. YAMADA: Me. The minutes have been 4 prepared by the court reporter, and thank you very 5 much, but I haven't had the time to actually reformat 6 and add in any type of communications or exhibits in 7 there. 8 CHR. ONO: Uh-huh. Okay. 9 MS. YAMADA: So that's where the delay is. 10 CHR. ONO: Okay. It will give you time, 11 because our next meeting is probably not going to be 12 for a month-and-a-half -- probably will be a month -and 13 a -half away, to give everybody a break. 14 Communications, we have two today. The 15 agenda says "None," but that "None" should be deleted. 16 The first item, there's a memorandum from 17 Acting Director of Human Resources, William Brilhante, 18 Jr., dated January 22nd, 2018 stating that they had 19 reviewed, for payroll purposes, the salaries approved 20 by the Salary Commission at its January 18th meeting, 21 effective March lst, and attaches a full list of these 22 approved salaries (SEE ATT. A). 23 And, for your information, there were some 24 adjustments made to the salaries that the commission 25 approved, by just a little bit, so that it would come ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 5 1 out in even payroll adjust payments. If we left it at 2 that amount, it would come out, I think, in odd cents, 3 and so just to make it easier to administer. 4 Jennifer, did you want to have anything to 5 add to that? Thank you for being here. You must enjoy 6 our meetings. 7 No comment, eh? 8 MR. PAVAO: You can tell by the look on her 9 face. 10 CHR. ONO: Any questions on the 11 memorandum? 12 If not, moving over to the item 4.B., copy of 13 letter to Mayor Harry Kim from Pat Sexton (SEE ATT. B) dated 14 January 24th, 2018 commenting on the recent salary 15 increases, general excise tax, and proposed Charter 16 amendment, and a copy of letter to Pat Sexton from Hugh 17 Ono dated January 29th, responding to Ms. Sexton's 18 letter, in his individual capacity, explaining the 19 process and information used by the Salary Commission 20 in reaching its decisions concerning salary increases. 21 First of all, this letter was received, and 22 it was going to be a long time before we came to this 23 meeting; and I took the opportunity to respond to this 24 letter, which was critical of the Salary Commission, 25 the mayor, I think the county council, too, likely, but ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 6 1 I did it as an individual and not as the Chair of the 2 Salary Commission, because otherwise we would have to 3 wait until this meeting, put it on the agenda, get an 4 official position. So, if you've had a chance to see 5 that letter and the response that the Chair put together 6 there's no opinion in the letter, just purely the fact 7 of what we did and how we arrived at that (SEE ATT. C). 8 I have not heard back from Ms. Sexton at all, 9 but I wanted to make sure the letter was addressed, 10 because there were certain representations made in the 11 letter by Ms. Sexton, and I just didn't want to let 12 those sit like there was no objection from the mayor 13 himself; so within the content of the letter itself, I 14 stated that the mayor had testified about his concern 15 about the salaries and the budget, just to correct 16 those statements. 17 Any question on this or anything that anybody 18 wants to say about it? 19 MR. PAVAO: You did a good job, Hugh. 20 MR. CAMPBELL: Yeah, I appreciate you doing 21 that. 22 MR. HIGGINS: Yeah. 23 CHR. ONO: I just couldn't let it sit. 24 Thank you. 25 So, again, that sheet of paper that we ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 7 1 developed about the background of how we arrived at our 2 decisions really came into -- it was really handy to 3 attach it. And, yeah, I was careful. I didn't want to 4 get into an argument about that. And then Amy 5 thankfully worked with me, you know, editing the 6 letter, so it wouldn't cause that kind of argumentative 7 position. 8 So, if there's no questions on any 9 communications -- any questions? If not, we'll close 10 that. 11 Under "New Business," Bill 98 initiates an 12 amendment to Article XIII, Section 13-28 of the Hawaii 13 County Charter relating to the Salary Commission. This 14 amendment was introduced by Councilperson Susan Lee Loy 15 and requires at least 30 days prior to approval of any 16 salary adjustment, that the Salary Commission submit 17 copies of a detailed report of its findings and 18 conclusions to the Office of the County Clerk and 19 Office of the Mayor, publish a notice that said report 20 is available for public inspection, and include in the 21 notice a detailed account of proposed salary increases 22 or decreases, hold at least one public hearing in both 23 East and West Hawaii. Also requires that any increase 24 or decrease of more than 10 percent would be approved 25 by two-thirds vote of the entire membership of the ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 1 Committee (SEE ATT. D). 2 In addition to that, I received a request by 3 the Finance Committee to attend its February 20th, 2018 4 meeting to participate in a discussion and questions 5 and answers concerning the Salary Commission. Right 6 now, the presentation will last about 15 to 20 minutes 7 and question and answer thereafter. But before we can 8 do this, according to the rules of procedure, I do need 9 authorization by this Salary Commission to attend that 10 meeting and to represent the commission; so we need a 11 vote for us to do that. 12 I also wanted to mention that I believe that 13 our discussion on Tier II and how we're going to handle 14 that is very pertinent to this issue, and I believe 15 that once we arrive at a decision on Tier II and can 16 include that in this discussion -- not a decision, but 17 we look at Tier II and what we're going with it, and if 18 I can use that as part of appearing at that time during 19 the Finance Committee, I believe it will address a lot 20 of these items on Ms. Lee Loy's Charter amendment 21 proposal. 22 But, anyway, open for discussion. 23 MR. PAVAO: Sorry. 24 CHR. ONO: Yes, Mr. Pavao? 25 MR. PAVAO: You know, while I applaud ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 9 1 Councilmember Lee Loy's concern and transparency, I do 2 not believe that equality in pay for anybody should be 3 subject to public hearings. I don't know how the rest 4 of you feel, but I don't think there should be a public 5 hearing just to have pay -- or salaries equal or, you 6 know, justified. 7 CHR. ONO: You know what? Before we go 8 any further, Ms. Self has spent time on this issue, 9 too, I think, as well as Bill has. So, Amy, would you 10 share, you know, what you've been working on -- on this 11 also. 12 MS. SELF: Yes. I understand what you're 13 saying, Milton. And you guys already have public 14 meetings. You're required to under Sunshine Law. And 15 that's what you did when you made the decision to set 16 the salaries. So it's always been an open process. It 17 has to be by Sunshine Law. So, I don't know that it 18 would accomplish any more than what you accomplish by 19 complying with Sunshine Law. 20 Another thing that I pointed out to 21 Council Member Lee Loy is that there is a conflict 22 between what the Charter says and what subsection (f) of 23 her proposed Charter amendment says because, under her 24 section, it would require a two-thirds vote to approve 25 any salary that is increased or decreased by more than ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 10 1 10 percent, whereas under the Charter already, under 2 Section 13-4 subsection (i), it requires the affirmative 3 vote of a majority of the entire membership to which 4 the board or commission is entitled to make any action 5 valid. So in hers, it takes six. In the Charter 6 that's already existent, it has five. You have five, 7 right, because that's the majority of your membership. 8 So, something has to be resolved. I told her she's 9 going to have to, you know, put some sort of 10 clarification one way or the other, because if you look 11 at the Charter, if both are in there -- 12 MR. PAVAO: It's a conflict. 13 MS. SELF: -- then the reader is going to go, 14 "Okay, well, which one applies?" you know? So, anyway, 15 that was one issue. 16 Another issue -- well, I was asking Bill 17 about the extra cost that this will be on the 18 department, because it's going to require publication 19 in at least two newspapers. But the thing is that that 20 publication is for -- according to this, I guess you 21 would have to vote on a proposed increase or decrease, 22 and then that would have to be published in the 23 newspaper, then you would have to go out to two public 24 hearing, one in Kona, one in Hilo. Based on any 25 comments you get doing this public hearing, if the ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 11 1 commission decided to substantively change their 2 proposed increase or decrease, then I think you would 3 have to probably go back through the whole process 4 again, so that could essentially require another 5 publication; so that would -- I don't know, Bill, you 6 might be able to talk about the cost increase. 7 MR. BRILHANTE: William Brilhante, Acting 8 Director, Department of Human Resources. 9 Ms. Self is correct in that, you know, as far 10 as, you know, the Salary Commission, the clerical 11 support for the commission comes from our office 12 pursuant to the Charter. And that's the role that 13 Glynis primarily plays, with scheduling the meetings 14 and the like. We also have, you know, Ms. Sakamoto 15 who, you know, does quite a bit of the work for the 16 commission in preparing, you know, the salary 17 ordinances when they're authorized and, you know, 18 making sure that all the legal requirements are 19 satisfied and met. 20 And so with that in mind, you know, the 21 clerical component of the commission entails the 22 expenditures for having the meetings, for the mileage 23 reimbursement, for ensuring, you know, that the proper 24 notices are complied with statutorily. And something 25 like this where, you know, we're required to do at ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 12 1 least two publications in the daily newspaper -- or at 2 least one, hold at least one public hearing both in 3 West Hawaii and East Hawaii, you know, there's costs 4 associated with that. And I think, you know, that's 5 something that should be considered and discussed 6 moving forward that's going to have to -- those costs 7 just don't -- we just can't write blank checks as it 8 relates to those costs. In some shape or form, you 9 know, we have to address that through a budgetary item 10 and then moving forward. So that's our concern from 11 the clerical support standpoint. 12 MR. PAVAO: One more comment, if I may. As 13 Amy mentioned, you decide on a increase, you go to 14 public hearing. Depending on what they say, you may 15 have to change that. Then you have to go back to 16 public hearing. It could be a never-ending situation. 17 MR. HIGGINS: Yep. 18 MS. SELF: Uh-huh. 19 MR. PAVAO: And, again, I repeat I don't 20 think pay raises -- equitable pay raises -- should be 21 subject to public hearing. I mean, that's my opinion. 22 CHR. ONO: Mr. Higgins? 23 MR. HIGGINS: Yeah, I'm more concerned with 24 where the push is coming from in the first place. We 25 meet in October for the first time. Three months ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 13 1 later, we solve the problems of catch-up of over ten 2 years. We solve the problem of underlings making more 3 than their immediate supervisors. And I look at these 4 proposals and all those people that we helped. Would 5 they all be happy -- and that includes Ms. Lee Loy -- 6 if there was another six months to a year delay? Would 7 those families be happy about that? I don't think so. 8 So I want to know what went wrong for this push all of 9 a sudden to come out from Ms. Lee Loy. 10 Secondly, it's clear in the Council -- C -- 11 that's 13-28(c) -- "The commission shall establish its 12 rules of procedure and adopt rules and regulations 13 having the force and effect of law." So what I'm 14 wondering is where does Ms. Lee Loy fit in that 15 definition that's in the County Charter already whereby 16 we establish our own rules of procedure? 17 So the push is coming from somewhere. I 18 think it's -- what do you call it -- Sunshine Law on 19 steroids? I see no benefit whatsoever for these rules 20 to be implemented; and, furthermore, does the council 21 have the ability legally do that? It says we establish 22 our own. So what's happening here? 23 And so, before you go and present our case, I 24 guess is what you're going to do, because you've been 25 asked to, maybe we ought to have Ms. Lee Loy -- table ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 14 1 this and have Ms. Lee Loy come here and give us the 2 reasoning behind all of these recommendations and give 3 us the authority that the council can make these 4 changes. 5 CHR. ONO: Let me call on Amy. One thing 6 that Amy pointed out was that on the 40 percent 7 raise -- why don't you explain what you did. You 8 divided it up, right, and you did an analysis? 9 MS. SELF: Well, it seems that what has been 10 discussed at council is they were concerned about the 11 40 percent increase for one of the salaries, but if you 12 divide that by ten years, it turns out to be, what, 4 13 percent -- 14 MR. CAMPBELL: 4 percent. 15 MS. SELF: -- each year, so that's kind of a 16 cost of living increase. 17 But as to your question about her authority, 18 council can make -- they can propose Charter 19 amendments, which is what this is; but it's up to the 20 people voting to actually pass it or not pass it -- 21 MR. HIGGINS: Yeah, well -- 22 MS. SELF: -- because it's -- 23 MR. HIGGINS: -- would it then have to go 24 to -- they would have to go through the process to 25 change the Charter so that "The commission shall ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 15 1 establish its own rules," which I've repeated a couple 2 of times here. Wouldn't that have to be changed to 3 include "the council"? I mean, there's no mention at 4 all on that, so what you're saying is that they have 5 the authority to do it. 6 MS. SELF: Yes, because it's a proposed 7 Charter amendment, so they have to -- but it requires, 8 what is it, three readings at council? 9 MR. BRILHANTE: Uh-huh. 10 MS. SELF: And it also requires, I think, a 11 two-thirds vote. 12 MR. BRILHANTE: Super majority. 13 MS. SELF: Yeah, super majority in order to 14 even send this to the ballot -- 15 MR. HIGGINS: Yeah. 16 MS. SELF: -- for election. 17 MR. HIGGINS: Do we have any input? Because 18 I think Bill's point about the clerical costs are 19 very -- extremely valid. 20 CHR. ONO: Yeah. 21 MR. HIGGINS: And the process of having Hilo 22 and Kona and 30 days and this and that, it's going to 23 take a year for us to do anything and comply with 24 all -- jumping through more hoops. 25 So, again, I want to know what she found ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 16 1 wrong in the process of us, in three months, solving a 2 lot of problems and doing what hasn't been done for ten 3 years. I mean, this commission never even met for a 4 lot of those years. Where was the council then in 5 saying, "Hey, where are you guys? People are not 6 getting pay raises for five years or ten years. How 7 come the Salary Commission is sitting on their butts 8 not doing anything?" That's what I -- I want to know 9 her reasoning. 10 CHR. ONO: Let me add this in. Okay? 11 This is background information, because the request for 12 myself to appear, it is at the Finance Committee 13 meeting, which is the first place that this item shows 14 up. It goes to committee first. So it goes to Finance 15 Committee. So the request was made for me to attend -- 16 it came through Maile David who, I understand, is the 17 Chair of the Finance Committee, and from the Vice -Chair 18 of the County Council, which is Ms. Karen Eoff. I 19 sense that there is a concern by I don't know how many 20 members of the council over this proposed amendment, 21 and I sense that there is not overwhelming support for 22 this, for the same reasons stated, costs and adding a 23 cumbersome layer of additional procedures. 24 So with that in mind -- and we could table 25 this for now, but -- I will need your authorization to ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 17 1 represent this Salary Commission at that meeting so we 2 can articulate, you know, our concerns. The initial 3 presentation will go through the process of how we 4 arrived at that. 5 And I don't know what the intent of 6 Councilwoman Susan Lee Loy is, but she did testify 7 against the salary increases, if you recall. There was 8 a letter from Councilperson Aaron Chung, and she came 9 and she testified in person. I believe that their 10 objective was to address the County's financial 11 position, but also one of the powerful facts that this 12 commission had available to it was the testimony of the 13 finance director herself, who said that there were 14 funds within the County's finances to pay for these 15 increases. 16 So, Jim, anything else? 17 MR. HIGGINS: No. I've stated my -- 18 CHR. ONO: Okay. 19 MS. IKEDA: Hugh, I read through this, 20 but it doesn't say why specifically the Salary 21 Commission was formed. Was the Salary Commission 22 formed to see and compensate or -- for non-union 23 workers, or -- 24 MR. FRATINARDO: I can answer that for you. 25 So in 1974, the Salary Commission was ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 18 established. And at that time, it was for just applying raises to the County Council. And in 1990, it was also reaffirmed by Charter. In 2000, the Charter changed by amendment, and that included all of the County appointees and the people that we had just given those raises to, solely by the commission. I know there's documents that you can look at if you wish. I got these from -- I haven't had a chance to -- I'm still reviewing them -- CHR. ONO: Good job. TRT-) TIT-) T T T T7 T l-) Tl/l. and put this on the agenda. answer your question. -- submit them to the Chair So we can -- anyway, to MS. IKEDA: I wanted to know this, because in case the amendment -- what she's proposing is conflicting with what you have or it's redundant, that it doesn't make any sense to have this. But I'd like to make a motion that we give Hugh Ono the authority to represent us at the meeting on February 20th? CHR. ONO: February 20th. MS. IKEDA: Is that correct? CHR. ONO: That's correct. MR. PAVAO: Second. CHR. ONO: Okay. It's moved by Florence ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 19 1 and seconded by Milton authorizing me to represent the 2 Salary Commission at this meeting. I do intend on 3 going to Kona for that meeting. 4 Any discussion? 5 MR. DOW: Yes. I would like to know if 6 there's anything that we, the commission members, can 7 do to help you in this appearance or being supportive 8 of you. Do you think that something like a resolution 9 by this commission regarding your efforts would be 10 helpful or the presence of one or more of the members 11 here with you would be of help? 12 CHR. ONO: I would welcome that. And, 13 you know, with regard to resolution or not, the balance 14 of our agenda is very pertinent to this today, so we 15 probably will get to what you're suggesting, Harold, 16 later on in the agenda. 17 MR. DOW: Okay. 18 CHR. ONO: But I see several items over 19 here are real pertinent to that. 20 MR. DOW: Okay. 21 CHR. ONO: Okay? 22 So any other discussion? If not -- 23 MR. FRATINARDO: Yes, I have a -- 24 CHR. ONO: Go ahead, Thomas. 25 MR. FRATINARDO: I have a question for the ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 20 1 Chair, and it kind of touches on what Ms. Ikeda just 2 asked. The spirit of the Charter, of the law, that 3 establishes us as the commission that makes these 4 salary adjustments, I'm just concerned that there's no 5 conflict between -- that the spirit of the law isn't 6 being violated. Aren't we here because they want to 7 keep that in the political realm so it doesn't have 8 that good old boy sense? That's my impression. 9 And then, through the letter we received from 10 Pat Sexton, there was some mention about this 11 jurisdiction on the mainland and how they gave 12 themselves all of these pay raises and how they were 13 subsequently prosecuted. I'm familiar with that. But 14 just to kind of paint this picture of us as these 15 outlaws; and we're not. And everything that we're 16 doing, I would like that included on any testimony that 17 you might present to the council, that everything we've 18 done so far, there's been no communication after; all 19 of our discussions have been right here; this is where 20 it stops, it starts and stops right here, so they know 21 that, so there's no back -door deals going on, just so 22 they know that our integrity is above reproach. 23 CHR. ONO: Could you do me a favor and 24 send me an e-mail with your thoughts on that so that I 25 can make sure it's included? ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 21 1 MR. FRATINARDO: Yep. 2 CHR. ONO: Any other discussion? 3 MS. SELF: Let me bring up one thing in 4 response to Dr. Dow. So the reason the whole Salary 5 Commission could not attend is, of course, because of 6 Sunshine Law, because you are going to be discussing 7 something that regularly comes before you; so you could 8 have two people, but that's the most, because two -- as 9 you recall under Sunshine Law, two members can discuss 10 board business outside of appellate meetings as long as 11 you don't convince each other how to vote. So... 12 MR. FRATINARDO: I have another question for 13 Amy, if I may, Mr. Chair. 14 CHR. ONO: Sure. Certainly. 15 MR. FRATINARDO: Have we discovered if 16 there's any conflict of interest between the existing 17 Sunshine Law, state Sunshine Law, that we have to 18 adhere to, and this proposed amendment by Mrs. Lee Loy? 19 MS. SELF: In what way? 20 MR. FRATINARDO: Is there any wording that 21 she may have used that would change -- is there a 22 conflict between the state law and what she proposes as 23 far as Sunshine? Because there's Sunshine in here, 24 isn't there? 25 MS. SELF: As far as Sunshine Law goes, I ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 22 1 don't see any conflict. The only conflict I see is the 2 one that I mentioned previously, because there's 3 already an existing section in the Charter that says 4 what boards and commission that are created by Charter 5 have to comply with. So that's why I brought that to 6 her attention. 7 MR. FRATINARDO: Thank you. 8 CHR. ONO: Any discussion on that? 9 If not, all those in favor of myself 10 representing the commission at the Finance Committee 11 meeting on February 20th say "Aye." 12 (All members responded affirmatively.) 13 CHR. ONO: Opposed? 14 Motion is carried. 15 I might want to also ask for one other thing 16 here. If we, for the time being, agree on it, 17 generally what I'm hearing is a concern over this 18 Charter amendment. I would probably want to go to this 19 meeting and just represent that, as a whole, if this 20 Salary Commission doesn't embrace this Charter 21 amendment -- and, you know, I don't want to get into an 22 argument with anybody over there, but if it is a 23 position of this commission that that's generally how 24 we feel with what we've heard so far, I'd probably want 25 to be armed with that so I could represent that. ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 23 1 So, if we agree, may I have such a motion so 2 that we can discuss and possibly approve or disapprove 3 it? 4 MR. FRATINARDO: Thomas Fratinardo would 5 introduce a motion to inform the Hawaii County Council 6 of its disagreement with the existing proposed 7 amendment by Council Member Lee Loy. 8 CHR. ONO: Okay. Do we have a second? 9 MR. HIGGINS: Second. 10 CHR. ONO: Discussion? 11 MR. PAVAO: Yeah. I'd like to further add 12 that what the proposed Charter amendment is proposing 13 is already in place, because this is a public forum. 14 CHR. ONO: So noted. 15 MR. PAVAO: So, it's redundant, as far as I'm 16 concerned. It's redundant because this is a public 17 forum and anybody can come in here and testify. 18 MR. CAMPBELL: And did. 19 MR. HIGGINS: I would consider changing my 20 tune if there was some back-up on what went wrong with 21 the process that we just completed. The suggestion for 22 all of these changes to the Charter sort of implied 23 that something went wrong with what we did. And until 24 I hear some substantial back-up to that line of 25 reasoning, I see absolutely no reason why this ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 24 1 commission would go along and endorse these changes to 2 the Charter. 3 MR. FRATINARDO: I have a question for 4 Mrs. Self. Can we speak about hearsay information that 5 was in the newspaper in this meeting? So there was -- 6 I'm not sure of the exact date, but the words were used 7 in the newspaper -- and it was said that it was by 8 Ms. Lee Loy -- that the process we used to come to our 9 process was disturbing. So what does that mean, 10 "disturbing"? And I wanted -- so we, kind of, bounce it 11 off of Mr. Higgins. So what is disturbing about that? 12 Maybe we could bring her back in here so we know. 13 MR. HIGGINS: Yeah. 14 MR. FRATINARDO: I mean, I followed the law, 15 I thought. It says "shall." "You shall." And in her 16 amendment, it talks about -- there's "shall" like 13 17 times, "You shall," "You shall," "You shall." Well, we 18 "shalled" in the original Charter. We shall. We 19 followed the law. We shall. 20 MR. HIGGINS: Yeah, Mr. Chairman, so if you 21 went to this meeting and you put out just a general 22 impression that it was the wishes of the Salary 23 Commission to go against this, that we didn't find it 24 appropriate, et cetera, I think then they might fire 25 back at you and want a little bit more of your ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 25 1 reasoning on that. And I think if you were able to 2 diplomatically say something like, "We accomplished 3 what had not been attended to over the last five or ten 4 years in a short period of time, redressed the 5 inversion problem, brought our employees up to 6 standards that are throughout the State, and are 7 somewhat comparable to the most recent union 8 negotiations," and that "Where did we go wrong?" the 9 commission might be willing to moderate its thinking if 10 we were told exactly what went wrong with what we did. 11 CHR. ONO: I will represent it very 12 tactfully and strategically. 13 MR. HIGGINS: As only you can do so. Yes. 14 MS. IKEDA: Mr. Chairman, instead of 15 saying "embracing this," but to express our concern 16 about the -- 17 CHR. ONO: Concern. 18 MS. IKEDA: -- redundancy of what is 19 already in place, and we have tried to follow what is 20 there already, you know. So I think if you say 21 "embracing," to me -- 22 CHR. ONO: Yeah, I won't use that word. 23 MS. IKEDA: Yeah. 24 CHR. ONO: I just used that because I 25 couldn't think of anything else. ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 1 MR. HIGGINS 2 rHR _ ONO - Page 26 Well, and also you could -- It's Valentine's Day. 3 MR. HIGGINS: -- you can mention something -- 4 I think it was our very first meeting that we all 5 agreed that we wanted to pass something on to future 6 Salary Commissioners that could be used, could expedite 7 this decision-making on pay raises or, in the event of 8 a recession, actually freezing or reducing -- I mean, 9 I -- we talked about that; we want to leave something 10 for the next people to follow and make life easy for 11 them. And I think if you mention something like that 12 as well, they will get the idea that we're not just a 13 bunch of ringers in here voting yes on any pay raise. 14 CHR. ONO: I hear you. 15 Go ahead, Amy. 16 MS. SELF: I just want to make it very clear 17 as your attorney that nobody on this commission broke 18 the law. You complied with Sunshine Law. You complied 19 with the Charter. You did everything that you were 20 supposed to do under the Charter. So I wouldn't take 21 this personally. I think, you know -- I think a lot of 22 it had to do with the fact that the salaries were 23 stagnant for so long, for ten years, and that, you 24 know, finally when something happens, of course it gets 25 into the newspaper, you know, people show up at ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 27 1 council, whatever. But I don't think you should take 2 it personally. It's not something that you did wrong. 3 In fact, you should be applauded for doing your job. 4 So, I just don't want anybody on the Salary 5 Commission to think that you did something wrong or 6 that you did something outside the public view, because 7 everything was discussed in front of the public. We 8 never went into Executive Session for anything. So 9 don't take it personally. Okay? 10 MR. PAVAO: One comment. 11 MR. HIGGINS: I'm not taking it personally. 12 I just want to know what spurred this on. This kind of 13 thing comes -- this is a reaction to our actions. 14 CHR. ONO: Exactly. 15 MR. HIGGINS: It has nothing to do with me 16 personally. 17 MS. SELF: And that I can't answer. 18 MR. HIGGINS: Well, this would not be 19 suggested if there wasn't a problem in some people's 20 minds. 21 MR. PAVAO: Comment. I totally agree with 22 Amy that we should not take this personally. I also 23 want to mention that anybody has a right to propose a 24 Charter amendment, you know. That's their right, and 25 that's their privilege. And it may be so that ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 28 1 Ms. Lee Loy felt that there should be more transparency 2 in what we did, although it is transparent because it's 3 a public forum. So I don't think we should criticize, 4 because that's her right. That's her right to make an 5 amendment. Whether or not it goes through, then that's 6 for the people to say, if it ever gets to the point 7 where it is a Charter amendment ballot. And if it is 8 so, it will take a long, long time to do that, because 9 as you know, it's a slow process. So I don't think we 10 should be concerned about it. I think we should get 11 our ducks in line and justify what we did, which is 12 what Chairman Ono will do at the meeting, hopefully. 13 CHR. ONO: Any further discussion? 14 MR. DOW: I have a comment. 15 CHR. ONO: Go ahead, Harold. 16 MR. DOW: In the County's comprehensive 17 annual financial report, of course there's a lot of 18 numbers, but there's repeated reference to anticipated 19 salary increases by County workers. And they use as a 20 reasonable assumption into the future increases of 21 3 1/2 to 7 percent per year. 22 I went back and I looked at a number of the 23 salaries that we've acted upon, and I assumed that 24 those salaries were set in 2014. We're now in our 25 fourth year since that time, so I wanted to know what ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 29 1 annual percentage rate compounded annually would take 2 that previous salary to the salary that we established; 3 and every one of them that I've looked at falls within 4 that parameter of 3 1/2 to 7 percent compounded 5 annually. So where's the beef? 6 CHR. ONO: Which is exactly what Amy had 7 pointed out in one of her responses. So we've been 8 fair. We've done the right thing. It's just 9 unfortunate that there was no activity occurring on the 10 salaries for such a long duration, and primarily 11 what -- and I think from all of our experiences, 12 whatever input you've got, people are reacting to the 13 percentage increase. You know, a lot of it -- 14 MR. DOW: Well, they're overreacting to the 15 dollar increase -- 16 CHR. ONO: Uh-huh. 17 MR. DOW: -- but they're overlooking the 18 percentages. 19 CHR. ONO: Uh-huh. We've heard it from 20 both sides. So, thank you for that. And I made a note 21 of that, too, Harold. 22 Any other discussion? 23 MS. IKEDA: Chairman? 24 CHR. ONO: Florence? 25 MS. IKEDA: I'd just like to say that ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 30 1 I think Mrs. Lee Loy probably put this amendment 2 through because she heard from her constituents; and, 3 you know, as Amy said, we should not take this 4 personally. But if I were on the outside and looking 5 at it and I just saw 10 percent, I would say, "Wow, 10 6 percent is a really a big deal," because I don't think 7 they explained that when you break it down, it's in 8 smaller percentages; but it just said "10 percent," so, 9 you know, you would think, "Wow, 10 percent. Who gets 10 10 percent?" But that's my only comment. 11 CHR. ONO: Anything else? 12 MR. HARANO: Chairman Ono? 13 MR. FRATINARDO: Could we take a break? 14 CHR. ONO: Why don't we vote on the 15 motion first -- 16 MR. FRATINARDO: Sorry. Sorry. 17 CHR. ONO: -- and then take a break. 18 It's been moved and seconded allowing me to 19 represent and also taking a position of concern with 20 this County Charter. I have noted the facts that have 21 come forth and that which I'll include and be prepared 22 with to respond to any questions that the Finance 23 Committee may have at that February 20th. 24 All those in favor say "Aye." 25 (All members responded affirmatively.) ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 31 1 CHR. ONO: Opposed? 2 Motion carried. 3 Take a break, 10 minutes. 4 (Recess ensued from 10:42 a.m. to 10:49 a.m.) 5 CHR. ONO: Thank you, everybody. 6 Okay. Moving on with the agenda, this next 7 section is pretty important. We have four items within 8 this section. So it's review of existing compensation 9 plan. And within this section, we're going to talk 10 about what our future plan is with regard to the Tier 11 II. In other words, what happens hereafter? 12 We've taken care of all of the 36 appointed 13 positions, and so we're pau with that. And we have 14 effective dates, so we're good to go for now. But the 15 first item is "Updated 'Executive Salary Jurisdiction 16 Comparisons' and 'Comparison of County Department Data 17 and Resident Population' charts prepared by the 18 Department of Human Resources (for information purposes 19 only.)" And this was prepared by the Department of 20 Human Resources. It shows the new salaries for the 21 positions that have been recently approved with some 22 other data there from the different counties. 23 So, Bill, do you want to just summarize what 24 that was? (SEE ATT. E AND ATT. F, RESPECITVELY) 25 MR. BRILHANTE: Chair, that would be this ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 32 1 Executive Salary Jurisdiction Comparison -- 2 CHR. ONO: Yeah. 3 MR. BRILHANTE: -- sheet, yeah. Basically 4 it's just, you know, from the last submission we had 5 when this group first met back in, I want to say, the 6 latter part of last year or even the second quarter or 7 third quarter of last year, we submitted the 8 jurisdictional comparisons between County of Hawaii, 9 Maui, Oahu, and Maui (sic), as well as some of the sta 10 salaries. And this is just a form which updates the 11 current salaries. 12 And just to let you know, moving forward, 13 there's been subsequent communication from your initial 14 meetings where we establish -- you know, the previous 15 two meetings where we established the new salaries for 16 the first group and then the second group of employees. 17 Since the completion of those meetings, there have been 18 inquiries from the other jurisdictions, because their 19 Salary Commissions, City and County of Honolulu, are 20 looking to address, you know, their current salaries 21 for their directors and deputies and political 22 appointees and elected officials. So, as of now, this 23 is the most recent information we have. And we just 24 wanted to keep you updated and informed moving forward. 25 CHR. ONO: Thank you. Well done. ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 33 1 By the way, the original document is the one 2 that we used in setting the salaries that we did, so 3 this one is updated, because there are different color 4 colors shown where the changes occurred and what 5 positions they occurred in. So this will indeed be 6 useful. 7 Any questions on that? 8 MR. HIGGINS: Good job. 9 MR. PAVAO: Yeah. 10 MR. HIGGINS: Excellent. Excellent. 11 MR. BRILHANTE: Again, I have to thank my 12 staff. 13 CHR. ONO: You have good staff. You do. 14 Next item, "'Background and Explanation 15 Paper' prepared by Chair Hugh Ono... concerning the 16 Salary Commission's action leading to the approved 17 salary changes of January 18" (SEE ATT. G). So this was 18 the background and talking paper that we originally 19 developed. And, primarily, what we did was we just 20 updated it with the latest information that was used to 21 arrive at the changes that occurred at the January 18th 22 meeting. 23 Any questions on that -- or discussion? 24 MR. PAVAO: No. 25 CHR. ONO: Okay. That being said, moving ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 34 1 on, "Information prepared by Chair Hugh 2 Ono... concerning Tier II salaries (likely to occur 3 after June 30, 2018)." Actually, on July 1st, 2018. 4 This shows up in another spread sheet and it's 5 called "Another Suggestion to Address Future Positions 6 under the Salary Commission" (SEE ATT. H). And it's 7 a proposal just to begin the discussion, so we have a 8 base to begin the discussion on what to do with the 9 salaries that were already approved as we enter another 10 fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2018. 11 There is another one that goes hand-in-hand 12 with that which will make more sense when we get to it; 13 and that is called the "State of Hawaii Department of 14 Human Resources Development Salary Schedule Effective 15 July 1st for Bargaining Units 30, 31, 32, 35, and 16 Excluded Managerial" (SEE ATT. I) and it shows up as -- 17 it's called -- yeah, it's actually the salary schedule 18 for the EM positions or excluded management. And you'll 19 see how that falls in place, hopefully, if it's 20 presented the right way. 21 MR. BRILHANTE: Can I just -- I'm sorry. 22 CHR. ONO: Yeah, you should have these 23 documents. 24 The first one looks like this. 25 MS. IKEDA: Yeah, I have that, but -- ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 35 CHR. ONO: Okay. And, basically, what I'm going to do is I'm going to explain what this is about. Okay? Does everybody have it? MR. FRATINARDO: That's another suggestion? CHR. ONO: So you can follow along. MR. FRATINARDO: Got it. MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. CHR. ONO: Harold, you got it? Hunting for it now? MR. DOW: I'm hunting for it. MS. IKEDA: Like this. CHR. ONO: Nelson, you found it? MR. HARANO: What tab is it? MR. FRATINARDO: The red tab, "Tier II Information." MR. HARANO: Yep. CHR. ONO: Okay. I'm going to start off with an introduction on this. In my past life in public service, I've been both an appointed official as well as a division head. And so, when I first became the head of the Department of Public Works, I was in the same position that these appointees are now. So, basically, salary was set by -- I don't know whether the Salary Commission was in effect at that time, but there was a set salary for that position. And so, I ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 6 want to become an EM," because I noticed every time 7 there was a negotiated pay raise, they would get pay 8 raises. So I told them, "Hey, I want to be like you. 9 I want to become an EM." 10 Fortunately, I had the opportunity to become 11 the district engineer of the State Highways here. And 12 when I got appointed to that position, I came back to 13 the County, or these guys, and I told them, "Hey, guess 14 what? I'm an EM now." And, you know, having been in 15 that EM position, I noticed that it was just -- seemed 16 to be fair, because every time there was a negotiated 17 pay raise for the collective bargaining level as of an 18 effective date, my salary would be adjusted to go up by 19 the same amount or negotiation that occurred with the 20 collective bargaining level; so I never had to worry 21 about, you know, what's going to happen to my pay. 22 However, as an appointed type position for 23 all those years, the pay is locked in, and I believe 24 during Page 36 1 assumed the job. And it was in the late '90s. And I 2 worked with the -- I had six divisions reporting to me, 3 all of which were excluded management or EM adjustment, 4 positions. And my comment to them was, you know, after 5 a year or two that "I want to be like you guys. I 6 want to become an EM," because I noticed every time 7 there was a negotiated pay raise, they would get pay 8 raises. So I told them, "Hey, I want to be like you. 9 I want to become an EM." 10 Fortunately, I had the opportunity to become 11 the district engineer of the State Highways here. And 12 when I got appointed to that position, I came back to 13 the County, or these guys, and I told them, "Hey, guess 14 what? I'm an EM now." And, you know, having been in 15 that EM position, I noticed that it was just -- seemed 16 to be fair, because every time there was a negotiated 17 pay raise for the collective bargaining level as of an 18 effective date, my salary would be adjusted to go up by 19 the same amount or negotiation that occurred with the 20 collective bargaining level; so I never had to worry 21 about, you know, what's going to happen to my pay. 22 However, as an appointed type position for 23 all those years, the pay is locked in, and I believe 24 during my six-year tenure here as the director of 25 Public Works, got one pay adjustment, so it did go up ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 37 1 once within the six-year period, but other than that, 2 it was subject to whoever was doing it at the time. I 3 don't know if it was the Salary Commission. 4 But that's the background to this. And 5 because of that, I just recall how neat it was to 6 become an EM. So, with that, this proposal that I've 7 created is just based my recollection of those years. 8 So, to address the future issue of salary adjustments 9 for these positions, we looked at and we discovered 10 there are three separate categories. There are elected 11 officials, which are the mayor, council members, 12 prosecuting attorney. And then there are -- the second 13 group would be the officials appointed by the mayor or 14 the council, which would include the managing director 15 and deputy, planning director and deputy, public works 16 director and deputy, and you can read going down the 17 line over there. Of course, for the county council, it 18 would be the county clerk and the deputy. The rest 19 all, I think, fall under the mayor's jurisdiction. 20 Then there's a third group of officials appointed by 21 commissions. So this would be -- the police chief 22 reports to the Police Commission, the fire chief, the 23 Human Resources reports to -- is it still called Civil 24 Service Commission? 25 MR. DOW: Merit Appeals. ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 38 1 MR. BRILHANTE: It's called the Merit Appeals 2 Board. 3 CHR. ONO: Okay. 4 And then the other one would be the liquor 5 control director, who reports to the Liquor Commission. 6 So those are the three separate groups that I 7 am aware of. 8 MR. PAVAO: Mr. Chairman, why isn't Water 9 Supply listed? 10 CHR. ONO: Because -- 11 MR. BRILHANTE: Water Supply is 12 semiautonomous. 13 MR. PAVAO: I know it's semiautonomous, 14 but -- 15 MR. BRILHANTE: Their salary is set by the 16 Water Board. 17 MR. PAVAO: Yeah, same as the fire chief -- 18 oh, no. No, no. 19 MR. BRILHANTE: No. 20 MS. SELF: They're appointed. They don't -- 21 CHR. ONO: Yeah, you should know that. 22 Water Supply is different. Everything about Water 23 Supply is different. 24 MR. PAVAO: No, no, I know they're different 25 and they're better, but -- ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 3 9 1 1 CHR. ONO: You had to put that in. 2 MR. HIGGINS: All right, Milton. 3 MR. PAVAO: -- they're still part of the 4 County. Why -- 5 CHR. ONO: No, no, because their pay is 6 not subject to anything that the Salary Commission 7 does. 8 MR. PAVAO: Well, so is Liquor. 9 CHR. ONO: No. 10 MR. BRILHANTE: No. 11 MS. SELF: It's set by -- 12 CHR. ONO: We do the Liquor. 13 MR. PAVAO: No, no, I know you do Liquor by 14 Salary Commission, but their revenues is used to run 15 the department, right? Same like Water Supply. 16 CHR. ONO: Yeah, but they don't have a 17 say over the commissioner's salary. 18 MR. BRILHANTE: Liquor's -- 19 MR. PAVAO: Yeah. 20 MR. BRILHANTE: -- autonomy is not the same 21 as the Water Supply. 22 MR. PAVAO: I'm just wondering why isn't it 23 listed and, you know, do the exceptions? But they 24 should be listed; they're part of the County. 25 CHR. ONO: We agree. So we're going to ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 40 1 take over them. 2 MR. PAVAO: No, no. You can't do that 3 without a fight. 4 CHR. ONO: Because Jim knows, because he 5 was the chair of the Water Commission, too, the Water 6 Supply Commission. 7 MR. BRILHANTE: If I may interject, Chairman. 8 CHR. ONO: Sure. 9 MR. BRILHANTE: I think, when we look at 10 these three categories, what we're looking at is the 11 three categories of the individuals whose salaries 12 specifically come under the Salary Commission. 13 MR. PAVAO: No, I understand. 14 MR. BRILHANTE: And I think that's why Board 15 of Water Supply hasn't been listed as part of this. 16 MR. PAVAO: Good. Then leave them alone, 17 then. 18 MS. SELF: Because they don't want to be on 19 any list, right? 20 MR. HIGGINS: Right. 21 CHR. ONO: So if we drop down to next 22 one, who decides, it's exactly what we're talking 23 about. Because this was clarified by -- I think Bill 24 clarified this to me, because the way I -- we had 25 originally posed it was different; but the Salary ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 41 1 Commission under the current Charter has the ultimate 2 authority to make changes to these salaries. 3 However, let's jump over to the officials 4 appointed by the mayor or the council. What we've 5 added on here is that this Salary Commission would be 6 allowed to receive input from the mayor or the county 7 council as to setting these salaries for these 8 officials. Okay? And also the same with the appointed 9 commissions. In this case, we could allow input by the 10 Fire Commission or the Police Commission as they make 11 the appointments of their fire chief, deputy, as to 12 what their salary could be. 13 Now, let me digress a minute to this EM 14 schedule that we looked at. And this is the schedule 15 that begins this July. And if you look at this 16 schedule, okay, each of these classifications runs from 17 EM -1 up to EM -8. So these are normally division chief 18 positions within the State of Hawaii jurisdictional 19 system. The ES -1, ES -2, and ES -3 are special 20 classifications that they call super classes. And with 21 some of the larger divisions -- for example, the head 22 of the State Highways Division, State of Hawaii, can be 23 authorized to receive an ES -3 classification, the 24 highest, with authorization of the governor. And there 25 are certain other positions, like, I think, physicians ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 42 1 or possibly attorneys or other professionals, that 2 could be in those higher classifications they call 3 super classes. That's ES -1, ES -02, ES -03. 4 So the proposal that we're being -- discussed 5 is that we could select a classification for each of 6 these positions to fall in. And, as an example, in the 7 Department of Public Works, the division heads, which 8 are like the Building Division, the -- Jennifer, what 9 are some of the division heads in Public Works? 10 Building? Engineering? 11 MS. SAKAMOTO: Engineering. 12 CHR. ONO: Thank you. I couldn't 13 remember. 14 MS. SAKAMOTO: Hi. Jennifer Sakamoto with 15 Human Resources. 16 So the Public Works Department has 17 Automotive, which takes care all of the motor pool for 18 the majority of the County. 19 CHR. ONO: What EM is that? 20 MS. SAKAMOTO: I think that's 3. 21 CHR. ONO: 3. Okay. 22 MS. SAKAMOTO: And the Building Division, 23 which takes care of the permitting and so forth. And 24 Building Maintenance. Then we have -- that's EM-7.We 25 have Highways Division chief, which is a EM -7, Traffic ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 43 1 Division Chief, which is -- it's actually civil 2 engineer class, EM -5, and Engineering Division, EM -7, 3 and Administrative Division. 4 CHR. ONO: Okay. 5 MS. SAKAMOTO: So, that's actually headed by 6 Business Manager. 7 CHR. ONO: Okay, thank you. 8 Anyway, you can see that each of these 9 division heads that reports to the director of that 10 department has an EM rating. So, as an example, if we 11 were to take that director's position and put it at the 12 classification above, it would be the EM -8 level over 13 here, as shown on this table that we gave you. So, as 14 you note in this, if you look at the EM -8, there is a 15 range that runs from 106,572 to $177,408 annually. 16 Okay? There is a range there. So, if this commission 17 determined that the director of Public Works should be 18 an EM -8, their pay would fall within that range. 19 Now, here's the example I'm trying to point 20 out by getting input. For the mayor to make this 21 appointment, we would request a recommendation from the 22 mayor as to what he was able to agree with -- with his 23 negotiation with his director of public works of where 24 that salary could be or would be. With that 25 recommendation, we would be able to take into account ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 44 1 what the mayor's recommendation is, and the Salary 2 Commission could set that salary for that individual; 3 or if we felt it was too low, we would have the option 4 of doing something other than that. 5 By the same token, if the mayor would have 6 decided that "This public works director doesn't have 7 much experience, so I'm going to start him off at a 8 lower level," at any point in time, the mayor could 9 come in with a recommendation to increase this 10 individual's salary if he felt that the individual was 11 doing excellent work and deserved such a raise. 12 To do such -- and I confirmed this with 13 Bill -- this individual whose salary would be changed 14 would be terminated and rehired. Terminated at the old 15 salary and rehired at the new salary. 16 Am I correct, Bill? 17 MR. BRILHANTE: I think the language 18 "terminated" seems to have a negative connotation. 19 CHR. ONO: Oh, okay. 20 MR. BRILHANTE: So I think it would be 21 "released," but then they would be reappointed. 22 CHR. ONO: Released and reappointed. I 23 like that word, terminate. 24 And the same thing for the county council. 25 They could, you know, hire that county clerk on a ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 45 1 negotiated salary step within whatever EM we decided to 2 place, and assuming that, you know, this Salary 3 Commission agreed, we would adopt that, which would 4 mean that their salaries would no longer truly be 5 independently set by this, and that their hiring agency 6 or their bosses would have a say as to what that salary 7 could be. In the case if the mayor, say, found just an 8 extraordinary individual and wanted to pay that 9 individual -- start him off at a salary that was higher 10 just to get him on board, then that flexibility would 11 be there within this system. 12 Okay. Now, I'm almost finished. So we've 13 talked about the ability to adjust, you know, if there 14 was an adjustment either down or up; that person could 15 be released and reappointed at either a lower or higher 16 level. So there's the ability to make change within 17 that, within their salary classification, which is 18 basically the EM level. 19 Okay. Anyway, that's a summarizing it, in a 20 nutshell. But open for discussion. What do you think: 21 Good, bad, ugly, or what? 22 MS. IKEDA: So we would be following 23 this EM and EO classifications? Is it state level 24 classifications, or is it County? 25 CHR. ONO: Both. ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 46 1 MS. IKEDA: Both. It applies to both 2 State and County? 3 MS. SELF: Yes. 4 MS. IKEDA: It is the same for both 5 State and County? Is that correct? 6 MS. SELF: Bill? I believe so. 7 CHR. ONO: They are. 8 MS. IKEDA: The reclassification -- I 9 don't know, I call it reclassification, having worked 10 with personnel -- would be say, for instance, if you 11 were the mayor and you thought that this person, 12 although the classification was for EO -3, but you felt 13 that the person deserved an EM -7, then you would, as 14 the mayor, make the recommendation to the Salary 15 Commission to raise his rating up of his 16 classification. Is that correct? 17 CHR. ONO: That's correct, but that's not 18 what I was trying to get across. 19 "Within a salary range" is so broad that you 20 could pick a number within there that's higher. 21 MS. IKEDA: Okay. So, say, for 22 instance, you hired me to be yours, and that 23 classification started out at EM -1, but you felt that I 24 should be at EM -5, then would you come before the 25 salary and say that I wanted to raise this person's ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 47 1 classification up to EM -5? 2 CHR. ONO: Okay. 3 MS. IKEDA: Is that how it goes? 4 CHR. ONO: Better example. Okay. 5 Use the EM -3. Okay? And it says from 83,000 6 to 138,000. Okay? So, right now, your pay sat at 7 90,000, okay, but we want to raise it up to 130,000. 8 We would do it within the same level -- 9 MR. HIGGINS: Same level. 10 CHR. ONO: -- within the EM -3. 11 MS. IKEDA: Right. I understand that. 12 Oh, I know what you mean, then. You would just suggest 13 that the starting point for that person -- would that 14 be done in -- just -- how do I put it -- just with the 15 Human Resources Division to make that adjustment? 16 MR. BRILHANTE: Chair? 17 CHR. ONO: Go ahead, Bill. 18 MR. BRILHANTE: Would you mind if we take a 19 five-minute recess? 20 CHR. ONO: No. 21 MR. BRILHANTE: I think some issues are 22 coming up with this discussion that I think need to be 23 put on the table, and I want to make sure we are all on 24 the same page going forward. Thank you. 25 CHR. ONO: Before we do, let me address ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 1 Florence's comment. 2 The intent is this commission would select an 3 EM level that's appropriate for the position. Like for 4 the public works director, you would not select 5 something that is an EM -3, which is below the division 6 chief; it would either be equal, EM -7, or EM -8 or 7 higher. Okay? So then you'd look within that range 8 over there. 9 Okay. Go ahead. What are we doing? 10 We're -- 11 MR. BRILHANTE: Five-minute recess. 12 CHR. ONO: Yep, recess. 13 (Recess ensued from 11:14 a.m. to 11:23 a.m.) 14 CHR. ONO: Call the meeting back to 15 order. 16 On this proposal here, we have some things 17 that we need to take care of so that it reconciles 18 properly with Human Resources' procedures, legal 19 procedures and nomenclature. So, what I'd like to do 20 is, if you like this concept, we should probably 21 entertain a motion to adopt the concept and let us work 22 further with the Department of Human Resources to come 23 up with a plan to bring back to this Salary Commission 24 at a future meeting, likely the next meeting, to 25 discuss it further toward adoption or to make further ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 49 1 changes to it. 2 MR. PAVAO: I have a question. 3 CHR. ONO: Yeah. Go ahead, Milton. 4 MR. PAVAO: Say, for example, a raise is 5 warranted. So you would use the EM classification and 6 go along that range, but that range would still have to 7 come back to this commission to approve, right? 8 CHR. ONO: Yes. And for purposes of 9 discussion, we will not be able to call it an EM 10 classification. We'll call it something else, which 11 was the discussion. 12 MR. PAVAO: Whatever it is. 13 CHR. ONO: Yeah. 14 MR. PAVAO: But within the range, we would 15 still have to set that? 16 CHR. ONO: But, we can also, as I 17 understand from Bill, if we set something up that 18 changes with each collective bargaining increase -- 19 MR. PAVAO: A percentage. 20 CHR. ONO: -- we can write it into -- 21 MR. PAVAO: A percentage. 22 CHR. ONO: -- our procedure so we 23 wouldn't have to approve every single one. 24 MR. PAVAO: And then other thing, too, about 25 this method of doing it, the mayor would have some say? ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 50 1 CHR. ONO: Yeah. 2 MR. CAMPBELL: Input. 3 MR. HIGGINS: Definitely. 4 CHR. ONO: If the mayor wanted not to get 5 paid, I think we would grant that. 6 MR. PAVAO: So, it allows the mayor to have 7 some input? Okay. 8 CHR. ONO: I think -- you know, I believe 9 that this commission would welcome that input. 10 MR. PAVAO: Yeah, yeah. 11 MR. CAMPBELL: We're still the final 12 decision. 13 MS. SELF: Uh-huh. 14 MR. PAVAO: But you can't call it EM; you 15 would have to call it something else? 16 CHR. ONO: We would find another name for 17 it. 18 MS. IKEDA: Hugh. So then we make our 19 own classifications? I mean, you know, instead of 20 "EM," maybe we could make it HM or CM, but then we 21 would determine which steps would go, and say, for 22 instance, like, okay, because we went ten years without 23 any raises, could we build in something like saying 24 that we would -- it would take care of every year, 3 25 percent, and if the Salary Commission deemed it that ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 51 1 they wanted to change it to a higher percentage, they 2 could change it, so that the person -- we wouldn't have 3 this lag where there was no raises or anything, but the 4 minimum would be -- like if you set it at 3 percent, it 5 would be 3 percent subject to Salary Commission 6 approval, and Salary Commission could approve maybe a 7 higher percentage or a lower percentage? Is that -- 8 MR. PAVAO: A comment on that. I don't think 9 it should be a yearly percentage. I think it should be 10 based on union contracts; if they get a raise, then 11 this thing kicks in. 12 MR. BRILHANTE: Let me just comment to that. 13 There's actually a mechanism in place already -- 14 MS. IKEDA: Oh. 15 MR. BRILHANTE: -- and Chair Ono alluded to 16 it earlier in this discussion when he first introduced 17 this and he said how he had this strong desire to be a 18 EM. And the reason that, you know, the EMs are, you 19 know, tied in, their salaries look attractive, is 20 because the EM salaries are tied into what the County 21 has called "Excluded Management Compensation Plan." 22 And that's a requirement of the County, you know, that 23 we have to come up with on an annual basis or, you 24 know, at least on a regular basis, because the EMs' 25 salaries under HRS 89C are tied in, you know, by ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 52 1 statutory requirements to be equal to the salaries that 2 are afforded collective bargaining counterparts, you 3 know? And I think we had this discussion -- 4 MR. FRATINARDO: Yes. 5 MR. BRILHANTE: -- when we first kind of met, 6 the first meeting or two. So that's the mechanism the 7 County currently has in place for EMs. That's how the 8 EMs currently get their normal or, you know, required 9 salary increase, because their salaries are tied into 10 the Collective Bargaining Agreement salaries. 11 So say -- for example, last week I just 12 worked on the SHOPO EM salary schedule. Not SHOPO, but 13 HPD. SHOPO -- the police officers union that 14 represents them is SHOPO. And the police officers 15 got -- you know, pursuant to the SHOPO contract, 16 bargaining agreement, they got a 2 percent raise, you 17 know, this year, 2.25 percent raise next year, and the 18 like moving forward. So then the HR department was 19 required to come up with a similar type schedule 20 because of the language that the EMs get no less than. 21 So for, you know, the high-ranking, captains, the 22 majors, the assistant chiefs, who are in this EM 23 category for police department, we had to come up with 24 a salary schedule that automatically affords them 25 increases no less than what the SHOPO police officers ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 53 1 got in their contract So that's how -- it's a process 2 that's kind of automatically in place. 3 So, you know, Mr. Pavao's point is a 4 mechanism like that can be something that this 5 commission has the authority to establish specific to 6 the department heads and the deputies, you know, moving 7 forward. You know, you can come up with some type of 8 language that ties in the collective bargaining 9 increases with the EMCP increases and have it apply to 10 the salaries of the individuals who come under the 11 jurisdiction of the Salary Commission. 12 So I think, you know, that my concern with 13 setting automatic raises is, you know, I've been with 14 the County 22 years, and in my 22 years, there's been 15 some years where we get no raises; you know, the 16 collective bargaining members get no raises, you know. 17 And that's not uncommon. So I would hate for us to set 18 an automatic 3 percent raise on an annual basis and 19 then -- nobody has, you know, a crystal ball as to what 20 the future economic environment is going to be, but if 21 we move forward with hard times and we now have our 22 collective bargaining members, you know, where their 23 raises are stagnant, their salaries aren't increased, 24 they're not getting annual raises, but yet now because 25 of the language in our compensation, the Salary ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 54 1 Commission's compensation package, we have the 2 department heads and deputies getting raises. 3 So I think if we can have that mechanism 4 where we tie it in, so if one gets, two gets, then 5 three gets; or if one doesn't get, then two doesn't 6 get. And it seems to be a fairer, more standardized 7 course of action. 8 MR. FRATINARDO: May I ask a question, 9 Mr. Brilhante? Is it possible we could -- and this is 10 for all the executive management increases. Would 11 there be just a possibility we could maybe just get a 12 general collective increase as far as how much 13 collectively they are going to be receiving as, you 14 know, a dollar amount? Is there a possibility -- 15 MR. BRILHANTE: I'm sure we could come up 16 with that figure. 17 MR. HIGGINS: I already asked that this 18 morning; so maybe she has that number. I don't know. 19 MR. BRILHANTE: I think we will provide it to 20 you prior to the next meeting. 21 MR. FRATINARDO: Thank you. 22 MR. BRILHANTE: But one thing I will say is 23 somewhat unique is that generally what happens when we 24 enter into the negotiations, the unions, they kind of 25 line up with each other, you know. Generally, Fire ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 55 1 comes first, HGEA comes second, SHOPO comes third, and 2 now Water Safety Officers, the Unit 14 for HGEA, 3 they're coming last. But what happens generally is 4 when you're in this uncertain economic environment that 5 we have now, more often than not, the union -- it's 6 been my experience the union is going to come in with a 7 high salary increase request. 8 I think currently Fire was first. When Fire 9 came in, I believe -- and corrected me if I'm wrong, 10 but I think Fire came in with a request for annual 11 raises at 10 percent. That was their initial request. 12 The employers group, who is consisting of the governor 13 and then each of the counties, the mayors for each of 14 the counties, came back with "No, we want a zero 15 percent. We're offering a zero percent raise." And so, 16 what happened is an impasse was determined. The 17 Collective Bargaining Agreement doesn't -- or the HRS 18 doesn't afford for strikes. What happens is they went 19 to binding arbitration. There was an arbitration over 20 a week's period of time. The arbitrator came back with 21 a decision, and he determined what the salary increases 22 would be. And he set the 2 percent and the 2.25 23 percent going forward. 24 And the point I'm trying to make is once that 25 initial decision was made, then none of the other ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 56 1 unions, you know, went into arbitration. What they did 2 was they just adopted those percentage raises. And 3 generally -- I'm not saying it happens all the time, 4 but more often than not, that's how the process works. 5 The first group goes in, they go through arbitration, 6 or they reach some type of settlement, and, you know, 7 it establishes what the raises will be. Now, that is 8 just specific to the raise. You know, there's always 9 these additional issues that come up, you know, 10 non -cost -related items. 11 So, I'm just saying as it relates to that, 12 historically there hasn't been much deviation as to 13 what the percentages of raises will be for each union, 14 whether it be Fire, Police, HGEA, UPW. 15 MS. IKEDA: Mr. Brilhante, is it 16 possible to get to see what the wording is like on 17 these things, you know, just so we get an idea of what 18 transpires, to just see the wording for the next 19 meeting, maybe? 20 MR. BRILHANTE: Clarification. The wording 21 of the HRS language? 22 MS. SELF: For this? 23 MS. IKEDA: No. So, you know, like 24 you said -- I was just giving the example of 3 percent, 25 but you said you know it should be tied in with that. ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 57 1 Is there any specific wording or document -- 2 MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. 3 MS. IKEDA: -- that goes with it? And 4 could we be given that just to -- 5 MR. BRILHANTE: I believe that that language 6 was provided. 7 MS. IKEDA: In the beginning? 8 MR. BRILHANTE: In the first meeting. But 9 what I can do is I can get another copy of that. 10 MS. IKEDA: Okay. 11 MR. BRILHANTE: It's HRS 89C. 12 MS. SELF: I think what Florence is saying -- 13 let me know if I'm wrong. I think they want the 14 language of how this is all set up. Like is there some 15 sort of a document that states how this -- I mean, 16 other than the statute, is there some sort of a memo 17 or... 18 MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. Our department sends 19 out an e-mail to the affected EMs. So for HGEA, you 20 know, all the EMs, you know, that come under their 21 collective bargaining counterparts, come under HGEA, we 22 send out a memo where we attach the excluded management 23 compensation plan. And that's through a memo. And the 24 reason we send a memo to each of the individual members 25 is because under the statute, they get an opportunity ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 58 1 to provide input, each of the members. And so, then we 2 send out the e-mail. We set a deadline for input from 3 each of the members. And moving forward, once that 4 timeline is past and we're going to adopt the salary 5 plan, then I send out what is called a circular, and 6 the circular goes to the mayor and the affected 7 departments. And the circular is what actually 8 formally sets the -- and it's not just the salaries. 9 For example, with SHOPO or with the police department, 10 they got an increase in their gun allowance from 500 to 11 a thousand dollars. So that's considered a benefit, so 12 got to include it. They got lump sum, you know, 13 payments for seniority, you know, for members who were 14 very senior, you know, 25 years of service and the 15 like. So it's not just the annual salary increases get 16 addressed, but everything that is considered to be a 17 benefit or compensation gets addressed in that 18 circular. I'm not sure we would have to go through 19 that detail here, because, you know, with the Salary 20 Commission -- 21 MR. CAMPBELL: We're it. 22 MR. BRILHANTE: Yeah. 23 MR. CAMPBELL: Mr. Chair, I would like to 24 make a motion that we accept our Chair, Hugh Ono's, 25 plan to come back at the next meeting with a possible ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 59 1 process based on the EM and the salary chart that you 2 presented today for consideration and review at our 3 next meeting. 4 CHR. ONO: George, let me suggest 5 something else. Okay? I believe we need that, but I 6 would like to also include in that -- this commission 7 authorize both the Vice -Chair and myself to meet with 8 the Department of Human Resources to work on the draft 9 for the detail for this plan. 10 MR. CAMPBELL: Okay. Yes, of course. 11 CHR. ONO: Do we have a second? 12 MR. PAVAO: Second. 13 CHR. ONO: Discussion? 14 Not seeing -- 15 MR. HARANO: Chairman Ono, I have one. And 16 this is a question just for my basic understanding. 17 In reference to what Ms. Ikeda had mentioned 18 about this -- whatever that percentage increase is 19 annually, now, that's part of the budgetary process, 20 right? Is it a line item in the budget process, this 21 proposed salary increases, annual increase, whether 22 it's actually paid out or not? 23 CHR. ONO: I can't answer that. 24 MR. BRILHANTE: If I recall Finance Director 25 Sako's testimony at our last meeting, I believe the ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 60 1 budget does include a line item where it states 2 anticipated salary increases. 3 MR. CAMPBELL: That's what she said. 4 MR. HIGGINS: She did say that. 5 MR. FRATINARDO: Dr. Dow was just talking 6 about that, in that anticipation. 7 MR. DOW: And as I recall, in that 8 comprehensive annual financial report, there were like 9 four different budgets: a proposed budget and then an 10 amended budget and then an actual budget, and I forget 11 the fourth one. But, anyway, there were all these 12 adjustments that went on in the budgetary process until 13 you arrived at an actual number. And then, that wasn't 14 even the money that was actually spent. So you had 15 variances, line item variances, as to what was approved 16 and what actually occurred. 17 CHR. ONO: Does that answer your 18 question? 19 MR. HARANO: Well, so if in a year, you know, 20 the increases are not paid out, what happens to that 21 line item? Does it go back into the General Fund? Is 22 it, you know, set aside? What I don't want to see is 23 this, you know, 20, 30, 40 percent increase in one 24 year, you know, just because you hear it from the 25 public. So if there's a way that -- I'm just wondering ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 61 1 what happens if it's not paid out? 2 MR. BRILHANTE: My general understanding is 3 that salaries that aren't paid generally go back into 4 the General Fund. 5 MR. HARANO: The General Fund, right? Yeah. 6 MR. BRILHANTE: I think, just to be crystal 7 clear, I would be much more comfortable with Ms. Sako 8 coming back and providing that input, you know, so that 9 the record is, you know, clear and accurate. 10 CHR. ONO: We can put her on the agenda. 11 Okay? 12 My recollection from the past is that 13 salaries had a special fund so they could not be used 14 in another area. So, if they were in the A account, 15 that's all they can be used for and then became a 16 surplus within that area. You know, a balance that was 17 there would be used in future years, but you couldn't 18 use that for miscellaneous expenses in some other area. 19 But, yeah, she would be the absolutely best 20 source, so we will have her on the agenda for the next 21 meeting, Nelson. 22 MR. HARANO: Thank you. 23 CHR. ONO: Okay. So we have a motion on 24 the table. 25 Any other discussion? ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 62 1 If not, it was moved by Thomas and 2 seconded -- 3 MR. HIGGINS: By George. 4 CHR. ONO: By George. I'm sorry. And 5 seconded by Milton? 6 MR. PAVAO: Yeah. 7 CHR. ONO: Do I have it right? 8 MR. PAVAO: Uh-huh. 9 CHR. ONO: That we adopt this in concept 10 and allow the Vice -Chair and the Chair to work with the 11 Department of Human Services in coming up with a draft 12 proposal for discussion at our future meeting. 13 All those in favor say "Aye." 14 (All members responded affirmatively.) 15 Opposed? 16 Motion is carried. 17 Okay. We are finished with our agenda. Any 18 other opportunity for items for next agenda? We have 19 finance director. Anything else? We'll have 20 carry-over items. 21 MR. FRATINARDO: I attempted to dig up as 22 many rules that were established before. I couldn't 23 find much. So we just discussed here we're 24 establishing rules, so I was wondering -- in previous 25 minutes, I had asked for any archival sort of research ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 63 1 that could be done. Is that okay if I still continue 2 that and present it? 3 CHR. ONO: Sure. Certainly. 4 MS. SELF: Are you talking about the Salary 5 Commission's rules? 6 MR. FRATINARDO: Correct. 7 MS. SELF: Because we have those. 8 MR. FRATINARDO: Oh, you have those? 9 MS. SELF: Yes. 10 You guys don't have those, the -- 11 MR. FRATINARDO: Well, I'll talk to you about 12 it later. 13 MS. SELF: Okay. 14 MR. FRATINARDO: Thank you. 15 CHR. ONO: I think we have something, 16 Thomas. You look at that first, then decide -- 17 MR. FRATINARDO: Yes. Okay. 18 CHR. ONO: At the previous meeting, we 19 decided that we would meet the fourth Thursday of every 20 month. So, that would be March 29th, our next meeting. 21 Any objection? 22 Oh, okay, it would be the 22nd. Still okay? 23 MR. HIGGINS: Yeah. 24 CHR. ONO: Okay. So noted. It's on the 25 22nd. ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 64 1 MR. BRILHANTE: Location to be determined. 2 MS. YAMADA: I confirmed. We can have it 3 here. 4 MR. BRILHANTE: We can have it here. 5 CHR. ONO: Just as a matter of fact, 6 before I call for a meeting adjournment, you know, our 7 Human Resources Interim Director is a candidate for the 8 regular position, so they are going through the process 9 right now. I did attend a meeting which was on, I 10 think, the 12th to testify in front of the Merit 11 Appeals Board of my support for his candidacy, and I 12 also mentioned that there were some of us here that 13 also supported that. But he's going for an interview 14 tomorrow. 15 MR. HIGGINS: No wonder he looks sad today. 16 CHR. ONO: It's not on the agenda, so I'm 17 not supposed to say anything. 18 MS. SELF: It's not board business. So after 19 you guys adjourn, then you can go talk. 20 CHR. ONO: Okay. Thank you, Amy. 21 Okay. So 10:00. 10:00 next meeting. 22 MR. BRILHANTE: We can strike all that 23 previous conversation from the record. 24 CHR. ONO: That's what happens when you 25 have an ignorant Chair. ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 65 1 MR. DOW: Can I suggest what is an issue in 2 my mind here about previous actions on salaries? I 3 think we had something approved in December, as I 4 recall. There were, I think, four or five deputy 5 director salaries that were set at parity with the 6 highest-paid subordinate. There was no difference -- 7 CHR. ONO: Uh-huh. 8 MR. DOW: -- between their salary and the 9 highest-paid subordinate. 10 My question is having now gone into a new 11 calendar year or about to go into a new fiscal year, 12 are we looking at salary inversions developing with 13 these deputy director salaries? 14 MR. BRILHANTE: That's a good point, Dr. Dow. 15 And the response to that is, again, we're doing a 16 comparison of the salaries for the director and the 17 deputy which were set, and they were set at a specific 18 level, a specific amount; whereas when we look at the 19 inversion issue, again, we're comparing the salaries of 20 our excluded manager, our EMCPs. And with the excluded 21 managers, their salaries are not set. They increase, 22 you know, specific to the bargaining agreement, and 23 they also get what is called a within -range 24 progression, almost like a seniority step. And that's 25 applied on an annual basis. ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Page 66 1 So I would assume -- in specific response to 2 your question, my assumption is that, yes, there could 3 be a situation that developed where, although we set 4 the deputy's salary range to be equal to the highest EM 5 in the department, at this point in time, there are 6 probably some movements to the EMs within the 7 department where they now have surpassed the deputy's 8 salary. But we can look at that, and we can confirm 9 that going forward, and we can have that information 10 available at the next meeting. 11 MR. DOW: The next question is does the 12 Salary Commission accept that situation? Are we going 13 to accept EMs' salaries being greater than deputy 14 directors? 15 CHR. ONO: I don't have a problem with 16 that, you know, having had worked in that scenario; but 17 I don't have any -- I don't care either way. It 18 doesn't bother me that much, having been in that 19 situation where I had, you know, deputy reporting to 20 me, or I was a deputy, because as a deputy, primarily 21 report to the director, but, you know, it's something 22 we can put on the agenda so we -- 23 MR. DOW: I would like that. 24 CHR. ONO: -- can address it. So I have 25 it now. ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 67 Okay. That being said, motion to adjourn? MS. IKEDA: Moved. MR. FRATINARDO: I make a motion. CHR. ONO: Wow, everybody jumped at that one. Okay, we'll let Florence make the motion. Second? MR. FRATINARDO: Second. CHR. ONO: Okay, Tom. All those in favor say "Aye." (All members responded affirmatively.) (The Salary Commission meeting adjourned at 11:50 a.m.) ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 1 STATE OF HAWAII 2 ss. 3 COUNTY OF HAWAII 4 5 I, TERI HOSKINS, a certified court 6 reporter in the State of Hawaii, do hereby certify 7 that the foregoing pages are a true and correct 8 transcription of the proceedings in the above matter. 9 10 Dated this 26th day of February, 2018. 11 12 13 T 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 all 3R No. 452 ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES (808) 933-9800 Ms. Teri Hoskins, Certified Court Reporter, transcribed the aforementioned proceedings of the Salary Commission at its meeting held on February 14, 2018. Glynis Yamada, Secretary, Salary Commission, had incorporated some minor formatting/housekeeping revisions throughout the transcript. Respectfully Submitted, V,av vuk ���Q Glynis Yamada, Secretary APPROVED: lC J/Hugh Y. Ono, P. E., Chair Salary Commission Harry Kim William Y" a S' • William V.Bril(umte Jr. Mayor /� = '•9 Acting Director of Yuman Resources CF HP.' itSPrM • • County of Hawal t Department of Human Resources Aupuni Center«101 Pauahi Street,Suite 2*Hilo,Hawai'i 96720*(808)961-8361 Fax(808)961-8617 website:http://hatis•aiicounty.gov/hiurart-resources a-mnil:ioh.0 :co!air,.nor, TO: Hugh Y. Ono, P.E., Chair and Salary Commission Members FROM: William Brilhante, Jr., Acting Director of Human Resources -� , DATE: January 22, 2018 RE: Approved Salary Increases with Payroll Adjustments and Total Cost of Increases Our office has reviewed the salaries that were approved effective March 1, 2018 at the January 18, 2018 meeting for payroll purposes. At this time, the only proposed adjustments are for the following positions: Approved 1/18/18 Adjusted Salary Mayor: $162,581 $162,582 Managing Director: $153,611 $153,612 The other new salaries that were approved all divide evenly by 24 pay periods and do not require adjustment. Please see attached for full list of approved new salaries effective March 1, 2018. cc: Harry Kim, Mayor Deanna Sako, Finance Director ATT. A Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Memo to Salary Commission Chair January 22, 2018 Page 2 New Salaries Approved 1/18/18 effective 03/01/18: Position Title Department Current Salary Approved Salary Cost Effective Difference: 03/01/18 Mayor Office of $132,000 $162,582 $30,582 Management Managing Office of $119,004 $153,612 $34,608 Director Management Deputy Office of $115,008 $132,744 $17,736 Managing Management Director County Clerk Office of the $99,000 $126,420 $27,420 County Clerk Legislative Office of the $99,000 $126,420 $27,420 Auditor County Clerk; Legislative Auditor Deputy County Office of the $94,284 $113,778 $19,494 Clerk County Clerk Council Chair County Council $58,008 $77,016 $19,008 Council County Council $52,008 $70,008 $18,000 Member Director of Department of $99,000 $126,420 $27,420 Information Information Technology Technology Director of Department of $99,000 $126,420 $27,420 Liquor Control Liquor Control Housing Office of Housing $99,000 $126,420 $27,420 Administrator & Community Development Director of Department of $99,000 $126,420 $27,420 Research & Research and Development Development Deputy Director Department of $94,284 $113,778 $19,494 of Research & Research and Development Development Total Cost: $323,442 COUNT v nr: : WA If Pat Sexton JN (i r 12 4 PI II: 17 400 Hualani Street, #2108 Hilo, HI 96720 (808) 366-6972 laukua37@hotmail.com January 24, 2018 Mr. Harry Kim Mayor County Building Aupuni Street Hilo, HI 96720 Aloha Mayor Kim: As happy as I was to write a letter congratulating you on being named head of the Mauna Kea Peace Monument Committee, I am that angry to be writing you today. Since Sunday, when I read the Tribune-Herald, I have been in a state. It's bad for my health and clutters my mind, so I want to tell you a few things. I recently moved from Oahu to the Big Island. I am an economic migrant. I am not alone. I lived 48 years on Oahu and thought I would never leave. I'm 70 and in good health, so I hoped to relax with a little slower pace and away from the greed and corruption that are indicative of the Caldwell administration. I live on $1200/month. $800 goes for rent and the rest pays off credit card bills accrued when moving (a very expensive operation) and food. Each month I am stretched. I am a self-employed, contract worker but it is hard to find jobs here in Hilo and I am still making the transition from Oahu and my money sources there. There is a good part of the month where there is no money, so plans have to be made each month to set aside the rent and stockpile the food to get ATT. B through the three weeks with no cash funds. Perhaps this sounds unbelievable to you—you who just recently got a $30,000 raise. You know, I worked for the state for many years, both as a paraprofessional and professional in the state library system. Never did I make more than $35,000/year. There are many times I wonder what makes one person so much for deserving that others in terms of salary. I talk to people all the time here because I'm interested in how they make a go of it. You have very resilient people here. There are a lot of self- employed and they have a lot to say about taxes. Being self-employed myself, I totally understand the burden that is placed squarely on the shoulders of the small business owner. In my 6 months here, I have seen two businesses go under and not for lack of trying on the part of the owners. The source of my angst presently is the content of three separate articles that have recently appeared on the news: 1. "AUW Report: Nearly half of Hawaii's households unable to make ends meet". Hawaii News, January 9, 2018 I'm hoping you have a copy of this report at the ready on top your desk and that you refer to it often. It says something about your county containing the most number of struggling people in the state. Did you read it? Why would you be instituting an increase in the GET tax which affects everyone all the time when a majority of your constituency is struggling financially? In this case, the struggles of the county government reflect the struggles of the citizens and rightly so. As we must adjust our spending to reflect current monies, the county also should not just throw caution to the winds and award salary increases and GET tax increases all together like they were deserved. Just because the Salary Commission (for whatever reason) decided that you needed more money, doesn't mean that you have to take it. You know, there was a town in California—I believe it was Bell, CA— where the city officials ran amok and awarded generous salaries to themselves, while the town is the thirteenth smallest city in the United States. The town took them to court. Thanks be that they were summarily punished. Take a lesson from history. Perhaps you don't look at yourselves as "as bad" as those men, but think about it. 2. "Raises approved: Mayor, County Council, others get big hikes." West Hawaii Today, January 19, 2018 The best thing I can say about this is that at least it's right out there in the open. That's about it. You are obviously ready to deal with the fallout next election. I laughed at the commission's angst that one person gets more money than another. What's the problem? Luck of the draw. Life isn't fair. Get over it. When I ran a non-profit, my subordinate's salary was 2x mine because I was single and she had three children. Such a radical idea. There has come a day when salaries need to be divorced from ego because, after all, we are still not mad about women making 75% of what men make, are we? I stand in favor of Councilwoman Lee Loy's charter amendment and will work extremely hard to make sure it passes. 3. "Tough times: Kim seeks general excise tax increase to offset county's diminished fund balance." Tribune-Herald, January 23, 2018 If you proceed with your efforts to increase the tax, you must be aware that the people will subvert at every opportunity. The last few days have been very educational for me as I discuss "workarounds" with other poor people on the island. If you don't listen to the people, they'll note that and then just do what they can to protect themselves. Human nature. But you are all very clever. You know we have to eat and so you tax the food. In all the years I have lived in Hawaii, I have heard over and over again that, AT LEAST, we should be exempted from the tax on food and medicines. NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING is ever done. It's all shibai. Lip service to an electorate that you take for granted and assume that things will always go your way. Can I tell you what happens on my level when the GET is raised. 1. It increases the amount of money that I must pay semi-annually in taxes to the state. 2. It will most probably raise rents. Landlords won't be raising rents just the manini percentage but they will add on a big chunk while they are at it—let's say $100 to $200 dollars/month. 3. Of those on medications, perhaps it means they have to look to lowering their own dosage because of lack of funds. 4. And for all, it means that perhaps they will have a little less to eat each month. I want to tell you one more thing that will definitely be a result for me and perhaps for others in your realm. I have struggled financially all my life. I worked for non-profits and took low wages because I knew that we are all in this together and that my turn would come for others to look out for me. Being the Irish-Catholic and having been taught that being on the dole is wrong (see Paul Ryan), I have been reluctant to seek out government services. On Oahu, they are entirely too busy and it's impossible to get to them. Over here, I have found that other old, poor people are a fount of information. I am definitely poor, they tell me, and I qualify for all the services. The county has a dedicated staff waiting to serve my needs. So, I'm going. I am applying for housing, food stamps and anything else they feel I "deserve". I can't help it. You have beat me down. You have taken the last pennies for a tax that you "need". If you had just left me alone, I would have continued struggling along and maintained my balance, but you upset that balance and there are consequences for all of us. I have enclosed copies of the articles to which I refer for your information. It cost me my last $1.20 to make copies at the library. Waste not, want not. Could I ask for something, now that I will be paying more? I need affordable access to a wireless network. I feel Spectrum is a monopoly that charges exorbitant rates because they can. It's kind of like you and the county council with the GET tax and salary increases. If you could put that issue on some agenda, I would be most grateful. I am totally bummed. You were my favorite mayor because you believe in peace. I find, however, in speaking with fellow citizens of Hilo that for you that often translates to "not wanting anyone to rock the boat." Well, I'm here now and I am interested and I participate. Sorry if that is inconvenient. This entire process has taken a couple days out of my life and I'm NOT getting paid for that time. Time taken up with worry about money and rents and food makes me anxious and unable to operate at max capacity. Please understand, you and a lot of politicians are leaving many of us behind. We cannot keep up and we cannot seem to get your attention. You give lip service to our needs and then go ahead and act on some other hidden agenda. Recently, there was a woman found dead in the volcano caldera. You just don't trip into the volcano. Take a little time and think about what might have driven her to such an end. You need jobs here. It is a crying need. Talk to your people. They are desperate to figure out a way. Don't take the state jobless rate as any indicator. The reason we are ALWAYS like this is because people in Hawaii have 2-3 jobs, none of which pay a living wage. So, if they lose one, there is another. Voila! Economics explained. People are, therefore, rarely, if ever, jobless. I live at Waiakea Villas and there are sometimes 5 people in a 359 sq. ft. space. Grandparents taking care of grandchildren, children taking care of aging parents, new immigrants trying to find their way. You have been a government worker for a long, long time, Mayor Kim. I find in Hawaii that if government workers just stay still and don't make waves, that they will advance over time and end up with quite a nice nest egg at the end. I really don't think you can honestly say you "need" the money in light of all that I, and to be fair, even you have said about the current economic state of your public. I am so sick of constituents just being a giant purse and getting the shaft by paying for useless and over budget projects. I wish someone would look to those things first before punishing everyone. Politicians give constant lip service to the income inequalities and then they go ahead and pass a regressive tax that disproportionately adversely affects the lower economic classes. It's shibai, it's flim-flam and we are the suckers who didn't see it coming because we were too busy trying to survive. Start cutting. Quit whining. Don't dramatize, just do it. Start with the raises. Set an example. Forfeit your raise and donate it to the county fund. Your people are in a world of hurt. You and the county council need to get out more. You are a nice guy. Wouldn't mind having a beer with you. But this is different, Harry, my friend. You need to do a pro/con thing here and take a stand on the GET increase. After you do the pro/con thing, you then need to weight it for the poor, for social justice sake. If you then feel that you MUST have your tax, please address the issue of no GET taxes on food/medicines. This is not a new idea. It's time as come. Please also consider the new federal tax law. Does anyone in county government truly understand the effect that the new federal tax law will have on the taxpayers in Hawaii? I would consider that an issue that should be addressed before any action is taken. If the feds beat you to the money, they beat you to the money. There are no separate pots here in Hawaii. There are just a few people who keep you the counties and the state going and you need to care for the cash cow. Is it right to just keep piling on? I hope you had time to read this letter. I know it's a pain to listen, but I appreciate it if you did. I will be at the meetings. I'm interested now. I'll see you around. Sincerely, Patricia Sexton Resident/Hilo, HI Cc: Aaron Chung, Hawaii County Council, District 2 Salary Commission, Hawaii County Valerie Poindexter, Hawaii County Council Chairperson Susan Lee Loy, Hawaii County Council, District 3 HUGH Y. ONO, P.E. 455 Ekela Street Hilo, HI 96720 Email: hono@hawaii.rr.com Ph. 808-959-1342 Monday, January 29, 2018 Ms. Pat Sexton 400 Hualani Street, #2108 Hilo, HI 96720 Subject: Letter to Mayor Harry Kim Re: Dated January 24, 2018 Dear Ms. Sexton: Thank you for your letter as referenced above. My name is Hugh Ono and I am the current Chair of the Salary Commission. I am writing to you personally and not as the Chair of the Salary Commission, my objective, to provide you with additional factual information. Listed below is that information: 1. Firstly, the Salary increases made are not the Mayor's doing. a. It is the Salary Commission that proposed and implemented the Salary adjustments recently adopted. b. In fact, Mayor Kim appeared before the Salary Commission at its December 21, 2017, meeting to testify about the County's Financial Condition as well as advocating for the citizens of the County of Hawaii that need help even more. c. There was also similar testimony received from Council Members, Aaron Chung & Susan Lee Loy. 2. Also attached is "Background and Information Paper"which best explains the process and information used by the Salary Commission at reaching its decisions. It is this attachment that will provide some pertinent and additional information. Sincerely, Hugh Y. Ono, P.E. cc: Mayor Harry Kim Council Member Aaron Chung Council Member Susan Lee Loy Salary Commission Members ATT. C BACKGROUND AND EXPLANATION PAPER: SALARY COMMISSION ACTION LEADING TO: APPROVED SALARY CHANGES OF: THURSDAY,JANUARY 18,2018 ACTION OCCURRING: DESCRIPTION OF ACTIONS: COMMENTS OR NOTES: *Quorum Finally in place *Effort to fill vacancies since February 2017. *1st Salary Commission Meeting w/Quorum *Wednesday,October 11,2017 * Hugh Ono&Florence Ikeda elected Chair and Vice Chair respectively. EVENTS LEADING: *Friday,October 27,2017 *2nd Meeting-Testimony received;Informational Briefing by HR&Corp Counsel. *Monday,November 27,2017 *Discussion on Proposed Salary adjustments. *Approval of Priority A&B Position Salary Adjustments. _ *Thursday,December 21,2017 * Salary Commission Meeting. *Thursday,January 18,2018 *Salary Commission Meeting in Hilo. *What State Law Says? *As briefed by the Corporation Counsel. LAW BACKGROUND: *Section 13-28:says"shall have a reasonable relationship to * What the County Charter Says? compensation in the public and private sectors". *36 Positions under this Commission *Include:Elected,Appointed Department Heads and Deputies. *Current Salaries as of now available to *Includes: Inversions as well as none earn Overtime. Commission. *Positions that are Salary Inverted. *Identified:By Position,%of Inversion w/o Overtime Pay * *Recruitment at these levels negatively affected by"no interest". Positions w/Salary Inversions affected. Particularly"Police"and"Fire"Departments. *Salaries of Private Sector Equivalent *Provided to the Salary Commission. Positions. *Salaries of other County Counter Parts *Provided to the Salary Commission. FACTS: *Salary Information of Collective *As provided by County of Hawaii Department of Human Resources. Bargaining&Excluded Management Positions provided. *Regularly work long hours(well over 50-60 hrs per week)in the name of *Testimony by Some professionalism. *Great Training for less experienced,and a"great loss"to the County of Hawaii when they leave because of the poor salaries. *Response to questions by Salary Commission-there is a"provision for *Finance Director-Funds are available on compensation adjustment"fund that is intended for all Salary Increases 1/18/18 and is available for the balance of this fiscal year. Priority Established *A-Inversions; B-Long Time w/o any Salary Increase;C-Must be addressed next. *Tier I-Need immediate attention to correct inversion and other deficiencies. *Commission decides: Tier I&II *Tier II-Need to address changes to these Salaries as changes to Collective Bargaining and Excluded Management occur in the future. *Director testifies that once Salary Commission decides,that is *County of Hawaii Finance considered final. *County of Hawaii has obligation to"make the pay adjustments by adjusting the operating budget. *Salaries previously approved were determined to be too low and not *Planning&HR Positions re-evaluated and comparable. ACTIONS TAKEN: adjusted. On 12/21/17 to be comparable to other similar Department Heads. *Long discussion as to appropriate levels to set these salaries at. *Differing opinions on the amounts of compensation for these positions. In end,amounts set to consider the demographics be between the comparable positions of County of Honolulu,Kauai and Maui. *Adequate salary levels are necessary to attract quality people for these *Priority C Positions discussed&approved positions. on January 18,2018 *Also noted that Public Works,Environmental Management&Planning Positions require Professional Certifications as part of their minimum qualifications,while others do not.These are County Charter requirements. *Some commissioners cited basic qualification differences between those elected vs.non-elected/appointed positions. *Salary Increases Approved. *6-2 Vote for Priority A&B Positions. *Effective Date Approved. *8-0 Vote,effective date: January 1,2018. APPROVAL: *Planning&HR Positions re-approved *5-3 Vote on 12/21/17 with same effective date January 1,2018. *Priority C Positions approved *5-3 Vote on 1/18/18,effective date 3/1/18. COUNTY OF HAWAII •'' `" '':•; STATE OF HAWAII BILL NO. 98 ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE TO INITIATE AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE XIII,SECTION 13- 28 OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER(2016 EDITION),RELATING TO THE SALARY COMMISSION. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII: SECTION 1. Article XIII, section 13-28 of the Hawai`i County Charter(2016 Edition), is amended to read as follows: "Section 13-28. Compensation; Salary Commission. (a) The salary of all county elected officials and appointed directors and deputy directors of departments and executive agencies shall be established by a salary commission which shall consist of nine members appointed by the mayor with the approval of the council, in the manner prescribed in Section 13-4(b). The members may be removed in the manner prescribed in Section 13-4(b). (b) One member shall be a resident of each council district. In addition,the director of human resources and deputy director of human resources shall serve as ex-officio members of the commission in an advisory capacity. (c) The commission shall establish its rules of procedure, which shall provide that it meet at least annually,and adopt rules and regulations having the force and effect of law. (d) The commission shall review and compensate all county elected officials and appointed directors and deputy directors so that their total salaries and benefits have a reasonable relationship to compensation in the public and private sectors. The salary commission shall consult with those boards and commissions which have appointing authority for department heads. (e) At least thirty days prior to the approval of any salary adjustment, the salary commission shall: (1) Publish at least once in at least two daily newspapers of general circulation in the county a detailed account of its proposal,or proposals, including specific increases or decreases in both actual dollar amounts and percentages; (2) Hold at least one public hearing in east Hawai`i and one in west Hawai`i; and (3) Submit copies of a detailed report of the commission's findings and conclusions used to develop its proposal, or proposals,to the office of the county clerk and the office of the mayor for public inspection. Thepublic notice required pursuant to this subsection shall include notification that the report of the commission's findings and conclusions is available for public inspection at the aforementioned locations. ATT. D (f) Any adjustment that increases or decreases any salary by more than ten percent shall require an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the entire membership of the salary commission." SECTION 2. New charter material is underscored. When revising,compiling,or printing these charter provisions for inclusion in the Charter of the County of Hawai`i,the reviser need not include the underscoring. SECTION 3. If any provision of this ordinance,or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid,such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the ordinance,which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application,and to this end,the provisions of this ordinance are severable. SECTION 4. Upon adoption of this ordinance,this council,by appropriate resolution, shall provide that this amendment be submitted to the electorate of Hawaii County for approval in the 2018 general election. SECTION 5. The charter amendment proposed in this ordinance shall take effect upon its approval by a majority of voters voting on this legislation in the 2018 general election,as duly certified. INTRODUCED BY: 1111riP 111. 41 jj1IL MEMBER,COUNTY • ` t WAN 09 ,Hawai`i Date of Introduction: Date of 1st Reading: Date of 2nd Reading: Date of 3`d Reading: Effective Date: REFERENCE Conte 712 2 From the office of- r�''• y , Office: (808)961-8396 Council Member ? Fax: (808)961-8912 Districts ; _ ,; � ' Email sue.leeloy@hawaucounV.gov Werailt17 CO CD CI SUSAN L.K. LEE LOY -<-4 25 Aupuni Street,Hilo,Hawai'i 96720 N O-< ' -*1 C) r— MEMORANDUM c ' DATE: January 12,2018 w TO: Valerie T.Poindexter,Council Chair and Members of the Hawai`i County Council FROM: Sue Lee Loy,Cdei35014.--••""'""4", SUBJECT: An Ordinance to Initiate an Amendment to Article XIII, Section 13-28 of the Hawai`i County Charter(2016 Edition),Relating to the Salary Commission. Attached is a bill for an ordinance to initiate an amendment to Article XIII, Section 13-28 of the Hawai`i County Charter(2016 Edition),relating to the Salary Commission. Please place this item on the next available committee agenda. SL:ps Att. p <S1 10 7 Comm. No. 7M• Ref. To: FC.- Ref. LRef. Date JAN 1 j 201a_ Hawai'i County Is an Equal Opportunity Provider And Employer Executive Salary Jurisdiction Comparisons POSITIONS STATE*** C&C HONOLULU HAWAII MAUI KAUAI" EFFECTIVE DATES EXCEPT 7/1/17 7/1/17 1/1/2018;03/01/18 7/1/16 7/1/2017;07/01/18 AS NOTED: GOVERNOR $155,592 LT.GOVERNOR $151,776 ADMIN DIRECTOR of the STATE $151,776 MAYOR $173,184 $132000;$162,582 $151,979 $132,000;$135,300 M.D./ADMIN ASS'T./DIR. $165,672 119004;$153,612 $141,551 $122,536;$125,602.48 DEPUTY M.D. $157,056 $115008;$132,744 $127,396 PROS ATTY $164,136 $153,228 $142,306 $119,357;$122,340.93 1ST DEPUTY PA $156,072 $145,968 $135,190 $114,582;$117,446.55 DEPUTIES PA,Corp Counsel $54,912-$152,384(PA) $76,614-$137,905 $97,325-$113,154 $109,560;$112,299 $69,816-Salary of the Corporation Counsel DEPT.HEADS DAGS,DBEDT,DCCA,DHHL,OHS, $144,552 DLIR,DLNR,DOA,DOH,DOT,PSD, TAX BUDGET&FINANCE $151,776 $154,728 $132,726 $131,118 $119,357;$122,340.93 ATTORNEY GENERAL/CORP COUNSEL $151,776 $154,728 $153,228 $142,306 $119,357,$122.340 93 HUMAN RESOURCES $144,552 $154,728 $128,628 $127,512 $114,582;$117,446.55 INFO TECH $154,728 $99,000;5125 420 POLICE $191,184 $153,270 $151,200 $127,313;$130,495.83 FIRE $185,112 $151,200' $151,200 $127,313';$130.49583 MEDICAL EXAMINER $288,192 EMERGENCY SERVICES $154,728 PLANNING $154,728 $132,744 $130,732 $119,357;$122,340.93 PUBLIC WORKS $132,582 $139,232 $119,357';$122,340 9 DESIGN&CONSTRUCTION $154,728 FACILITIES MAINTENANCE $154,728 ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES $154,728 $132,744 $139,232 LIQUOR $99,000;5126 420 $132,432 $109,560;$112,299 WATER $180,019(+)(11/1/17) $130,680(+)tovov+el $135,884 $119,357;$122,340 93 CUSTOMER SERVICES $154,728 ENTERPRISE SERVICES $154,728 HOUSING $99,000;0126 $127,769(&HC) $114,582;5117.446 55 LAND MANAGEMENT $154,728 PARKS $154,728 ;760 $128,542 $119,357;$122,340 93 RESEARCH&DEV./ECONOMIC DEV. $99,000;'.126 420 $109,560;$112,299 ROYAL HAWAIIAN BAND $136,512 TRANSPORTATION $154,728 $120,299 DEPUTIES DAGS,DBEDT,DCCA,DHHL.DHS, $125,748-$132,972 DLIR,DLNR,DOA,DOH,DOT,PSD, TAX BUDGET&FINANCE $132,048-$139,632 $146,808 $126,402 $118,006- $114,582;$117,446.55 1ST DEPUTY AG/CORP COUNSEL $132,048-$139,632 $146,808 $145,968 $135,190 $114,582;$117,446.55 HUMAN RESOURCES $125,748-$132,972 $122,628 $114,760 INFO TECH $146,808 POLICE $182,352 $145,968 $143,640 $114,582;$117,446 55 FIRE $176,544 $143,640' $143,640 $114,582';$117,446 55 MEDICAL EXAMINER $230,592 EMERGENCY SERVICES $146,808 PLANNING $146,808 $126,420 $117,659 $109,560;$112,340.93 PUBLIC WORKS 5126 264 $125,310 $114,582' DESIGN&CONSTRUCTION $146,808 FACILITIES MAINTENANCE $146,808 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT $146,808 $126,420 $125,310 LIQUOR $119,188 WATER $171,836(+)(11/1/17) $118,800(+)toi/ouiel $121,288 $114,582;$117,446 55 CUSTOMER SERVICES $146,808 ENTERPRISE SERVICES $146,808 HOUSING $114,992(&HC) LAND MANAGEMENT $146,808 PARKS $146,808 $115,688 $114,582;5117,446 55 RESEARCH&DEV/ECONOMIC DEV. $94,284; TRANSPORTATION $146,808 $108,269 LEGISLATIVE BRANCH 12/1/2009;07/01/18. 1/1/18 7/1/17 7/1/2014;• 7/1/2013 12/01/18 SPEAKERS/PRES $70,104 MEMBERS HSE/SEN $62,604 COUNCIL CHAIRPERSON $71,520 $58,008;$77.016 $82,225 $63,879;$72,808 83 COUNCIL MEMBERS $64,008 $52,008;$70,008 $76,475 $56,781;$64,718.50 COUNTY CLERK $99,000;0126.420 $119,357;$122,340 93 DEPUTY COUNTY CLERK $94,284;$113,778 $114,582;$117,446 55 COUNTY AUDITOR $99,000;3'26.420 $117,000 $119,357;$122,340 93 ' Hawaii Fire includes Emergency Medical Services and Ocean Safety;Kauai Fire includes Ocean Safety ATT. E **Salaries for the County of Kauai reflects the maximum salary each position may be compensated at. The respective appointing authority may set the salary of any new or existing non-elected appointee at a figure lower than the maximum salary. ***State departments have responsibility statewide on all islands. Maui's Budget&Finance does not include Budget. Kauai's Public Works includes Environmental (+)Salary set by Water Board City s HR Deputy is a Civil Service position(inadvertently included the salary of all Deputies on previous chart Last Updated 02/02/18 Exhibit 7 COMPARISON OF COUNTY DEPARTMENT DATA AND RESIDENT POPULATION FY2017-2018 COUNTY RESIDENT POPULATION SQUARE MILES HONOLULU 963,607 601 HAWN'I 196,428 4,028 MAUI 160,202 1,162 KAUAI 67,091 622 ANNUAL NO.OF OPERATING DEPARTMENTS COUNTY SALARY EMPLOYEES BUDGET $153,612 MANAGEMENT HAWAII (03/01/18) incl Mayor's Ofc 18 51.518,450 (Managing Director or HONOLULU >1,35 6_- incl Culture&Arts Administrative Assistant) Neighborhood Commission Mayor's office 6 Incl MD,IT,&GIS(General&grant funds).Excl MAUI $141,551 C/W IT Equip 58.0 $11,618,662 KAUAI '0'10 assigned to Mayor's Office,b/c and admin PROS ATTORNEY HAWAII $153,228 106 59 146 416 HONOLULU • - MAUI $142,306 General&Grant funds 73.0 $6,221,824 KAUAI $119,357 CORP COUNSEL HAWAII $153,228 25 S2.782 278 HONOLULU 92 MAUI $142,306 General fund 37.5 $3,426,617 KAUAI $119,357 $126,420 INFORMATION TECH HAWAII (eft 03/01/18) 19 $2.860,838 HONOLULU $154 72" FINANCE HAWAII $132.726 includes VRL 130 $12 214.259 HONOLULU BFS-Budget Admin&Fiscal/CIP HONOLULU Customer Svc-Satellite City/MV Reg MAUI $131,118 General&Grant funds less C/W expense 147.5 $10,746,944 KAVA'I $119,357 incl Information Technology;risk mgmt&admin 82 ' , .7/1 FIRE HAWAII $151,200 EMS&Water Safety 416 $47185.584 HONOLULU 1,169.50 HONOLULU Emergency Svcs(Ambulance&Water Safety) MAUI $151,200 General,Revolving&Grant funds 368 $36,406,362 KAUAI $127,313 commission&admin 206 /' $126,420 HOUSING HAWAII ett 03 01 18, 45 519.499.327 Community Services,more social svcs than HONOLULU • housing dev MAUI $127,769 General&Grant funds 140.9 $43,418,950 KAUAI 11 : 25 $126.420 LIQUOR HAWAI-I (01030118/ 17 $2 135.398 HONOLULU B&FS-Liquor Commission 55 Liquor&Revolving funds less overhead/admin MAUI $132,432 allocation to GF 26 $2,048,808 KAUAI 516,9 5610 7 PARKS&REC HAWAI'I $128,760 includes zoo,golf course,county band,elderly activees,etc 368 $26 788.377 HONOLULU HONOLULU Enterprise Svc-Zoo,Golf,NBC/Waikiki Shell MAUI $128,542 _General,Golf&Grant funds 399.2 $32,075,922 KAUAI S119 352 205 319 253 347 HUMAN RESOURCES HAWAII $128,628 Safety/WC;includes WC positions used for light c 24 $2,033,455 ATT. F Exhibit 7 ANNUAL NO.OF OPERATING DEPARTMENTS COUNTY SALARY EMPLOYEES BUDGET HONOLULU 89.13 _MAUI $127,512 General fund 18 $1,579,802 KAUAI $114,582^ 19 32 435 311 PLANNING HAWAII $132,740 Planning&Permitting 60 S5.077.964 HONOLULU - Planning&Permitting MAUI $130,732 General&Grant funds 64 $5,431,130 KAUAI $119,357 28 52 785.128 POLICE HAWAII $153,270 558 $67,610,685 HONOLULU MAUI $151,200 General and grant funds 525 $54,313,636 KAUAI $127,313 207 533;550,334 PUBLIC WORKS HAWAII 5132.582 347 $37,078,072 HONOLULU Design&Construction 278 81 7,989 415 HONOLULU Facility Maintenance 587 5.35 183 General,Highway&Revolving funds less MAUI $139,232 overhead/admin/debt service allocation to GF 260 $28,693,731 KAUAI' $119,357^^ (incl wastewater;solid waste) 244 3 ENVIRONMENTAL HAWAII 5132.744 168 545.509.153 MGT HONOLULU General,Sewer,Solid Waste,Grant&Revolving funds less overhead/admin/debt service MAUI $139,232 allocation to GF 223 $46,533,949 $126,420 RESEARCH&DEV HAWAII (eff 03/01/18) 14 $2.870,836 KAUAI $109.560 Economic Development 10 $2,254,021 $126,420 COUNTY CLERK HAWAII (eft 03/01/18) 53 $5.197.362 HONOLULU 51 34 7> City Clerk" MAUI $98,070 General fund("•) 25 $1,744,443 KAUAI $119.357 WATER HAWAII $121.000 158 354.178 000 HONOLULU Enterprise fund less overhead/admin/debt MAUI $135,884 service allocation to GF 220 $54,728,084 KAUAI $119,357^ 87 'TIC-3/2' 7 3 TRANSPORTATION HONOLULU 114.48 MAUI $120,299 General,Highway&Grant funds 6 $19,113,846 $126.420 LEG AUDITOR HAWAII (Of 0301 i71 4 5758,502 NOTES * Honolulu Liquor Commission headed by a civil service employee and is administratively assigned to the Department of Budget&Fiscal Services. ** Salary for City Clerk set by City Council,not Salary Commission. Does not include Office of Council Services,City Council,and City Auditor Information. `*' Salary for Maui County Clerk set by County Council via resolution,not Salary Commisstion. 'A Salary set by Water Board A Maximum approved salary reflected;current HR Director receiving$110,000&current Water Manager receiving$115,000 ^^County Engineer(head of Public Works)position currently vacant Rev: 1/18/2018 (CCH) Rev:01/26/18(COH) Rev:01/26/18(Kauai) Rev:01/22/2018(Maui) BACKGROUND AND EXPLANATION PAPER: SALARY COMMISSION ACTION LEADING TO: APPROVED SALARY CHANGES OF: THURSDAY,JANUARY 18,2018 ACTION OCCURRING: DESCRIPTION OF ACTIONS: COMMENTS OR NOTES: *Quorum Finally in place *Effort to fill vacancies since February 2017. *1st Salary Commission Meeting w/Quorum *Wednesday,October 11,2017 * Hugh Ono&Florence Ikeda elected Chair and Vice Chair respectively. EVENTS LEADING: *Friday,October 27,2017 *2nd Meeting-Testimony received;Informational Briefing by HR&Corp Counsel. *Monday,November 27,2017 *Discussion on Proposed Salary adjustments. *Approval of Priority A&B Position Salary Adjustments. *Thursday,December 21,2017 * Salary Commission Meeting. *Thursday,January 18,2018 •Salary Commission Meeting in Hilo. *What State Law Says? *As briefed by the Corporation Counsel. LAW BACKGROUND: *Section 13-28:says"shall have a reasonable relationship to *What the County Charter Says? compensation in the public and private sectors". *36 Positions under this Commission *Include:Elected,Appointed Department Heads and Deputies. *Current Salaries as of now available to *Includes: Inversions as well as none earn Overtime. Commission. *Positions that are Salary Inverted. *Identified:By Position,%of Inversion w/o Overtime Pay * *Recruitment at these levels negatively affected by"no interest". Positions w/Salary Inversions affected. Particularly"Police"and"Fire"Departments. *Salaries of Private Sector Equivalent *Provided to the Salary Commission. Positions. *Salaries of other County Counter Parts *Provided to the Salary Commission. FACTS' *Salary Information of Collective *As provided by County of Hawaii Department of Human Resources. Bargaining&Excluded Management Positions provided. *Regularly work long hours(well over 50-60 hrs per week)in the name of *Testimony by Some professionalism. *Great Training for less experienced,and a"great loss"to the County of Hawaii when they leave because of the poor salaries. *Response to questions by Salary Commission-there is a"provision for *Finance Director-Funds are available on compensation adjustment"fund that is intended for all Salary Increases 1/18/18 and is available for the balance of this fiscal year. *A-Inversions; B-Long Time w/o any Salary Increase;C-Must be *Priority Established addressed next. *Tier I-Need immediate attention to correct inversion and other deficiencies. *Commission decides: Tier I&II *Tier II-Need to address changes to these Salaries as changes to Collective Bargaining and Excluded Management occur in the future. *Director testifies that once Salary Commission decides,that is considered final. *County of Hawaii Finance *County of Hawaii has obligation to"make the pay adjustments by adjusting the operating budget. *Salaries previously approved were determined to be too low and not *Planning&HR Positions re-evaluated and comparable. ACTIONS TAKEN: adjusted. On 12/21/17 to be comparable to other similar Department Heads. *Long discussion as to appropriate levels to set these salaries at. *Differing opinions on the amounts of compensation for these positions. In end,amounts set to consider the demographics be between the comparable positions of County of Honolulu,Kauai and Maui. *Adequate salary levels are necessary to attract quality people for these *Priority C Positions discussed&approved positions. on January 18,2018 *Also noted that Public Works,Environmental Management&Planning Positions require Professional Certifications as part of their minimum qualifications,while others do not.These are County Charter requirements. *Some commissioners cited basic qualification differences between those elected vs.non-elected/appointed positions. *Salary Increases Approved. *6-2 Vote for Priority A&B Positions. *Effective Date Approved. *8-0 Vote,effective date: January 1,2018. 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