Laserfiche WebLink
minutes 03-25-00Page 9 of 34 <br />recommend changing the Commission to the Board, so it would be the County Water Board, and not to be confused with the <br />State Water Commission. That was submitted as testimony to us. <br />Salary Commission. This would basically give the appointed Salary Commission the authority to set the salaries for the <br />Department and the Deputy Department Heads. The way it works right now is it has to be done by ordinance passed by the <br />County Council. The rationale behind this is the reality is it is extremely difficult politically for the County Council to give <br />salary raises, and what that has led to in the past is years and years and years of no salary increases, and a real disparity <br />between not only the salary levels of Department Heads and people within their department - In other words, Civil Service <br />salaries, a number of people within the department getting paid considerably more than the Department Head. So that’s a real <br />disincentive for anybody wanting to be a Department Head, as well as reflecting the status of competition within the private <br />sector, especially when you look at positions like the Head of Public Works and the Head of the Department of Water <br />Supply, you know, registered engineers, very low salaries in our County compared to what these people can competitively <br />get as registered engineers in the private sector. This is something Maui County implemented, I think, in 1994. I talked in <br />some length with the Council people and former Mayor Lingle about this. It seems to have worked out very well over there. <br />Hasn’t caused any great increase, or alarming increase, in salaries, and it seems to have worked well there. So, that’s what <br />we’re recommending in regard to the Salary Commission. And in regard to the issue of setting salaries, distinct, based on the <br />job qualifications and the responsibilities of the departments, we’ve discussed that very thoroughly with the Salary <br />Commission, that we’d like to see that reflected in their recommendations, but there’s no guarantee of that. <br />OTTERSON: You’re talking about the Salary Commission. Now, under this management system, the Assistant Manager <br />does all of this. He meets with the Unions. He meets with the management system. You’ve got three different systems that he <br />meets with, and he is the one that sets it all up, and his department, you might say, rules that. <br />RAY: Who sets the salaries, though? <br />OTTERSON: Pardon? <br />RAY: Who sets the salaries? Who has the final say in the salaries in Riverside? <br />OTTERSON: The Employees Association, they come in and say, well, we want such and such more per hour. <br />RAY: We’re just talking about the Department Heads and the Deputy Department Heads. Who sets the salaries in Riverside <br />for the head of the Public Works Department? <br />OTTERSON: Assistant City Manager. <br />RAY: He sets that salary? <br />OTTERSON: Yes he does. <br />RAY: Okay. <br />FORD: John? <br />RAY: Yes. <br />FORD: I’m Brenda Ford. I know you haven’t gotten to number 19, but I have the same question on 16, 17, 18, and 19. Are <br />all these Commissioners on these different Commissions voluntary, i.e. non paid? <br />RAY: Yes. <br />FORD: Okay, and all four of these are one representative per Council District, even though it doesn’t say that in all four of <br />these? <br />RAY: On the Police Commission, they are. On the Water Commission, they would be if adopted. The Salary Commission is <br />not. There’s a different make-up on the Salary Commission. <br />file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 03-25-00.html7/1/2011 <br /> <br />