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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-17 Merit Appeals Board MinutesREGULAR SESSION Merit Appeals Board Hilo Council Chambers Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401 Hilo, Hawaii February 17, 2023 (Friday) Call to Order (Item 1) The regular meeting of the Merit Appeals Board, County of Hawaii, was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Chair Gabriella M. Cabanas, at the Hilo Council Chambers, Hawaii County Building, 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401, Hilo, Hawaii, on Friday, February 17, 2023. Roll Call — Present Ms. Gabriella M. Cabanas, Chair Mr. Mel Ventura, Vice -Chair (via ZOOM) Ms. Kate De Soto, Member Mr. Charles Kunz, Member Ms. Gay Mathews, Member (via ZOOM) Also Present Mr. J Yoshimoto, Assistant Corporation Counsel, Office of the Corporation Counsel Mr. Waylen L. K. Leopoldino, Director, Human Resources Department Ms. Glynis Yamada, Secretary -Reporter, Human Resources Department Mr. Relley Araceley, Council Services Coordinator, Office of the County Clerk This meeting will be held through a combination of the board members being physically present at the meeting location and participating via ZOOM. Members of the public may attend this meeting either in-person at the meeting location or via ZOOM. Merit Appeals Board Call to Order (Item 1) February 17, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: Good morning, everyone. The regular meeting of the Merit Appeals Board is called to order at 10 a.m. We have quorum with four Board members present. I'm Gabriella Cabanas, Chair of the Merit Appeals Board. Here in the Hilo Council Chambers at the Hawaii County Building, at 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401, in Hilo, are the following Board members—Ms. Kate De Soto and Mr. Charlie Kunz. Sitting in via ZOOM from Honoka`a is Ms. Gay Mathews. Good morning, Board members. MS. MATHEWS: Good morning. MR. KUNZ: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Also with us in the Council Chambers are Assistant Corporation Counsel, J Yoshimoto. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Good morning, everyone. CHR. CABANAS: Good morning. And Ms. Glynis Yamada, our Secretary -Reporter. Good morning, Glynis. MS. YAMADA: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: And our Director of Human Resources, Waylen Leopoldino. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Mel Ventura, our Vice -Chair, will be sitting in a little later in the morning due to another commitment, but he will be appearing via ZOOM in—from Kailua- Kona. Addendum to Agenda (Item 2) CHR. CABANAS: Looking at our agenda, there's no addendum to the agenda. Statements from the Public (Item 3) CHR. CABANAS: No "Statements from the Public." Page 2 Merit Appeals Board Approval of Minutes (Item 4) February 17, 2023 June 17, 2022 (Regular Session); July 18, 2022 (Regular Session); July 18, 2022 (Closed Session); And Review Of Executive Session Minutes: June 17, 2022; July 18, 2022 (Executive Session: The Merit Appeals Board Anticipates Convening One Or More Executive Meetings Regarding The Above Matters, Pursuant To HRS Sections 92-4 And 92-5(a)(4), For The Purpose Of Consulting With The Board's Attorney On Questions And Issues Pertaining To The Board's Powers, Duties, Privileges, Immunities, And Liabilities. A 2/3 Vote Pursuant To HRS Section 92-4 Is Necessary To Hold An Executive Meeting) June 17, 2022 (Regular Session); July 18, 2022 (Regular Session); July 18, 2022 (Closed Session) CHR. CABANAS: We are now on Number—"Approval of Minutes." Has everyone had the opportunity to review the regular session meeting minutes of June 17, 2022, July 18, 2022; and the closed session of July 18, 2022? Okay, everyone is nodding that they've reviewed it. May I have a motion to approve these three meeting minutes? MR. KUNZ: So moved. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Mr. Kunz. Is there a second? MS. DE SOTO: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Ms. De Soto. Any discussion? If not, we will start with Ms. Gay Mathews, rollcall vote to approve the meeting minutes of June 17, 2022, July 18, 2022—regular sessions for those two meetings; and the closed session of July 18, 2022. MS. MATHEWS: Question—why does our agenda show "Approval of Minutes"—"None." Should that be adjusted? CHR. CABANAS: Well, it doesn't show "None"—for the approval of the meeting minutes? MS. MATHEWS: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: Where do you see that? MS. MATHEWS: (Inaudible) the one I was sent is the old one. Please ignore that I said that. Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Thank you, Ms. Mathews. Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: No discussion, and aye. Page 3 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Four ayes. Motion carried to accept the meeting minutes of June 17, 2022, regular session; July 18, 2022, regular session; and July 18, 2022, closed session. Review Of Executive Session Minutes: June 17,2022; July 18, 2022 (Executive Session: The Merit Appeals Board Anticipates Convening One Or More Executive Meetings Regarding The Above Matters, Pursuant To HRS Sections 92-4 And 92-5(a)(4), For The Purpose Of Consulting With The Board's Attorney On Questions And Issues Pertaining To The Board's Powers, Duties, Privileges, Immunities, And Liabilities. A 2/3 Vote Pursuant To HRS Section 92-4 Is Necessary To Hold An Executive Meeting) CHR. CABANAS: We are now on the review of the executive session meeting minutes of June 17, 2022, and July 18, 2022. Has everyone had the opportunity to review these meeting minutes? Okay. Gay, have you reviewed it? MS. MATHEWS: Yes, I have. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. So, everyone has indicated they have reviewed these two meeting minutes the executive session meeting minutes. May I have a motion to approve these executive session minutes? MS. MATHEWS: So moved. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Ms. Mathews. Is there a second? MS. DE SOTO: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Ms. De Soto. Any discussion? If not, I will initiate the rollcall vote starting with Ms. Mathews. MS. MATHEWS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. Page 4 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Motion carried for the approval of the executive session meeting minutes of June 17, 2022, and July 18, 2022. Communications (Item 5) CHR. CABANAS: Following our agenda items, we have no "Communications." New Business (Item 6) CHR. CABANAS: No "New Business." At this time, there has been a request from our Director of Human Resources to take out of order his "Director's Report." Are there any objections from our Board members to do that? Okay, Ms. Mathews is saying "no"—"no objection." Ms. De Soto—okay, she says "no"—and Mr. Kunz? Okay. So, do I need a motion for that—right, J? MR. YOSHIMOTO: Technically, you do. Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. So, let's go with a motion. May I have a motion to take the director's report out of order, at this time? MR. KUNZ: So moved. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Mr. Kunz. A second? MS. DE SOTO: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thanks, Ms. De Soto. Any discussion? Okay. We will have a rollcall vote starting with Ms. Mathews. MS. MATHEWS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. Page 5 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Four ayes. Motion carried. We will now take the director's report out of order. Director's Report (Item 8) MAB Monthly Divisional Activity Report: February 2023 (Executive Session: The Merit Appeals Board Anticipates Convening One Or More Executive Meetings Regarding The Above Matters, Pursuant To HRS Sections 92-4 And 92-5(a)(4), For The Purpose Of Consulting With The Board's Attorney On Questions And Issues Pertaining To The Board's Powers, Duties, Privileges, Immunities, And Liabilities. A 2/3 Vote Pursuant To HRS Section 92-4 Is Necessary To Hold An Executive Meeting) CHR. CABANAS: Good morning, Mr. Leopoldino, our Director of Human Resources. (At this time, Mr. Waylen L. K. Leopoldino, Director, Human Resources Department, came forward.) CHR. CABANAS: So, you're here today to present your monthly divisional activity report for February 2023. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. Good morning. Waylen Leopoldino, Director of Human Resources. I would like to present our monthly division report for February 2023. I will go through each division and, kind of, highlight the new things that were described for each division. Starting with the Administrative Services Division the staff in that division is currently working on the Affordable Care Act, 1095C Forms, for distribution to employees with a deadline of February 28. So, they've got—they're currently working on that. For our Classification and Pay Division—for some of you, you may have heard that we have a proposal at council to create the Animal Control and Protection Agency under the County. And so, our classification and pay division has started on developing classes of work for that agency. Nothing new with Equal Opportunity and ADA. I would like to go down to our Personnel and Organizational Development Division. We started—and it's part of my—one of my—one of the three goals that I have for the director of human resources. Jenny Sakamoto, the division head, has started planning on the Employee Engagement and Retention Program. She's identified Parks and Recreation -Recreation Division, as the division to pilot engagement and retention programming which is going to start in March. So, we're excited about that. Page 6 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 The biggest update is going to come from our Recruitment and Examination Division. I know it was requested to keep it short, but I felt that these were some important points for the Merit Appeals Board because there's a lot going on with recruitment and examination. As far as personnel, Stacie Iwasaki was promoted to the new HR Program Specialist position in recruitment that was effective February 1st We participated in a pretty big event out in Puna. It was Revitalize Puna. We had a booth out there for recruitment. It was very successful. It was a very busy event. We had a lot of people come through and ask a lot of questions, so that was a very positive opportunity for recruitment. We were finally able to connect with UH -Hilo. We had a great discussion with the head of UH and we got some opportunities that were discussed. We want to partner and create internship programs. I proposed, not only having a relationship related to recruitment but just building a relationship as an employer with the university to participate in other types of events—speaking engagements. And, as a result of that meeting, the director of the business school reached out to me and asked if I'd sit on the Advisory Board for the College of Business and Economics. And so, I accepted—and so, they're going to be coordinating that. So, I thought that was a very (inaudible) meeting and we're all very excited of our future with UH -Hilo. I also want to highlight the enhancement of our postings on social media. We've done a bunch of different things. I am excited to announce that we participated in our very first career fair at the University of Washington yesterday via the Handshake Program. I was pleasantly surprised that we did between Michelle and myself—we had one-on-one sessions with, I'd say, over 20 students who were very interested in specific positions with the County and are very motivated to move to the Big Island. So, we had the one-on-one sessions were 10 -minutes each. So, she had her own 12 and I had my own 12. And so, the discussions were very positive, they were very motivated, and I, kind of, got a feel—when I have these discussions with students, I promote the County as a community employer—community focused employer. And each of the students that I talked to yesterday, they were all very excited about that. So, nothing about salaries or compensation or retirement. They were just excited at the mission of the County. And so, that was very hopeful and very positive. MR. KUNZ: I have one quick question. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Sure. MR. KUNZ: Not that it matters, but were there any local kids? Page 7 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 MR. LEOPOLDINO: Not in my session. I didn't get a chance to touch -base with Michelle. But two of the students that I talked to—one of them his girlfriend's family is from Hilo and so she wants to move back and he wants to follow her. The second one has family here on the Big Island. So, there were ties for at least two of the students. But the discussions were very positive and it was just a just from our experience at these career fairs and resources fairs, the engagement was a lot stronger I felt. And so, I'm hopeful. And, as I said, they were interested in specific positions that we were recruiting for and they qualified. CHR. CABANAS: Waylen, can I just pause for a minute? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Sure. CHR. CABANAS: Because I see Mr. Ventura has joined us via ZOOM. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Oh, sure. CHR. CABANAS: Which he was not in on ZOOM earlier. So, for the—let the record show good morning, Mel, how are you? MR. VENTURA: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Good morning. So, let the record show that Mr. Ventura joined our meeting at 10:10 a.m. and he has been listening to your director's report from that time, Waylen. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Okay. Great. CHR. CABANAS: Just to bring you up to speed, Mel, we have taken the "Director's Report" out of order with the approval of the present Board members because Waylen has a major task for the mayor to undertake with the storm. So, we're just beginning. So, okay thank you, Mel, and I'm glad that you are joining us today. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Did he have a question? CHR. CABANAS: Did you have a question, Mel? MR. VENTURA: No. CHR. CABANAS: No. Okay. MR. VENTURA: No. No questions. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. So, I'm sorry, Waylen, you may proceed. Page 8 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 MR. LEOPOLDINO: Oh, thank you. CHR. CABANAS: You can continue. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Thank you. So, the experience yesterday was, as I said, it was very exciting very hopeful—but it was the first of—we have several more of those West Coast schools that we've identified that a lot of our Hawaii students attend. We have the University of California—some of their campuses are coming up with virtual fairs. Oregon State University and couple more—University of Washington virtual fairs. So, very positive experience. This was the very first virtual career fair we've done with mainland schools, so we're looking forward to more of them. WeI'm not sure if I mentioned—we were able to put a blurb on the real property tax assessment notices about recruitment. It was just a one-liner we were able to put on there. The Department of Water Supply has also jumped on board and offered recruitment put in a blurb on their water bills as well. We're collecting pictures from departments—we requested pictures from departments of our employees. We're going to ramp up our campaign on print ads to include employee pictures and, like, testimonials to kind of add to our print ads. And we're looking to do interview -type radio spots—interviewing our employees to get, like, live testimonies. So, we're excited about that as well. Those are the highlights, among the daily things. I am pleased to announce that we are still closing continuous recruitments. This week, we closed another two. So, it's—we're not closing them in chunks but we are closing them—so I'm very hopeful with that. And, finally, our Workers' Compensation Division, we were finally able to fill our the permanent class Workers' Compensation Specialist IL It was brought down to recruit—to the professional trainee and we were able to select someone internal within our department— Tiffany epartmentTiffany Wallace. So, Tiffany started in that role on February 16''. So, our department is growing. We don't have the space for it but we are growing. And I'm happy to entertain any questions at this time. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Waylen. We'll start with those appearing via ZOOM. Mr. Ventura, any questions for Waylen? MR. VENTURA: No questions. Thanks. CHR. CABANAS: Okay, thank you. Ms. Mathews. Page 9 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 MS. MATHEWS: Just one. Is there any effort to do similar hires, particularly, in (inaudible) parks and recreation or swimming pools that kind of thing? And is there a focus on college and high school students that, say, qualify to be lifeguards—can they apply? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. Parks and—we're working with parks and recreation because they're also gearing up for the summer fun. So, in conjunction with that, we are also working with them on marketing and promoting their pool lifeguard positions. And I canI'm sure we are focusing on high school students for those types of positions but that's, definitely, something we would consider as well. MS. MATHEWS: Do you know what the youngest could be in terms of a high school or getting aI mean, I don't know about the rest of you, but I always (inaudible). So—and I started at 15. And I was just, kind of, curious what the County's take is on? MR. LEOPOLDINO: With the pool lifeguard, some of the positions require a driver's license because they have to oversee multiple pools or multiple locations. But, otherwise, I believe it's the lifeguard certification. So, I think you can go under 18 but, other than that, it would just be the driver's license to drive to multiple pool sites. MS. MATHEWS: Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: And they would need to have a work permit, if they're MR. LEOPOLDINO: Right. CHR. CABANAS: —age 15 and 16. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Correct. MS. MATHEWS: Oh, okay, good to know. CHR. CABANAS: Okay, thank you. Mr. Kunz, question? MR. KUNZ: Yes, I have one question, if, Waylen, you can kind of, maybe, help map it out for me or us. I know in watching some of the testimonial activity that's been going on with the Animal Control and Protection Agency, what kind of timeline are you placing on the classification process? MR. LEOPOLDINO: So, it depends on how quickly the agency is approved. So, we're kind of on standby and waiting on that. The anticipation is that it would be approved the agency would be approved by the end of March, if I'm not mistaken. And that would allow us to create Page 10 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 the administrator position first, so they can help the administration on the planning, on the staffing, and planning for the rest of the classes to be effective July 1st MR. KUNZ: Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Ms. De Soto, any questions for Waylen? MS. DE SOTO: Just one. I just wanted to see if the workers' compensation claims—is the 268 cases, is that on par with trends—historical trends? MR. LEOPOLDINO: With our own trends, it's actually trending lower than previous claims. And, as I mentioned before, workers' compensation was a division that was combined with health and safety. And so, they're separate now and I feel that's been effective because our health and safety division has, kind of, ramped up their training and preventative measures with safety protocols, PPE—so that has, definitely, helped keep that number at a manageable level and even trending downward. MS. DE SOTO: Great. Thank you. MR. LEOPOLDINO: You're welcome. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Ms. De Soto. I have a couple of questions, Waylen. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Sure. CHR. CABANAS: So, going back to classification and pay, with the Animal Control and Protection Agency—how many classes are you looking at? So, you have the administrator class MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: And then— MR. LEOPOLDINO: So, we're still working with police on that. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. MR. LEOPOLDINO: They're tasked with identifying the amount of positions that they're going to need. So, they're currently working with classification and pay right now in getting that number. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. And then, going to recruitment and exam. I reviewed the meeting minutes that we had approved and, actually, I don't have any questions pertaining to your report here. But the question I have is on the exam the examination part. Can I ask that, J, if it's not listed here? It's under "Recruitment and Exam" but it's tied into our meeting minutes. Page 11 Merit Appeals Board MR. YOSHIMOTO: It's okay. February 17, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: Can? Okay, thank you very much. So the question I had is, the department has an "Exam Plan." And the exam plan lists by each class of work whether there's going to be a written test or what you call now is an "E&E""Education and Experience Evaluation." And because of the hiring difficulty and lack of qualified applicants, the department has decided to the words you used, "temporarily suspend written exams" for some of these classes of work. I'm not sure if you'll be able to answer me today but maybe at a subsequent meeting. What criteria is the department using to assess and determine when that temporary suspension on written exams would be lifted, if at all? Or are you going to revert back to the exam plan that the department established, I think it was 2010—where the majority of the classes of work had no written exams and there were reasons for that to allow persons from the Continent USA to apply more easily to encourage former residents to apply who wanted to relocate back home to Hawaii, for students who were close graduating to look at the County of Hawaii as a viable employer. Those were some of the reasons back then. So, my concern is that you have over, now—it's about 67 continuous recruitments in the history of the department. And so, my concern is how does the department adequately and appropriately establish criteria in determining how you're going to manage the exam plan because, to me, there's there could be a danger in that—how do you say—okay, for instance you administered a written test earlier for, let's say, Clerk III. And the clerk III might be on continuous recruitment—at what point do you say, "Okay, we're going to revert back to a written test" to safeguard the department. You know what I'm trying to get at? So that there's no appearance that, "Oh, certain people didn't have to take written test for clerk III"—and now at this given time they have to take written test again. Yeah? So, I understand why the suspension of the written exams for those classes of work. But then what is the criteria for the department to justify what you're going to do moving it all forward? You're going to say, "Okay, we're going to revert back to the exam plan of 2010 where no written exams were given for certain classes of work and we're going to stick to that." Because the term being used is "temporarily suspension"—so that concerns me when you say "temporarily suspension" because, at some point, is that temporary suspension going to be lifted or the concept of the exam plan is going to be modified? Does that make sense to everybody? Am I explaining it adequately? Do you have ques you may not be able to answer me now. You might have to think about it and then check with the staff. Is that something that's on the table that they're looking at? Because now I can see why it would be temporarily suspended, but there should be an exam plan so that there is one but the temporary suspension, kind of, bothers me, frankly. Because people perceive things differently out in the public and I don't want the department to be in a precarious situation. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yeah, actually, the answer is simple. Page 12 Merit Appeals Board CHR. CABANAS: Okay. February 17, 2023 MR. LEOPOLDINO: Because we haven't diverted from my predecessor's guidance. We're actually going to continue to use that as a determining factor to actually revert back. One of the factors—and I can't remember all three but there's criteria that was left by the previous HR recruitment manager that we still have in place. So, once the criteria is met on those requirements to have written exams, we will revert back and we continue to have discussions about the written exams. It's not something that we're looking to get rid of completely. But, like you said, in the current situation we have the number of applicants is so small that based on the criteria to have a written exam, we have that opportunity to temporarily suspend but we don't have any indication of completely removing the written exams. CHR. CABANAS: So, you would revert back to some of the written exams for certain classes? MR. LEOPOLDINO: I mean, it might not be the exact I mean, we might have a different type of written exam but the factors that we have to look at to determine whether written exam is justified still applies. One of them being if there's an excessive amount of applicants that would definitely guide us in having more written exams. But, as of right now, we don't see any light at the end of the tunnel for us switching back right away because the applicant turnout is still very, very low. But it's something that we're still in discussion and in consideration. So—and we have considered the fact that we're using that term "temporarily suspended"—so it's definitely part of our conversations. CHR. CABANAS : `Cause you have 60 -something -67 continuous recruitment. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Some never had written exams and some did. And so, that I guess is the concern, like, you may have only 10 qualified applicants today for clerk III. But, let's say, come December this year, you may have 200. I don't know. I'm just using this as a hypothetical. And so, what does the department do when you have 200 applicants? You're still going to say no written exams for clerk III or are you going now say, "Okay, we're going to revert back and administer written exams for clerk III." MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yeah. And as I have more discussions with recruitment, I'd be happy to share those discussions in what they want to do going forward. CHR. CABANAS: And the other thing is, are there discussions with the other jurisdictions? Are they now streamlining what they're doing? And so, I'm not sure if that's taking place, but Page 13 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 are you having some discussion with the other directors on the other islands on how they're streamlining their operations? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Not specific to recruitment. I think the hot topic right now is pay and the retirement system bills that are at the Legislature. So, it's definitely something I can bring up but, at this time, they're concerned with wages. And that's, kind of, the discussion going on right now. But, definitely, we can—like we always do—we always connect with the other jurisdictions to, kind of, try and be consistent statewide. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Thank you. MR. LEOPOLDINO: You're welcome. CHR. CABANAS: Anyone else with other questions? If not, thank you. MR. LEOPOLDINO: I have one more thing. CHR. CABANAS: You have— MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Go ahead. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Like you mentioned, Chair Cabanas, we focus a lot on recruitment. But I do want to highlight one of our workers' compensation—our Manager Sommer Tokihiro. She had some great news with us. We won a fraud case in workers' compensation, so the County prevailed and we will be collecting money back from the employee involved in that. But I just wanted to share some of the successes in our other divisions and that was a huge success for workers' comp—kind of, in line with what Ms. De Soto brought up. Our workers' compensation division, they're working really hard to keep our costs, keep our claims down. So, they deserve to be in the spotlight sometimes. So, I just wanted to share that. CHR. CABANAS: That's wonderful. That's a major accomplishment. MR. LEOPOLDINO: It is. That's all I had. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Waylen. Page 14 Merit Appeals Board MR. KUNZ: Thank you, Waylen. February 17, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: Do we need to take a pause? Okay. We are now on "Unfinished Business" for discussion and appropriate action. MR. YOSHIMOTO: We will file the CHR. CABANAS: Oh, yeah, that's right. Thank you. I got distracted. Wait now. Okay. May I have a motion to file and accept the director's monthly divisional activity report for February 2023. MS. DE SOTO: So moved. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Ms. De Soto. Is there a second? MS. MATHEWS: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Ms. Mathews. Any discussion? If not, we will start with a rollcall vote with Mr. Ventura. MR. VENTURA: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Mathews. MS. MATHEWS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Five ayes. Motion carried to accept and file the director's monthly divisional activity report for February 2023. Page 15 Merit Appeals Board Unfinished Business (Item 7) February 17, 2023 Election Of Merit Appeals Board Chair And Vice -Chair For The Calendar Year 2023. (Note: At Its Meeting Held On January 20, 2023, Ms. Gabriella M. Cabanas Was Confirmed As Chair For Calendar Year 2023. However, The Nomination For Vice -Chair Was Postponed Due To The Absence Of Board Member Charlie Kunz.) CHR. CABANAS: We are now on Number 7, "Unfinished Business." At this time, we have actually three Board members—Ms. De Soto, Ms. Mathews, and Mr. Kunz. Mr. Ventura is—his term ended actually, officially, end of December 2022 but Mel has kindly agreed to holdover until his successor is officially confirmed next week by the council. So, at this time, I'll entertain a motion to nominate a Board member for the vice -chair position for the year—calendar year 2023. MS. MATHEWS: I move that Charlie Kunz be nominated as vice -chair. MS. DE SOTO: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Any discussion? Someone has to say "yes." Mr. Kunz, are you accepting. MR. KUNZ: Actually, I was going to nominate Ms. Mathews so we have a little bit island representation. MR. VENTURA: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Ventura, are you voting? Oh, you second the motion? MR. VENTURA: I second Mr. Kunz motion. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Thank you. MR. KUNZ: My discussion point is that we have, perhaps, a chair and vice -chair that's representing, at least, closely both sides of the island. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Just as a procedural matterso, you have two motions, you need to dispose of the first motion first in order to entertain the second motion. So, if the first motion is withdrawn, then we can move on to Mr. Kunz's motion. But if it's not MS. MATHEWS: I am not withdrawing my motion. Page 16 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 MR. YOSHIMOTO: Roberts Rules of Order, right. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. So, she's not—Ms. Mathews is not withdrawing her motion. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Okay. CHR. CABANAS: She just said that. So MR. YOSHIMOTO: Then you would need to discuss her motion, vote—and then if it fails then we move on to Mr. Kunz's motion. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. So we're at the discussion phase of Ms. Mathews motion to nominate Mr. Kunz as the vice -chair for calendar year 2023. We're at the discuss phase. MS. DE SOTO: If I remembersorry, go ahead, Ms. Mathews. MS. MATHEWS: So, part of my point to nominate Charlie is, not only is he there—which in situations like now where we have some kind of pending disaster, it's actually more beneficial as much as it's nice to have representation around the island and I firmly believe in that—in a situation like this, having somebody in Hilo is very useful. Also, Mr. Kunz has a lot of County experience that I don't have—and it's one of the reasons we so value you, Ms. Cabanas, is because of your background. And so, I think that Charlie is a Mr. Kunz is a much better fit than I am. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you for sharing. Anyone else? MR. KUNZ: I stand behind that—comments I made earlier about having representation from a broader beyond—it being Hilo centric. MS. MATHEWS: Can I ask a question—where does the new person live—reside? CHR. CABANAS: Kona. MS. MATHEWS: Oh, so perfect. We have representation. CHR. CABANAS: He's actually succeeding Mel because the successor needs to come from that district. MS. MATHEWS: Okay. So, we do have representation so—and we use an issue of experience—and, Mr. Kunz, your experience far exceeds mine when it comes to the County. CHR. CABANAS: Well, let me say this. I'm going to try my best to be here at every meeting. Okay. There was one time that I had to recuse myself but that was just one unusual situation. Page 17 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 And the vice -chair gladly did a excellent job in serving as acting chair. So, I want to thank, again, Mr. Ventura, for doing that. But it's only if I'm not here or if I recuse myself for the future. So, having said that, would you reconsider. MS. MATHEWS: Me? CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, I'm looking at you. MS. MATHEWS: I can't tell who you're looking at. Are you looking at Charlie or are you looking at me? CHR. CABANAS: I'm looking at Mr. Kunz because he's MS. MATHEWS: Oh, excellent. Thank you, Ms. Cabanas. MR. KUNZ: Of course, I will reconsider. MR. VENTURA: Can I speak to that experience issue, please? CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. MR. VENTURA: I think it may be beneficial for Ms. Mathews to be the vice -chair because she has a perspective that is outside of this whole County government experience of government experience—more a perspective from the private sector. So, I think that would help with having diverse opinions. MS. MATHEWS: Way to throw me under the bus, Mel. MR. KUNZ: I have to concur with Mr. Ventura. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. So, I'm going to have to ask for J, again, your legal advice because we've been having this discussion. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yeah. So, basically, you vote on the motion and see what happens. CHR. CABANAS: On Mr. Kunz's— MR. YOSHIMOTO: No. CHR. CABANAS: on the nomination to MR. YOSHIMOTO: The first one. Page 18 Merit Appeals Board CHR. CABANAS: The first one. February 17, 2023 MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yeah, which was you can restate the motion, so we know what you're voting for. CHR. CABANAS: To nominate Mr. Kunz. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Correct. CHR. CABANAS: I'm going to what—rescind it? MR. YOSHIMOTO: No, you need to vote— CHR. CABANAS: Vote on it. MR. YOSHIMOTO: She's not rescinding it, so you'd have to vote on it, once discussion MS. MATHEWS: Wait a minute. So (inaudible) holding things up and everybody has already made a decision here, I will rescind. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. You're rescinding your nomination of Mr. Kunz? MS. MATHEWS: Grudgingly. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. MR. YOSHIMOTO: She withdraws. CHR. CABANAS: She withdraws, for the record. Thank you, Ms. Mathews. But we still have the motion MR. YOSHIMOTO: I think he needs to restate the motion. CHR. CABANAS: Oh, you're going to restate your motion? Okay, go ahead. MR. KUNZ: I move to nominate Ms. Mathews for vice -chair. MR. VENTURA: I second. CHR. CABANAS: Okay, thank you. Any discussion? Okay, we will start with a rollcall vote with Mr. Ventura. MR. VENTURA: Aye. Page 19 Merit Appeals Board CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Mathews. MS. MATHEWS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. February 17, 2023 Motion carried. Ms. Mathews, congratulations, you are the vice -chair for the calendar year 2023. MS. MATHEWS: Thank you. I really hope that you will be there for every meeting, in which case, I'm happy. CHR. CABANAS: I will try my best. Director's Report (Item 8) MAB Monthly Divisional Activity Report: February 2023 (Executive Session: The Merit Appeals Board Anticipates Convening One Or More Executive Meetings Regarding The Above Matters, Pursuant To HRS Sections 92-4 And 92-5(a)(4), For The Purpose Of Consulting With The Board's Attorney On Questions And Issues Pertaining To The Board's Powers, Duties, Privileges, Immunities, And Liabilities. A 2/3 Vote Pursuant To HRS Section 92-4 Is Necessary To Hold An Executive Meeting) (Previously taken out of order.) Announcements (Item 9) CHR. CABANAS: Okay, going back to our agenda for "Announcements." Are there any announcements? I know Glynis has been catching up on the meeting minutes. Is there anything that we need to discuss about the meeting minutes, J? MR. YOSHIMOTO: Not at the moment. No, `cause we need to catch up on the minutes to become current. I think that's being worked on now. CHR. CABANAS: And we appreciate Glynis, all that you're doing because it's very helpful, actually, when we start reviewing the minutes of the previous meeting. So, thank you very much, Glynis, good job. Page 20 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 Schedule Next Meeting Date (Item 10) CHR. CABANAS: Our next meeting date—is everyone available, Glynis, for March 24d'? Oh, will Mel be here for the next meeting? MR. VENTURA: Am I required? CHR. CABANAS: Probably not J is saying. MR. VENTURA: Okay. CHR. CABANAS: Because Mr. Wiseman is going to be—his nomination is going to be taken up at the council meeting next week, February 22nd, I think it is. Sooh, this might be your last meeting with us—and, if it is, I just want to thank you for all that you have done the last—what—five years, serving on the Merit Appeals Board. MR. VENTURA: Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I almost had fun. CHR. CABANAS: "Almost" huh. MR. KUNZ: Gay, so much to look forward to. CHR. CABANAS: But, really, I really appreciate that you served as the vice -chair and that you served as the acting chair when the need arose and I hope it wasn't too stressful on you. But thank you so much because that's the process, yeah, we have the chair and the vice -chair. So, thank you, Mel, and MR. VENTURA: Yeah. No—it was my pleasure and I appreciate all of you. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. MS. MATHEWS: Thank you, Mel. CHR. CABANAS: Any comments from others? Charlie MR. KUNZ: Thank you, Mel, very much. MS. DE SOTO: Thank you, Mel. MS. MATHEWS: Yes, thanks. It's the baton's been handed from one credit union to another—isn't that clever of us? Only I'm retired. Page 21 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: But Mel is right. There needs to be a balance and we all come from different perspectives, different career paths. So, he is right. It is a good balance. So, I just want to thank you, Mel, for your thoughts, for your perspective, for all the questions that you raised professionally on this Board. We really appreciate it. And, Gay, thank you for accepting to be the vice -chair. It sounds scarry but really isn't. It will be okay. MS. MATHEWS: As long as you, J, and Glynis don't go anywhere this doesn't sound too bad. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. So, the next meeting date is March 24', 10 a.m., here at the Hilo Council Chambers of the Hawaii County Building, at 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401 in Hilo, Hawaii, with members wishing to attend via ZOOM capability. And we will await with pleasure the presence of Mr. Wiseman at the next meeting. J will provide an orientation for him, prior to the next meeting. Adiournment (Item 11) CHR. CABANAS: And with that, may I have a motion to adjourn today's meeting? MS. MATHEWS: So moved. MR. VENTURA: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Any discussion? Starting with Mr. Ventura to adjourn today's meeting. MR. VENTURA: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Mathews. MS. MATHEWS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Page 22 Merit Appeals Board February 17, 2023 Five ayes. Motion carried. Today's meeting is adjourned at 10:48 a.m. Thank you, Mel— MR. VENTURA: Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: —for all that you have done to help. MR. VENTURA: Thanks. Have a good weekend. Aloha. Respectfully submitted, hihi tat aa) Glynis Vamada, '-cretary-Reporter APPROVED: Jfa4witt lVl. 0-6(era vLc�4� Gabriella M. Cabanas, Chair Merit Appeals Board Page 23