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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-03-24 Merit Appeals Board MinutesREGULAR SESSION Merit Appeals Board Hilo Council Chambers Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401 Hilo, Hawaii March 24, 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, March 24, 2023. Roll Call — Present Ms. Gabriella M. Cabanas, Chair Ms. Gay Mathews, Vice -Chair Ms. Kate De Soto, Member Mr. Charles Kunz, Member Mr. David A. Wiseman, Member 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 Merit Appeals Board Call to Order (Item 1) March 24, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: Good morning, everyone, I'm Chair Gabriella Cabanas of the Merit Appeals Board. The regular meeting of the Merit Appeals Board is called to order at 10 a.m., March 24, 2023. We have quorum with all five Board members present in the Hilo Council Chambers of the Hawaii County Building, at 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401, in Hilo, Hawaii. Board members present are Vice -Chair, Ms. Gay Mathews. MS. MATHEWS: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Good morning, Gay. Mr. Charlie Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Good morning. Ms. Kate De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Good morning. And Mr. David Wiseman, our newest Board member. Welcome, David, to our Merit Appeals Board. MR. WISEMAN: Yeah, my pleasure to be here today. And I welcome the opportunity to working with members of the Board. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. And we are happy to have you. For the record, Mr. Wiseman succeeds Mr. Mel Ventura, who completed his 5 -year term on the Merit Appeals Board. So, we're happy to have you making our Board complete. Also, with us in the Council Chambers are J Yoshimoto, our Assistant Corporation Counsel. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Good morning, Board members. CHR. CABANAS: Good morning. And our Secretary -Reporter, Glynis Yamada. MS. YAMADA: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Good morning, Glynis. And our Director of Human Resources, Mr. Waylen Leopoldino. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Good morning. Page 2 Merit Appeals Board Addendum to Agenda (Item 2) March 24, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: Looking at the agenda, we do not have an addendum to the agenda. Statements from the Public (Item 3) CHR. CABANAS: There are no "Statements from the Public" on the agenda items. There is a request for the "Director's Report" to be moved up ahead of the "Approval of Minutes." Are there any objections, Board members, for the director's report to be moved up? No? Okay, everyone's shaking their head, "no." MAB Monthly Divisional Activity Report: March 2023; Community Relations (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: Okay. So, Mr. Leopoldino, if you could approach the dais and provide us with your MAB monthly divisional activity report for the month of March 2023, followed by a community relations report. And, if it's okay with you, Waylen, can we do this in open session? Are you comfortable with that? (At this time, Mr. Waylen L. K. Leopoldino, Director, Department of Human Resources, came forward.) MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. And, Board members, are you okay with his report in open session? Okay, everyone says, "yes." Thank you. Okay, you can start, Waylen. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Good morning, Chair Cabanas, and members of the Merit Appeals Board—Waylen Leopoldino, Director of Human Resources. MAB Monthly Divisional Activity Report: March 2023 MR. LEOPOLDINO: The first item on my director's report is our monthly divisional activity report. Not much has changed. There's been updates on a few of the divisions. And so, I am open to addressing any questions at this time. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. We'll start with Ms. Gay Mathews. Gay, do you have any questions for Waylen? Page 3 Merit Appeals Board MS. MATHEWS: Not at this time. Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz? MR. KUNZ: No. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: No. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Wiseman. MR. WISEMAN: No. March 24, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: And I don't have any questions either. So, you may proceed to the community relations report. Community Relations MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. Thank you. The second item is—I've added a community relations section on my director's report for this meeting. Part of—as I've mentioned in previous Merit Appeals Board meetings, part of us rebranding in HR is focusing on community and we're focusing more on what County employees do within our community. And so, as an example, as director of human resources, I have started to engage in more community events outside of recruitment and I just, kind of, wanted to give you an update on some of the events that I've participated in so far. I am the newest member on the UHH College of Business and Economics Advisory Board. I've attended a couple of events that they've already had as an advisory board member. The first event they had was a presentation by one of their professors for artificial intelligence and its application to key industries in Hawaii Island. That was a very interesting presentation done. And the professor did a great overview on how "AI"is what they're calling it—is going to affect industries going forward, and new technology that's coming out, and how it's going to affect the workforce. In fact, the City and County of Honolulu is actually going to start applying Al in identifying common errors in the building permitting process to help them streamline and make that process more efficient. So, we're looking to collaborate more on this issue. And so, I've expressed my interest with the college to include me on future discussions. The second event that I attended as an advisory board member was yesterday at the Hawai `i Island Chamber of Commerce. It was a meet -and -greet and discussion with the new director of college of—UHH College of Business and Economics, Mr. Todd Inouye. It was a, kind of a Page 4 Merit Appeals Board March 24, 2023 Q&A session, with top business leaders in the community. Todd expressed—he shared information related to COVID-19 and some of the trends with regard to enrollment at UHH. And within—more specifically, with the College of Business and Economics—overall Todd and his team shared that enrollment overall has been declining in the UHH-HCC systems. But, fortunately, for the College of Business and Economics, they've seen a pretty steady enrollment number. He also shared—which was very interesting to me and why we're probably part of the reason why we're seeing a lot of vacancies here in the County they've seen a significant shift from students taking interest in the fields of finance, accounting, engineering to healthcare management, hospitality, and data analytics. And their analysis is because COVID-19 affected these three industries—had a huge impact on these three industries—more and more students took interest in switching to these careers in these fields. So, they're seeing a huge trend in that direction and that makes sense as to why we're not seeing a lot of interest in engineers, accounting, financea lot of our business management -type positions here in the County. So, that was interesting. I connected with their UHH's Internship Coordinator, which ironically his name is also Andrey—Andrey Siminov is his name. I say that because HCC's CVE Coordinator's name is Andrey. So, Andrey isI'm going to work closely with Andrey to develop a robust internship program to include a lot of accounting students and other management students to develop that pipeline because we could, definitely, use the help. And he's hopeful that they have candidates that would be interested. So, I'm excited to enter into that partnership with Andrey. I also connected with Ms. Helen Tien. She's the External Affairs Chairperson for UHH Academic and Career Advisor, and she's a resource for us to participate in career fairs, speaking engagements, and presentations, and also curriculum development. They—UHH may be interested in a human resources -type course curriculum. So, I'd be really excited to engage with them on that. So, that's my involvement so far with UHH's advisory board for the COBE group. Next, HCC—anybody have any questions with that? Okay. Next, HCC has invited me to do a presentation to their business students about job opportunities and applying to work for the County and also some interviewing tips. So, Ms. Ann Chung invited me and Michelle Simmons to attend and do a quick presentation. So, we'll be doing that. I was invited to attend the Good Jobs Hawaii I don't know if anybody's heard of that, but it's, basically, a coalition of businesses, educators, and community partners creating they created this program to help build—do skills development for Hawaii students in the UH -HCC system at no cost to these employers to seek gainful employment. I'll be attending their presentation on Friday, March 31" in Kona. It's a half-day presentation. They are focused on high demand industries to include healthcare, technology, skilled trades, and creative industriesoh, and clean energy as well. Page 5 Merit Appeals Board March 24, 2023 And then, finally, the research—our Department of Research and Development and our Office of Community—Housing and Community Development, have partnered with HEC or Hawaii Executive Collaborative and Reos Partners to tackle some big questions and start discussions on the future of Hawaii, in all aspects, including County government. This is a very interesting and a new idea that the County is participating in. It's, basically, a collaborative group, which include various stakeholders in the community including business leaders, cultural practitioners, educators, advocates, and non-profit leaders. It's brand new. We've had one meeting already with department heads, deputies, and key departmental staff. But it's, basically, trying to integrate Hawai`i's culture into County of Hawaii operations. It's in alignment with our focus on community. And so, I anticipate there's going to be a lot of integration with the core culture of Hawaii and business in Hawaii. And we think that our partnership will help draw more candidates who might be interested in, really, the core of Hawaii and the essence of Hawaii. The group is actually called—or the title of these discussions, they're titling it, "Rediscovering Hawai`i's Soul." So, I don't know if you've heard of that program, but it's really new—at least the County's participation in it is very new. So, I don't have much to share, but from the couple of discussions that I did have with R&D and Office of Housing, I feel there is an opportunity for us there and I'm excited to see where we can participate and collaborate with this group. So, these are some of the main community events that I've participated in and look forward to continuing my partnership with. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Waylen. Mr. Wiseman? MR. WISEMAN: Yeah. Waylen, in these programs, is there any outreach with the schools and the County, in particular, school counselors? MR. LEOPOLDINO: No. We haven't—as far as school counselors, the only counselors we have interaction with is career development counselors. So, we have—we've connected with Kea`au High School, Hilo High School, and Kealakehe High Schoolactually, all of the major high schools we have contact with career development counselors. MR. WISEMAN: Okay. Thank you. CHR. CABANAS: Anyone else—Board members, any questions for Waylen? Ms. Mathews. MS. MATHEWS: So, continuing on this you call it Hawaii Executive Collaboration—is this an R&D project or is this something that, sort of, sprung up out of (inaudible) or how did this happen and who's driving it? Page 6 Merit Appeals Board March 24, 2023 MR. LEOPOLDINO: From what I understand, it's R&D in partnership with the Office of Housing and Community Development. They have a division—right now, it's Sharon Hirota was, kind of, taking the lead from Office of Housing and Bob Agres from Research and Development Department. And it's really new. I don't I really don't know where we're going to fit in. I like the concept. So, I'm going to try and navigate through the next couple of meetings to see where we can benefit most from our participation. MS. MATHEWS: Great. Thank you. MR. LEOPOLDINO: There's something there. I just I can't put my finger on it right now. CHR. CABANAS: Anyone else with questions—Mr. Kunz, no questions? Okay. I just have one question. It wasn't mentioned but it was mentioned, I think, at the last meeting. For the CVE program, can that be expanded to include other course disciplines likeI was just thinking, now that you have a new police chief—has there been any discussion to have CVE students for police so that you use the funding? MR. LEOPOLDINO: Yes. Actually—we've actually started that discussion with Andrey to expand beyond just business students, to include AJ and the other areas—trades. So, yes, we have already entered into discussions, but I think our local HCC is really experiencing a significant drop in their participation. So—but we did put it out there and we are open for discussions with HCC. And I have a really close working relationship with Ms. Ann Chung and she's a great resource not only to the college of—her business in tech. division, but she can connect me with other key people within the HCC system. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Thank you, Waylen. MR. LEOPOLDINO: You're welcome. CHR. CABANAS: Okay, if not—no other questions, I guess that concludes the director's report. So, may I have a motion to accept and file the director's MAB monthly divisional activity report for the month of March 2023 and also the community relations report. MS. MATHEWS: So moved. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Is there a second? MS. DE SOTO: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Any discussion? If not, we will start a rollcall vote with Ms. Gay Mathews. Page 7 Merit Appeals Board MS. MATHEWS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Wiseman. MR. WISEMAN: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. March 24, 2023 There are five ayes. Motion carried to accept and file the MAB monthly divisional activity report for the month of March 2023 and the community relations report from the director of human resources. So, thank you, Waylen. MR. LEOPOLDINO: Thank you. Approval of Minutes (Item 4) September 29, 2022; October 27, 2022; December 20, 2022; January 20, 2023; February 17, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: Okay, so moving along on the agenda, we are now back at the "Approval of Minutes" Number 4 on the agenda. And these are the regular session meeting minutes of the Merit Appeals Board. The first one being September 29h, 2022. Has everyone had the opportunity to review all of these meeting minutes? Okay. So, for the record, though, I do note that Mr. Kunz was absent that day for the September 29h, 2022, meeting. But do I have a motion to accept— MS. ccept MS. MATHEWS: Accept all of them? CHR. CABANAS: Accept—can we do it MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yes, you can do it as a block as long as there's no objections. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. I'd just like to note, for the record, though, that we had individual Board members absent for different dates, so should I report as to which ones they were absent for? Page 8 Merit Appeals Board March 24, 2023 MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yeah, you can do that to be clear. Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: And then, do they—how do they vote, though? MR. YOSHIMOTO: They can still vote on it if they feel comfortable in doing it. CHR. CABANAS: Oh, okay. Okay, fine. So, for September 29', 2022, Mr. Kunz was absent and excused; October 27h, 2022, Ms. Mathews was absent and excused; December 20'', 2022; Ms. De Soto was absent and excused; January 20'', 2023, Mr. Kunz was absent and excused; February 17, 2023, all Board members were present. So, may I have a motion to accept—approve and accept the meeting minutes for all the dates that I mentioned. MS. MATHEWS: So moved. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Is there a second? MS. DE SOTO: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Any discussion? If not, I will start a rollcall vote with Ms. Mathews. MS. MATHEWS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Wiseman. MR. WISEMAN: I abstain. CHR. CABANAS: He abstains, for the record, because he was not on the Board at that time. Ms. Cabanas—aye. So, there are four ayes. Motion carried to approve the meeting minutes for the meeting dates designated on the agenda. Page 9 Merit Appeals Board March 24, 2023 Review Of Executive Session Minutes October 27, 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: Moving forward, the review of the executive session meeting minutes for October 27h, 2022. Let the record reflect that Ms. Mathews was absent and excused for this meeting. May I have a motion to approve and accept the executive session 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 I will start a rollcall vote with Ms. Mathews. MS. MATHEWS: I abstain, don't I? CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, you abstain. Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Wiseman. MR. WISEMAN: Abstain. CHR. CABANAS: Abstain `cause you were not on the Board at the time. And Ms. Cabanas aye. So there are three ayes. Motion carried to approve and file the executive session meeting minutes for October 27, 2022. Okay. Page 10 Merit Appeals Board Communications (Item 5) CHR. CABANAS: We are on Number 5 -there are no "Communications." New Business (Item 6) CHR. CABANAS: Number Eno "New Business." Unfinished Business (Item 7) CHR. CABANAS: Number 7 -no "Unfinished Business." Director's Report (Item 8) March 24, 2023 MAB Monthly Divisional Activity Report: March 2023; Community Relations (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 already had the "Director's Report" Number 8. Announcements (Item 9) CHR. CABANAS: And we are now on Number 9. Any "Announcements?" No announcements. Schedule Next Meeting Date (Item 10) CHR. CABANAS: And Number 10, scheduling the next meeting date. Glynis polled all of our Board members and we are all available on April 27, 2023. So the next meeting will be that date, April 27, 2023, at 10 a.m. in the Hilo Council Chambers of the Hawaii County Building, at 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401, in Hilo, Hawaii. Adiournment (Item 11) CHR. CABANAS: May I have a motion to adjourn today's meeting? MR. KUNZ: So moved. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. A second? MS. DE SOTO: Second. Page 11 Merit Appeals Board March 24, 2023 CHR. CABANAS: Thank you, Mr. Kunz and Ms. De Soto. Any discussion? If not, I will start a rollcall vote with Ms. Mathews to adjourn today's meeting. MS. MATHEWS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Kunz. MR. KUNZ: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. De Soto. MS. DE SOTO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Wiseman. MR. WISEMAN: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Five ayes. Motion carried. Meeting is adjourned at 10:21 a.m. Respectfully submitted, V 4O4) Glynis Yamada, Secretary-Reporter APPROVED: id Cal Ltli Al . &Gabriella M.M. Cabanas, Chair Merit Appeals Board Page 12