HomeMy WebLinkAboutProposed Findings of Fact by the 2024 County of Hawaii Salary Commission Dated August 27, 2024PROPOSED FINDINGS OF FACT BY THE 2024 COUNTY OF HAWAII
SALARY COMMISSION DATED AUGUST 27, 2024
Pursuant to Section 13-28 of the County Charter for the County of Hawaii (2022), as amended
(hereinafter "Charter"), the County of Hawaii Salary Commission (hereinafter "COH Salary
Commission") hereby makes the following findings in support of its decision to set the salary of
the new Administrator of the Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience to be
effective at the start of the next full pay period following formal action by this Commission:
1. The COH Salary Commission has the authority to review and set compensation for all
county executive positions, elected positions and appointed positions of directors, deputy
directors, and agency administrators (collectively hereinafter "Covered Positions") such
that the position's total compensation and benefits have an equitable and reasonable
relationship to compensation in the public and private sectors, as well as within the
County of Hawaii amongst similarly situated positions.
2. The Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience (hereinafter "OSCER") was
established in 2023 pursuant to Hawaii County Council Ordinance No. 23-56 (Bill 48) to
address sustainability, climate change, equity, and resilience in the County through
immediate, direct, and coordinated action by coordinating and managing policies and
programs to address sustainability, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt to the
impacts of climate change and other natural and human caused hazards.
The County of Hawaii took a collaborative approach to initially set the salary for the
Interim Administrator for the OSCER Agency with input from the Department of Human
Resources and the Office of the Mayor. The Interim OSCER Administrator's salary was
set at One Hundred and Five Thousand Six Hundred Dollars and no/cents ($105,600.00)
and the County began immediate recruitment for an Interim Administrator thereafter that
would serve under contract until the COH Salary Commission set a salary for this
Agency Administrator. Following recruitment and standard application processing, an
Interim Administrator was selected and began on February 1, 2024.
4. OSCER is a brand-new Agency within the County of Hawaii. The Agency had no
positions, employees, and office space, etc. and had to be built from the ground up by the
new Interim Administrator. As of September 2024, the OSCER Agency currently has
four (4) employees, the Interim Administrator, an Accountant, a Sustainability Strategist,
and an AmeriCorps VISTA Climate Action Implementation Specialist.
At its January 17, 2024 meeting, the COH Salary Commission began receiving and
considering information about OSCER and its expected parameters, duties,
responsibilities, and expectations, such that it could better ascertain whether the interim
salary for the OSCER Administrator should remain at the initial contract salary of
$105,600.00, or be increased or decreased. At the time of this meeting, the contracted
Interim Administrator had not yet begun employment and as such, the COH Salary
Commission delayed further consideration of the OSCER Administrator salary for six (6)
months to afford the Interim Administrator time to begin to establish the Agency and be
prepared to report to this Commission its efforts to date.
6. At its July 31, 2024 meeting, the COH Salary Commission received verbal testimony
from Hawaii County Council Chair Heather Kimball who shared the vision and intent of
OSCER and noted that it was developed based on the Standford "Community Impact
Model", which was designed to bring in resources to support its mission of community
outreach, community connection, and reporting of data metrics, while vigorously seeking
out grant resources for the County of Hawaii. Chair Kimball reiterated the important
need for the COH Salary Commission to consider a salary for the OSCER Administrator
that would be competitive with the private sector to entice high-quality candidates while
also being commensurate with similarly situated existing County of Hawaii
Administrators and Department Heads considering the OSCER Administrator's
responsibilities and objectives.
7. At its July 31, 2024 meeting, the COH Salary Commission also heard from the Interim
OSCER Administrator, Bethany Morrison, who articulated the need to breakdown silos
and streamline collaboration within all County of Hawaii agencies and departments
while evaluating existing policies and programs. Interim OSCER Administrator
Morrison further articulated several new and ongoing initiatives that illustrate OSCER's
role in the County of Hawaii, beyond that as a grant writer, but also as finding solutions
to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, using renewable energy sources, examining the
Island of Hawai`i's fragile biodiversity and how to properly protect such, while look at
options for resilience with the County of Hawai`i's infrastructure as it is directly affected
by sea levels rising.
8. At its August 27, 2024 meeting, the COH Salary Commission heard from Managing
Director Deanna Sako (hereinafter "MD Sako"). MD Sako shared comparative
information for similarly situated Agency and/or Departments within the County of
Hawaii that closely resembled either the amount of personnel or the breadth of
responsibility to that of the newly formed OSCER Agency. Most similarly situated for
departmental expectations was the Department of Research and Development, and the
most similarly situated for personnel purposes was the County Auditor, both of which
paid its Director or Administrator a current recently evaluated salary of One Hundred
Sixty -Two Thousand and Five Hundred and Forty Dollars and no/cents ($162,540.00).
9. In accordance with the Charter and Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 92, the COH Salary
Commission's meetings held on January 27, 2024, July 31, 2024, August 27, 2024, and
September 24, 2024; were duly noticed and afforded opportunities for public comment
and testimony was received.
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10. To facilitate and assist in its review of compensation for the OSCER Administrator, and
as required by the Charter, the COH Salary Commission consulted the appointing
authority for this Agency, specifically, it solicited input from the Office of the Mayor and
the Department of Human Resources. The COH Salary Commission also afforded the
Interim OSCER Administrator to submit input and/or recommendations for the COH
Salary Commission to consider. The COH Salary Commission also considered its
Findings of Fact adopted in December of 2023 which reflected all substantive
information reviewed and considered when the COH Salary Commission evaluated and
then increased compensation for all County of Hawaii Covered Personnel.
11. The COH Salary Commission acknowledged a need to set the OSCER Administrator
salary at an equitable rate with other commensurate County of Hawaii department heads
to entice competitive applicants and avoid the ongoing issue of parity with civil service
employees. Given such, the COH Salary Commission used both Research and
Development and the County Auditor as the commensurate department/agency and found
the most appropriate salary for the OSCER Administrator to be One Hundred Sixty -Two
Thousand and Five Hundred and Forty Dollars and no/cents ($162,540.00).
12. On September 24, 2024, the COH Salary Commission having acknowledged its charge
pursuant to the Charter is to 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 COH
Salary Commission approved these Proposed Findings of Fact recommending the salary
for the OSCER Administrator be set at One Hundred Sixty -Two Thousand and Five
Hundred and Forty Dollars and no/cents ($162,540.00), and will hereafter ensure
publication runs at least once in two daily newspapers of general circulation, submit said
Proposed Findings of Fact to the Office of the County Clerk and the Office of the Mayor
for public inspection and will hold a public hearing on these Proposed Findings of Fact
on a date to be announced in the aforementioned newspaper publication. 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 COH Salary Commission.
Following public hearing, the COH Salary Commission may vote to approve the
recommended salary for the OSCER Administrator at its next duly scheduled and noticed
meeting.
13. The COH Salary Commission is comprised of volunteer commissioners who are mindful
of current economic conditions and anticipated concerns of the public. The COH Salary
Commission balanced such against their obligation to set salaries consistent with the
principles of adequate compensation for work performed while preserving a reasonable
relationship between the salary it sets for the OSCER Administrator and other
commensurate departments so that their total salaries and benefits have a reasonable
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relationship to compensation in the public and private sectors, mindful that the salaries of
other County of Hawaii employees have regular salary increases.
14. The COH Salary Commission notes that other employees may continue to make higher
wages based on their ability to receive overtime pay. The COH Salary Commission's
intent is to set the OSCER Administrator salary at a fair and equitable salary consistent
with these Proposed Findings of Fact to facilitate recruitment and retention of qualified
applicants.
The above Findings of Fact will be available for public inspection at the Office of the County
Clerk and the Office of the Mayor as required by Section 13-28(e) of the Hawaii County
Charter.
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