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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-09-24 Salary Commission MinutesREGULAR SESSION Salary Commission Hilo Council Chambers Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401 Hilo, Hawaii September 24, 2024 (Tuesday) Call to Order (Item 1) The regular meeting of the Salary Commission, County of Hawaii, was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Chair Steven Pavao, at the Hilo Council Chambers, Hawaii County Building, 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401, Hilo, Hawaii, on Tuesday, September 24, 2024. Roll Call — Present Mr. Steven Pavao, Chair Ms. Donala Kawa`auhau, Vice -Chair Ms. Judy Greenbaum, Member Ms. Luahiwa Namahoe, Member Mr. Sam Nelson, Member Mr. Dennis Riordan Member Absent and Excused Mr. Jules Dudoit, Member Ms. Sommer J. Tokihiro, Ex -Officio Member Also Present Ms. Dakota "Cody" Frenz, Deputy Corporation Counsel, Office of the Corporation Counsel Ms. Michele Lamkin, Human Resources Program Specialist, Human Resources Department Ms. Kim Kailipaka, Human Resources Technician I, Human Resources Department Ms. Glynis Yamada, Secretary -Reporter, Human Resources Department Salary Commission September 24, 2024 Call to Order (Item 1) CHR. PAVAO: I'll call the meeting to order at 10 a.m. Statements from the Public (Item 2) CHR. PAVAO: "Statements from the Public" on the agenda itemshearing none. Approval of Minutes (Item 3) CHR. PAVAO: We'll move on to the minutes. We don't have any minutes to approve. Communication(s) (Item 4) CHR. PAVAO: No "Communications." New Business (Item 5) CHR. PAVAO: No "New Business." Unfinished Business (Item 6) A. Discussion Concerning Setting The Salary For The New County Of Hawaii Agency, Office Of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, And Resilience (OSCER) (Note: At Its Meeting Held On August 27, 2024, Communication Nos. 24-01, 24-01.01, And 24-01.02, Relating To This Matter, Were Filed And Discussed On August 27, 2024; The Chair Closed File On These Communications After This Commission Discussed Them.. Communication Nos. 24-04 And 24-05 Were Presented At This Meeting, However, Not Listed On The Agenda And, Therefore, Requires Commission Action To Hear These Communications And Then Close File Or Continue If Appropriate). Communication No. 24-04, From Salary Commissioner, Sam Nelson, Received On August 27, 2024, Transmitting Information Regarding "Director Of Sustainability/Sustainability Manager, Salary Survey Data Points"; And Communication No. 24-05, From Managing Director, Deanna S. Sako, Received On August 27, 2024, Commenting On The Salary Of The Office Of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, And Resilience (OSCER) Administrator Position; And Findings Of Fact Proposals Concerning The Administrator's Salary For OSCER: The Salary Commissioners Will Discuss And May Present Proposed Findings Of Fact Articulating Their Rationale For Their Decision In Setting The Salary For The Administrator Of OSCER (Note: The Above Matters Were Discussed At The Salary Commission Meetinz Held On Au,-ust 27, 2024) CHR. PAVAO: So, we'll move on to "Unfinished Business" for discussion and appropriate action. Page 2 Salary Commission September 24, 2024 (At this time, Chair Pavao proceeded to read into the record the above summary.) CHR. PAVAO: I'm sorry, let's do rollcall. Let's start on this end. MR. RIORDAN: Commissioner Riordan. CHR. PAVAO: Commissioner Pavao, from District 2. MS. KAWA`AUHAU: Commissioner Kawa`auhau. MS. NAMAHOE: Commissioner Namahoe. MR. NELSON: Commissioner Nelson. MS. GREENBAUM: Commissioner Greenbaum, District 9. MS. FRENZ: And, Chair, this is DCC Cody, Deputy Corporation Counsel for the Salary Commission. We also have our Secretary, Glynis Yamada, present. We have two representatives from our Classification and Pay Division also present in the gallery. Thank you, Chair. CHR. PAVAO: Thank you. Okay, so we're moving on to the Findings of Fact. MS. FRENZ: This is DCC Cody, again. So, good morning, everybody. Hopefully, by now, you've had a chance to review the Draft Proposed Findings of Fact that I drafted based on the relevant information from our various hearings and the motion approved by this body at our last hearing. So, what I'd like to do, as we've done in the past when we did salary changes for all affected individuals in 2023, I'd like to leave today within a perfect worlda approved document that you have all approved even if we go line -by-line, paragraph -by -paragraph, if need be, such that I can simultaneously make the adjustments in my document and be able to email that to Ms. Yamada so that she can work on publication, thereafter, to ensure that—as you can see in your green folders the timeline and schedule that we are considering in order to ensure that we can have these changes take effect—should this body still be inclined to do so following a public hearing. This is the timeframe that we need to keep in mind. So—and part of that requires us to conclude today's hearing with a Proposed Finding of Fact that is approved by this body. So, are there any questions, concerns, things that you want to discuss with respect to the proposed Findings that I drafted? Page 3 Salary Commission September 24, 2024 MR. NELSON: So, I reviewed it. I really have, kind of, one change? What I'd like to suggestI don't know if we need to go through line-by-lineI don't know if everybody else has taken a look at it—they want to do it or not, but I have one suggested change and I'm, kind of, okay with the rest of it. So, I guess— CHR. PAVAO: Can we hear your change? MR. NELSON: So, the change I got is on the last item—Item 14, okay? Paragraph 14, it says, "The COH Salary Commission is aware that salaries offered for equivalent work in the private sector may be higher than that offered by the County of Hawai`i." So, I think this is really, kind of, a government position. I don't know that there's a private sector analog, okay? And so, I wouldI propose deleting that sentence, `cause I don't really think it's applicable to this—if you look at it. And then, on "The COH Salary Commission" it says, "...also notes... "—I would delete the "also"—'cause the County of Hawaii Salary Commission "notes that other employees may continue to make higher wages based on their ability to receive overtime pay" which is true, right? And so, I would just delete the "also." Other than those two changes, I'm okay with this document. CHR. PAVAO: Any comment, other members? MS. GREENBAUM: That makes sense. Could be it has not anything to do with the private sector. CHR. PAVAO: Yeah. Personally, I'm okay with making those changes. MS. GREENBAUM: Yeah. MS. FRENZ: This is DCC Cody. Are there any other requested or recommended changes by any other Commissioners? MS. GREENBAUM: No. CHR. PAVAO: No, I didn't have any recommended changesI thought it was fine. MS. FRENZ: So then, maybe what we could do is get a motion to approve the changes requested by Commissionerno, I'm sorry, wasn't trying to remember your namesorry, just trying to make sure I articulated well. If we can get a motion to make the—have this body approve the changes made by the Commissioner, I will adjust accordingly, and we could have a second, discussion, and a vote—and that will finalize the document. So, this would be the time—any other changes other than Commissioner Nelson's recommended, which is more than (inaudible)—I've already made an adjustment with track changes in my document. I just want to Page 4 Salary Commission September 24, 2024 open the floor to any other requested or recommended changes. Now is the time to supplement, revise, remove— CHR. PAVAO: Anybody else have any other suggested changes? MR. NELSON: So, I make a motion to include those changes in the Findings that you drafted. CHR. PAVAO: Second? MR. RIORDAN: I second that motion—Commissioner Riordan. CHR. PAVAO: Any further discussion on the motion? MS. NAMAHOE: I want to thank you this is NamahoeI want to thank Corp. Counsel for working on this. I thought that it wasI appreciated the clarity. I know that we have gone through a process and I appreciateI think that this can stand (inaudible) including the corrections. I'll admit, I didn't know that we needed to have that language at all. I didn't realize that paragraph or point number 14 was even necessary to state where the wage—where the salary for the OSCER position sits against all of the other—any other body, County employee, or in the private sector. Is this—so my question then is, was this necessary because it is part of the corporate culture of doing it? I mean, even to say that, if we take out the first sentence of that it "may be higher" do we need to have it at all? MS. FRENZ: The only way to truly answer that question is to wait and see if we get a complaint or an appeal, frankly, right? Short of that, I don't know that it's necessarily required. This was me trying to articulate what I think you all meant and cover as many bases as possible to ensure that in the event you wanted to also rationalize because there has been a lot of conversation by this body about private, public, private/government sector, disparity/parity The difficulty to find qualified individuals, that's always been conversation here. So, that's how and why that was included. It can be completely struck, if this body doesn't feel that it properly embodies the rationale that it has utilized to get to where we are now for OSCER. MS. KAWA`AUHAU: Commissioner Kawa`auhau. I think that it's important because if you're trying to think of the mind of the reader, when they read this in the newspaper, and you want to—if they're asking questions, like, "Well, what about the..." you can try and hit as many as you possibly can, if it came up in conversation here, so that you can alleviate that question before it even comes to the body. So, I think that it's important. And I don't mind crossing out this at all—and I know we didn't—but I see the point of having it there because even though there isn't an equivalent private sector, there is an equivalent Page 5 Salary Commission September 24, 2024 managerial supervisory position and an equivalent department in some kind of private sector, where they manage the same amount of employees and they do the same kind of duties but maybe just not the same exact—climate/equity. But I see the point of that, too, because it is important to state that it might—you might be able to find a job that pays more, so if someone who's reading it says, "Well, these kinds of jobs get this much and I supervise that many employees, so how come this job doesn't?" I see why it was put in there. But I don't have a problem removing it. I was just saying I see why it was put there. MS. GREENBAUM: Commissioner Greenbaum. I do agree. I think it's more being—it's being more transparent than anything. And you're covering as much basis as you possibly can, so that the public is aware that we're making decisions that are informed, and I think it'll be better received in trying to get this passed or not having disputed by the public. MS. FRENZ: This is DCC Cody. I'd also add that part of my rationale is this, is what we you all talked about last time. But, in addition, I believe Commissioner Nelson, I think, brought in some outside information on what other jurisdictions doing something similar. So, there was information shared with this body to look at what outside entities of similar related situations maybe not directly on -point with our version of OSCERbut what other jurisdictions that have similar duties do, in fact, pay. And so, because that information was considered by this body, that's why I kept it there—also, in-line with what we did last time. So, that's part of that rationale. So, it did cover—and the intent was to make sure that I helped you cover as many basis as possible for if and when there shall be questioning and/or clarity sought by the public or anyone as to how this body got to where it is today. But I, again, I can delete it as well. Whateverwhether, if theso, I guess, at this point, we have a motion on the table to delete those and we'll see if that carries. CHR. PAVAO: Yeah. I guess, it'd probably, the first thing we need to do is we vote. Any further discussion? If not, we'll go ahead and vote by signifying by saying aye, if you're in favor of the motion to delete that section? MR. NELSON: No, just the first sentence. CHR. PAVAO: Just the first sentence—and modify the second sentence, then yeah. Okay? Signify by saying aye or nay? MS. FRENZ: Let's do a rollcall. CHR. PAVAO: Okay. Page 6 Salary Commission MR. RIORDAN: Commissioner Riordan—aye. CHR. PAVAO: Commissioner Pavao—aye. MS. KAWA`AUHAU: Commissioner Kawa`auhau—aye. MS. NAMAHOE: Commissioner Namahoe—aye. MR. NELSON: Commissioner Nelson—aye. MS. GREENBAUM: Commissioner Greenbaum—aye. CHR. PAVAO: Okay. That motion passes. September 24, 2024 Okay, any further discussion on the Findings of Fact? If not, we'll entertain a motion to accept the Findings, as amended. MS. NAMAHOE: So moved—Commissioner Namahoe. I move that we accept the Findings of Fact for the OSCER position. CHR. PAVAO: As amended. MS. NAMAHOE: As amended. CHR. PAVAO: Is there a second? MS. GREENBAUM: Commissioner Greenbaum—second. CHR. PAVAO: Thank you. Is there any further discussion? MS. NAMAHOE: I just want to thank Corp. Counsel, again—Cody Frenz, for drafting this. It good job. Thank you. CHR. PAVAO: Yeah. I thank her—it was very well written -up, very accurate, and very thorough of all the discussions and the justification we had in making our decision but—yes, thank you. MR. NELSON: She made it on a Sunday. MS. GREENBAUM: Thank you. MR. NELSON: Bonus points for working on a Sunday. CHR. PAVAO: And no overtime. Page 7 Salary Commission MR. GREENBAUM: Yes. MR. NELSON: No overtime. September 24, 2024 CHR. PAVAO: Okay. No further discussion, we'll go ahead and vote. We'll do rollcall again. MR. RIORDAN: Commissioner Riordan—aye. CHR. PAVAO: Commissioner Pavao—aye. MS. KAWA`AUHAU: Commissioner Kawa`auhau—aye. MS. NAMAHOE: Commissioner Namahoe—aye. MR. NELSON: Commissioner Nelson—aye. MS. GREENBAUM: Commissioner Greenbaum—aye. CHR. PAVAO: And the ayes have it—the motion carried. Okay, where are we on our agenda? B. Review Of Existing Compensation Plan To Include Discussion And Consideration Of Ideas For Adjustments To Future Salaries Of Executives And Officials: Update By Director Of Human Resources, Sommer J. Tokihiro, Regarding Collective Bargaining With The Employer (County) And Unions (United Public Workers/UPW, Hawaii Government Employees Association/HGEA, State Of Hawaii Organization Of Police Officers/SHOPO, And Hawaii Fire Fighters Association/HFFA); And Informational Briefing By Director Of Human Resources, Sommer J. Tokihiro, Regarding "Step Movements."; And Informational Briefing By Director Of Human Resources, Sommer J. Tokihiro, Regarding "Within Range Progression" (WIRP) Increases; And Existing Pay Plan For Executives And Elected Officials, Effective January 1, 2024, And Effective On July 1, 2024; And Communication No. 24-02, From Director Of Human Resources, Sommer J. Tokihiro, Dated July 30, 2024, Transmitting "Salary Survey" Information Concerning The "City And County Of Honolulu, HI Draft Market Summary – February 13, 2024" (And "City And County Of Honolulu, HI Mayor And Council Member Draft Market Summary – February 13, 2024") (Note: The Above Matters Were Tabled (Postponed) At The Salary Commission Meeting Held On July 31, 2024 (The Director Of Human Resources, Sommer J. Tokihiro, Had Completed Her Update And Informational Briefings At That Time); And Page 8 Salary Commission September 24, 2024 Communication No. 24-03, From Director Of Human Resources, Sommer J. Tokihiro, Transmitting Information Concerning The CPI Inflation Calculator 2023-2024, And Maui And Hawaii County's Population For 2024 Using The World Population Review (Note: The Above Matters Were Tabled (Postponed) At The Salary Commission Meeting Held On Auzust 27, 2024) CHR. PAVAO: So, we're on "B." (At this time, Chair Pavao proceeded to read into the record the above summary.) CHR. PAVAO: Any discussion? MS. FRENZ: This is DCC Cody. Chair, Director Tokihiro is not present nor is her Deputy. They're both—as I understand it—off-island for this very, I believe, this very discussion point. And I don't believe that—so, as indicated before, we have two representatives from Classification and Pay Division but I don't believe—and I'm looking at them to confirm with a headshake of some sort—that they are prepared to provide an update in Director Tokihiro's absence. Is that correct? They're not prepared to do so. So, I guess, Chair, maybe we can table unfinished `B." until we are ready to further discuss our next—and part of that will go into scheduling our future hearings, which is Section 8 -we don't know exactly when, frankly, Director Tokihiro will be prepared to provide us an update and/or what that negotiation—which is confidential—but what she can share, when she can share it. So, for now, maybe we table this until we know and we've gotten an update from Director Tokihiro or an authorized representative that this is ripe for further discussion. And until then, we don't keep carrying it on our agenda to confuse the public that this is being actively worked on right now. And we focus on finishing our OSCER work that we are finalizing today and we wait until we have some guidance and then we can contact you, Chair, and indicate it's ripe for discussion—let's re-initiate this back on the agenda. Would that be okay with everyone? CHR. PAVAO: Yeah. I agree. MS. GREENBAUM: Yes. MR. NELSON: Table till next year. MS. GREENBAUM: I agree. CHR. PAVAO: It's unlikely that we'll get anything until sometime in January. It's usually the target date is before the Legislature convenes on Oahu because the want to have something for the Legislature to approve before they recess in May. Page 9 Salary Commission September 24, 2024 But, yes, unlikely we'll get anything before January. I agree, we should table this and bring it back when we know that we have new information to make reasonable decisions on that. MS. FRENZ: Okay, can we get a motion to table "Unfinished Business" subsection, "B." until further notice and/or at the call of the Chair? MR. NELSON: So, I'll make a motion to move this to January. CHR. PAVAO: Is there a second? MS. NAMAHOE: Namahoe—second. CHR. PAVAO: Any further discussion? If not, we'll go ahead and vote. We'll do a rollcall aye in support. MR. RIORDAN: Mr. Riordan—aye. CHR. PAVAO: Commissioner Pavao—aye. MS. KAWA`AUHAU: Commissioner Kawa`auhau—aye. MS. NAMAHOE: Commissioner Namahoe—aye. MR. NELSON: Nelson—aye. MS. GREENBAUM: Greenbaum—aye. CHR. PAVAO: Thank you. Okay. So, where are we now? Announcements (Item 7) CHR. PAVAO: Any "Announcements?" Schedule Next Meeting Date (Item 8) CHR. PAVAO: And next, schedule meeting date. MS. FRENZ: This is DCC Cody. So, I'll jump in now. In your green folders you have thankfully, our wonderful Secretary printed a schedule of what's to come. So, what's critical, if you all remember the action that it took in December of 2023 that required a very specific process for us to get to the point where you could implement those pay increases across-the-board to be effective in, I believe, January—and then, thereafter, in July. Page 10 Salary Commission September 24, 2024 So, this is a schedule of what's going to occur. As to the October 2nd date, our Secretary has indicated to me that ifso, I have, just as you all just for you guys to know, a few minutes ago after the motion officially passed, I modified the document and I've already emailed it to our Secretary. So, she has the final document as approved this morning in our hearing. So, if she can get it done sooner and get it to whoever—send it to the newspaper, she will. Short of that, we're expecting that, at a bare minimum, to be done on Thursday, October 2nd, to then run—as indicated in the Hawaii Tribune -Herald and the West Hawaii newspapers. Thereafter, our public hearing will be on November 14d', in this conference room and/or—we'll also have Zoom setup again for whomever may be appearing by Zoom and/or public, and a West Hawaii option, right, as required. So, 30 days after that, we need a quorum for this November 14. And, again, as we talked about, this is where the public may show up and can show up to exercise concerns, frustrations, issues, or support with the OSCER salary. It may or may not hold any interest, like, other raises might pull interest—not that they did for us last time, right? But it's possible. So, everybody needs to come ready—familiar with the proposed Findings, as adopted today and ready to listen. This is not a dialogue. This is the publics' opportunity to provide testimony and input, but this is not a conversation. That's where, subsequent to that, 30 days after that public hearing, as required by our Rules, is when you would take action. So, that's the December 19d', 2024, date. While our Rules are silent as to the adoption of or setting of a new salary, if we consider and we've chosen legally to proceed in the abundance of caution, if we consider the original interim contract salary amount and the salary that this Commission has set—it's, obviously, more than 10%. Question is whether or not we need to consider that as an increase when you didn't set it originally. Nevertheless, because the Rules are silent and we have no real precedent to pull from we've chosen to proceed cautiously and consider this a 10% more increase, which requires—under our Rulesa two-thirds vote of our entire membership. We currently only have seven of nine seats filled, which means we need six to be present on December 19d', 2024, for that vote to carry. If we don't have everyone present for that hearing or at least the six of the seven that we currently have—we will not be able to take action. And therefore thereafter, nothing can take effect, which is what we're hoping it would be January 1, 2025, right—so, that they can begin their recruitment process for this position. So, if that fails, just know that that is going to be the consequence if we don't have two-thirds in December. For November, we need a quorum. `Cause, again, we're not taking action, we're just listening. That's our public hearing public testimony date. So, can everyone present today this is what we would need to be able to have it happen. We don't have Commissioner Dudoit present—so, we'll need to make sure we reach out to him early to confirm his availability, `cause I don't think we've seen him for about two hearings now. Page 11 Salary Commission September 24, 2024 So, can everyone commit to November 14'h and December 19'h that's, here, today. CHR. PAVAO: Yes. MALE SPEAKER: Yes. MS. GREENBAUM: I believe yes, I can. Yes. MS. NAMAHOE: Yes. MS. KAWA`AUHAU: Commissioner Kawa`auhau, I can't make the 14t', I have work. MS. FRENZ: Okay. MS. KAWA`AUHAU: But I can make the 19th MS. FRENZ: Great. So, the 14', again—as long as we have a quorum, we're okay to proceed. The 19th of December is the critical one. CHR. PAVAO: Yes, right. MS. FRENZ: Yeah. And let's make sure we do some outreach—make sure—one, that Commissioner Dudoit's okay, since we haven't seen him in a couple of months—and make sure that he can commit to these dates and knows to be here. So, that's all I have as far as announcements go and the scheduling of the next meeting. Are there any questions? CHR. PAVAO: No? So, our next meeting is October 24th at 10 a.m. here at the Hilo Council Chambers and by Zoom. MS. GREENBAUM: The 24th I might not be able to make it. Is that going to cause—October 24th? CHR. PAVAO: Yeah. I don't know if we need that meeting because we're just going MS. FRENZ: So, Commissioner Nelson has inquired if we actually have a real utility for an October 24th meeting. And we really don't when you think about it, unless we were to receive information from DHR that we are ready to have a further conversation but we've already had a motion to pass that until January. So, short of that, it's really just our OSCER matter. So, I don't believe unless ourI don't see an indication from Madam Secretary indicating otherwise, so I think we can cancel the October Page 12 Salary Commission September 24, 2024 24'h and just expect to see everyone—with one exception that's already indicated an unavailability for November 14''. And so, we'll be here November 14'h at 10 a.m. CHR. PAVAO: Ten a.m. MS. FRENZ: And, again, on December 19'h at 10 a.m.—and that's the critical one. So, no—we will cancel our October 24h hearing because we don't have any real need or utility to discuss then. MS. GREENBAUM: Okay. Thank you. MS. FRENZ: And any just further clarity—Glynis has indicated that we had previously tried to look at a date of, I believe, November 27h—we also have no utility for it. We don't need to hold extra meetings, just to hold extra meetings, since we've postponed the other unfinished business to January. All we have is OSCER. So, we'll focus on both dates. So, again, those dates are October I'm sorry, November 14'', 2024, 10 a.m., this location and/or Zoom. December 19'', 2024, 10 a.m., this location and/or Zoom. And, thereafter, we will recess until our January date, which I'm sure Glynis will send emails polling everyone as to their availability in January, where we expect to revisit the overall collective bargaining situation. And, in the meantime, I'll say this much—if we determine from conferral with Director Tokihiro that they are still not ready to have that conversation, then we will not conduct a hearing. Is that okay? MS. GREENBAUM: Yes. CHR. PAVAO: Yeah, that's fine. MALE SPEAKER: (Inaudible.) CHR. PAVAO: It's really optimistic. Yeah, usually, it's towards the end of the Legislative Session when we'll get a real solid answer and if they have to go binding arbitration, it may even be longer. MS. FRENZ: But because the motion was to postpone till January, we'll tentatively have a January placeholder meeting and we'll finetune that as we get a little closer to it. And if there's no need for it, then we'll share that information as well—if that works for everyone. I don't have anything else, everyone. Thank you. CHR. PAVAO: Okay, I think that's it, unless anybody else has anything else? Adiournment (Item 9) CHR. PAVAO: Any motion to adjourn? Page 13 Salary Commission September 24, 2024 MR. RIORDAN: Commissioner Riordan—I motion we adjourn. CHR. PAVAO: Any second? MR. NELSON: I'll second. CHR. PAVAO: Okay. No discussion? We'll vote, starting on this end, again—all signify in favor by saying aye? Any opposed? The voice vote was as follows: AYES: Commissioners Greenbaum, Kawa'auhau,Namahoe, Nelson, Riordan, and Chair Pavao–7. OPPOSED: None. ABSENT & EXCUSED: Commissioner Dudoit - 1. CHR. PAVAO: Motion carried. Meeting adjourned. Thank you very much. (The meeting adjourned at 10:27 a.m.) Respectfully submitted, ekes G1yni amad Secretary-Reporter APPROVED: Steven vao, Chair Salary •'• mission Page 14