Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-01-27 Salary Commission Minutes (DRAFT) REGULAR SESSION Salary Commission Hilo Council Chambers Hawaiʻi County Building 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401 Hilo, Hawai‘i January 27, 2026 (Tuesday) Call to Order (Item 1) The regular meeting of the Salary Commission, County of Hawaiʻi, was called to order at 10:00 a.m., by Chair Steven Pavao, at the Hilo Council Chambers, Hawaiʻi County Building, 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401, Hilo, Hawaiʻi, on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. Roll Call – Present Mr. Steven Pavao, Chair Ms. Donala Kawaʻauhau, Vice-Chair Mr. Jules Dudoit, Member Ms. Luahiwa Namahoe, Member (via Zoom) Mr. Dennis Riordan, Member (via Zoom) Ms. Sommer J. Tokihiro, Ex-Officio Member Absent and Excused Mr. Sam Nelson, Member Also Present Mr. Cameron Takamura, Deputy Corporation Counsel, Office of the Corporation Counsel Ms. Glynis Yamada, Secretary-Reporter, Human Resources Department Salary Commission January 27, 2026 Call to Order (Item 1) CHR. PAVAO: Good morning, we’ll call the meeting to order, and we’ll start by taking rollcall—you can introduce yourself. MR. DUDOIT: Commissioner Dudoit—present. CHR. PAVAO: Commissioner Steve Pavao. MS. KAWAʻAUHAU: Commissioner Kawaʻauhau. CHR. PAVAO: And on Zoom. MR. RIORDAN: Commissioner Riordan. MS. NAMAHOE: Commissioner Namahoe. CHR. PAVAO: Thank you very much. Those of you on Zoom, is anyone else with you over the age of 18? MR. RIORDAN: No. MS. NAMAHOE: (Inaudible.) MR. TAKAMURA: Also present are Ex-Officio member Sommer Tokihiro, Director of HR; and Glynis Yamada, Secretary to the Commission; and this is Deputy Corporation Counsel Cameron Takamura. CHR. PAVAO: Thank you. Statements from the Public (Item 2) (There was no one from the public present in-person or on Zoom.) CHR. PAVAO: Okay, so called to order—“Statements from the Public”—none that I know of. Approval of Minutes (Item 3) December 22, 2025 CHR. PAVAO: So, we’ll move on to the approval of the minutes. We circulated and posted the nd minutes of our last meeting on December 22. Any questions, corrections, deletions to the minutes of the last meeting? Page 2 Salary Commission January 27, 2026 nd If not, the Chair will entertain a motion to accept and approve the minutes of December 22 of this Commission. MS. KAWAʻAUHAU: Commissioner Kawaʻauhau—motion to approve. CHR. PAVAO: Is there a second? MR. DUDOIT: Second. CHR. PAVAO: Any comments, any follow-up? If not, we’ll take a vote. All those in favor of nd approving the minutes, as circulated, for December 22, 2025, please signify by saying aye. Any opposed? The voice vote was as follows: AYES: Commissioners Dudoit, Kawaʻauhau, Namahoe, Riordan, and Chair Pavao – 5. OPPOSED: None. ABSENT & EXCUSED: Commissioner Nelson - 1. CHR. PAVAO: The motion carried. Communication(s) (Item 4) CHR PAVAO: And we’ll move on to “Communications”—none. New Business (Item 5) A. Nomination And Election Of Salary Commission Chair And Vice-Chair For Calendar Year 2026 CHR. PAVAO: “New Business” for discussion and appropriate action, nomination of—and election of Salary Commission Chair and Vice-Chair for the calendar year 2026. Any nominations for—we’ll start with the Vice-Chair, I guess. Any nominations? MR. RIORDAN: Should we be waiting—Commissioner Riordan, here. Should we be waiting until we have more folks on to the Commission? CHR. PAVAO: Let’s ask our Legal Counsel. MR. TAKAMURA: So, I believe, technically, by Charter, the election was supposed to happen in—or it’s supposed to happen annually. I’m not sure if your guy’s Rules dictate when “annually” it should be, but I can check. Page 3 Salary Commission January 27, 2026 MR. RIORDAN: Commissioner Namahoe and Pavao aren’t up—can’t be elected, is that correct? CHR. PAVAO: Yes, our term ended— MR. TAKAMURA: Yes, because they’re terming out and they are only on holdover status now, st for up to 90 days, which I believe is going to be March 31. MR. RIORDAN: And so, then, basically, it’s myself, Mr. Nelson, and the other two Commissioners there at the meeting. MR. DUDOIT: Commissioner Dudoit—as of today, my legal address will move to Mountain th View from Kona. So, I’m out from the 7 District, and I’ll see if I can get in on the Mountain View district—I don’t know. We’ll see—but as of today and—after today. Thank you. CHR. PAVAO: So, we’ll have less people to nominate. I missed the first meeting, and I became the Chair. MR. TAKAMURA: Yeah, it’s up to you guys, if you guys want to postpone the election to a later date. It’s just says that you guys got to elect a Chair from your membership annually—but neither your Rules or the Charter specifies when annually. So, I guess it would depend, kind of, when you guys last did your election, but even if it has been a year since then—I guess, Chair Pavao can serve as Chair Pro-Temporary, until the next election—until his holdover status is up. CHR. PAVAO: Which is—but it’s three months? Six months? st MR. TAKAMURA: March 31—three months. CHR. PAVAO: Oh, okay. MR. TAKAMURA: But, yeah, I would ask that if you guys want to delay the election, that you do it by vote. MS. KAWAʻAHAU: Can I make a motion? MR. TAKAMURA: Yeah. Page 4 Salary Commission January 27, 2026 MS. KAWAʻAHAU: This is Commissioner Kawaʻauhau—motion to delay the election until we have more members on Board. MR. DUDOIT: I’ll second that. CHR. PAVAO: Okay. There’s a motion on the floor to delay the election until more members of the Commission are appointed and approved by the County Council. Any conversation? If not, we’ll take a vote. All those in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye. Any opposed? The voice vote was as follows: AYES: Commissioners Dudoit, Kawaʻauhau, Namahoe, Riordan, and Chair Pavao – 5. OPPOSED: None. ABSENT & EXCUSED: Commissioner Nelson - 1. CHR. PAVAO: The motion carried. Unfinished Business (Item 6) CHR. PAVAO: Okay. So where are we on the agenda. So, let’s see—any “Unfinished Business” for discussion or appropriate action—none. Schedule Date(s) for Future Meeting(s) (Item 7) CHR. PAVAO: Schedule dates for future meetings—I guess, all of that hinges, again, on appointing of new members. We don’t even have quorum at this point once all of us are off. I think we’d only have one, two, three members, right? MR. TAKAMURA: Yeah. So, I guess we can just—if you guys want to discuss future meeting dates, you can. If not, Glynis can just let you know if an additional meeting is needed and then you guys can notice it via Sunshine Law and hold it. CHR. PAVAO: Yeah, I think that’s better, I think, yeah—since scheduling dates, at this point, I think—okay. Announcements (Item 8) CHR. PAVAO: Any “Announcements”—no announcements. Page 5 Salary Commission January 27, 2026 Adjournment (Item 9) CHR. PAVAO: Then we’ll adjourn. Okay, meeting adjourned. Thank you very much. (The meeting adjourned at 10:09 a.m.) Respectfully submitted, Glynis Yamada, Secretary-Reporter APPROVED: Steven Pavao, Chair Salary Commission Page 6