Loading...
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Home
My WebLink
About
2026-04-23 Merit Appeals Board Minutes (Regular Session)
REGULAR SESSION MeritAppeals Board Hilo CouncilChambers HawaiiCounty Building 25Aupuni Street, FirstFloor, Room1401 Hilo, Hawai‘i April23, 2026 (Thursday) Call to Order (Item 1) Theregular meeting oftheMerit AppealsBoard, CountyofHawaii, was calledtoorderat 9:03a.m. byChairGabriella M. Cabanas, attheHiloCouncil Chambers, Hawaii County Building, 25AupuniStreet, FirstFloor, Room1401, Hilo, Hawaii, onThursday, April23, 2026. Roll Call – Present Ms. Gabriella M. Cabanas, Chair Ms. SuziBond, Vice-Chair Mr. Gilbert J. Aguinaldo, Member Mr. Daniel “Niel” Thomas, Member Also Present Mr. JYoshimoto, Assistant Corporation Counsel, OfficeoftheCorporation Counsel Mr. Elbridge “EZ” Smith, DeputyAttorney General, Department oftheAttorney General viaZoom) Ms. Sommer J. Tokihiro, Director, Human Resources Department Mr. RyanThomas, Deputy Corporation Counsel, Office oftheCorporation Counsel Mr. Demetri Lametti, Deputy Corporation Counsel, OfficeoftheCorporation Counsel Mr. Joshua-JoelRavey, Pipefitter, Department ofWaterSupply Mr. Kawika Uyehara, DeputyChief, Department ofWaterSupply Ms. Michelle Simmons, Human Resources Program Specialist, Parksand Recreation Department Ms. GlynisYamada, Secretary-Reporter, Human Resources Department MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 Call to Order (Item 1) CHR. CABANAS: Goodmorning, everyone. TheCounty ofHawaiiMeritAppealsBoard meeting iscalledtoorder at9:03a.m. WeareseatedintheHiloCouncil Chambers ofthe HawaiiCounty Building, at25AupuniStreet, FirstFloor, Room 1401, inHilo, Hawaii. I’mGabriella Cabanas, Chair oftheMeritAppeals Board. Wehavequorumtodaywithallfour Board members present. Tomyimmediate leftisMs. SuziBond. MS. BOND: Goodmorning. CHR. CABANAS: And myfarleft—Mr. Gilbert Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aloha, goodmorning. CHR. CABANAS: Tomyfarright—isMr. Daniel “Niel” Thomas. MR. THOMAS: Hello, good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Andtomyimmediate right—isourAssistant Corporation Counsel, Mr. JYoshimoto. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Goodmorning, everyone. CHR. CABANAS: Seated intheback oftheBoard members isGlynis Yamada, ourSecretary- Reporter. MS. YAMADA: Good morning. CHR. CABANAS: Good morning. Andinthegallery, wehaveanumberofindividuals, soIwill introduce themnow. FromtheOfficeoftheCorporation Counsel—Mr. RyanThomas and Mr. Demetri Lametti—they areourDeputy Corporation Counsel—excuse me—attorneys; andwealsohave Mr. Joshua-JoelRaveyfromtheDepartment ofWaterSupply; andwealsohave ourDirector of HumanResources, Ms. Sommer Tokihiro; Mr. Kawika Uyehara, theDeputyfromDepartment of Water Supply; andMs. Michelle Simmons fromtheDepartment ofParks andRecreation. So, goodmorning toallofyou. Addendum toAgenda (Item 2) CHR. CABANAS: Asfarastheaddendum totheagenda—wereceived, yesterday, a correspondence from Mr. Raveyanditisnumbered asCommunication number 25-09.03—I’m sorry, it’sfromCorp. Counsel—Mr. RyanThomas—concerning thematterbeforeusandthe hearing that wewillstartinafewminutes. So, I’dliketohaveamotiontoaddthiscommunication toourcorrespondence— Page 2 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. BOND: (Inaudible.) CHR. CABANAS: Yes, it’sfrom Mr. RyanThomas. MS. BOND: Somoved. MR. THOMAS: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thankyou. Anydiscussion? Ifnot, I’llstartarollcallvote toaddittothe agenda, startingwithMs. Bond. MS. BOND: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Thomas. MR. THOMAS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Fourayes. Motioncarried. Statements from the Public (Item 3) CHR. CABANAS: Arethereanystatements to—fromthepublic? None. 9:00A.M.: HEARING RE COMMUNICATION NO. 25-09 Executive Session: The Merit Appeals Board Anticipates Convening One OrMore Executive Meetings Regarding The Matter Listed Below, Pursuant To HRS Sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(2) And 92-5(a)(4), For The Purpose Of Evaluating An Officer Or Employee OfThe County OfHawaii, Where The Consideration OfMatters Affecting Privacy WillBe Involved And Consulting With TheBoard’sAttorney On Questions And Issues Pertaining To TheBoard’sPowers, Duties, Privileges, Immunities, And Liabilities. A2/3Vote OfThe Members Present Pursuant ToHRS Section 92-4IsNecessary To Hold An Executive Meeting. Communication No. 25-09, Received OnNovember 14, 2025, From Appellant, Appealing A Recruitment And Examination Action ByThe Hawaii County Human Resources Department; And Communication No. 25-09.01, Received OnJanuary 22, 2026, From Ryan K. Thomas, Deputy Corporation Counsel, On Behalf OfAppellee, Regarding Appellee’sPre-Hearing Statement; Witness List; Exhibit List; Exhibits “A” – “M”; And Communication No. 25-09.02, Received OnJanuary 22, 2026, From Appellant, Regarding Appellant’sWritten Statement And Submission Of Exhibits Page 3 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Sowewillmoveontoour9:00scheduled hearing regarding Communication number 25-09. And, Mr. Ravey, yourappealformindicates youwantaclosed hearing, isthatcorrect? Atthis time, Mr. Joshua-Joel Ravey, Appellant (Pipefitter, Department ofWaterSupply); andMr. RyanThomas, Appellee (DeputyCorporation Counsel, OfficeoftheCorporation Counsel), cameforward.) MR. RAVEY: Yes, Ma’am. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Thankyou. Fortherecord, Mr. Raveywantsaclosedhearing. Okay, soI’mgoingtoread thecommunications received concerning thishearing. Atthistime. ChairCabanas proceeded toreadintotherecord, Communication numbers 25-09through 25-09.02listedabove.) CHR. CABANAS: And thenewestcommunication thatwejustapproved adding totheagenda isCommunication number 25-09.03, fromMr. RyanK. Thomas, DeputyCorporation Counsel, regarding thematterfiled byJoshua-Joel Raveyversus theDepartment ofWater Supply. Okay, andthiscontains aSupplemental Exhibit “N” andamemo—InterOffice Memoconcerning Changes toCompleting Position Descriptions” fromtheDepartment ofHuman Resources. I’mgoingtoreadverbiage regarding anexecutive session inthe eventtheBoard needs toenter intoanexecutive session. So, theMerit Appeals Boardanticipates convening oneormore executive meetings regarding thematter listedbelow, pursuant toHRSSections 92-4, 92- 5(a)(2), and 92-5(a)(4) forthepurpose ofevaluating anofficer oremployee oftheCountyof Hawaii where theconsideration ofmatters affecting privacy willbeinvolvedandconsulting with theBoard’sattorney onquestions andissuespertaining totheBoard’spowers, duties, privileges, immunities, andliabilities. A2/3voteofthemembers present pursuant toHRS Section 92-4isnecessary toholdanexecutive meeting. Before Igoanyfurther, andjustfortherecord toexplain toeveryone, when wehavearegular meeting, ourLegal Counsel isMr. JYoshimoto fromtheOffice oftheCorporation Counsel. Whenwehave ahearing, ourLegal Counsel comes fromtheOffice oftheAttorney General. So, appearing viaZoom isgoing tobeourattorney forthehearingandhisname is Elbridge “EZ” Smith. Goodmorning, Mr. Smith, canyouhearme? Atthistime, Mr. Elbridge “EZ” Smith, Deputy Attorney General, Department ofthe Attorney General, appeared viaZoom.) MR. SMITH: Goodmorning. Yes, Ican. CHR. CABANAS: Okay, thank youforjoiningusthismorning. Wehaveothermatters listedontheagenda, butwearegoingtogostraight intothehearing. So, I’mgoingtoaskthatallparties—ifyou’reawitness tothehearing, ifyoucouldstepoutside andwaitoutside oftheCouncil Chambers. Page 4 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 So, atthistime, mayIhave amotion toclose themeeting, sowecangointothehearing—and it’saclosedhearing asrequested bytheAppellant. MS. BOND: Somoved. MR. THOMAS: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Anydiscussion? Ifnot, I’llstart arollcall votewithMs. Bond. MS. BOND: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Thomas. MR. THOMAS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Fourayes. Motioncarried. Wearegoing tosecure theroom. Mr. Yoshimoto willalsostep out—andourattorney, Mr. Smith, willoverseeandprovide guidance totheBoard, asneeded. MR. THOMAS: Chair, should wegiveanestimate tothepeople who areleaving, howlongwe might beatthisfirststage? Ihaveafeelingitcouldbelong. CHR. CABANAS: Thereareanumber ofwitnesses thattheCounty iscalling, soI’mnotableto giveyouadefinitive time—timeperiod. MR. RYANTHOMAS: Good morning. Yeah, soifImayassistasfarastiming—theCounty, today, anticipates callingtwowitnesses andthenquestioning Mr. Ravey—so, giveortake, we should beoutherebynoon. Thankyou. RECESS: The Chair called for arecess at9:11 a.m. RECONVENE: The meeting reconvened as12:42 p.m. inopen session. Communication No. 25-09, Received On November 14, 2025, From Appellant, Appealing A Recruitment And Examination Action By The Hawaii County Human Resources Department; And Communication No. 25-09.01, Received OnJanuary 22, 2026, From Ryan K. Thomas, Deputy Corporation Counsel, On Behalf Of Appellee, Regarding Appellee’sPre-Hearing Statement; Witness List; Exhibit List; Exhibits “A” – “M”; And Communication No. 25-09.02, Received On January 22, 2026, From Appellant, Regarding Appellant’sWritten Statement And Submission Of Exhibits CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Sonowwearegoing back inopensessiontoannounce ourdecision inthematterofMr. Ravey’sappeal hearing. Starting—Ineedamotion. Page 5 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. BOND: I—why? CHR. CABANAS: Oh, no—Idon’tneedamotion. MS. BOND: Wedon’tneedamotion. MR. AGUINALDO: No? CHR. CABANAS: Oh, yeah, Idoneed amotion— MR. AGUINALDO: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: —regarding thedecision aswemade it— MR. AGUINALDO: Mm-hmm. CHR. CABANAS: —asdiscussed intheclosedsession. MS. BOND: As—Imovethat weaccept thedecision thatwemadeintheclosed session to denytheAppellant’sappeal, asdiscussed inclosedsession. Okay. MR. THOMAS: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Any discussion? MR. AGUINALDO: No. CHR. CABANAS: Ifnot, Ms. Bond. MS. BOND: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Thomas. MR. THOMAS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Ihaveaquestion. Yousaid “aye.” MS. BOND: Isaid “aye” tothemotion tosaythatwedenyit. Ididn’tsaythatIagreed withit. CHR. CABANAS: We’lltake arecess. RECESS: The Chair called for arecess at12:44p.m. RECONVENE: The meeting reconvened at12:46 p.m. in open session. Page 6 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 CHR. CABANAS: Sorry, Mr. Smith, there’sanelement ofconfusion herebecause Ms. Bond wasgoing tovote— SPEAKER: Shedidvote. CHR. CABANAS: Shedidvote “aye” now todeny Mr. Ravey’sappeal, butearlierinclosed session— MS. BOND: No, mymotion wastoacceptthedecision which wastodenythisappeal. That waswhat mymotion was. Mymotionintheopen session wastoaccept thedecision todeny hisappeal. Thatdoesn’tmean—Icanvote “yes” thatI—onthatmotion. CHR. CABANAS: Okay, letmegetMr. Smith’slegalguidance. Please help ushere. MR. SMITH: Right. Themotion istoacceptthedecision, right—thedecisions alreadybeen made, so— CHR. CABANAS: Oh, okay. So, it’sokayforhertosay “aye?” MR. SMITH: Right. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Allright, youwereright. MS. BOND: Itoldyou—God, youguys. CHR. CABANAS: Justtobesure. MR. SMITH: Yeah—no, it’sbetter tobesure, thannotsure. CHR. CABANAS: That’sright. MS. BOND: That’strue. CHR. CABANAS: Okay—absolutely. Okay, sofourayes, motioncarriedfortheappeal— MS. YAMADA: You’restillinexecutive session. Youstillhavetogetoutofexecutive session. MS. BOND: No, wedidn’tmove—no. So, goopenthedoor. CHR. CABANAS: No, no, I’mgoingforward. Okay, sofourayesmotion carried todeny—toaccept thedecisiontodenytheappeal for Mr. Ravey. Thank you, everyone. Okay, sowe’regood Mr. Smith. Thank you. MR. SMITH: Okay. Thankyou. Page 7 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 RECESS: The Chair called for arecess as 12:48p.m. RECONVENE: The meeting reconvened at1:20p.m. in open session. Approval ofMinutes (Item 4) March 20, 2026 CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Itis1:20p.m. andwearenowinopensession—back tothe thagendaofapprovalofmeetingminutesforMarch20, 2026. Boardmembers, haveyouhad thechance toreview themeeting minutes? MR. THOMAS: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Anyamendments? Iwentthroughthemeeting minutes—Ihavesome notes. Onpage 18— MR. THOMAS: Eighteen yousay? CHR. CABANAS: Yes. Page 18, it’sunder theparagraph thatIstated—it’sthefourth “Chair Cabanas.” MS. BOND: One, two, three, four—under “(Inaudible.)” CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, andthen itsays, “Yeah, itis. Andso, itreally restswiththe department todotheir—they’retheones authorizing thework. Ofcourse, theclassspecs. are developed byHR”—andthen itsays, “theirHR”—that’snotcorrect—“…their HR…” MR. THOMAS: isthattheHRofsomeotherdepartment? MS. BOND: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: No. ‘Causeclassspecs. aredeveloped byHR. MS. BOND: TheirHR—no—yeah. Thatiscorrect because she’s—you’retalkingabouteach department’sHR. CHR. CABANAS: No, I’mtalkingaboutCentral HR. MS. BOND: Oh, that’snotthewayitreads. MR. THOMAS: Doesn’tthedepartment orHRdevelop the— MS. BOND: ‘Cause theyneedtoreview theprescription—that’s (inaudible) position description—andnot “prescription.” CHR. CABANAS: Well, that’stheposition descriptions—ofcourse, theclassspecs. are developed byHRbuttheyneed toreviewitbecause theposition descriptions arewritten in accordance withtheclass spec. “And, asSommersaid, ifitchanges, then theyneed toreview itbecauseitcouldbesomething else”—isthatcorrect? Page 8 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. BOND: Yeah. Itis. CHR. CABANAS: “Ofcourse, theclassspecs. aredeveloped byHR”—that’scorrect. MS. BOND: You’retalkingaboutthe— CHR. CABANAS: Butthen, it’shyphen “theirHR”— MS. BOND: Right, you’retalking aboutthedepartment’sHR’s—departments H— MR. THOMAS: (Inaudible.) CHR. CABANAS: Oh, Isee. Okay, sotheirHRneeds toreviewit. MS. BOND: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, okay. So, that’sokay. Andthen, theother onewasonthenextpage—19—Mr. Aguinaldo, fromthebottom—thefirst Mr. Aguinaldo”—“Andyouguys”—itreads, “tothat”—butitshould be “dothat…”—“Andyou guysdothat, Sommer?” “Sommer, andyouguysdothat, like, what Gabriella saidislikedoa field audit?” He’sasking aquestion. MS. BOND: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: So, itshouldbe “do” insteadof “to.” Andthen, page 21, “Ms. Tokihiro”—one—thesecond “Ms. Tokihiro”—shesaid, “I’mgoingto..”— not “revive” it—“I’mgoing toremember that. I’mgoing tohave R&Eask, ‘What’smagical about’”—Idon’tthinkyousaid “revive”—Ithinkyousaid “remember”—yeah. So, take out revive”— MS. BOND: Oh, okay—not “revise?” CHR. CABANAS: Itshould be “remember.” MS. YAMADA: (Inaudible.) CHR. CABANAS: Okay—no, shedidsay “remember.” MS. BOND: Oh, yeah, Ido—actually, remembered yousaying that. MR. THOMAS: Thatfitswith “What’smagical…” CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. MS. BOND: Yeah, ‘causethatwas themagical twoyears thingweweretalking about— CHR. CABANAS: Right. Page 9 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. BOND: —andwhat makes itmagic. CHR. CABANAS: Whatmakes itmagic. Okay, that’sallIhave. SomayIentertain amotion toaccepttheamendments made? MS. BOND: Imovethatweaccept theminutes, asamended. MR. THOMAS: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Amend itfirst—okay. Anydiscussion? No? MR. AGUINALDO: No. CHR. CABANAS: I’llstart arollcall votewith Ms. Bond. MS. BOND: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Thomas. MR. THOMAS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Fourayes. Motion carriedtoacceptthemeeting minutes, asamended. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Youjustamended— CHR. CABANAS: Yeah—justamended. So— MR. YOSHIMOTO: (Inaudible.) CHR. CABANAS: I’mtrying tobeefficient. MS. BOND: Icouldn’tdothatasone, huh? MR. YOSHIMOTO: So, youjustamended theminutes, sonowyou’regoing topass itas audible). MS. BOND: Okay. So, Imovethatweaccepttheminutes, asamended— MR. THOMAS: Second, again. CHR. CABANAS: Anydiscussion? Ifnot, startingarollcallvotewithMs. Bond. Page10 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. BOND: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Thomas. MR. THOMAS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Fourayes. Motioncarried. Director’sReport (Item 5) A. MAB Quarterly Reports: January – March 2026 (Administrative Services Division, Classification & Pay Division, Equal Opportunity/ADA Division, Health & Safety Division, Personnel & Organizational Development Division, Recruitment & Examination Division, Workers’ Compensation Division) CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Sonow weareonthe “Director’sReport”—MABQuarterly Reports for January through March 2026. So, Sommer, youmayproceed. Atthistime, Ms. Sommer J. Tokihiro, Director, Human Resources Department, came forward.) MS. TOKIHIRO: So, FirstQuarter ofthecalendar year andThird Quarterofourfiscal year. CHR. CABANAS: Mm-hmm. MS. TOKIHIRO: So, youallhavethereport forreview, soI’mhappy toansweranyquestions. MR. THOMAS: When youhave mandatory anti-discrimination andharassment training sessions, where’sthemandate coming from? MS. TOKIHIRO: It’saCounty policythateveryemployee hastoattendthattraining. So, we’ve madethatamandatory trainingforallofouremployees. Andthen, Ibelieve itwas lastyearthat weamended thattraining—andso, we’vebeen re-training allofouremployees—allofthe supervisors, department heads—soeverybody isgoing through thatupdated training. MR. THOMAS: Areyourunningintoanyheadwinds from theFeds.—thecurrent Administration? MS. TOKIHIRO: No. Noissues, tomyknowledge, pertaining tothisissue. MR. THOMAS: Okay. CHR. CABANAS: Anyquestions orcomments forSommer regarding thisreport? Page11 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. TOKIHIRO: So, IcanpointoutthatourClassification andPayDivision haveanadditional position inClassification andPaynow, which hasbeen really helpful intermsofkeeping upwith theworkload. So, inthequarterly reporttheynoted thatduring thisquarter, theyhave completed 126 re-description review requests. Re-description reviewsarereviewsandre-descriptions of Position Descriptions. So, that’sonecomponent ofwhat Classification andPaydoes, butthey alsodevelop newclasses ofwork, theyassist departments with re-allocation ofpositions, and thenassistwith re-allocation ofpositions forrecruitment purposes. So, Ithinkwe’vetalkedabout inthepastwhere duetochallenges withthecurrenttightlabor market, werecruitforpositions atmultiple levelssothatwecan—wecan’tfindanindividual that hastheexperience required atthepermanent classofwork—weareable tore-allocatedown forrecruitment purposes, and thedepartment may beabletoidentifyacandidate thathas experience thatcanbebuiltuponthroughadditional training andexperience togetbacktothe permanent class. So, asweaddress recruitment challenges, Classification andPayworkscloselywiththem. And so, justonecomponent ofthat. Andso, partofthat isthose classspec. amendments thatwe’vebeentalkingabout, andthen oneofmyMABgoals iscompilation ofthatdatabase thattracksallofourclass specs., andthe lasttimetheywereamended orreviewed, andpositionre-descriptions arepartofthataswell. MR. THOMAS: So, thisisre-description orrevision ofindividual positions? MS. TOKIHIRO: Correct. MR. THOMAS: Andwhatistheruleabout whenpositions getreviewed? MS. TOKIHIRO: So, theCounty doesn’thavearule. Ibelieve there should bearuleforthat. Andso—butwehavetowork todevelop aprocess forthatbecause creation andmaintenance ofPosition Descriptions isdelegated todepartments, butHRhasakeyroleinoverseeing that— andso, weneedtomakesure thatasystem isdeveloped forthat. So, last year, IbelieveinJanuary of2025waswhenIsentoutthe memo todepartments saying thatifyour position hasn’t—ifyou’recoming inforrecruitment—because itisaboxontheRTF formthatacknowledges thataclassspec. hasbeenreviewed andthe PositionDescription has beenreviewed andisup-to-date. It’sjustacheckbox. Andso, thatneeds tobetaken astepfurther, right—andthat’swhere we’re—we—thecurrent years—oneoftheMABgoalsistohavethatdatabase sowe’retracking when theclassspecs. werelastamended. So, we’renotjustcounting onacheckbox where someone canjustcheck theboxandit’sdone. Weneedaverification ofthat, right. Andso, Iwantedtodevelop thatforclass specs. ‘causethoseareinimmediate control ofHR— andIthink thenextlayer ofthatisforPosition Descriptions. Page12 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MR. THOMAS: IthinkIheard somewhere—I’mnotsureIknow where—thatthere’sapractice ofnotputtingupaPosition Description untilthePosition Description itselfhasbeen reviewed— that supposed tohappenateverycouple years? MS. TOKIHIRO: So, thetargetthat—everycoupleofyearsissomething thatI’mworking for towards theclass specifications. Thereisnotimeframe currently setforthenumber ofyears before aposition isre-described. Butanytime we’rerecruiting foraposition, wewantthat information tobeup-to-date—sothat’sourfirstlevel ofcheck—andthat’swhy thatcheckbox is ontheRTFformbecause ifyou’rerecruiting tofillaposition, weshouldbemaking surethat everything isup-to-date. So, when theCounty wenttothenewPosition Description format in2016, departments were told, “Update yourPosition Descriptions andputthem onthenewform.” Andwenoticedthat departments weren’tdoing it. So, asofJanuary oflastyear, Ibelieve, Imay notberecallingthe datecorrectly—but Isentamemotoalldepartments thatsaid, “Ifyoucome inwith aRequest to Fillaposition andthisPosition Description isnotonthecurrent format, it’sbeingreturned to you. We’renotevengoingtorecruit.” Andso, thatstopsthe—justcheck thebox—we’reactuallyreturning itandsaying, “No, you must update thisbeforewe’regoingtoproceed.” MR. THOMAS: ‘Cause, otherwise, itcould leadtosome kindofcase, couldn’tit? CHR. CABANAS: Well, that’swhat wesawwiththishearingtoday. Imean— MS. TOKIHIRO: So, potentially, without— CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, theboxwas darkened. Sowho’schecking that? Imean, notto pinpoint anyone inparticular but, Imean, yeah, theyneedtocheckthat, so— MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah. So, amechanism needs tobeestablished inordertodothat. Ithasn’t existed to-date, butit’simportant thateverything beconsistent—andIhavefound anumber of inconsistencies thatIwant ourdepartment tocorrect. Andso, we’reactively working asateam toaddress those issues andensure consistency. CHR. CABANAS: Okay, good. MR. AGUINALDO: Iguess, sometimes, it’sjustwith theworkload, too—when there’ssomuch. MS. TOKIHIRO: Ithink it’sa—itisachallenge. Whenwehave800classes ofwork—that’sa lotforHRtomaintainthat—butthat’sjustclasses ofwork. Thenfromaclassofwork, wehave 3,000positions. Andso, aPosition Description foreachofour3,000positions. Andso, managing allofthathasbeen apartnership between HRandthedepartments, because we havealltheclass specs. butwereallydefer todepartments asfarasPosition Descriptions because theyknowwhat istheactualwork being doneintheirdepartment. Thatbeingsaid, though, weneedtohave amechanism toensure thatoversight—toensurethat we’rebeing able tobetter partner withdepartments tosay, “Thishasn’tbeen updated since whatever date, itneeds tobeupdated”—andit’stoeverybody’sbenefit. Page13 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 Wearenoticing alotofthere-description reviewsisagood opportunity toupdate language and givecurrent descriptions ofthework thatisbeing performed because even changes in language—words meandifferent things, todifferent people—andwordsmeandifferent things, atdifferent times, andinadifferent context. So, justwantingtomakesurethatwhat’sinaPosition Description accurately reflects thework beingdone. MR. AGUINALDO: Wow, understood. Eh, J, likewhatSommer was justindicating—ifthey’re goingre-worditorlanguage—whoapproves that? Does Corp. Counsel step in, too, andkindof lookatthelanguage because onthatmatter—orit’sjustgoingtobe—Sommer, isitjust—it has—does itfallonyouorallthedifferent department headsonthedifferent departments, yeah. MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah, soitwouldbeHR— MR. AGUINALDO: Right. MS. TOKIHIRO: —working withdepartments— MR. AGUINALDO: Thedepartments. MS. TOKIHIRO: —anddepartment staff— MR. AGUINALDO: Right. MS. TOKIHIRO: —tocome toagreement onthat language andhowtodescribe it. And, certainly, iftherewasanareawhere wewere unclear orpossibly neededguidance—yeah, we’realways happy tobeabletoreachouttotheCorporation Counsel togetclarifications, whenneeded. MR. AGUINALDO: Oh, good. CHR. CABANAS: Okay, so, wedidtheMAB Quarterly Report. Okay, soarewe nowon—we areontheMABMonthly Divisional Activity Report. Yeah, didwevoteonit? No, wedidn’t, yeah? Okay, soI—canIhaveamotion—thank you, Sommer. CanIhaveamotiontoaccept andfiletheMABQuarterly Report forJanuarythrough March2026? MS. BOND: Somoved. MR. THOMAS: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Thank you. Any discussion? Ifnot, I’llstartarollcall vote withSuzi Bond. MS. BOND: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Thomas. Page14 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MR .THOMAS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Fourayes. Motioncarried. B. MAB Monthly Divisional Activity Report: April 2026 (Administrative Services Division, Classification & Pay Division, Equal Opportunity/ADA Division, Health & Safety Division, Labor Relations Division, Personnel & Organizational Development Division, Recruitment Examination Division, Workers’ Compensation Division) CHR. CABANAS: Moving along, wearenowontheMABMonthly Divisional Activity Report for April2026. HaveyouallreadtheAprilreport. MR. THOMAS: Yes, again, onEqualOpportunity—whatsortofADAreasonable accommodation casesdoweget? MS. TOKIHIRO: They’renotcases, perse—butthey’rerequests forreasonable accommodation. MR. THOMAS: That’swhatIthought, yeah. MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah. So, it’savarietyofthings based onemployee need. So, they submit therequesttotheirdepartment, andthen Alika—ourADACoordinator—workswith the department togothrough theprocess. So, itcould beavarietyofthings, particular—officeenvironment orIcouldn’tgiveyou any specifics—andIwouldn’twant togivespecific examples, justforconfidentiality purposes, butit’s avarietyofrequests andit’sbasedonemployee needs andissomething thatisverified bya physician. MR. THOMAS: Thankyou. CHR. CABANAS: Under “Equal Opportunity/ADA”—you mayhavementioned it, butIcan’t remember. RFPfortheCountyofHawaiiSelf-Evaluation— MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: Theself-evaluation is? MS. TOKIHIRO: So, it’sgoingtobeanevaluation ofallofourprograms andactivities andto make surethatthey’reallaccessible. So, Ibelievethefacilitiesevaluation wascompleted afew years ago, andIbelieve thefederalgovernment suggest thataself-evaluation bedoneevery tenyears orso. Butit’savery—wewanttomakesurethatwearecomprehensive andthatwedoitright, sowe actually putthat tobid, sothatwecanidentify anagency thatcanhelp ustoevaluate accessibility ofallofourprograms. Page15 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 CHR. CABANAS: Okay, thankyou. MS. TOKIHIRO: So, also, under Equal Opportunity andADA, theCountyhasbeenactively working tomeettherequirements foraccessibility forallthings thatarepostedonline. Thatwas tohavegone intoeffect on—today—oh, tomorrow, I’msorry. ButtheDepartment ofJustice has extended thatdeadline forayearbecauseitisabigundertaking. It’sbeen something that we’vebeenactivelyworking onformore than ayearandtrying tohelpdepartments toget training—butthen, also, tounderstand whattheimplications are. Andso, we’vebeenactively working onit, butitisa—it’sabigundertaking. So, looking forward tocontinuing toactively work onthat, sothatwecanbringeverything intocompliance bythe April2027 deadline. CHR. CABANAS: ForClassification andPay, theyreviewed andcompleted 58intenttoadopt newclasses ofworkfromother jurisdictions. Wow, that’squiteabit. MS. TOKIHIRO: Itis. Andso, that—thechallenge ofourClassification andPayDivision isthey aredoingworkforourdepartments, soassisting withtheseallocation—initialallocation of positions; we’reworkingwithdepartments tocreate newclassesofworkastheyhave operational needs; they’redoingthere-allocations down forrecruitment, sothey’redoing that; looking atPosition Descriptions. Butalso—yes, because wehaveequal payforequalworkacross theState, they’realso reviewing anything thatischanged byanother jurisdiction. So, anynewclasses ofworkthatare established byanother jurisdiction, anychanges toexisting classes—theyarereviewing allof that. Theyprovide feedback, andthentheyalsomaintain aspreadsheet across alljurisdictions ofwhich positions areequivalent. But, thatreviewisactually agreattoolforustousewithour owndepartments because they’re always involved inandarereviewing what’shappening across theState—whatother jurisdictions areadopting orwhatnew titlesorhowworkisbeingdone. Andso, thatbecomes a greatresource when meeting withdepartments, iftheyhave aneed, thattheycansay, “Oh, I thinkMauimay have hadaclass ofworkthatmight workforthisparticular situation.” So, it’sagreat learning toolbutitisvery time-consuming. Classification andPayistasked with averybigand veryimportant role. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Arethosenewclasses inpublic safetyorclericalorjustawhole range ofpositions? MS. TOKIHIRO: So, Idon’treview theonesthatcome infromtheotherjurisdictions, butI’dbe happytoask—Icangetthat information foryouforthenextmeeting, sothatyoufolkscanget anunderstanding of, kindof, wherethosenewclasses fall. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Thankyou. MS. TOKIHIRO: Weareinitiating are-titling, so “Clerk” is, kindof, oneofthosetitlesthat become alittle outdated. Andwewereactually thelastjurisdiction thatstillhadtheclasstitleas Clerk.” Page16 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 Andso, we’regoing toupdate thatacross allofourClerk positions tore-titlethem to “Office Assistant”—sonothing elseisreally changing, but IthinkOfficeAssistant willbetterreflectthe workthat’sbeingdone, andwhenweputthosepositions outforrecruitment, Ithinkwe’remore likelytomaybe beabletogetpeople going, “Oh, that’sactually whatthatroledoes”—so, even thingslikethat, bringing someofourjobtitles morecurrent, sothatpeople canbetter understand whatthatrole is. It'salsosomething thatClassification andPayworks on. MR. THOMAS: Gilbert andSullivan (inaudible) hadapositioncalled “LordHighPoohbah”—do wehavethat? MS. TOKIHIRO: Notyet, butIwillrequestit. MR. THOMAS: It’syou. CHR. CABANAS: Arethetyping certifications stillrequired oristhatathingofthepast? MS. TOKIHIRO: Forthemost part, IthinkIbelieve thatthat’sathing ofthepast, right— CHR. CABANAS: Itis. MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: Okay, youmustberelieved. MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah. MS. BOND: Workmen’sComp. seems tobe—Idon’tknow. It’sabout thesameaslast—what isit—thetotalclaimis250, butinhereit’s260openworkmen’scomp. claims? MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah. So, itwould depend onwhentheinformation was— MS. BOND: Yeah. MS. TOKIHIRO: —pulled. Yeah. Butthetotalnumber ofopen claimscouldvaryforafew different reasons. Sometimes wehave tore-openaclaim, justtopayanoutstanding medical bill, soit’snotnecessarily likeanopen, activeclaim. Wejustare re-opening ittopaythatbill. There could’vealsobeenafewclaimsthatwereceived aftertheQuarterly Report was compiled, butbeforethemonthly reportinformation wascompiled, which couldaccountforthe discrepancy—Ibelieve isten, but— MS. BOND: Anditwasmostly—theclaimsreview heldwithParksandRec. todiscuss their openclaims—aretherealotofopenclaims inParksandRec.? MS. TOKIHIRO: Ibelieve—Ihaven’t—I—it’snotthat Ihaven’tseenthenumber, I’mnot recalling thenumber offthetopofmyhead, atthistime—butIbelieve it’sprobably—it’susually been around 50to, Ithink, atthehigh-end, itwas60claims thatthey wouldhaveatanygiven time. MS. BOND: It’slike20% ofthe—huh? Page17 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah. So—butwithabout3,000employees tohave260claims, theWork Comp. being lessthan10% isgood. We’revery—we’repleased thatit’snothigher. Ofcourse, wewouldlikeittobe “0” butitwillneverbe “0”— MS. BOND: No, no. WhatisI-M-P-A-X-X? MS. TOKIHIRO: So, IMPAXX isacompany thathelpsuswith compliance withourMedicare requirements. So, forcertain—itmostlypertainstosettlement ofclaims whentheemployees of retirement age—there’resomenew—somedifferent rulesthatgointoeffect forMedicare inaudible), toensurethatMedicare isn’tcovering thecostofanytreatment related totheWork Comp. claim. So, thatcompany helpsustoensure compliance withtheMedicare rules. MS. BOND: Okay. Ididn’tknowifitwasacompany orjustacrazyacronym, ‘causeI’mtrying tofigureoutwhat theacronym was. MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah. It’sacompany name. Yeah. MS. BOND: Anindividual, maybepeople—andXX—okay, that’sallthequestions Ihad. CHR. CABANAS: Anyone else? Ifnot, I’llentertain amotiontoacceptandfile. MS. BOND : Imove thatweaccept andfiletheApril reportfrom theDepartment of—from Sommer. MR. THOMAS: Second. CHR. CABANAS: It’stheMABMonthlyDivisional ActivityReport forApril2026. Okay, isthere asecond? MR. THOMAS: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Anydiscussion? Ifnot, Ms. Bond. MS. BOND: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Thomas. MR. THOMAS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Fourayes. Motioncarried. Communications (Item 6) CHR. CABANAS: No “Communications.” Page18 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 New Business (Item 7) CHR. CABANAS: There isno “New Business.” Unfinished Business (Item 8) FY2025-2026 Annual Performance Evaluation Of The Director Of Human Resources (HR) Process; And FY2025-2026 Human Resources Employee Survey: Proposed Timeline To Distribute Surveys And Deadline ForResponses; SurveyMonkey Questions For FY2025-2026 (Line Department Survey); SurveyMonkey Questions For FY 2025-2026 Employee Survey); Merit Appeals Board’sEvaluation Tool For The Director OfHR For FY2025-2026; Define Target Audience/Survey Participants. Executive Session: The Merit Appeals Board Anticipates Convening One OrMore Executive Meetings Regarding The Above Matter, Pursuant To HRS Sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(2) And 92-5(a)(4), ToConsider The Hire, Evaluation, Dismissal, OrDiscipline OfAnOfficer OrEmployee Of The County OfHawaii, Where Considerations OfMatters Affecting Privacy WillBe Involved And Consulting With The Board’sAttorney On Questions And Issues Pertaining ToThe Board’sPowers, Duties, Privileges, Immunities, And Liabilities. A2/3Vote OfThe Members Present Pursuant ToHRS Section 92-4Is Necessary To Hold AnExecutive Meeting CHR. CABANAS: Wearenowon “Unfinished Business.” The discussion oftheAnnual Performance Evaluation forFiscal 2025to2026isinanopensession. And inaseparate folder thatGlynisprovided us, wehave—it’sinthebrown folderandit’sallofthedocuments thatwe usedlastyear—forGilbert, thisisgoingtobeyourfirstroundorrodeotohelportoevaluate the Director. And thisisdoneinaccordance withHawaiistatelawthattheDirectorisevaluated every June. So, thisisinpreparation forthatevaluation. Thefirstdraftinthefolder, thewhitesheet—Glynisisgiving Sommer herfolder. So, Sommer, thisisthetimeline thatweusually followforthePerformance Evaluation process—starting in April, which isthis month, reviewing thesurvey questionnaires and/orevaluation formsthat we’veusedinthepast. Wehavetweaked themrecently. There’salsoadraft coverletterthat, astheChair, Glynis sendsoutinanemailtoaccompany thesurvey, andwedefinewhowillreceive thesurveys. Andthen, inMay, thesurveys areemailed tothelinedepartments and HRemployees, whomever wedecidethetargetgroupwillbe, withdeadline forresponse—nolaterthan theend ofthemonth, which isMay29. So, Glynis has alreadyestablished thetimeline forourreview. Shesendsitoutwiththe thdeadlineforthemtorespond—May29. Andproposed emaildistribution datewillbeMay21— sowewould givethemalittleoveraweektocompletethesurveyforms. ComeJune, Glynisextractsthesurvey results. Inthepast, Recruitment andExamination Division Manager wouldextract theNeoGov applicant surveyresultsand forward themto Glynis. Ithinkwedecided lastyearthatitreallydidn’thavemuch significance forustocontinue that, butit’suptous, ifwewanttoornot. Page19 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 TheDirector presents asummary ofhergoalsforFiscalYear2025 to2026, andthen shewill report onwhether hergoals weremetandwhynotand—ornot—andwhythey werenotmet. MAB discusses withtheDirector—it’sthetotalaggregate survey responses andanyotherinput received. Andinaexecutive session, MABdiscusses theoverall ratingofwhether theDirector meets expectations ordoes notmeetexpectations, withwrittennotice tofollowtotheDirector. So, allofthatoccursinJune. AndtheninJuly, theDirector identifies herperformance goals thatshewouldliketobe—that shewouldlikeachieved during thenext fiscalyear. So, she outlines herplanofaction toMAB. Andwealsoreview thesurvey questions fornextfiscalyear, and wedefine thetargetaudience andsurvey participants forthefollowing year. So, that’sbasically thecycle. Okay. MR. THOMAS: DowegetacopyoftheDirector’sgoalsforthecurrent fiscalyearaspartof this? CHR. CABANAS: Yes, wedo. MR. THOMAS: So, whendowegetthat? CHR. CABANAS: Infact, it’slistedhereonthegolden rodsheet. MR. THOMAS: Ithought itwas—thegoldenrodsheet? CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. Thegolden rodisthisone. MR. THOMAS: Oh, thesearethegoals? CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, these arehergoals—Goal1, 2, and3— MR. THOMAS: Okay. CHR. CABANAS: —thatshereported onlastyear. Andnow, what we’regoing toiswe’re goingtoevaluate onwhether shemeetsitornotbasedonthesurveyresponses. MR. THOMAS: AndIremember thatthesurvey, lastyear. Ithinksomeofusfeltthatitwasof limited valuebecause ofalowresponse rate. CHR. CABANAS: Itwasofvalue—theonethatwethoughtwasn’treally avalue wasthe NeoGov one. MR. THOMAS: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: Because thenumbers werereally, really small. Let’sbacktrack alittle—soif youlookinyourfolder, wehaveayellow sheet andagreen sheet. Now, historically, the—this isforGilbertbecause he’snew. Page20 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 Theyellowsheet isthesurveyquestions thatwesentout, through email, andwedecided inthe pastitwould gotothedepartment headsandthedeputies, andtheHRrepresentatives and assistants ofthedepartments—theyellow one. Andwhattheydoistheyjustnumber ascaleof1—where itstronglydisagrees; where 5means strongly agrees—andthen theyanswer these questions. Questions 8and9areopen-ended questions. And, yes— MR. THOMAS: Where does itsaywhogetsthatone? Where itsays linedepartment/agency? CHR. CABANAS: Yes. MR. THOMAS: Okay. CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. MR. THOMAS: And then, thegreen one— CHR. CABANAS: Thegreenone, Ilobbied for. Andthereasonwhy—Idon’tknowifyouknew that, butIlobbied foritbecause itpertained tothetimethatwewereaudited, priortotheaudit. Andhowemployees, including me, were—howshouldIwordit—wewereinacrazyperiod. Andwereallydidn’thaveaBona Fideway togiveinputinordertorescue ourselves—soto speak. So, anyway, thisiswhere employees nowcanprovide inputinananonymous way. Providing inputonhow theyfeelabout theDirector’sjobperformance forthefiscalyear. So, I’m gladtheBoard agreed—andasIexplained it—youcanalways asksomeone, “Oh, how doyou feel? Oh, youlookreallygreattoday!”—butyoudon’tknowhowthepersonfeels inside— maybe theyhavehighbloodpressure or—Ijustusedananalogy. Well, that’showitwasforourdepartment, andnot reallyhaving aplace togowithourconcerns. Wejustdidwhatwewere toldtodo, uptoapoint. And then—sothisallows—thisis, like, a safety netfortheemployees. MR. THOMAS: Where doesitsaywhogetsthis? CHR. CABANAS: Theemployees of—toHuman Resources. MR. THOMAS: TheHRDepartment employees? CHR. CABANAS: Yes. MR. THOMAS: Okay. CHR. CABANAS: ThisisDHR— MR. THOMAS: Igetit. CHR. CABANAS: —sotheycanprovide input. Page21 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. BOND: The—dotheother departments dothiskindofanevaluation? CHR. CABANAS: Ofwhat—theirdepartment heads? MS. BOND: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: It’supto—well, somedepartments— MS. BOND: Look atthelookonherface. CHR. CABANAS: Some departments have Boards, butprobably not. MS. BOND: Probably not? MS. TOKIHIRO: Forappointed department heads thatareappointed bytheMayor—it’supto theMayor howhewantstoevaluate performance—butasGabementioned, there areboards andcommissions that have—ifthey’retheappointing authority theymayhaverules ortheirown process thattheyfollow. MS. BOND: Oh, okay, justcurious. Imean, Iknowthat’snotyour kuleana, so— CHR. CABANAS: (Inaudible) question. MR. THOMAS: So, withrespect tothelinedepartments, howmany peopleisthat? CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, wehavethenumbers. Let’ssee. MR. THOMAS: Oh, theblue sheet? CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, Glynisdoesagood jobwiththis. MR. THOMAS: Whatsortofresponse didwe— MS. BOND: (Inaudible.) MS. TOKIHIRO: So, it’sactually—fortheyellowone—it’s23directors oragency heads, plus 17 deputydirectors oradministrators, plus 19HRrepresentatives, and24HRassistants. CHR. CABANAS: It’slisted above, Niel. MR. THOMAS: Iseeit. MS. TOKIHIRO: So, justslightly—whatisthat—85people. MS. BOND: Like, rightnow, AnimalControldoesn’thaveahead, right? MS. TOKIHIRO: So, thereisaTAAdministrator. MS. BOND: Oh, there is. Okay. Page22 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. TOKIHIRO: And then, intheabsence ofanAdministrator, itwouldbetheManaging Director ortheMayor. MR. THOMAS: And, lastyear, whatwastheresponse rate wegotfromthatbigcrowd? Was thattheonethatwegotaveryweak response? CHR. CABANAS: Itmight havebeen—Ican’tremember ifitwas17—wait, letmelook ather report, letmeseeifshehasit. MS. BOND: There’soncewhen wegotonlyninerespondents. CHR. CABANAS: No, no, itwasn’tthatlittle. And, yetshesendsemailsout. Shesends itwith anemail andthenshesendsaweek priortothedeadline—shesendsafriendly reminder, again, toallofthem. MR. THOMAS: Anybody haveanythoughts abouthowtoincrease therate ordoes thissimply indicate thatmostofthese people don’thaveanycontact withHR? CHR. CABANAS: Iwouldthinkthattheywould havecontact with HR. Iwould. Imean, there’s alotofissues, matters—thatHRhastoworkwiththedepartments on, inonewayoranother. MR. THOMAS: It’sareferendum ontheeffectiveness ofthestaffofHR, butthisispartofan evaluation oftheDirector. Now, IknowtheDirector is “thebuckstopshere” person, butdowe reallygetaresponse thatspeakstothat? Ifall—oneofthese people whoreceive thissurvey, seeistheexperience—orreport ontheexperience thattheyhadwithsome lower-levelstaff person. CHR. CABANAS: Well— MR. THOMAS: What does thattellus? CHR. CABANAS: —keepinmindthatwhenlastyear’ssurveywentout, alotofthedepartment headswerenew, andtheyweren’tonforverylong— MR. THOMAS: Oh, that’sright. CHR. CABANAS: —theywere onboard formaybe fourmonths. MR. THOMAS: AnewAdministration. CHR. CABANAS: Fivemonths? Some maybeevenless. Butthat’swhywe also senditto their deputy andtheir HRstaff torespond. IwastryingtoseeifI—no, Idon’thavethenumbers here—Glynis wouldhavethat. MS. TOKIHIRO: Idobelieve thattheresponses from thedepartments, thenumber waslowlast year, andIwould attribute thatto—yes, theywereverynewtotheirroles andthennewtothis wholeprocess, so— MR. THOMAS: Doyouhaveanythoughts onhowimportant itmightbetoincrease that participation? Page23 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. TOKIHIRO: Ialways appreciate thefeedback thatweget. Andso, Iwould behappy toget aresponse from everyone. Asfarashowtoaccomplish that—I’mnotsure. Ithinkyoufolksdiscussed lastyear—should thetimeframe inwhich tohavetorespond should thatbelonger—butIdon’tknowthatthat necessarily affects anything either. CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. MS. BOND: Ifanything, itshould beshorter becausethenitfeels likeit’ssomething yougotto get done. CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. Because thelonger yougivethem— MS. BOND: But—yeah. CHR. CABANAS: —theywaittilltheendanyway. MS. BOND: Thelonger procrastination last. ButIalsothink, too, thatthefactthatthesepeople havenowbeen onthejobforawhilelongerwillhelpout, too. CHR. CABANAS: Mm-hmm. MS. BOND: And, ifnot, then thenextyear wegoandtake armedguardsintoevery officeand say, “Fillthisoutnow.” MR. THOMAS: Dowehaveadraftofboth communication thataccompanies thissurvey when itgoes out? CHR. CABANAS: So, Glynis ispassing outcopyoftheletter thatwesendout. MR. THOMAS: Oh, good, I’dliketoseethat. CHR. CABANAS: ThefirstletteristotheHRemployees, andthesecond letteristotheline departments. MR. AGUINALDO: Whenitsent outto—ofdifferent departments andwhatnot, istherea follow-upand— CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, shesends another emailaweekbefore thedeadline. MR. AGUINALDO: Okay. MS. BOND: That’swhattheseare. MR. AGUINALDO: Right. AndIthinkit’simportant, yeah. Procrastinate, theynotgoing doit. If they’renotgoing todoit—butit’sagreat evaluation—very, very importantand goodinputs, yeah. Page24 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 CHR. CABANAS: Okay, sothis—ifyoulookatthesheet, thepinkoneisfortheemployees. MR. AGUINALDO: Right. CHR. CABANAS: Starting withthesecondpage—it’sthefirstemailthatshesends outforme. Andthen, goingback tothefirstpage—“ACheerful Reminder”—again. Andthen, onceweget the surveys, wesend athank youemailtothem. Thisisfortheemployees. Andthen, wedo thesamethingforthelinedepartments. MR. AGUINALDO: Thatwouldbeonthebluelist. MS. BOND: Yeah. Thepinkones MR. AGUINALDO: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: So, shedoesfollowthrough. MS. BOND: That guiltsalltheotherpeoplethat didn’tfinish it. MR. THOMAS : Iwonder ifonthe—I’mmostlyconcerned withtheparticipation rateofthe departments—nottheHumanResources staff—whether thiscan, sortof, communicate our interest inhearing notwhattheythink oftheperformance oftheDirector, because fewofthem wouldeverhavedirectcontact with theDirector. SoIcould seealotofpeople setting thisaside andsaying, “Well, Ihardly know whosheis.” Canweworditsuchawaythat adopts “thebuck stops here” philosophy—andask theminconjunction with—orbecause wearecharged with evaluating theDirector, please consider yourexperiences withanystaffperson thattheDirector supervises withinherdepartment? I’mnotsurehow to—quitehowtowordit, butI’dliketosee peoplefeellike, “Well, Ididhave acontactwithso-and-soandthatwasverysuccessful”—or “I hadoneexperience that Ithink I’dought totellyouabout because itwasn’tsosuccessful.” Ijustthinkpeoplearemissing from thislettertheimportance ofsharing yourexperiences with thedepartment, asopposed tojust, “DidyouhaveameetingwiththeDirector—howdidit go?”—whichis, sortof, whatIthinkthisletter maybe received assaying. CHR. CABANAS: Well, thesheetofquestions isofavariety whereweaskabouttheDirector, butwealsoaskabout thestaff. So, ontheyellowsheet, forinstance weask, “Human Resources efficiently assistmedoing myjob”—thatcanbeanyone inthedepartment; Number2, “TheDirector workseffectively withmeandother members ofdepartmental staff;”— Number 3, “TheHRstaffaddress myquestions inatimelymanner.” So, itkindofchanges regarding department, director, staff—it’snotonly— MS .BOND: So, maybethetitleiswhatneedschanging—“Annual Performance Evaluation of theDepartment ofHuman Resources andTheir Staff”—orsomething. No? CHR. CABANAS: Bystatute, it’stheevaluation oftheDirector. MS. BOND: Oh, isthat— CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. Page25 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. BOND: Okay. CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. MR. THOMAS: Contact—Iagree theformdoesit—theform seemstodoitwell. Itdoesinvite responses thatarebasedonany contact withadepartment. So, Susie, you maybeontosomething that’sjustamatteroftitlingitinsuchaway that encourages people torealize that’sreallywhat we’rebeing asked todo (inaudible). MS. BOND: “Director ofHRandHerStaff”— CHR. CABANAS: Couldwedoitandadd “andStaff”— MR. THOMAS: Well, itcould saysomething about theDirector’sleadership ofthedepartment. MR. YOSHIMOTO: Because thestatuterequires theBoard toevaluate theDirector—soby definition, herjobduties oversees thedepartment, butIdon’tknow thatqualifying itany further—‘cause you’renotevaluating thestaff, specifically, you’reevaluating theDirector, right? CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. MR. YOSHIMOTO: So, Ithinkitwouldaddmoreconfusion byadding qualifiers rather thanjust keeping itsimple, because iftheydon’tunderstand, thenthey canaskaquestion—isprobably whatthey’redoing. Idon’tthinkwe’veeverhadanypersonaskanyquestions aboutwhatthe evaluation isabout. So, Idon’tthinkit’snecessary. Ihaven’tseenany— SPEAKER: (Inaudible.) MS. TOKIHIRO: And I’lljust clarifythat this Cabinet, alloftheMayor’sdirectors, department heads, agency heads—weallworkverycloselytogether. So, yeah, I’lljustqualifythat—that it’s—weregularly meetanddiscussandaddress issues. CHR. CABANAS: Imean, theonlyotherthingIcould thinkofistoask—andI’mjustthinking outloud now—askfor theAdministration toencourage theirCabinet tocomplete theevaluation. Have itcome from theManaging Director sincehe’sresponsible fortheoperations ofthe departments—that’stheonlythingIcouldthinkof. MR. THOMAS: Ilikethat. CHR. CABANAS: AndIdon’tknowiftheywouldwant todoit, but— MS. BOND: (Inaudible.) CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, because—yeah. Imean, itcouldjustbealittleencouraging statement. MR. THOMAS: Imean, youbothcouldsignit—directed from bothofyou—butincluding the Managing Directorasthemaincommunicator asopposed totheChairofthe (inaudible). Page26 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. MR. AGUINALDO: Yeah, Imean, whatis—it’snothardtofilloutthisform. CHR. CABANAS: So, howwouldwegoaboutdoingthat? MR. THOMAS: Ican’tthinkof—Ithinkofhowmany surveys Iget. Imean, Iwalkedintoalittle store, andIlooked around abit—andthen, somehow orother, theygotmyemailaddress—and nowI’mgetting their surveysandafollow-upsurvey ifyoudidn’tfilloutoursurvey, andIdon’t evenremember who thisisfrom. Ithinkpeoplearegettingsurvey poofed. MS. BOND: That’strue. MR. YOSHIMOTO: So, IthinkiftheBoardwantedtodothat, thenaletter totheManaging Directormaking therequest, Ithink, isappropriate, ‘causetheMDistheonethatsupervise— MR. AGUINALDO: (Inaudible.) MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yeah. MR. AGUINALDO: (Inaudible.) MS. BOND: (Inaudible.) MR. AGUINALDO: Yeah. MS. BOND: Andgettingpeopletofilloutthesurvey. MR. AGUINALDO: Yeah. MR. THOMAS: Thesurveyitselfisprettysimple. Idon’tthinkthatit’saturn-off. MS. BOND: Yeah, butIhavetoadmit—thesurvey thing isgetting outofcontrol. Imean, every appointment, every—“Didyoulikeus?” “Didyoulikeus?” CHR. CABANAS: Yeah, butintermsofgovernment andjobperformance, department heads arenotasked toevaluate otherpeople, otherthantheDirector ofHR. MS. BOND: So, yeah, sothisshouldn’tbeasurvey— CHR. CABANAS: Policedoesn’tdoit. Firedoesn’tdoit. Liquor doesn’tdoit. Wedoit. Why dowedoit? Because we’reresponsible forthemeritsystem principle, whichgoverns throughout theCounty ofHawaii—that’swhy wedoit. MS. BOND: Yeah. Page27 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 CHR. CABANAS: So, wouldaletterseparate from ourletter—alettermaybegoingoutfromthe Managing Director ahead ofmyletter—might work sotheyknowit’scomingdown orwould itbe bestjustto—astatement attheCab—howoften areyourCabinet meetings? Every week? MS. TOKIHIRO: Wemeetonceamonth. CHR. CABANAS: Oh, once amonth. MS. TOKIHIRO: Iwouldnotmakeastatement, onmyownbehalf, requesting thatyoufolks complete thesurvey. CHR. CABANAS: Oh, no, notyou— MS. TOKIHIRO: Yeah— CHR. CABANAS: —theManaging Director. MS. TOKIHIRO: But, ifyoufolks—iftheBoard wanted tosend aseparate correspondence to theManaging DirectorandtheMayor lettingthem know, “Hey, thesurvey isgoing tobegoing out. We’rehopingformaximum participation fromallofyourdepartments. Couldyou encourage people tocomplete it”—orwhatever. Then, atleast, thatwouldbeaseparate notification. CHR. CABANAS: Yeah. MS. TOKIHIRO: And then, howtheychoose tohandle that wouldbeuptothem. CHR. CABANAS: Oh, okay. MS. BOND: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: Youneedamotion? MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: Okay. I’llentertain amotion. MS. BOND: So— CHR. CABANAS: Tosend aletter— MS. BOND: Imove thatwerequest oftheManaging Director thatheencourage byvialetter— theCabi—thedepartment heads toparticipate inthesurvey— CHR. CABANAS: Department heads, deputies— MS. BOND: Whoever—yeah. Thatbig, long listofpeople, the17heads andthe— CHR. CABANAS: AndHRrepresentatives/assistants. Page28 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 MS. BOND: Yeah, department heads, HRrepresentatives, deputy heads— CHR. CABANAS: Deputies, HRrepresentatives andassistants. MS. BOND: Okay, that’stheone. Thedeput—the directors, thedeputydirectors, administrative—assistant administrators, HRrepresentatives, andHRassistants beencouraged toparticipate inthesurvey. CHR. CABANAS: ThatwillbesentoutbytheMeritAppeals Board. MS. BOND: ThatwillbesentoutbytheMeritAppeals Board. MR. THOMAS: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Anydiscussion? MR. AGUINALDO: No. CHR. CABANAS: Ifnot, I’llstartarollcall vote withMs. Bond. MS. BOND: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Thomas. MR. THOMAS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Motion carried. Four ayes—motion carried. Okay, sothetimeline that Glynis hasindicated hereisokaywitheveryone? MR. AGUINALDO: Yeah. CHR. CABANAS: Okay, sothelettertotheMayor andthe Managing Director would goout severaldaysbefore—where’syour timeline—oh, here. She wouldsenditoutMay21— MR. THOMAS: Well, isthereanagenda? Yeah, what’stheagenda? Isthereanagenda for theCabinet meetings? MS. TOKIHIRO: It’slessformal. Imean, theMayor comesupwithdifferent topicsbasedon operational needs. MR. THOMAS: So, maybeasktheMayortomakemention ofitatthenextmeeting? thMS. TOKIHIRO: So, thenextCabinet meetingwould beMay4. Page29 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 CHR. CABANAS: Oh, that’snotnextweek, butthe following. IsthataMonday? So, notnext week, butthefollowing Monday. So, areyougoingtodoa—draftaletterforustogooutnext week? MR. YOSHIMOTO: Yes. CHR. CABANAS: Thank yousomuch—forme—no, notformeto—oh, yeah, formetosign. Yeah, okay, that’sfine. Oh, thank yousomuch. Okay. Andhecanbring itup, too, ifhewants atthemeeting, it’suptohim. Okay. Okay, sowegotthatset. Thequestions okayontheyellow sheet andthegreensheet? Youfolks areokay, Niel—okay. And, Iguess, that’sit. MS. BOND: So, Imovethatweapprove— CHR. CABANAS: Wait—yeah, Iwasjustgoing todothat—we’renotdoneyet. MS. BOND: Oh, Iwasgoing tomovetoapprove thequestions forthesurvey. CHR. CABANAS: No, notyet. So, thegoals onthegoldenrodsheet, arelisted here—Goal1, 2, 3; andthenwematch upthequestions internally arethealpha. lettering; andthenumbers arethelinedepartment survey questions—that’showwelineitup. WealsosendalettertoSommer requesting thedepartment’sbudgetforthelastfiscalyearand theupcoming year—thecurrentbudget, yeah—lastyearandcurrent budget report—acopyof yourvariancereport forlastfiscalyearandyourcurrent budget year. So, weneedthisletteras well. Okay. So, anycomments, concerns about therating form? What aboutyou, Sommer, didyoufindit helpful whenyou—whenwegaveyouthecomments andsharedwithyou—was ithelpfultoyou when youwent backinyourownrespective follow-up? MS. TOKIHIRO: Yes, verymuch. Itwasveryhelpful. Iappreciate, especially, theboxes that youfolksprovide where it’snotjusttherating. Imean, there’s—therecould bealotbehindan answerthathasascore of “1” andthesamewouldbetrueforascore of “5”—andso, I appreciate thetextboxes wherepeoplecanprovide theirindividual comments andnotjustthe numeric ranking. So, that’shelpful tome. Allthefeedbackishelpful. CHR. CABANAS: Anycomments/concerns fromthestaff whentheygottheir survey? MS. TOKIHIRO: Nooneonthestaffhasdiscussed thesurvey with me. Yeah. So, Igenerally brought backlastyear’ssurveyresults—indicated someareasofconcern. And so, Ishared inageneral sensewithmyManagement Team, some ofthose concerns because I wanttomoveforwardinfinding ways toaddress thoseissuesandcorrectthings. So—butI haven’t—Ididn’treceiveanydirect feedback about thesurveyitself. Page30 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 CHR. CABANAS: Okay. Thankyou. Okay, soweareready, Ibelieve, tohaveamotion toapprove theentireprocess aswehave discussed thisafternoon, ifyouareallokaywithit? MS. BOND: Somoved. MR. THOMAS: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Anyfurtherdiscussion? Ifnot, I’llstartarollcallvotewithMs. Bond. MS. BOND: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Thomas. MR. THOMAS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Fourayes. Motioncarried. Announcements (Item 9) CHR. CABANAS: Arethereany “Announcements?” No? Schedule Next Meeting Date (Item 10) The Merit Appeals Board Will Convene Its Next Meeting On Tuesday, May 12, 2026, At 9:00 A.M., At The Hilo Council Chambers, Hawaii County Building, 25 Aupuni Street, First Floor, Room 1401, Hilo, HI 96720 CHR. CABANAS: Thenext meetingfortheMerit Appeals BoardwillbeTuesday, May12, 2026, at9a.m., attheHiloCouncil Chambers, attheHawaii County Building, at25Aupuni Street, FirstFloor, Room 1401, inHilo, Hawaii. Adjournment (Item 11) CHR. CABANAS: May Ihaveamotion toadjourn today’smeeting? MR. THOMAS: Somoved. MS. BOND: Second. CHR. CABANAS: Anyfurther discussion? Ifnot, startwithMs. Bond. MS. BOND: Aye. Page31 MeritAppeals Board April23, 2026 CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Aguinaldo. MR. AGUINALDO: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Mr. Thomas. MR. THOMAS: Aye. CHR. CABANAS: Ms. Cabanas—aye. Motion carriedtoadjourntoday’smeeting at2:26 p.m. Thankyou, everyone. Respectfully submitted, Glynis Yamada, Secretary-Reporter APPROVED: Gabriella M. Cabanas, Chair MeritAppeals Board Page32