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Home My WebLink About2012-12-19 Merit Appeals Board Minutes Hilo, Hawai‘i Wednesday, December 19, 2012 The regular meeting of the Merit Appeals Board, County of Hawai‘i, was held in the conference room of the Department of Human Resources, 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 2, Hilo, Hawai‘i, on Wednesday, December 19, 2012. Present: Mr. Gary Yoshiyama, Chair Mr. Kenneth Rowe, Vice Chair Mr. Brian De Lima, Member Mr. Ronald K. Takahashi, Director of Human Resources Mr. Michael Udovic, Deputy Corporation Counsel Ms. Velma Y. Menezes, Secretary-Reporter Excused: Mr. Henry “Hank” Silva, Member Mr. Jubilee “Jube” Kuewa, Member Chair Yoshiyama called the meeting to order at 9:38 a.m. MINUTES OF JUNE 20, 2012 MOTION: Mr. De Lima moved that the minutes of June 20, 2012 be approved as circulated. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rowe and unanimously carried. NEW BUSINESS Elect Chair and Vice Chair for Calendar Year 2013 MOTION: Mr. De Lima nominated Mr. Rowe as Chair and Mr. Kuewa as Vice Chair. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rowe and carried unanimously. Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. Mr. Rowe was elected Chair, and Mr. Kuewa Vice Chair, for calendar year 2013. DIRECTOR’S REPORT A) Update on collective bargaining. Mr. Hermes reported that negotiations have been relatively slow for a few reasons; one being that it’s an election year. While proposals were passed for Unit 1 and for HGEA bargaining units in June, not a whole lot has happened since that time other than a few meetings with the HGEA to explain proposals. They anticipate that negotiations will pick up come the new year and also while they track the legislative process. They’re still negotiating the 2011 through 2013 contract period with fire fighters and police. Police, in late November, had their interest arbitration and is expecting a decision by late January. Fire fighters agreed on an alternate impasse procedure, and the interest arbitration will be held at the West Hawai‘i Civic Center in March. A decision is anticipated by early to mid-June. Another reason negotiations has been slow is that most of the state has been observing what’s occurring with the teachers, and coupled with the HGEA’s favored nation agreement, a lot of watching has been going on between various parties. Again, they do anticipate negotiations to pick up relatively quickly come spring. B) Update on department staffing and budget matters. Mr. Takahashi reported on staffing updates. The department lost an HR technician, Michelle Simmons, who accepted a promotion in August to the Department of Public Works as the HR specialist there. Leslie Shimabukuro was hired in mid-August to replace her. HR assistant, Tammy Kaniho, accepted an appointment with Prosecuting Attorney Mitch Roth as his private secretary and started there this past Monday. Ms. Kaniho was granted a four-year leave of absence from the 2 3 department, as provided for in rules, to accept the appointment; and the department will fill her position on a temporary basis. The department submitted its budget request for the 2013-14 fiscal year, and the process will start next month at which time they will be meeting with the Finance department. Thereafter, the County submits its budget to Council, and they will be appearing before Council. The department’s budget for the next fiscal year is $1.786 million. It’s an increase from the current year’s budget by $1.45 million primarily due to the furloughs ending on June 30th and the uncertainty of that issue. As a result, departments were told not to budget for any salary reductions. Thus, they had to put back into the salaries and wages account, which automatically increases the budget Countywide with that furlough adjustment. Mr. Takahashi will continue to unfund three positions that they had unfunded the last two fiscal years. Through the department’s reorganization, they have been able to rearrange their duties and work around those vacancies. Ryan Chong, the department’s safety specialist in the Health & Safety Division, was selected County Employee of the Year for the last fiscal year. Mr. Takahashi is very proud of that accomplishment from the department. NEXT MEETING DATE The next meeting will be subject to call. The meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Ronald K. Takahashi Secretary APPROVED: Gary N. Yoshiyama Chair vym