HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-06-21 Salary Commission Minutes Page 1
TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
SALARY COMMISSION MEETING
Held at the Hawai 'i County Building, 25 Aupuni Street,
Hilo, Hawai 'i, 96720, commencing at 10 : 44 a .m. , on
June 21, 2018 .
•
rk)
)
REPORTED BY: TERI HOSKINS, RMR, CSR #452
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 2
1 APPEARANCES
3
2 CHAIR:
3 HUGH Y . ONO, P . E .
3
4
}
5 BOARD MEMBERS :
6 THOMAS E . FRATINARDO
i
7 GEORGE W. CAMPBELL
8 JAMES W. HIGGINS
9 MILTON PAVAO, P. E .
10 HAROLD D. DOW
11 NELSON H . HARANO
12 ABSENT AND EXCUSED : FLORENCE K. IKEDA
13 ALSO PRESENT :
14 WILLIAM V. BRILHANTE, JR. ,
15 EX-OFFICIO MEMBER L
16 RONALD KIM, DEPUTY CORPORATION COUNSEL
17 JENNIFER SAKAMOTO
18 NANCY CRAWFORD 4
4
19 MICHELE LAMKIN
4
4
20 PAULA PAVAO
21 NANCY COOK-LAUER
22 GLYNIS YAMADA
23
24
3
25
4
3
1
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 3
1 CHR. ONO: Call the meeting to order since we ' re
2 all here, we ' re not waiting for anybody.
4
3 Okay. For your information, Amy is not here .
4 This is Ronald Kim, and he ' s also a Deputy -- not
5 Deputy Attorney General --
6 MR. KIM: Corp. Counsel .
7 CHR. ONO: Corp. Counsel, yeah .
8 And Florence is excused. Amy is on vacation.
9 What else?
10 Do you want to introduce yourself, tell us a
11 little bit about yourself, since you ' re going to be
12 advising us today?
13 MR. KIM: Okay, sure .
14 Hi . Good morning . My name is Ron Kim. I 'm
15 a Deputy Corporation Counsel with the County. I have a
16 number of assignments and responsibilities, but
17 included in those assignments and responsibilities is
18 serving as Amy Self' s back-up if she is ill or out of
19 office . And she ' s on vacation presently, so I 'm
20 filling in at this meeting for Amy, and I will do my
21 best to help answer questions . And, yeah, be patient
22 with me because this is my first meeting, too . Okay,
23 thank you .
24 CHR. ONO: You' re asking the wrong group for
25 patience .
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 4
1 MR. HIGGINS : Yeah.
)
2 CHR. ONO: Thank you. Thank you,
Ron.
3 Well, hopefully, everybody is doing okay with '
r3
4 the eruption and nobody is having any super-duper
5 hardships . That ' s really a difficult thing going on,
6 and, you know, one of the things is nobody really knows
7 how long it ' s going to last, so it ' s really
8 unpredictable .
9 George, I suspect you live in the area that ' s
10 catching most of the downwind, huh?
11 MR. CAMPBELL : Yeah.
12 CHR. ONO: How' s it going?
13 MR. CAMPBELL : It hasn' t been too bad. The
14 ash seems to go around us for the most part . SO2
15 comes and goes, so some days it ' s bad, some days it
16 isn ' t . Some days we send it up to Jim.
17 MR. PAVAO: What part of Ka 'u do you live in?
18 MR. CAMPBELL: I live just three miles to the
19 west of Na 'alehu .
20 MR. PAVAO: Oh.
21 CHR. ONO: Do you know which way is west? We ' r
22 local . We ' re local . We don ' t know which way --
23 MR. HIGGINS : We don ' t know.
3
24 MR. CAMPBELL: Makai . I should say "makai . "
25 MR. HARANO: Yeah, turn left at the mango
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 5
1 tree . That ' s the one .
2 CHR. ONO: Okay. Well, Teri is our recorder
3 today, and Nancy has rejoined us, and then Jennifer is
4 back with us .
5 And you are?
6 MS . LAMKIN: Michele .
7 CHR. ONO: Michele with HR, too?
8 MS . LAMKIN: Yes .
9 CHR. ONO: Okay. Welcome to our meeting .
10 Okay. We ' ll call the meeting to order . Do
11 we have any statements from the public?
12 MS . YAMADA: No .
13 CHR. ONO: We don ' t have any public here . Okay.
14 I wanted to bring your attention to this
15 thing marked "Confidential, " because it ' s marked
16 "Confidential" for a reason, which I will let Bill
17 explain. But this is information that we need to use
18 in our decision-making, so the intent is to collect
19 these so that they are not floating around because
20 they have sensitive information on it .
21 MR. KIM: So I ' ll let Bill explain it, so you
22 might want to be looking at it, you know, whenever .
23 And we ' ll get to it, and we ' ll explain what these
24 different things are in here .
25 But, Bill, you want to say why this is
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 6
1 confidential?
2 MR. BRILHANTE : Sure . Good morning, Chair.
3 William Brilhante, HR Director.
4 The reason this information is marked
5 confidential and it should be maintained as such is
6 because under HRS 92F there ' s a prohibition about
7 releasing an individual employee ' s specific salary. We
8 can give ranges, but if you look at the document here
9 under Column No . 7 , it identifies the salaries of
10 subordinates; and since they are protected employees --
11 not department heads or deputies -- those salaries are
12 deemed "confidential . " So, please -- that ' s why it ' s
13 submitted in an enclosed packet . It ' s just for
14 discussionary purposes and, at the end of the meeting,
15 we are going to have to collect them and bring them
16 back.
17 So any questions, I would be happy to answer.
18 CHR. ONO: Yeah, just let me mention that while
19 you' re looking at this -- because the only time you are
20 going to have the opportunity to look at it is at this
21 meeting -- in Column 3, you ' ll notice the number of
22 subscripts there, 2, 3, 1 . Anyway, those are the ones
23 that have some peculiarities that don' t fit into our
24 guidelines for Salary Commission. Either it ' s the
25 beginning of an inversion or something within the 5
4
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 7
1 percent differential . So that ' s just to bring it to
2 your attention. We ' ll discuss this when we get to it .
3 Also showing up is Nancy Crawford. And what
4 are you -- Deputy Finance Director?
5 MS . CRAWFORD: Yes, Sir .
6 CHR. ONO: What used to be the director before?
7 What happened, you got demoted?
8 MS . CRAWFORD: Yes, Sir .
9 CHR. ONO: I ' ve known Nancy for a long time .
10 In fact, she started off as administrative officer with
11 Public Works .
12 Welcome .
13 MS . CRAWFORD: Thank you .
14 CHR. ONO: Let me see . Okay. We have approval
15 of the minutes . So we have the minutes of March 22nd,
16 April 26th, and May 24th. Motion to approve?
17 MR. PAVAO: So moved.
18 CHR. ONO: Okay. Any second? A
19 MR. FRATINARDO: Tom, second.
20 CHR. ONO: Tom seconds . Milton' s motion is to
21 approve .
22 Any discussion on these minutes?
23 Hearing none, all those in favor say "Aye . "
24 (All members responded affirmatively. )
25 CHR. ONO: These minutes are approved as
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 8 y
1 submitted.
2 Communications . Bill, do you want to give us
3 a report on Harry Kim? There ' s no communication --
4 MR. BRILHANTE : Sure .
5 CHR. ONO: -- but I thought you -- you saw
6 him this morning, so . . .
7 MR. BRILHANTE : I had the opportunity to see
8 Harry twice this morning. First was at the 7 : 00 a .m.
9 Civil Defense briefing regarding the current lava
10 situation, and he looked spry and refreshed and willing
11 and able to tackle the issues at hand. And then we had
12 an emergency Cabinet meeting, which Nancy was there as
13 well and gave a nice presentation regarding the
14 budgetary concerns; and that was a little earlier this
15 morning at 9 : 00 a .m. , and, again, Harry was there, and
16 he was very feisty. And he said, for the record, this
17 is the best he ' s felt in months, so that ' s a good sign.
18 But, anyway. . .
19 MR. HIGGINS : Praise God.
20 MR. BRILHANTE : Yeah, he ' s a fighter.
21 CHR. ONO: Yeah, he is . He ' s a really tough
22 guy.
23 Anybody else have any communications they
24 want to share, announcements or anything?
25 Okay, New Business . We have no new business
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 9
1 that was noted.
2 Unfinished Business . Under "Unfinished
3 Business" is this "Review Existing Compensation Plan,"
4 and so part of it is a discussion concerning possible
5 salary adjustments beginning July 1st . And these
6 concern the positions, departments, and the current
7 salaries, and the salaries of subordinates and
8 suggested salary increase amounts and current pay
9 levels for comparable positions for other Counties .
10 And all the information is included in this sheet that
11 we mentioned.
12 And so, at this time, I want to thank both
13 Jennifer and, I think, Dee Ann Sadayasu, who helped in
14 the preparation of this . Is that correct? No .
15 MS . SAKAMOTO: I didn' t .
16 MR. BRILHANTE : No, this information, this
17 document, came from Dee Ann Sadayasu .
18 CHR. ONO: Oh, okay. Well, we want to thank
19 her for that and anybody else that worked on it because
20 without this information, we really can' t make any
21 decision.
22 But let me highlight -- before we begin this
23 discussion, this is a table which shows all the
24 positions under our jurisdiction, of which there are
m
25 33 . With the latest round of salary adjustments that
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 10
1 occurred with -- well, let me go back, recap that we
2 have made a couple of salary adjustments, positions
3 which were affected January 1st of this year, and then
4 another set of positions which were affected on
5 March 1st of this fiscal year . And, since then, there
6 has been some bargaining unit activity which have
7 affected the compensation for the subordinates that
8 report to them. And part of our philosophy is that
9 there is a differential which we consider acceptable
10 between the appointees and the highest-paid subordinate
11 that reports to them; so that ' s what is on this paper
12 here . In addition to that -- well, let me explain that
13 the current salary of the department heads, as of right
14 now, is shown in Column 5 . Okay? The salary of the
15 subordinate that reports to them is shown in Column 7;
16 so the comparison is between Column 5 and Column 7 .
17 Now, Column 6 would be the amount that is 5
18 percent less than our appointee ' s current salary, so
19 supposedly, when the salary of the subordinate passes
20 that amount shown in Column 6, that is within the range
21 that is closer than 5 percent . So, with that, we ' re
22 just flagging that out .
23 The eighth column is the level of the
24 subordinate that reports to them.
25 9 is just the bargaining unit that they
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 11
1 belong to .
2 And then Columns 10 -- wow, 10, 11 dollars,
3 and 12 .
4 MR. HIGGINS : Yeah .
5 CHR. ONO: Those are the comparable positions
6 for each of our neighboring counties, to include Maui,
7 Kaua 'i, and the City and County of Hawai 'i .
8 But what I wanted to point out, so it makes
9 it easier, so you don' t have to review everything -- is
10 we flagged out those positions that are shown in Column
11 3 with the notes to the right, 1, 2, or 3, to the
12 right . So, if you see a 1 there, that 1 shows a salary
13 inversion. In other words, the subordinate is making
14 more than that position . The Item No . 2, or the
15 designation 2, is that the salary has encroached within
16 the 5 percent differential as shown in Column 5 .
17 Column 6 . Sorry. And that salary with the 3 is below
:
18 counterparts across the state .
19 So, with that in mind, I 'm just going to open
20 this up for discussion . Part of the discussion is what
21 do we want to do with this? So just open the floor to
22 discussion.
23 MR. HARANO: So, Chairman Ono?
24 CHR. ONO: Yes, Nelson.
25 MR. HARANO: When we have the numerals next
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 12
1 to the different positions, it satisfies all -- like,
2 for example, No . 3, it satisfies A, B, and C?
3 CHR. ONO: Yes .
{
4 MR. HARANO: As well as No . 2, right?
5 CHR. ONO: Yeah. So there ' s still a difference
6 between the salary that -- you' re not having a
7 inversion or even within the 5 percent of the
8 subordinate . So, the ones without any designation are
9 okay.
10 MR. HARANO: Yeah. Thank you .
11 MR. BRILHANTE : Chair, would I be able to
12 make a comment?
13 CHR. ONO: Sure, Bill .
14 MR. BRILHANTE : You know, I 'm not sure how
15 the commission wants to proceed going forward, but I
16 know we ' re all aware of what the current situation is
17 with the current budget in our environment . And one of
18 the things I 'm going to make a recommendation -- and,
19 you know, again, it ' s up for you as a commission to
20 make the final determination -- is I would recommend
21 that we, as of now, until the current budget situation
22 becomes more stabilized and we get more information and
23 more evidence to support what we ' re looking at doing
24 going forward -- postpone future discussion regarding th=
25 current salaries of the department heads and deputies .
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 13
1 And then, we allow the current budgetary situation to
2 kind of work itself out and see where we end up at the
3 end of the day because I think there ' s a lot of moving
4 parts that we still need to -- would be part of the
5 commission' s consideration going forward. And I think
6 if we ' re just -- I 'm not sure if it ' s the appropriate
7 time to be looking at the inversions and all those type
8 of situations right now.
9 Secondly, we have Nancy Crawford here from
10 the Finance Department and, before we do anything else,
11 maybe we would want to hear from her as well going
12 forward.
13 And that ' s my two little tidbits .
14 CHR. ONO: You know what? I think it might be
15 appropriate, so we can have a discussion on this, to
16 act on it one way or other . Can I have a motion to
17 that effect?
18 MR. HIGGINS : I --
19 MR. PAVAO: I 'm sorry. Go ahead.
20 MR. HIGGINS : Pardon me . Go. No, no.
21 MR. PAVAO: I make motion to do exactly what
22 Mr . Brilhante said. I think, with the ongoing disaster
23 that ' s occurring, expenses are just going sky-high, and
)
24 I don' t think this County will know exactly how it ' s
25 going to go until this is over . And I totally agree
3
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
4
Page 14
1 with Bill that, given the state of the County, I think
2 giving raises or even considering giving further raises
3 is premature, especially since, a couple months ago, we
4
4 gave considerable raises . Considerable . That put
5 burdens on the County' s budget . I think we should step
6 back, wait a while, and see what happens .
7 So I ' ll make a motion that we don' t even
8 consider raises until we have a better picture of the
9 County' s finances after the disaster.
10 CHR. ONO: Yeah, can I restate that so the
11 motion would be to defer action on this until such a
12 time that we have better information from the
13 Department of Finance and the County' s financial
14 situation?
15 And with that motion, if seconded, we can go
16 into a discussion.
17 MR. CAMPBELL: Second.
18 MR. PAVAO: That ' s exactly what I said.
J
19 CHR. ONO: Okay. That ' s exactly what you said, {
20 but you took so long to say it .
21 Moved and seconded that we defer on this
22 until the commission gets more information as to make a e'
23 meaningful decision on it .
P
24 So, let ' s open that up for discussion right
25 now.
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 15
1 Mr . Higgins, looks like you want to say
2 something.
3 MR. HIGGINS : Well, could we have an
4 update --
5 - CHR. ONO: Sure .
6 MR. HIGGINS : -- from the finance deputy
7 before we --
8 CHR. ONO: Nancy, please .
9 MR. HIGGINS : Just have a little more
10 information?
11 CHR. ONO: Well, while we ' re doing that, I juste
12 want to point out that in studying this information
13 that we got, there is no employee over here that ' s
14 within our appointed officials that there is an
15 inversion. Okay? It happens with the deputies . But I
16 think the most important position is that the
17 department head or the top appointee in the
18 department -- and while some of the subordinates '
19 salaries come close to the inversion -- there is nobody
20 that crosses over . So, currently, there ' s no inversion.
21 So the boss is still getting paid more than the
22 subordinate that reports to them. And the deputy, I
23 don' t know how each of you considers that but, to me,
24 the deputy reports to the department head as well . So
A
25 even though a subordinate makes more than them, it ' s
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 16
1 not by that much so that it ' s kind of a shocking kind
2 of thing.
3 So with that in mind, Nancy, please .
4 MS . CRAWFORD: Good morning, everyone . Thank
5 you. Just a quick recap of the budget and where we are
6 today and kind of the impact of our lava event .
7 We submitted a budget before May 5th. It was
8 on May 4th, as required by law, which is the second
9 budget that comes . And that was based on our certified
10 real property tax values . And it ' s about a $518
11 million budget in total . And of that, about $419
12 million is in the General Fund.
13 The Special Fund -- the rest, like Highway
14 Fund and the others, are generally not impacted by
15 this, although we do subsidize some of those funds; so k
16 to that degree, they are impacted. But what has
17 happened since we submitted that budget is that we 've
18 lost a significant value in Puna, either direct loss
19 or, in that area where it would be if not reduced to
20 zero value, there has certainly been an impact on the
21 value of the properties kind of everywhere below Pahoa .
22 And our Real Property Tax Office went in and identified
23 both the direct loss that we know about and an estimate
24 and partial loss of the rest of the property, and we
1
25 came up with an estimate of about $5 million of lost
5
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 17
1 real property tax revenue compared with what we had
2 projected for the fiscal year ' 18- ' 19 that we ' re just
i
3 budgeting for. So that puts like a $5 million imbalance
4 in our General Fund budget . q
5 We went to a second reading of the -- you
6 know, so then the County -- meanwhile, the County
7 Council is considering the budget that we 've submitted
8 in May, and they had first reading, then a second
9 reading. We were discussing what we considered the
10 basic options which were to, kind of, do nothing and go
11 forward with a budget that we know is not truly
12 balanced because we know we ' re going to have a
13 shortfall in real property tax revenue, or to cut
14 expenditures . We had an option that we laid out -- a
15 suggestion, which was a real property tax rate increase
16 that was, like, across-the-board that was just enough to
17 make up for that $5 million loss . It wouldn' t )
18 actually have changed the budget at all, but it would
19 have changed the real property tax rates that are
20 determined. And the final option was passing the G. E .
21 tax surcharge at a one-quarter percent . We had earlier
22 been talking about a half percent but, at this point, we
23 went with a one-quarter percent which, while it is
j
24 limited to transportation, almost $5 million -- about
25 $4 . 9 million -- of the Mass Transit Department ' s budget
4
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 18
1 is in the General Fund. So the way this works is that
2 if we were to have revenue from G. E . surcharge, it
3 would go to Transportation, but then we could move the
4 Mass Transit budget -- that 4 . 9 million -- out of the
5 General Fund into the fund that would be set up for the
6 G.E . tax and that would get us balanced again. At $5
7 million less than what the budget instead of General
8 Fund being 419 million, it would be 414 million, but
9 that would then mean we could just maintain operations
10 going forward as we had put them forward in the May
11 budget .
12 The Council considered a lot of things . They
13 didn' t actually even consider the real property tax,
14 but they did consider the G .E . tax and budget cuts . In
15 fact, spent a long time discussing this and proposing
16 budget cuts, none of which ultimately passed. And so,
17 they ended up with a budget that didn' t pass the County
18 Council . Only two members of the County Council voted
19 in favor of the budget, which was unique . We haven' t
A
20 had that situation before .
21 But something, sort of, like that has been
22 anticipated, and so what happens is the May 5th budget
23 becomes law. The mayor' s submitted budget -- passed or
24 not passed -- because it wasn' t passed with any
1
25 amendments, is now our budget, and that any time frame
4
4K . �
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
1
Page 19
1
1 to make any changes to that has passed.
1
2 And we had an opportunity -- enough members
3 of the council voted for the proposed quarter-percent
4 G.E . tax surcharge for it to move forward, go to a
5 public hearing, which was held last Monday, and then z
6 their council meeting on Tuesday included
7 consideration, like a second reading of that bill . At
8 that time, we did a lot of discussion, made some
9 presentations, and ultimately that did not pass .
10 So, we are currently back in the situation
11 where we have the budget that we put forward in May
12 that did not reflect the $5 million loss of
13 revenue . And it is our intention -- in fact, we are
14 working right now in order to get it together -- to
15 submit cuts throughout the General Fund to reduce
16 expenditures to match that $5 million loss in
17 real property tax revenue .
18 And I can tell you that because so many of
1
19 our costs are beyond our control -- salary and wages
.
20 and fringe benefits and our debt service are the vast
21 majority of our budget, so you' re left with about 25
22 percent that we have, over the years, had the
23 departments already cutting and trimming and going, you
24 know, 3 percent less, 5 percent less; so there isn' t
4
25 much to cut there, and we are currently in a position E
1
1
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 20
1 now where in order to achieve a five-million-dollar
2 cut, which is really huge, they will be looking at
3 services that can be cut . And we have certain services
4 that are mandated by the charter or the county code
4
1
5 that we must perform. There are some that are not
6 mandated or not listed and identified there, and those
4
7 are probably the ones that will most likely see the
4
8 largest trim. And that ' s where we are right now.
}
9 CHR. ONO: Questions?
10 MR. FRATINARDO: Questions . I have three or
11 four.
12 CHR. ONO: You got one now.
13 MR. FRATINARDO: Okay. Eenie meenie miney
14 mo .
15 Yes . Thank you, Nancy. So --
16 CHR. ONO: Yeah, just go ahead, Tom.
17 MR. FRATINARDO: So, my first question is two
18 weeks ago, Governor Ige signed a proclamation. They
19 awarded $12 million to the County. I don' t know if we
1
20 received that yet, but when we do receive those funds,
21 what specific departments - basically, how is the money
1
22 being used?
1
23 MS . CRAWFORD: Thank you very much for that
24 question because it ' s a really important one . It ' s
1
25 one I failed to address just speaking.
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 21
1 The funding that came from the governor,
2 which we have received, and future reimbursement
3 funding from FEMA, are all for disaster response . They
4 are not for making up for lost revenue in your normal
5 operations . So they will be very helpful to us, but
6 they have no , benefit or impact on our
7 $5 million shortfall .
8 MR. FRATINARDO: Will it cover overtime for
9 these employees that are responding under disaster
10 response?
11 MS . CRAWFORD: Yes, it will .
12 MR. FRATINARDO: Okay.
13 MS . CRAWFORD: And that is not any concern
14 for us in our operating budget for next year .
15 MR. FRATINARDO: So, number two, a few months
16 back there was some word that we may receive more money
17 from the Transient Accommodation Tax. Where does that
18 sit? Are we getting any more money from the --
19 MS . CRAWFORD: We are not, and I 'm not aware
20 that there was even much discussion on that . And I
21 think that that ' s pretty much a closed door where we ' re
22 set right now. We ' re kind of locked in for the same
23 amount every year.
24 MR. FRATINARDO: Okay. And, number three,
25 how soon would the county council have to move again on
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 22
1 a G. E . tax hike so that we wouldn' t be effective in
2 2019?
3 MS . CRAWFORD: The only thing that could
4 possibly happen that would have any impact on fiscal
5 year ending 2019 is if someone who voted no should
4
6 decide to reconsider it and bring it back at a special
4
4
7 council meeting and give themselves an opportunity to
i
8 reconsider it . Unless that should happen and it would
9 happen within the next couple of days because they
10 are time-limited on, you know, options to reconsider,
11 and we ' re also at the end of the year; so that ' s within
12 the realm of possibility.
13 Whether they brought it for reconsideration
14 and would vote any differently is also another
15 question, but beyond that possibility, there is no
16 other option because the way the authorization from
17 the State reads is that if passed by June 30th of this
1
18 year, it would become effective on January 1st . They
)
19 do still have nine more months to consider that up to
i
20 half-percent surcharge and, if that passes, it will
i
21 become effective January 1st, 2020 . So it won' t help
22 for this upcoming year but it would benefit going )
23 forward after that .
24 MR. FRATINARDO: My last question is of those
25 departments that may be affected, what is the
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 23
1 worst-case scenario impact on each one? Are you
2 talking layoffs? Are you talking furloughs? Are you
3 talking like -- they were talking about summer fun. ''
4 Is that going to be deleted?
5 MS . CRAWFORD: We ' re working, right now, on
6 what things could be cut . We are not talking layoffs
7 because, as Mr. Brilhante will tell you, there ' s a very
8 complicated process that layoffs entail . And ultimately
9 the amount of time involved, you end up with
10 potentially not very much in the way of savings and
11 especially by the amount of time it actually gets
12 implemented.
13 Furloughs, while that ' s kind of a remote
14 possibility, the last time the County looked at
15 furloughs, it was a state-wide request to the unions to
16 negotiate for furloughs and, you know, the State and "F
17 all the counties were together and it was at a time
18 when contracts were being negotiated. In this case,
1
19 we ' re mid-contract and we ' re all alone .
20 MR. FRATINARDO: So, I 'm just rebutting or
21 mentioning, you were mentioning it would be affecting
22 these divisions . I 'm just asking what do you mean by
23 that? If you can articulate what is the impact on a
1
24 particular division? What are we looking at when you
25 say they are being impacted?
1
N
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 24
1 MS . CRAWFORD: I don' t believe I can tell you
2 today because just as of Tuesday night, they received
3 an e-mail, about 7 : 00 Tuesday night, that they needed to
4 start -- because it didn' t pass . They needed to be
2
5 pulling together their budget cuts -- some of which had
6 already been discussed and considered -- but we haven' t j
7 even received all of those . And it ' s hard to say what
n3
8 the impact is . You had -- for instance, there are some
9 various Parks and Recreation programs that are not
10 mandated by the county code or charter that are subject
11 to possible -- either elimination or trimming or just
12 postponement .
13 Across the board, we are looking at different
14 things . We are looking specifically at -- between
15 March and May, when we thought we had more real
16 property tax revenue, we added in council contingency
17 funds . That ' s $270, 000 . We will be requesting to cut
18 that back. The other thing is that we added for A
19 nonprofit grants . From one million -- March, we bumped ''
20 it up to 1 . 5 million, and I believe it ' s our intention
21 to go back in and submit to cut that 500, 000 back out
22 again. Those are two of the larger ones . But when you
23 start getting down to some departments, the cuts are
1
24 pretty small .
25 MR. FRATINARDO: Thank you.
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 25
1 MR. HIGGINS : I have a question, Nancy.
2 In all the deliberations that have been going
3 on at probably long hours, did anybody dare suggest
4 suspending the $1 million salaries that we recently
5 approved?
6 MS . CRAWFORD: No, Sir. That has not been
7 brought up, and I didn' t think it was an option, but --
8 MR. HIGGINS : Why not?
9 MS . CRAWFORD: -- I don' t know if it is . I
10 would have to check with Mr . Brilhante on that . I
11 don' t know. That has never occurred to me, personally,
12 and that hasn' t been part of our discussion.
13 MR. HIGGINS : Wouldn' t that be a pretty easy
14 one? That ' s about a million dollars, which optically
15 would probably be very well-accepted by taxpayers and
16 those that are going to be affected by some of these
17 cutbacks and services .
18 MS . CRAWFORD: I understand what you' re
19 proposing --
20 MR. HIGGINS : Well, I 'm not proposing it --
21 MS . CRAWFORD: Well --
22 MR. HIGGINS : Did somebody suggest talking
23 about it?
24 MS . CRAWFORD: The only thing I recall is
25 there has been some talk about just furlough for, like,
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 26
1 Appointees . And so far that ' s -- it might still be
2 under consideration but, quite honestly, right now, and
3 since the beginning of May, some of these appointees
4 who received raises, many of them have been working
5 incredibly long hours in response to this disaster, and
6 we don' t know how long that ' s going to go on. But they
7 have been working, I don' t know, more than 60 hours, 70
8 hours a week -- and so that ' s another reason we would
9 hesitate to talk about furloughing them. But I hear
10 what you' re saying .
11 MR. BRILHANTE : May I interject? I have
12 additional information in regards to your question --
13 and that issue was discussed at the county council
14 meeting when they were initially having the discussion
15 regarding the . 25 percent increase in the G.E .T . tax.
16 The issue was well, how do you balance the budget? And
17 Ms . Sako, the finance director, was at that meeting .
18 Now, I accompanied her -- and on the record we
19 specifically placed and we articulated exactly what
20 Ms . Crawford added is that, you know, since the onset of
21 this lava situation event, the majority, if not all --
22 of the department heads and deputies, as being part of
23 the administrative staff, have been required to go to
24 the EOC and participate and take part in and manage and
5
25 supervise and contribute to the ongoing disaster relief
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 27
1 efforts . And, from my own personal experience, because
2 the Department of Human Resources is tasked with
3 supervising the emergency call center at the Civil
4 Defense, I myself have been showing up to the EOC at
5 6 : 00 a .m. every morning -- inclusive of Saturday and
6 Sundays -- and we have been giving incredibly long hours
7 just to help with the situation.
8 And, as you know, we have had these
9 discussions regarding salaries . Unlike everybody else
10 in the County -- appointed officials, deputies and
11 deputy directors -- we ' re not entitled to overtime . So
12 everybody from the Public Works Director, Allan Simeon,
13 to his Deputy, Merrick, to all the department heads
14 that are there, you know, the police chief, the fire
15 chief, the deputy police chief, the deputy fire chief --
16 every one of those individuals who has been responding
17 and who has been assisting haven ' t collected a single
18 cent in salary. And it ' s been a toll, just for myself
19 and my deputy, to respond. I see Joe Kamelamela there
20 24/7, almost every time we walk into the EOC. I
21 guarantee you half the room is filled with department
22 heads and deputies . And they do it . And they do it
23 willingly. Nobody is grumbling about, "Oh, I 'm not
24 getting overtime for this" or anything to that effect .
25 And I think if you go and you cut their salaries now
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 28
1 and you tell them, "Thank you very much, but we ' re
2 going to reduce your salary, " I 'm not sure what message
3 that will be sending right now.
4 So that was the information I had.
5 CHR. ONO: I might add something over here .
6 don' t think Mr . Higgins was proposing that they cut
7 those things; he was just asking whether anybody made
8 any inquiry into --
9 MR. HIGGINS : That ' s right .
10 CHR. ONO: -- that as a source of balancing
11 The budget .
12 MS . CRAWFORD: Well, the furlough. It was
13 posed as a furlough.
14 MR. BRILHANTE : Correct . There was some
15 discussion, as I said, at the council meeting.
16 MR. HIGGINS : Bill, I just want to be clear,
17 I 'm not trying to impugn anybody and say somebody is
18 not working hard. This is a disaster for all of us on
19 this island. There ' s a lot of mom and pop shops out
20 there that are starving to death or may be closing
21 their doors, airlines are running at half speed, and
22 the hotels are half empty. And there ' s no easy answer
23 to this . I 'm not trying to suggest that . But we all
24 know that you either raise revenues or cut expenses .
25 Pretty simple stuff.
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 29
1 MS . CRAWFORD: Yeah.
2 MR. HARANO: Excuse me, Nancy. I had a
3 couple questions or point of views .
4 We were talking about cutting expenses, but
5 what about revenue generation? I say that not in terms
S
6 of we ' ll just pass it on to the homeowners because,
7 believe me, people on the west side, they' re tired of
8 hearing this or tired of seeing this rate increase as
9 this is -- we ' ll always get it, you know?
10 And so, even with the now-not-passed budget,
4
11 it talked about the . 25 percent increase for this
12 General Excise Tax fund, but that also had a sunset,
13 right? After 2020, I believe?
14 MS . CRAWFORD: Right . What was originally
15 proposed was amended to put in the 2020 sunset date,
16 and then that proposal failed.
17 MR. HARANO: Right . Right .
18 But I assumed that that was going to be a )
19 short-term fix. You know, you ' re talking only two
20 fiscal years, right?
)
21 MS . CRAWFORD: And that was an issue for some
22 members of the council . Yes .
0
23 MR. HARANO: But, if it goes away, I 'm sure
24 something else is increased by some kind of like
25 number.
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 30
1 But, anyway, in terms of revenue generation,
2 I 'm pretty opposed to any type of new tax increase, but
3 what about working to generate revenues with existing
(
4 tax laws that we have in place? Or not tax laws, but
5 just laws that we have in place? And, ultimately, I
6 believe that comes down to enforcement .
7 MS . CRAWFORD: If you' re talking about
t
8 collections of accounts receivable or something like
9 that? Is that what you ' re referring to? I 'm sorry.
10 MR. HARANO: Well, always seems like
11 increases come in the form of taxes to the homeowners,
12 and they already got tax increasing including, what,
13 last two years or something? But there ' s other forms
14 of revenue that ' s, I believe, firmly on the table that
15 this County has not gone after nor have they explored
16 that . I don' t know why that reason has not come to
17 surface .
18 MS . CRAWFORD: I apologize, I 'm just not sure
19 which other sources you ' re referring to . There are L°°
20 fees --
21 CHR. ONO: Nelson, are you talking about fees?
22 MS . CRAWFORD: Fees --
(
23 MR. HARANO: Fees, whatever.
k
24 CHR. ONO: Yeah, okay.
25 MS . CRAWFORD: Fees . So, fee increases --
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 31
1 MR. HARANO: Penalties, whatever .
4
2 MS . CRAWFORD: Solid Waste already has
3 implemented fee increases -- one, I believe, has gone
4 in, and a second one will follow. And so, that ' s to
5 help -- I mean, that ' s a user fee . We are going to be
6 talking to the golf course about fee increases . And we
7 have always asked the various departments to look at
8 their fees and try to stay up-to-date with perhaps what
g
9 other counties are charging or what is appropriate in
10 the situation here . So, in that sense . . .
11 In terms of new fees that we don ' t currently
12 have, we would certainly welcome some suggestions . I 'm
13 not sure if I 'm aware of any under consideration right
14 at the moment . We have limited -- our taxing
I
15 authority -- and you weren' t interested in other taxes,
16 anyway, as a source of revenue, but that ' s very
17 limited. We don' t have other options for taxing other
18 than our real property tax, and we have fuel tax, and
19 weight tax on the vehicle registrations . That ' s it . '
I
20 MR. HARANO: The fuel tax was repealed as
21 well, right? The gas tax or something?
22 MS . CRAWFORD: No .
23 MR. HARANO: I thought that went away. I
1
24 thought that was on the table and I thought they
1
25 had --
g
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 32
1 MS . CRAWFORD: What was brought up on the
2 table was to remove an increase that had already been
3 put in . When fuel tax increase was originally passed,
4 there was a subsequent increase each year for two more
5 years, and what had been brought forward was actually
6 to remove that . But that was withdrawn. So, no change .
7 We are still on the same fuel tax schedule.
8 MR. HARANO: Okay.
9 MR. PAVAO: Mr. Chairman?
10 CHR. ONO: Milton?
11 MR. PAVAO: Nancy, I have not a concern but
12 just a curiosity about the $12 million . Has there been
13 any predictions on how long that will last based on the
14 current overtime being implemented? And, if it does go
15 beyond that, that will certainly affect the budget, too,
16 won' t it?
17 MS . CRAWFORD: It will in one sense, although
18 we have -- because the real intention of that is to
4
19 help cover our 25 percent -- most of -- if it ' s all
20 qualifying overtime towards the disaster and we do our
21 jobs correctly and our documentation correctly, then
22 FEMA will be coming in sometime in the future to
23 reimburse that . And so, we can charge it . We have a
24 disaster fund, our own disaster fund, plus we have this
25 12 million that can carry us . So, at this time, we are
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 33
)
1 not anticipating an impact on our normal operating
1
2 budget for that overtime . We think that we can
3 accommodate that through either our disaster fund or
4 this 12 million .
5 In fact, you know, the County is also looking
6 at -- because we have to transition away from shelters
7 into some kind of transitional housing or something to
8 start trying to help all the people who have lost their
9 houses -- and that ' s what some of that disaster money
10 will go for as well .
11 MR. PAVAO: Will FEMA contribute over and
12 beyond the 12 million?
13 MS . CRAWFORD: Yes . Yes . Well, I 'm not
14 saying -- I don' t know yet how much this may all come
15 to --
'16 MR. PAVAO: Right, right .
17 MS . CRAWFORD: -- but their calculation is
18 just made on what our actual costs are, our qualifying
I
19 costs that need to be reimbursed. And, in general,
20 that ' s at 75 percent of those . 0
J
1
21 MR. PAVAO: Does FEMA give, like you said, 25
.
22 percent or they pay for 100 percent of overtime?
23 MS . CRAWFORD: No, they will pay 75 percent .
24 MR. PAVAO: Oh, 75 .
25 MS . CRAWFORD: And we have to pay 25 . And so,
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 34
4
1 that 12 million from the State is to help us with our
1
I
2 25 percent . i
3 MR. PAVAO: Okay. Thank you.
4 MS . CRAWFORD: Or for things that don' t
5 qualify under FEMA.
1
6 MR. PAVAO: Okay, thanks .
7 CHR. ONO: Any other questions of Nancy?
8 Okay, thank you, Nancy.
9 MS . CRAWFORD: Thank you.
10 CHR. ONO: Any other comments?
11 Well, the Chair has one comment . When I
12 looked at this, I totally agree with the deferring of
13 this item. In my opinion, I don ' t think that -- at the
14 earliest, we should consider any adjustment -- would be
15 January 1st of next year, if at all . So we have time
16 to sit on it until better information comes . I think
17 until then, we ' re okay.
')
18 MS . CRAWFORD: Excuse me . `
19 CHR. ONO: Any other comments or --
20 MR. FRATINARDO: Yeah, I have a comment . For
21 the first two weeks of this disaster, I sat for two
i
22 hours over at EOC and just served. And like
23 Mr. Brilhante was saying, these appointees and elected k
i
24 officials and just -- I should say the appointees were
d
25 there just 24/7 earning their pay raise that they got .
i
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 35
1 MR. HIGGINS : I thought her presentation was
2 very valuable . It looks like this disaster could go on
3 for the rest of our lives . Could we have her or
4 somebody else --
5 CHR. ONO: Update?
6 MR. HIGGINS : -- at all our meetings?
7 CHR. ONO: Yeah.
8 MR. HIGGINS : I thought it was very helpful .
9 CHR. ONO: We will include it as part of our
10 agenda moving forward.
11 MR. FRATINARDO: And I would like to ask,
12 Mr . Ono, at our next meeting, would it be possible to
13 speak with the person that ' s in charge of the Real Tax
14 Office? And I would like to have the Department of
15 Parks and Recs . here . And the reason why is my daughter, .
16 Maria, works for Summer Fun, and she has 21 individuals
17 that she ' s taking care of, and half of that time
18 there ' s -- the other Parks employee that normally would
19 be with her is at a shelter helping out . So that ' s how
20 it ' s impacted right now that I 'm observing.
21 CHR. ONO: Why don' t we hold that off until we
22 get to the item B of our agenda right now.
23 What I would like to ask is, well, as part of
24 this, Harold, you had some inquiries on some items that
25 you wanted to inquire about, right, which fall under
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 36
1 this part of the agenda . Go ahead, Harold.
2 MR. DOW: First, is just a statement, my
3 belief about leadership. I think leaders should be
4 distinguished in many ways from their subordinates --
5 and we do it with authority and responsibility,
6 accountability, and I firmly believe we should do it
7 with compensation. I also am of the firm belief that
8 deputy directors are a part of the leadership team and }
9 should be held above their subordinates in all of these
10 various ways . '
11 I think when we acted on Tier 1 salary
12 increases we were in a hurry to make a statement -- take
13 action -- and I think we did an incomplete job. I think
i
14 that this commission should give extra weight to the
15 recommendations of those boards and commissions that
. 16 appoint their directors -- and I 'm talking about Fire
17 and Police -- and there ' s Liquor Commission, County '
18 Council, Merit Appeals Board. We heard from some of
4
19 them. We didn' t hear anything from others . And those
1
20 that we did hear from, namely Police and Fire, we did
q
21 not come close to acting on their recommendations . So
4
a
22 I was a "no" vote on that first, and that ' s the reason
0
23 why. I think the Chairman was expecting a unanimous
24 consent, but it didn' t meet what my personal feelings 1
25 were about the issue .
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 37
1 Also, I 'm a little bit discouraged about how
2 we compare compensation. We limit our information to
3
3 salaries and, yet, we have this huge amount of overtime
4 granted to subordinates, none granted to leadership --
5 so we ' re comparing dissimilar figures . And what I would
h
6 like to know, without knowing anybody' s title or
7 anybody' s name, is what was the highest gross pay in a
)
8 department for a year? We have just completed a year,
9 so we have this last year' s information . And I presume
10 that there are projections for the coming year . So
11 what I would like to know is, is there any department
12 for which we have salary discretion? Is there any
13 department in which a subordinate ' s gross pay exceeded
14 the gross pay of the department head?
15 Also, we ' re in a situation where the demands
16 and the expectations of our leaders are at an all-time
17 high, and I don' t agree that we should be completely
18 neutral and static in our activity. I think we need
19 constant feedback about what ' s going on with the
20 demands on our leadership . And I think where it ' s
21 clearly warranted, we have the ability to grant
22 additional compensation for the leaders who are
23 demonstrating their extra work. And we have the tools
24 to do that . We could increase an annual salary amount
25 for a designated period of time, then roll it back
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 38
4
4
1 after three or four months; and we have just, in
1
2 effect, sort of leveled the playing field again.
3 So, I realize that we ' re in a crunch. It ' s
4 going to affect all of us for years to come . Of course, 1
5 the big loss is to those homeowners who have lost their
6 home . They probably lost a good deal of their net
7 worth. It ' s a huge emotional and financial impact .
8 And I think we better be careful about pulling back
9 services . This is a time when our affected citizens
10 need services provided by their government .
11 Hawai 'i, as far as I know, has one of the
12 lowest real property taxes on residential property in
13 the nation, and to talk about a small increase on
14 property taxes, I think, is something we should do .
15 I 'm a property owner. I 'm willing to pay extra taxes
16 to get the services that we need for our affected
1
17 citizens . We ' re in this together . We got to pull
1
18 together.
1
19 That ' s it .
20 CHR. ONO: Okay. Anything else? Any questions
j
21 of Harold?
22 Bill, do you want to comment on that highest
23 gross pay of the EM position? I don' t think you have
24 the information right now, but is that something that
25 you can get and. . .
i
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 39
1 MR. BRILHANTE : You know, as far as request
2 for the highest gross pay of department heads or
3 deputies/subordinates, this information we can get .
4 It ' s going to have to be confidential, again, pursuant
5 to the requirements under HRS 92F. We can gather that
6 information, but my only cautionary note for that would
7 be that it ' s hard to really predict what a
8 subordinate ' s overtime compensation will be . You can
9 go for long periods of time when there is no overtime
10 paid, or you can go a situation like this where there ' s
11 a lot of EMs who are currently earning overtime because
12 of the current lava response .
13 So, it ' s real tangential in nature . You can' t
14 really put your finger on what the overtime will be . So
15 my cautionary note would be to, kind of, be mindful of
16 that if you ' re taking that information into
17 consideration going forward.
18 MR. DOW: I would like to read just a short
19 paragraph from a statement by Robert Becker about the
20 Fire Commission in his second page . "At the Operations
21 Battalion Chief level, they work 12 overtime shifts per
22 year, guaranteed by contract, approximately $20, 000 .
23 Bureau Battalion Chiefs receive $4, 200 in bureau
1
1
24 opportunity incentive pay guaranteed by contract, as do
25 the Assistant Chiefs . "
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 40 -i
1 So there ' s goodies out there that are
2 evidently guaranteed by contract separate and apart
3 from their salary but guaranteed pay. So, why can' t we
4 work this into our calculation?
5 MR. BRILHANTE : You ' re absolutely correct .
6 Fire Department is unique in that they' re the only
7 department or agency that their members or employees
8 are scheduled to work 24-hour shifts, so there ' s
9 particular additional benefits afforded them because of
10 the fact that they are at a fire station or working 24
11 hours a day. And so, their contract at CBA for HFFA,
12 the firefighters, is somewhat unique in that regard.
13 So I don' t dispute the information that was
14 provided in the Fire Commission chair ' s letter, but I 'm
15 just saying, again, that ' s unique just to the Fire
16 Department . And if that ' s something, again, as a
17 commission, you want to take into consideration as it
18 relates to the fire chief ' s salary, that ' s a discussion
19 that could be had at that time but, again, from a
20 cautionary note, they are very unique .
21 CHR. ONO: Any other comments?
22 MR. CAMPBELL: Yeah.
23 CHR. ONO: George?
24 MR. CAMPBELL: Yeah, I agree with Harold. I
25 think it ' s information we should have, and we could
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 41
1 consider that as part of our discussion. And, of
2 course, you would need to treat it confidentially, but
3 I still think it ' s information we should have as we
4 consider any future adjustments we make .
5 CHR. ONO: Uh-huh. Certainly.
6 Any other discussion on this item?
4
7 MR. PAVAO: Yeah. Having gross pay for a ;n
8 particular employee, that has nothing to do with the
9 salary of the department head. That pay was due to
10 some unforeseen overtime . I know the department that I
11 was working in, there ' s been many times that an
12 employee makes more than his immediate supervisor, and
13 that was because he was needed in the field at a
14 certain particular time . It wasn' t by choice . It
15 wasn' t because he wanted to do it . He just got
16 compensated for what he did. And I don' t think that
17 should reflect on the department head' s pay. That ' s
18 just my opinion .
1
19 CHR. ONO: Okay. I 'm sure that when this item
20 comes up for discussion, we will have very interesting
4
21 dialogue . It will be part of the dialogue that goes
22 toward making a decision at that time .
23 If there ' s nothing else, I would like to
• 24 restate what the motion is . And the motion was that we
0
25 are going to defer on this until we get more
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 42
1 information on finance and other matters and then work
2 on a solution at that time .
3 So any other comment? If not, call for the
4 question . All those in favor say "Aye . "
5 (All members responded affirmatively. )
6 CHR. ONO: Okay. Motion carried. So we ' re
7 deferring this item.
8 We ' re onto the next agenda items .
9 MR. KIM: Any opposed.
10 CHR. ONO: Oh, anybody opposed to that
11 Motion? None opposed. Okay. I knew that .
12 Thank you for keeping an eye on me .
13 Agenda items for the next meeting. I have
14 this highest 2017 compensation request by Harold, not
15 only for Harold, but for all of us . Financial update .
16 Someone had suggested something else . Tom, was it
17 Parks and Recreation?
18 MR. FRATINARDO: Yes, I would like to have
19 the Parks and Recreation Department here because they
20 are being overly affected. And I would like the tax
21 real office .
22 CHR. ONO: Real property tax?
23 MR. FRATINARDO: Real Property Tax Division
)
24 head here also . I would like to just find out --
25 CHR. ONO: Now, does real property tax
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
1
Page 43
1 fall under finance?
2 MR. BRILHANTE : Yes .
3 CHR. ONO: So is that a proper request to
4 have the real property administrator here or should ''
1
5 it go through the department?
6 MR. FRATINARDO: Nancy alluded to something,
z
1
7 and then when I asked her about it, she wasn' t able to
8 answer those questions, so I have a specific question
9 about taxes . What are the amount of taxes coming in?
10 I would like to find out just general information.
11 CHR. ONO: Corp . counsel, is that okay?
12 Any objection -- well, we ' ll put it in for now. We
13 can always --
14 Nancy, you wanted to say something?
15 MS . CRAWFORD: Can I come back up? I think,
16 perhaps, I didn' t understand your question.
17 MR. FRATINARDO: Well, I was asking for
18 specifics . When you had mentioned about the impact,
19 you made that statement, but you weren' t able to
1
20 specify what was the impact . So I would like to know
21 what the impact of taxes are on the County.
22 MR. HIGGINS : Mr . Chairman, if I may.
23 MS . CRAWFORD: May I speak to that?
i
24 MR. HIGGINS : Aren' t we overstepping our
1
25 bounds? Aren' t we going into areas that we don' t
1
4
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 44
1 belong? Our purpose is Salary Commission, not
y
2 preparing a budget .
3 MR. FRATINARDO: Well, then, you know what?
4 We had the discussion about what is impacting our
i
5 decision for the salaries for this, what was
6 presented -- for the confidential information that was
7 presented to us today. So, for me to make an informed
8 decision, I would recommend that I get -- I mean,
9 however it ' s presented to us . They don' t have to come
10 here. It could be presented to me in a form. That ' s
11 fine. I would be happy with that .
12 CHR. ONO: Let ' s do this . I would like to refer
13 this to the Corp . Counsel ' s office, okay, to give us
14 guidance on it . And we will be working on the
15 preparation of our next agenda . And, at that time, with
16 your help, you can determine whether it ' s appropriate
17 to have this on the agenda or not .
18 MR. KIM: Okay. Thank you.
19 CHR. ONO: Is that okay?
20 MR. KIM: Yeah. Thank you, Chair.
21 MR. FRATINARDO: Thank you.
22 CHR. ONO: And was there something else that
23 you wanted on the agenda, Tom?
24 MR. FRATINARDO: No, that was all . 1
25 CHR. ONO: Okay. Harold? ,
e
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 45
1 MR. DOW: Yes . I would like an enumeration
2 of the events in a year' s time which result in a change
3 in pay for EMs and when in the year they occur.
4 CHR. ONO: So, that would be with regard
5 to your question on listing of pay increases for EMs
6 and the timing of their implementation?
7 MR. DOW: Correct .
8 CHR. ONO: Okay. That ' s no problem, right?
9 MR. BRILHANTE : I have that information now,
10 but we can defer to our next discussion.
11 CHR. ONO: No, let ' s do it now if we have
12 that information now.
13 MR. BRILHANTE : Basically, as you know,
14 pursuant to HRS again, the EMs make no less than their
15 collective bargaining counterparts as it relates to
16 salary and benefits . And so, under the current
17 contracts that we have for the various collective
18 bargaining units, BU-1, they got a raise, 3 . 2 percent
19 across-the-board increase, on June 1st; on
20 November 1st, they get a $1, 000 . 00 lump-sum
21 payment; May 1st, 2019, they get across-the-board raise
22 of 3 . 45; July 1st, 2019, 2 . 0 across-the-board raise;
23 and July 1st, a 2 . 20 across-the-board raise . z<
24 For Bargaining Unit 2, they just got one
25 January 1st of 2018 of 1 . 2 percent; July 1st of 2018,
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 46
1 they get a 2 . 25 percent across the board; January 1st
2 of 2019, 1 . 2 percent; and July 1st of 2018 to 2019,
3 they get step movements . So as it relates to step
4 movement, their EM counterparts will get what we call
5 within-range progressions, so that ' s equivalent to a
6 step movement for that unit . That ' s BU-2 .
7 BU-3, again, January 1st, they got a 1 . 5
8 across-the-board raise of this year; July 1st, 2018,
9 they get a 2 . 25 percent across-the-board raise; and
10 they get a $150 . 00 lump-sum payment for employees
11 who were employed as of June 30th, 2018, prorated for
12 employees who are less than full time; and then
13 January 1st, 2019, they get a step movement; and then
14 they get a 1 . 25 percent across-the-board raise .
15 Bargaining Unit 4, HGEA, again, January 1st,
16 they got a 1 . 5 percent across-the-board raise; July 1st
17 of this year, they get a 2 . 25 percent across-the-board
18 increase; and they get the similar $150 . 00 lump sum;
19 then January 1st of 2019, they get another step movement
20 and they also get a 1 . 25 across-the-board raise .
21 For Bargaining Unit 11, which is HGEA,
22 June 30th, 2018, they got a catch-up step movement . r
23 July 1st, 2018, they get a 2 . 25 percent
24 across-the-board raise; July 1st, 2018 to June 30th,
25 2019, they get another catch-up step movement . And
1
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 47
1 they' re just a two-year contract .
2 For police, Bargaining Unit 12, essentially
,
3 on July 1st, 2018, they get a 2 . 25 percent
4 across-the-board raise, then they get a catch-up step
5 movement, again similar to fire . July 1st, 2019, they
6 get a 2 percent across-the-board raise; and July 1st,
1
7 2019, employees on salary ranges P07 to P015 will get a
8 one-time lump-sum bonus; and July 1st, 2018 to
9 July 30th, 2020, they get a catch-up service step
10 movement; July 1st, 2020, they get a 2 percent
11 across-the-board pay raise, and then they get the same
12 lump-sum payment on July 1st, 2020, which was similar
13 to 2019, the step movement . The reason police get
14 these extras, they agreed to a four-year contract .
15 And then Bargaining Unit 13 is, again, HGEA.
16 They get similar raises to the other HGEA members .
17 Then Bargaining 14, which is our lifeguards,
18 July 1st, 2017, they got a retro 2 percent
19 across-the-board raise; they got a $500 . 00 lump sum
20 payment; July 1st, 2017 to June 30th, 2018, they got a
21 step movement, which would be similar to
22 your within-range progressions for the EMCP; and then t
23 July 1st, 2018, they get a 2 . 25 percent
g
24 across-the-board raise; then on July 1st, 2018 to
1
25 June 30th, 2019, they get another step movement .
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 48
1 So, that ' s generally -- that ' s all of the
2 bargaining units with the pending pay raises throughout
3 the duration of their current contracts .
4 We ' ve already entered into negotiations for
5 fire and HGEA, and because those are two-year
6 contracts, so the contract ends June 30th, 2019, next
7 year, with the two-year contract, we ' re in significant
8 discussions . I just got a letter within the last two
9 days that fire has filed a notice of impasse with the
10 collective bargaining, so that will probably head
11 towards arbitration down the road.
12 CHR. ONO: Bill, can I ask that that be put in
13 the form of a table for this commission? And also, need
14 to tie that information to our positions that we have
15 here because I guess different appointees fall into
16 different Bargaining Unit EMCP plans . So, is that
17 something you can furnish us?
18 MR. BRILHANTE : Sure .
19 As it relates to the EMCP, there ' s only three
20 bargaining units that we actually have discussions
21 with, and that ' s HGEA, fire, and police .
22 CHR. ONO: Oh, okay. So the rest are other
23 positions affected --
24 MR. BRILHANTE : Correct .
25 CHR. ONO: -- but that have nothing to do with
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 49
1 these salaries that --
2 MR. BRILHANTE : Correct .
3 CHR. ONO: -- are under our
4 Jurisdiction? So that ' s Unit 13 --
5 MR. BRILHANTE : That would be HGEA, HFFA, and
6 SHOPO.
7 CHR. ONO: Okay. Would you be able to do it --
8 MR. BRILHANTE : Yeah .
9 CHR. ONO: -- for the positions that are
10 affected?
11 MR. BRILHANTE : I will .
12 CHR. ONO: Okay.
13 Anything else, Harold, on that?
14 MR. DOW: I was wondering if you have
15 calculated an approximate cost, the incremental cost,
16 of these categories of raises you've just described.
17 MR. BRILHANTE : $5 million? No, I 'm joking .
18 MS . CRAWFORD: I was not ready for that .
19 MR. BRILHANTE : I 'm being facetious .
20 CHR. ONO: You know what? I don' t know
i
21 Whether that ' s possible because there are hundreds of
22 positions -- maybe not hundreds, but there are a lot of
23 positions that fall into this EMCP. So that total I
24 don ' t think would be meaningful at all . It would just
25 be a number, unless you can tie it to --
A
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 50
1 MR. DOW: Well, when we get shy about talking
2 about increases for leadership, it ' s something to
3 compare to.
4 MR. BRILHANTE : You know, as relates to just
5 the EMCPs, you know, as it relates to the EMs who are
6 the subject of the EMCP, which is the Excluded
7 Management Compensation Plan, we have a set number, and
8 I think it ' s close to, I want to say, 60-something
9 total . I think that ' s the current EMs within the
10 County.
11 CHR. ONO: Okay. Anyway, we can work on that .
12 I ' ll furnish you the number that you ' re looking for.
13 MR. BRILHANTE : Well, 60-something for HGEA.
14 I know SHOPO, there ' s about an additional 30 --
15 CHR. ONO: Positions?
16 MR. BRILHANTE : -- and fire -- correct .
17 Yeah. So it would be under 100 total -- estimate .
18 MR. DOW: And when there ' s a step movement,
t
19 is that generally like 3 or 4 percent increase?
20 MR. BRILHANTE : It depends on the salary
1
21 schedule, but generally a step on a salary schedule is
22 roughly 4 percent on average .
23 CHR. ONO: Any other contracts?
24 George?
25 MR. CAMPBELL: Yeah, for the next time, could
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 51
1 we get Corp. Counsel back on finishing up the
2 red-lining of the rules? It looks like we should just
4
3 proceed on our own to get our rules up to date --
4 CHR. ONO: Administrative rules .
5 MR. CAMPBELL: -- consider setting up a
6 hearing to adopt the modified rules .
7 CHR. ONO: Okay.
8 Anything else?
9 The Chair has something that he will put on
10 the agenda . That is election of officers . Okay? When
11 I look around, I don ' t see anybody that ' s not capable '
12 of chairing this commission, so I think it ' s good to
13 have that turn over . So, we ' re going to put that on the
14 agenda .
15 Currently, I need to ask the commissioners
16 here, for our next meeting, it could be July. It ' s
17 scheduled for July 26th. Okay? I would like to hear
18 from the commission on whether you might want to defer
4
19 for a month and just wait for the August meeting, which
)
20 will be August 23rd. And we could start 10 : 00 a .m. in
.
21 the morning.
22 What is the general feeling?
23 MR. FRATINARDO: Is this requiring a motion? ®)
24 CHR. ONO: No, I think --
6
25 MR. FRATINARDO: Change the schedule?
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 52
1
CHR. ONO: No .
2 MR. FRATINARDO: Because Ms . Kelly was
3 mentioning it ' s going to take some time to find out
4 what the impact is . I would like to wait maybe another
5 month or so before we find out .
6 CHR. ONO: August?
7 MR. FRATINARDO: Yeah, August .
8 CHR. ONO: Anybody really want to meet in July?
9 Not hearing any signs, so why don' t we plan
10 our next meeting August 23rd at 10 : 30 a .m. Okay?
11 MR. HARANO: 10 : 30 or 10 : 00?
fi
12 CHR. ONO: 10 : 00 . I 'm sorry. Thanks, Nelson.
13 My mind knows what it ' s saying, but what
14 comes out of the mouth is -- okay. With that, anything
15 else by anybody? If not, I ' ll accept a motion to
16 adjourn.
17 MR. CAMPBELL: So moved.
18 CHR. ONO: You ' re the only guy.
19 Second?
20 MR. HIGGINS : second.
21 CHR. ONO: Okay. Moved and seconded that we
22 adjourn the meeting.
23 All those in favor say "Aye . "
24 (All members responded affirmatively. )
25 CHR. ONO: Opposed?
1
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Page 53
1 See?
2 Oh yeah, and return those sensitive things .
3 Okay?
4 (The meeting adjourned at 11 : 58 a .m. )
5
6
7
8
9
r
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
)
19
`.i
20
21
22
23
24
25
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808 ) 933-9800
Page 54
1 STATE OF HAWAII
2 ss .
3 COUNTY OF HAWAII
4
•
5 I, TERI HOSKINS, a certified court
6 reporter in the State of Hawaii, do hereby certify
7 that the foregoing pages are a true and correct
8 transcription of the proceedings in the above matter.
9
10 Dated this 10th day of July, 2018 .
11
12
13
/RMR, CSR No. 452
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
ISLAND COURT REPORTING & TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES
(808) 933-9800
Ms. Teri Hoskins, Certified Court Reporter, transcribed the aforementioned proceedings of the
Salary Commission at its meeting held on June 21, 2018.
Glynis Yamada, Secretary, Salary Commission, had incorporated some minor
formatting/housekeeping revisions throughout the transcript. (Note: Also present at the meeting
were: Michele Lamkin, Nancy Crawford, Paula Pavao, and Nancy Cook-Lauer.)
Respectfully Submitted,
&I.:,
idamies,
Glynis Yamada, Secretary
APPROVED:
Hugh Y. Ono, P. E., Chair
Salary Commission