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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014_0923_Minutes Open_APPROVEDCOUNTY OF KAUAI Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Approved as circulated 10/28/14 Board /Committee: I CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Meeting Date I September 23, 2014 Location Mo'ikeha Building, Liquor Control Commission, Meeting Room Start of Meeting: 3:00 p.m. End of Meeting: 5:10 p.m. 3 Present Chair John Low; Vice Chair Roy Morita. Members: Cathy Adams; Nancy Golden; Elizabeth Hahn (3:05 p.m.); Richard Jose; Karen Matsumoto Also: Deputy County Attorney Nick Courson; Acting Personnel Services Manager Thomas Takatsuki; HR Specialist Janine Rapozo; Boards & Commissions Office Staff: Support Clerk Barbara Davis; Administrator Paula Morikami; Administrative Aide Teresa Tamura. Special Guest: The Honorable Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr. Excused Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Chair Low called the meeting to order at 3:00 Order/Roll Call p.m. with 6 members present. Mayor Carvalho thanked the Commissioners for all the work they do for the County of Kauai. On September 2, Mayor Carvalho said he sent a directive to all department heads requesting input on how to make a change internally in how we manage ourselves, how we become more effective and more responsible, to look at the responsibility that is placed on the department heads and deputies in how they manage, and to look at the operational piece. Every department head and deputy is required to develop a written organizational plan on how they can 1) improve service to the internal and external customer (be more responsive to co- workers & the public); 2) improve operational efficiency and effectiveness (not doing it faster but doing it better); 3) reduce personnel costs (this does not mean eliminating positions, but to look at alternatives such as consolidating /transferring /sharing functions between divisions or departments, freezing /downgrading vacant positions); 4) recommendations must be realistic and achievable (legally permissible and acceptable to the unions as well). The department heads were asked to respond back to the Mayor by November 1 or sooner on what they have to say and how they look at their individual departments based on these 4 areas, and Civil Service Commission Open Session September 23, 2014 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION overall to do things better. Mr. Morita asked the Mayor how DPS would reduce their costs with the increased duties and personnel they are now tasked with. The Mayor said he is challenging them to look at their expenses, and how to do more with less. Overall, we are looking at consolidation of duties and delegating others elsewhere to make it less on each department without losing our effectiveness in how we manage ourselves overall. That is being asked of all departments; it is not necessarily getting rid of positions, but how we can shift duties and responsibilities among the agencies and departments. The Mayor also introduced the Customer Service Mission Statement and County of Kauai Values Statement, which was developed internally by County employees. Approval of Open Session Minutes of August 26, 2014 Ms. Adams moved to approve the minutes as Minutes circulated. Mr. Morita seconded the motion. Motion carried 7:0 Business CRC 2012 -29 Update from the Director of Personnel Services on the transition plan for the implementation of the Human Resources Department (On- going) Mr. Takatsuki reported that the HRIS committees and sub - committees are still meeting regularly to go over issues. A topic of discussion is the leave sharing program, which was done manually, but we are working on getting it automated. The program itself and the policy has been completed, which Mr. Takatsuki and Ms. Rapozo have reviewed and made comments on so hopefully it is a go. An 89 -day employee has been hired to help with worker's comp and to assist the larger departments in reconciling their leave accruals. Negotiations are stalling out because of the governor's race. Ms. Adams asked who the final approving authority is for the leave sharing program. Mr. Takatsuki explained that DPS reviews the request when it comes in, and if they meet all the requirements then the director or designee will approve. DPS will then solicit donations from the departments. Mr. Morita followed up on the Ma or's discussion regarding cost cutting by saying that since the Commission Civil Service Commission Open Session September 23, 2014 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION is supposed to oversee part of DPS' budget if the department encounters any difficulties the Commission will support DPS 100% with any cost issues. Chair Low stated that when the transition is done from all of the recommendations made by the TaskForce Committee and implemented that in and of itself should save the County money; combined with the HRIS will be another money saver. Director's CSC 2014 -10 a. Weekly Report Ending August 14, 2014 Reports b. Weekly Report Ending August 28, 2014 c. Weekly Report Ending September 4, 2014 d. Weekly Report Ending September 11, 2014 Mr. Takatsuki distributed a copy of the Department's annual report to the Mayor (on file). Overall the Department has met the goals they established for the past fiscal year. Ms. Hahn moved to receive the Director's Reports. Ms. Adams seconded the motion. Motion carried 7:0 Business CSC 2014 -11 Verbal report from Chair Low and Vice Chair Morita on the request to the Salary Commission for consideration of a salary increase for the Director of Personnel/Human Resources at its meeting on September 15, 2014. Chair Low noted that he and Vice Chair Morita were greatly assisted by Mr. Takatsuki in providing the technical information to the Salary Commission. It was interesting in that we were not the only department there; the Prosecuting Attorney's Office and the Fire Department were also present. The Fire Chief gave an extensive description of the issue as he saw it. A lot of the department heads have not had a salary increase in seven years, and inversions have caused people below them to make a lot more money than the department heads, and that is an issue. The Salary Commission is concerned about that and they were advised that their responsibility is setting a reasonable gap; it is Administration's responsibility in determining where department heads should Civil Service Commission Open Session September 23, 2014 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION be on that scale with Council's responsibility being what they are willing to fund. We explained that the two biggest things we saw was moving the position up to provide a wage that was commensurate with the responsibilities, and getting the HRIS system going at the pace it should be going. They didn't ask too many questions except for little issues they didn't quite understand like who was handling what, and they did not realize DPS was handling payroll for the entire County. Chair Low felt they would move in a positive direction, but it will not happen before the end of the year. They seem to want to take everybody as a whole package. They were really concerned that it is going on seven years without pay increases while the employees have been getting raises almost yearly. They seemed to understand our position and want to help us. Mr. Morita agreed with the Chair that it was nice the Commission is looking at going across the board as opposed to just the four departments that were there. It was impressive when the County Council and the budget were mentioned and the Vice Chair said they were not there to discuss budget, but to discuss the setting of the ceiling of the salaries. That was the right way to look at it versus this is going to cost a lot of money. Chair Low said in the end we made it clear to the Commission that if they did choose to move it to the higher level we were not saying that would immediately be the pay. Executive Deputy Attorney Nick Courson read the Hawai'i Session Revised Statutes provision as detailed on the agenda to take the Commission into Executive Session for ES -010 to approve Executive Minutes of 8/26/14, ES -011: CSC 2014 -05 for discussion and implementation of the hiring of the Personnel Director, and ES -012: RFA 2014- 02 to review a request rejecting an applicant's application. Ms. Adams moved to go into Executive Session at 3:28 p.m. Mr. Morita seconded the motion. Civil Service Commission Open Session September 23, 2014 Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Motion carried 7 :0 Return to Open Ratify Commission actions taken in Executive Session for items: The meeting resumed in Open Session at 5:08 ES -010, ES -011 and ES -012 Session p.m. Ms. Adams moved to ratify the Commission's actions as follows: ES -010: Approved as circulated ES -011: Approved as discussed with special meeting to be scheduled for early November ES -012: Approved to request additional information from DPS Ms. Matsumoto seconded the motion. Motion carried 7:0 Announcements Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 — 2:00 p.m. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m. Submitted by: Barbara Davis, Staff Support Clerk () Approved as circulated. () Approved with amendments. See minutes of Reviewed and Approved by: meeting. John Low, Chair