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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/27/2014 Special Council Meeting minutes - Interviews SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 27, 2014 The Special Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kaua'i was called to order by Council Chair Jay Furfaro, at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Room 201, Lihu'e, Kaua'i, on Thursday, March 27, 2014 at 8:33 a.m., after which the following members answered the call of the roll: Honorable Tim Bynum (present at 8:39 a.m.) Honorable Mason K. Chock, Sr. Honorable Gary L. Hooser Honorable Mel Rapozo Honorable Jay Furfaro Excused: Honorable Ross Kagawa Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura Chair Furfaro: Aloha and good morning, I would like to welcome everybody to this Special Council Meeting and order of business for our Council Meeting today for March 27th. We start with interviews as it relates to filling vacancies on our Boards and Commissions. I do want to make a special note that the interview that was scheduled for the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission that included Ms. Ono, she is a Mayoral Appointee, and not a Council Appointee. So, it is not necessary for her to be in front of the Council today. So, we will have one (1) interview today, and Scott, may I ask you to read that introduction? I have both excuse letters for Councilmember Kagawa, who will be arriving at approximately 9:30 a.m. and Councilmember Yukimura who is attending a Lihu`e Business Association meeting this morning. So, on that note, can we ask to call up our first interview? APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Mr. Rapozo moved for approval of the agenda as circulated, seconded by Mr. Chock. Chair Furfaro: Discussion? Do we have to do any type of formal amendment on the other one that was just so noted as I said? SCOTT K. SATO, Council Services Review Officer: So noted. Chair Furfaro: No further discussion. The motion for approval of the agenda was the put, and carried by a vote of 4:0:3 (Mr. Bynum was not present; Mr. Kagawa and Ms. Yukimura were excused). PUBLIC COMMENT. Pursuant to Council Rule 13(e), members of the public shall be allowed a total of eighteen (18) minutes on a first come, first served basis to speak on any agenda item. Each speaker shall be limited to three (3) minutes at the discretion of SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 2 MARCH 27, 2014 the Chair to discuss the agenda item and shall not be allowed additional time to speak during the meeting. This rule is designed to accommodate those who cannot be present throughout the meeting to speak when the agenda items are heard. After the conclusion of the eighteen (18) minutes, other members of the public shall be allowed to speak pursuant to Council Rule 12(e). There being no one present to provide public comment, the meeting proceeded as follows: INTERVIEWS: 1. PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND COMMISSION: • Karen M. Ono —Term ending 12/31/2015 2. SALARY COMMISSION: • Lenie F. P. Nishihira — Term ending 12/31/2016 (Mr. Bynum was noted as present.) There being no objections, the rules were suspended. LENIE F. P. NISHIHIRA: Good morning. Chair Furfaro: Good morning. Lenie, we are going to start. First of all, let me apologize for the group that we are a little late in getting started this morning. I am going to ask you to introduce yourself and then give us an overview of your background as it relates to the appointment that is planned for the Salary Commission. So, you have the floor. Ms. Nishihira: Thank you. So, I am Lenie Nishihira. We have lived on Kaua`i for over eighteen (18) years now. My husband is a math teacher at Waimea High School and we have three (3) children. I have been a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for over twenty-five (25) years. So, backing up, I was born and raised in Waialua on Oahu. I went to Waialua High School. After high school I went to the University of Redlands in Southern California. There, I majored in Accounting and Psychology and I have a minor in Economics. While in college, in the summers, I worked for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and upon graduating from the University of Redlands, I worked for Arthur Andersen in Los Angeles. At the time it was a "Big Eight" CPA firm. I got my California CPA certificate. After a few years there I moved back to Honolulu. There, I worked for Peat Marwick Mitchell, another "Big Eight" CPA firm. Actually, there, I was on the Departments of Accounts and General Services (DAGS) State Audit and that was my introduction to government accounting. I got my Hawai`i certificate and then I went to work for Alexander & Baldwin (A&B). I worked at their corporate offices for about five (5), six (6) years. My last position there was Assistant Controller. At that time we had my first daughter and my husband being from Kaua`i, we decided that we wanted to raise her here. Actually, when I first came to Kaua`i it was in the 10th grade on the speech team and I just loved Kaua`i, so I thought I need to find a way back there. We moved here in 1996. I begged for a transfer with A&B. So, I worked for Kaua`i Coffee despite it being pretty much a demotion. I worked for SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 3 MARCH 27, 2014 Kauai Coffee for a while and when they down-sized for coffee, I was laid-off and that worked out fine because I had my third child and that allowed me to not work or work part-time. So, after that I worked for Aqua Engineers and I was actually there when it was still just a "mom-and-pop" and I was involved in the price proposal, price negotiation, and implementation of what is now their largest government contract, the privatization of the Schofield Wastewater Treatment Plant. I was at Aqua as their Chief Financial Officer (CFO). I was involved in the negotiation of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). I was one of the first Trustees there. So, after about eight (8) years with Aqua Engineers as their CFO, I decided to slow down a bit and I went to work for a non-profit, Hale `Opio, and just kind of worked their reduced schedule. Presently, I am a lecturer for Kauai Community College (KCC) in Accounting, I am on the Board of Directors for Aqua Engineers, and I do accounting for a construction company as well. So, in my positions in these various companies, especially with the smaller companies or started out small, I was involved with wage package negotiations, determination of wage scales, and other personnel matters. Needless to say I was always involved in budgeting as far as all of the company costs, but also with personnel matters, personnel costs, and benefits. That is my background. Chair Furfaro: That is a fantastic background. Congratulations! Ms. Nishihira: Thank you. Chair Furfaro: I would like to ask you, on the portion that you deal with the wage and salary recommendations across the board, have you ever worked with the Hawaii Employers' Council (HEC) on any studies that they have done regarding wage comparisons in the State? Ms. Nishihira: Yes, I have. Several of the employers that I worked for were members of the HEC. Chair Furfaro: Oh, good. Ms. Nishihira: So, we would tap them for their studies and comparable wage scales for various positions. Chair Furfaro: So, you are very familiar that those kind of comparison scales and rates for various demands on everything from golf course workers to electrical engineers are available through the Hawaii Employers' Council? Ms. Nishihira: Yes. Chair Furfaro: That is great. Ms. Nishihira: There are also private consulting firms that do the same work. Chair Furfaro: Yes, but just through my thirty-nine (39) years in the visitor industry, that is the Employers' Council that I have used. So, I am most familiar with and I have surfaced that a few times with the County. I am glad to hear that you have that kind of experience. Also, let me say congratulations on your work with the Federal Government on the Schofield project. I was a client SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 4 MARCH 27, 2014 at one time and not for the fact that I do not have any hair. Is that not the television advertisement? I was a client once too? That was quite a competitive package that Aqua put together for the Federal Government, quite a lot of details and so forth. I was a supporting client with the wastewater plants that we ran at the resorts. So, congratulations, that was a lot of good work. Ms. Nishihira: Thank you. Yes, we went in as an underdog against two (2) big international firms. Chair Furfaro: Yes. Ms. Nishihira: They wanted to keep it in Hawai`i so that was the card that we played, plus Senator Inouye helped us. Chair Furfaro: I do think that Aqua Engineers is now today, really recognized when it comes to wastewater treatment and so forth. They are really recognized across the State as the real authority. So, some great projects that you have been on. Let me see if there are questions from members. Members? Mr. Hooser. Mr. Hooser: I do not have any questions. I just want to say good morning and thank you for being willing to put your time, energy, and your vast knowledge towards public service and helping the County of Kaua`i. Thank you very much. Ms. Nishihira: You are welcome, and thank you for the opportunity as well. Chair Furfaro: Mr. Rapozo. Oh, I am sorry. No? Mr. Rapozo: Thank you for applying. Quite a resume. Pretty simple decision for us. I look forward to your service on the Commission. Thank you. Ms. Nishihira: Thank you. Chair Furfaro: Mr. Chock. Mr. Chock: Yes, thank you, Lenie. I think it is a very simple decision for us with the diverse background that you have and bring. It is good to catch up and see that Alyssa is following in your footsteps in terms of her professional career and the adventure that she is already onboard. I think that this is definitely a very important arena that we are going to need to address in the future, and particularly how we are going to be able to negotiate effectively between salaries and with our unions and so forth. So, I am looking forward to your service and thank you so much for offering it. Ms. Nishihira: Thank you. You are welcome. Chair Furfaro: Mr. Bynum. Mr. Bynum: Good morning. I just want to thank you for your commitment to public service and welcome to the Boards and Commissions. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 5 MARCH 27, 2014 You are really helping change the face of the County in the real ways of dispersing power into the community in meaningful ways. Ms. Nishihira: Be care of what you ask for. Mr. Bynum: The Salary Commission is not one of the more intense Commissions, but be warned though, may be in the future there is one of those for you. Thank you very much for your commitment to service. I appreciate it. Ms. Nishihira: You are welcome. Again, thank you for the opportunity. Chair Furfaro: I do want to say that I appreciate you stepping forward. You know, the work that you will do on this Commission is really beneficial to all of our employees because compensation is always maybe the top three (3) items of how we are able to retain employees and so forth. As we do it in a fair and equitable way, as it relates to the size of our County or the corporation called the County of Kaua`i, it is really nice to have you want to help us. It is extremely important that we have a good compensation package, especially as we want to retain people. I have no more questions and I do not think members here have any more questions. You do have another question? Go right ahead. Mr. Bynum: Thank you, Chair. You know, I have this long list, like all Councilmembers do, of things to look into. The Salary Commission did a lot of great work a number of years ago before the economy got difficult. It really looked at inversions, where Department Heads that are under the purview of the Salary Commission were being paid less than the Civil Servants under them and came up with this ambitious plan to really correct it that I think had a lot of support all over the County, but then ran into the economic downturn. I am hearing and I have not checked it out, but I am hearing that that inversion with the recent negotiations with the unions may be occurring again. So, if that is the case, that will be an issue right away when you get onto the Salary Commission. I will just speak for myself, whenever that inversion exists, there are issues, I think, for the County, about getting the best and brightest for the positions that we need because you are really asking professionals to step into the public sector and make less money than the people that they are supervising, right? So, just to give you a purview of the kind of things that they look at and the history. Thank you very much. Ms. Nishihira: Thank you. I am sure that will come up. Chair Furfaro: Lenie, on that note again, thank you very much. I want you to know that I am going to open for any public testimony because there are others in the audience. I am just very pleased and I want you to know that we will be voting on your appointment later today and you certainly have my support. Thank you again. Thank you. Ms. Nishihira: You are welcome and thank you. Chair Furfaro: Is there anyone in the audience that would like to give testimony on this appointee? I can ask Lenie to step away from the microphone and I can call you up. Is there anyone? Alice, come right up. Lenie, you are excused. Thank you. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 6 MARCH 27, 2014 ALICE PARKER: Good morning. Alice Parker. I think Ms. Nishihira has a terrific background and hey, she can survive the IRS as did I. She has standing power and I think she would be a great asset. Thank you. Chair Furfaro: Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience that would like to give testimony? If not, as I mentioned we will be voting on this later in today's agenda. There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Chair Furfaro: I want to take advantage of the fact that we still have twelve (12) minutes before we start the regular meeting. I have a couple of personal announcements. First and foremost, I want to share with the entire staff that we have a lot of really wonderful up-and-coming women in the County government and I want to let you know that the County Council has nominated, and I will be circulating my testimony along with Ricky's to all of you, to Pacific Business News (PBN) and that our Jade Fountain-Tanigawa was, in fact, selected as one of the finalists for the recognition of PBN's Businesswoman of the Year. So, I do want to take the time. We have a press release going out to be sent out later this afternoon, but again, on behalf of the Council, I submitted that nomination along with Ricky as the County Clerk and we were informed late last week that her twenty-two (22) years of public service for our island home was certainly some of the items that led PBN to name her as a finalist and we will keep you posted about that recognition. So, congratulations to Jade. We are very pleased. Also, we have a very hectic schedule coming up today and I want to make sure that we understand there was an order because we have visitors and professionals coming in from Honolulu. We will start the meeting after we call it to order and release the appropriate documents to first deal with the Little Fire Ants that are challenging us in the State of Hawai`i and we will have Dr. Vanderwoude flying in from the Big Island to make a short presentation, that will be at 9:00 a.m. At 10:30 a.m., we are committed on legal documents for the Kilauea Agricultural Park Agreement and that will be open for discussion. At 11:30 a.m., we will have an opportunity to break for Executive Session on those legal items associated with our Audit Department. We will plan to take a lunch break at 12:30 p.m. and we will find ourselves coming back at 1:30 p.m. for an update on Coco Palms. The ownership will be on-island for that. Then at 3:00 p.m., we will do a follow-up on the Ala Kalanikaumaka drainage ditch under the street there by Public Works, followed by the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the Public Works Department. There are a couple of other items that appear on today's agenda that I want to make sure we understand that they appear for certain reasons. For example, the Mayor's budget message is transmitted today because it was due by a certain date and the 15th of the month was a Saturday. It came over the previous Friday, but we had no vehicle to actually receive it. As you know, it is on today's agenda, but for the purpose of the timing, we are requesting to receive it so we can start the budget on Friday, tomorrow. So, please recognize the discussion that we need to hold on the receipt of that. We have the Kukui`ula Workforce Housing agreement which has come over from the Planning Department and if there are a lot of questions about the amendment itself, I would suggest that we talk about putting it in the Housing Committee rather than hold up the day on this discussion. This is for a target of getting some things done with utility costs and reimbursables by 2016 so we can start that SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 7 MARCH 27, 2014 project. The Visitor Destination Area (VDA) fees are showing up in correspondence today because that will add one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to our operating budget and then of course, how we are handling Black Pot. Actually, we had a reimbursement of one million two hundred thousand dollars ($1,200,000) returned, but we have to have the appropriate vehicle to get it back into our financial accounting vehicle. So, that is also on the agenda. It looks like relatively large items, but they are, in fact, for the purpose of discussion and in anticipation of having the accounts in the right order as we go into budget. Now gentlemen, it is six (6) minutes of 9:00 a.m. and I went through the order of business today, taking care of that time-gap. On that note, I would like to say if there is not anymore discussion on the Special Council Meeting, I would like to adjourn it. Any further discussion? If not, the Special Council Meeting is adjourned and in six (6) minutes we will start our regular Council Meeting at 9:00 a.m. ADJOURNMENT. There being no further business, the Special Council Meeting adjourned at 8:57 a.m. Res•ectfull submitted, 11/ OTT K':ATO Council Services Review Officer :aa