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How Hawaii Counties Enabled SHOPO Contract
CB: An arbitrator’s decision reviewed by Civil Beat on Thursday shows that when county officials had the opportunity to push back against the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers' demands for more pay and other concessions, they merely deferred to the union or provided incomplete information that didn't withstand the arbitrator's scrutiny....
SHOPO hired a firm to perform an economic analysis to scrutinize the state and the four counties’ finances to prove that the raises the union was seeking were affordable. That analysis relied on city budget information gleaned from annual financial reports and other financial data from the various jurisdictions.
Honolulu was the only county to object to the SHOPO’s economic analysis. But Angelo found that the city “presented conclusionary statements without the kind of objective support” that the union had provided. In some cases, the city even agreed with some of the union’s assertions.
“For example, the (SHOPO) report indicates the City and County has on a somewhat routine basis under estimated revenue and over estimated expenditures,” Angelo said. “The City and County did not dispute this assertion....
The counties struggled when trying to prove their officers already earn salaries comparable to their mainland counterparts. According to the arbitration decision, the counties provided data that was “incomplete, possibly inaccurate and not especially well documented.”
Specifically, much of the information came from the internet and written inquiries made to other mainland jurisdictions. That information did not include other collective bargaining agreements.
“Conversely, the union’s information was far more detailed and clearly encompassed relevant wage data,” Angelo said. “The overwhelming weight of the evidence establishes that SHOPO members lag behind the average wage income from jurisdictions by as much as 41%.”...
(Having failed to prove "fiscal turmoil" to the arbitrator, Caldwell is now attempting to sell the same line of BS to the Council.)
LINK: SHOPO arbitration decision 2013
read ... SHOPO
Police highest paid public employees
WHT: Hawaii police officers are the highest-paid public employees in the state, higher even than college professors, according to a West Hawaii Today analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.
A full-time police officer in Hawaii in March 2011, the month the data was collected, made an average $6,685, compared to a university instructional employee, who made $6,547. Firefighters came in third, making $6,462.
The lowest-paid employees were support personnel at public elementary and secondary schools, making $2,107 that month, parks and recreation employees, making $3,397, and library employees, making $3,428.
In general, Hawaii came in about average for the number of state and local government workers per population and their salaries. State and county workers made up 6.58 percent of the population, compared to 6.2 percent for the nation as a whole. The average pay for all state and local employees in Hawaii was $3,432, compared to the U.S. average of $3,652....
There were 2,988 full-time police officers, 3,708 college professors and 1,786 firefighters in Hawaii, according to the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll, which included state and local public employees, but not federal employees.
Police officers are about to get even more pay....
read ... Number One
State inertia illustrated by surfeit of empty buildings
Borreca: There they sit, in Honolulu Harbor, in downtown's Capitol Historic District and even out in Wahiawa: millions of dollars worth of empty unused state and county buildings representing ideas either forgotten, not acted upon or just victims of legions of paper shufflers.
For years, I thought Hawaii's bureaucratic sink hole was the empty Kamamalu Building across from Iolani Palace and the Hawaiian Electric building. It turns out to be just one of many fallow government edifices.
The Star-Advertiser's Kokua Line columnist, June Watanabe, writes this week that although the state's $2.3 million Transportation Department Baseyard on California Avenue in Wahiawa remains "substantially completed at the end of 2012, it remains closed with no opening date in sight."...
Back in town, another mostly empty puzzlement is the $20 million parking garage for the city and state traffic management center on South King Street. The garage was completed last year, but the five-story building is mostly empty because parking is reserved for the traffic center, which is not expected to be built until 2015, at the earliest.
The government ghost town doesn't end there. Over at Honolulu Harbor sits the ferry terminal at Pier 19....
This brings up the darkest of Hawaii's black holes: the Princess Victoria Kamamalu Building. State workers left the building in 2003 for a new office across the street.
A decade later, the eight-story, more-than-half-century-old building is still empty....
read ... Empty
Legislator Capitulates after being Harassed by Atheist Advertiser
PR: In today’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser, an article referred to a memo I wrote to House leadership. ("Gay marriage vote awaits more vigorous majority", Honolulu Star-Advertiser, August 22, 2013.) In that memo I asked the Speaker "to form a special committee to analyze a gay marriage bill and to fast-track legislation during the regular session." Since no marriage equality bill was heard last session, I was concerned that passing such a measure via a special session without the proper preparation and vetting would run "the risk of overlooked details in the language, rushed decision- making and ultimately, poor policy."
Due to unfortunate and unforeseen family circumstances, I have been away from the Capitol since the end of session. When I left, we were under the impression that a special session would not be called. My motive in writing the memo was to push the House to prepare a clean, vetted bill for introduction and prompt passage in the regular session. I was unaware that House leadership has been working with the Governor and the Attorney General – reviewing the legislation in detail and preparing a solid draft for earlier consideration.
I want to correct the record because the Star-Advertiser article quoted "House sources" saying that my memo "could lead other supporters to have second thoughts about a special session." I have been unwavering in my support of marriage equality and would not want anyone to have second thoughts about marriage equality or a special session.
read ... Typical Trick
Caliboso bows out of Lanai wind energy case
SA: Former state Public Utilities Commission Chairman Carlito Caliboso said Thursday he doesn't believe his legal work for a wind energy developer is a conflict of interest, but will recuse himself from the case anyway "to avoid any further distraction."
(Clue: C&C Lanai project was on its way out anyway. By giving Caliboso an excuse to get out of his C&C deal, Caliboso is now set up to go to work on other schemes that have a future. He is a happy boy. Ca-Ching!)
read ... Caliboso
Kailua family slapped with $8K water bill after surprise leak in home
KHON: ...the family was not aware of was a leak in the home. But their water bill never changed and stayed in the $200 range. That changed in August when Ashlyn received a seven-page bill.
“This was for January was $520, and then February was $1,371, March was $2,600, April was $3,020, May was $2,911, and June was $3,127 and these all came in one envelope,” Saunders said.
They contacted the Board of Water Supply and were told their previous bills were based on an estimate
read ... Water Department in Action
Regents Approve Fat Salary Hikes for Insiders
SA: Vassilis Syrmos was promoted to system vice president for research and innovation at an annual salary of $239,016. Syrmos, an engineering professor, had been UH-Manoa’s associate vice chancellor for research. His appointment is effective Sept. 1 for two years....
The board also named attorney Cynthia Quinn executive administrator and secretary to the regents at a salary of $140,016. Quinn is a faculty specialist at the William S. Richardson School of Law and previously was spokeswoman for the law school....
Steven Smith, UH’s deputy chief information officer, was appointed interim vice president for information technology at a salary of $225,000.
read ... Top Three
Hawaiian language school concerned about low score
HNN: Nawahiokalaniopuu Iki scored 20 out of a possible 400 in the state's new performance system. The system measures schools on multiple factors, including chronic absenteeism and science proficiency.
Principal Kauanoe Kamana blames the low score on a lack of appropriate Hawaiian-language tests, which has led the majority of parents at her school to boycott the state's assessments....
Kamana says her school wants assessments that are developed in Hawaiian, instead of translated.
read ... Low Scores
Town Square: Hawaii's Sunshine Law
HPR: Chalk one up for Hawaii’s Sunshine Law. This month, Hawaii’s Supreme Court handed down a decision saying the Maui County Council didn’t exactly follow the rules while it deliberated a development project. Next on Town Square, we’ll look at how this opinion will be guide future councils and whether how to abide by the open meetings law is any better understood now.
read ... Sunshine
Huff Po, Poynter Salivate over Omidyar Billions
P: Civil Beat law center will offer free legal help to journalists, others seeking public information
H: Civil Beat Law Center Seeks Greater Government Transparency For Press, Public
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