A tale of two stories - Is the County hiring?

[Rob Tucker]

Story One:
Now hiring - Kenoi admin keeps on keepin' on County seeking to fill 21 job positions
by Nancy Cook Lauer West Hawaii Today Sunday, December 6, 2009 7:33 AM HST

http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/...ocal01.txt

"HILO -- The economy may be in the doldrums, but that's not stopping Mayor Billy Kenoi's administration from hiring new employees.
Since mid-October, the administration has approved filling 21 of the 193 current vacancies in county government, according to the mayor's correspondence log. The administration has also created positions -- nine new positions have been added since Kenoi took office last December."

Story Two:
County eyes worker furloughs
by Jason Armstrong Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, December 6, 2009 8:21 AM HST

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/arti...ocal01.txt

"Mayor wants administrators to give up raises Suspending executives' raises, imposing a hiring freeze and furloughing workers are among the measures being considered by Hawaii County leaders facing a possible $45 million budget deficit."

[HiloHaole]

Maybe he's hiring his relatives, buddies, patronage people, etc., and has to be creative in paying their salaries.

[KeaauRich]

Well, I'm too new to the Island to have an informed opinion of the Mayor, but as someone who has been involved in personnel decisions for a Fortune 10 corporation, I think we need to be careful about taking cheap shots. The goal of any successful organization isn't to have X number of people employed - it's to have the right number of the right people in the right jobs to get the necessary work done. The first article notes that there are 193 open slots, but only about 10% can be filled. That's a pretty big cut, and unless these 21 people are making some extraordinary salaries, they represent a drop in the $45 million bucket. Hopefully the individuals filling these slots will bring skills, expertise and efficiencies that aren't available in the existing workforce (and thats not meant to be a dig at the existing workforce -- but as the world changes and technology develops, you need people with new skills, new ideas and new perspectives to keep up). Even in a downsizing environment, most organizations do limited recruiting and hiring. It's good business sense.

[Carey]

The hired positions are from the last years budget:
"Most of the vacancies now being filled are for police or firefighters, two areas the administration and the County Council agree need bolstering. But the administration is also advertising for clerks, water plant operators, electricians and school crossing guards."

Although some of these could be patronage positions, even in Chicago I doubt that crossing guards are....

The furlough is positions are a part for the proposal for next year, which includes a wage freezes for admin. positions, possible furloughs for 31 positions & the potential of removing some of the funded vacant positions from next years budget. there are ~ 150 positions that are not currently filled - many are on the county website & those that are the ones that have been on the county ads.