NAWILIWILI — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. on Friday opened the budget review sessions at Nawiliwili Council Chambers with promises of a more organized government. “I know this is challenging times right now, but sometimes you gotta give this much more
NAWILIWILI — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. on Friday opened the budget review sessions at Nawiliwili Council Chambers with promises of a more organized government.
“I know this is challenging times right now, but sometimes you gotta give this much more in order to get more at the end,” he told Kaua‘i County Council members. “And this is the time.”
Carvalho has proposed a $164.98 million operating budget and $84.69 million capital improvement projects budget. The departmental budget review process gets into full swing next week.
The mayor went down a list of approaches he said county agencies have adopted or are planning to adopt to “result in a more responsive, user-friendly government.”
Capital improvement projects that are not moving — but are holding up funds — will be abandoned or dollar-funded until ready, he said.
“Tell me when that project is going to start, how it’s going to go, detailed up, and when is the ending,” Carvalho said. “If you cannot tell me that right now, thank you very much, let’s move on to the next project.”
Carvalho’s overview of the budget included a Personnel Department reorganization, restructuring the Public Works Department, and the standardization of simple practices to bring more efficiency in operations and responses to the public.
The mayor also called for more participation of department heads and staff in an effort to find solutions to improve efficiency.
“We can do that internally,” he said. “Externally it’s going to go.”
Carvalho said there will be a slow return to normalcy. The budget, for the most part, reflects a continuing conservative approach to spending. In the last two years the administration reduced spending and held off on filling more than two dozen positions, he said.
The mayor’s proposed budget represents an 11.7 percent, or $17.3 million, increase over last fiscal year, which ends June 30.
“I’ve stayed flat for two years,” Carvalho said. “Now I feel strongly that I need to move. I need help to get what I need done.”
There are 28 dollar-funded positions in the county. Carvalho is asking the council to fill nine of those positions, including engineering and planning jobs, Parks and Recreation positions, plus jobs at the police and fire departments.
Carvalho said he and other mayors in the state are trying to figure out how to come to an agreement to benefit county workers regarding a collective bargain process at Hawai‘i Government Employee Association union.
“The sooner we can come together the better,” he said.
Chair underscores need for reserve fund
Council members thanked Carvalho for an energetic presentation, but questioned several areas of the budget, especially the financial aspects.
Chair Jay Furfaro said he has maintained a position where he strongly recommends the administration starts practicing a policy of having a reserve fund rather than relying on a surplus.
“I think in this first review we need to be somewhat conservative until we reconcile what actually comes out of the Legislature,” Furfaro said.
The state Legislature will adjourn on May 5, and the outcome of the state budget may sharply affect the counties’ budgets.
The threat of the state taking the Transient Accommodations Tax revenue from the counties may not be as concerning as it was last year, but the TAT will likely get capped under bills moving forward in the House and Senate.
“We have $13 million in that TAT money in your budget submittal,” Furfaro told Carvalho. “That number is going to be short about $2.2 million, even if we end up with the Senate version.”
Kaua‘i has yet to see the impacts of the March 11 tsunami in Japan, he added.
The tentative agreement reached with HGEA calling for up to a 5 percent salary reduction and a cut in the counties’ contribution to the Employer Union Trust Fund concerned Furfaro.
“We’re seeing all these red flags pop up,” Furfaro said. “… We anticipate that there will be a master agreement and then supplemental agreements which will provide us with flexibility for our employees.”
As the administration ended furloughs Jan. 1, it became “very obvious that perhaps it was not the best approach,” said Furfaro, adding that the administration needs to keep on the table the flexibility to negotiate with the unions.
Despite concerns with the budget proposal, Furfaro pledged to work “very closely with the administration.”
Councilman Tim Bynum also had concerns with the HGEA collective bargaining, which may affect the budget.
Aside from that though, Bynum commended the administration for making public information more readily available to the community.
He also suggested investing in technology to get rid of paper waste. Carvalho responded by saying that the Personnel Department is paperless and the administration is “making every attempt” to do that.
Too many concessions
Bynum, along with Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, showed concern about the money spent on legal settlements.
“The amount we have paid out has been atrocious,” said Yukimura, echoing Bynum’s concerns. “Are we learning from those settlements what went wrong and are we making the corrections or are we just paying and going on to the next claim?”
Those are issues of proper training regarding sexual harassment and workplace violence, she said.
Carvalho said the administration has just begun training to address workplace violence and sexual harassment, plus is getting ready to implement the “back to work” program.
“We would like to bring them back to work as soon as possible, and offer them an opportunity … in an area that can help them get better,” he said.
Yukimura said the community gets hurt when there are not qualified people in key positions.
“You have to hire the best if you want to really serve our people at the top level,” she said.
Bynum and Councilman Dickie Chang also showed concern regarding staffing.
Yukimura said now is the time to build affordable homes and give jobs to construction workers.
“I have to also say that I’m extremely disappointed that the previous and your administration allowed the watering down of the housing requirements both at Courtyard and Marriott and the Kukui‘ula provision for workforce housing in Po‘ipu,” she said. “We lost so much.”
Despite criticism, Yukimura commended Carvalho and his staff for the work they have been doing.
“Your leadership is bringing a lot of wonderful new initiatives that we desperately need because we so long have neglected county operations,” she said.
Chang said the message he heard from delegates a few weeks ago at Capitol Hill at the National Association of Counties meeting was: “You got the money, spend the money.”
There’s no better way, Chang said, of communicating with taxpayers because when they see construction going on they know work is being done.
Chang also agreed with comments from Bynum and Yukimura. “We gotta get our local workers out there. There’s going to be lower bid processes.”
Carvalho said he looks forward to a healthy discussion in the next few weeks regarding the budget.
“Let’s roll up our sleeves and dive into the communication,” he said.
Starting at 9 a.m. Monday at Council Chambers in Nawiliwili, the council will hear budget presentations from the Kaua‘i Fire Department, Liquor Department, Civil Defense Agency, Kaua‘i Humane Society, Personnel Department and Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.
Visit www.kauai.gov for more information.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
Monday
• Fire Department: 9 to 11 a.m.
• Liquor Department: 11 a.m. to noon
• Civil Defense Agency: 1 to 1:30 p.m.
• Kaua‘i Humane Society: 1:30 to 2 p.m.
• Personnel Department: 2 to 3:30 p.m.
• Prosecuting Attorney: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday
• Police Department: 9 a.m. to noon
• Office of the County Clerk: 1 to 2:30 p.m.
• Office of the County Attorney: 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Thursday
• Housing Agency: 9 to 10:30 a.m.
• Agency on Elderly Affairs: 10:30 to 11 a.m.
• Transportation Agency: 11 a.m. to noon
• Finance Department: 1 to 2:30 p.m.
• Planning Department: 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Friday
• Parks and Recreation: 9 to 10:30 a.m.
• Parks and Recreation — Golf Course: 10:30 t0 11:30 a.m.
• Department of Public Works: 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
April 18
• Department of Public Works (if necessary): 9 a.m. to noon
• Office of Economic Development: 1 to 2 p.m.
