Furfaro vacancy report outdated vacancy

LIHU‘E — Sixteen of the 44 county job vacancies  Kaua‘i Council Chair Jay Furfaro presented at a Cost Control Commission meeting Jan. 9 already have been filled, county spokeswoman Beth Tokioka said Wednesday in an email to The Garden Island, and several more are in various stages of the hiring process.

Furfaro at the meeting last month questioned why there were 75 job vacancies that had not yet been filled, including 31 at the Kaua‘i Police Department. He said he was not as concerned with the police department vacancies as with the other unfilled county positions, which represent some $1.9 million in unused funds.

Tokioka said Furfaro was using old information based on a list generated Sept. 20 for job vacancies current as of June 30.

She said of the 44 non-police vacancies, the following activity had taken place from July 1 to Dec. 31:

— 16 positions have been filled,

— 2 positions are in the final stages of the hiring process,

— 5 positions are in the process of recruitment,

— 3 positions are under the purview of the County Clerk and not within the Mayor’s scope of authority to fill,

— 3 positions are under the purview of the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney and not within the mayor’s scope of authority to fill.

“The remaining 15 positions are currently on hold for a number of reasons, primarily for  potential re-description or re-allocation of the position to better meet the needs of the department,” Tokioka said.

Asked about the new information Wednesday, Furfaro said he had the most current copy the council had at the time of his presentation.

“My point of view is they need to move on recruitments that are approved,” Furfaro said.

The county’s official website on Wednesday showed nine open positions — for four civil engineers, a driver license examiner and inspector, plant electrical equipment repair person, police services officer, principal project manager and school crossing guard.