Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy wants the County Council to get a heads-up when the administration hires people on nonemergency 89-day contracts worth $5,000 or more monthly. ADVERTISING Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy wants the County Council to get a
Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy wants the County Council to get a heads-up when the administration hires people on nonemergency 89-day contracts worth $5,000 or more monthly.
Lee Loy’s Bill 29 requires a report detailing “the name and the qualifications of the temporary employee, the cost of the contract, the service to be performed and an explanation of why existing county personnel is unable to provide that service.”
It’s scheduled to be heard by the council Finance Committee at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the West Hawaii Civic Center. The public also can participate by videoconference from the Hilo council chambers, the Old Kohala Courthouse and the Pahoa council office.
The measure follows a March newspaper article describing two 89-day contracts Mayor Harry Kim authorized to ease his transition into office.
Former council member and state legislator Andrew Levin, who served as executive director during Kim’s prior administration, had a $16,000-per-month contract through April 21 as a legislative assistant. He was charged with coordinating legislative oversight and lobbying for county priority issues at the state Legislature.
Stanley Nakasone, who retired in 2013 after 45 years with the Department of Public Works, had a $10,000-per-month contract through April 28 as a Civil Defense emergency response trainer. In addition to training personnel, Nakasone was charged with updating procedures and working with Public Works and the Department of Parks and Recreation, which oversees emergency shelters.
Lee Loy said she read the newspaper article while she and a council panel were sifting through applications from nonprofit organizations seeking a share of $1.5 million set aside for grants for the coming fiscal year that starts July 1.
“It just didn’t sit well with me,” Lee Loy said Thursday. “We had nonprofits asking for so much less for a whole year for a program that touched so many people.”
Lee Loy said requiring a report might make the administration give more thought to the contracts without the legislative branch trying to control administrative functions.
Former Mayor Billy Kenoi used contract employees extensively, spending more than $1.5 million on 36 contracted employees during a two-year period in 2014 and 2015, according to a newspaper analysis at the time. Kim, in his previous term, hired 10 contract workers at an undetermined cost, mostly lava view interpreters for the Kalapana lava flow.
Contracts are for 89 days or less because a 90-day contract sets county rules into effect that could have an impact on a county retiree’s pension and other benefits.
Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung, who was very vocal about Levin’s contract in particular during budget hearings with Kim earlier his month, said Thursday getting information about contracts from the administration instead of reading it in the press isn’t a bad idea. He said he was mainly questioning the “eye-opening” amount of Levin’s contract.
“The previous administration had also engaged in this practice,” Chung said. “I’m not objecting to the practice. I think we should at least get information.”
Kim was philosophical about the bill.
“The council will do what the council does,” he said. “If they feel it’s needed …”
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.
