City council
leaders call for
hiring freeze

Mayor Harris' latest appointee
is warned to not get too
comfy in his job

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Mayor Jeremy Harris' appointment of a Department of Environmental Services deputy director has touched off calls from the City Council for a hiring freeze.

Harris yesterday announced the appointment of Barry Fukunaga, a state airport district manager for 17 years, to be deputy to Environmental Services Director Kenn Sprague.

But Council Chairman Mufi Hannemann and Vice Chairman John Henry Felix, who heads the Council Budget Committee, want Harris to temporarily freeze all hires until the end of the fiscal year on July 1.

The exception would be public health and safety positions, they said.

Felix said the Council needs to look at all areas for potential cost savings to meet the city's $130 million operating budget shortfall without raising property taxes.

"We're primarily interested in vacant, funded positions," Felix said, adding that would include appointees such as deputy directors.

"In all fairness to those individuals who are being recruited to join the city, they should realize these positions could be eliminated in next year's budget," he cautioned.

The Office of Council Services determined there are 564 funded, unfilled positions in the city, not including police, fire, ocean services and emergency services personnel. That amounts to $14.2 million in salaries and an additional $5.3 million in benefits, Felix said.

Hannemann said his main concern is with appointed positions exempt from civil service requirements. He said remaining vacant positions -- such as deputy managing director, deputy director of emergency services, director of the Office of Waikiki Development and city sports coordinator -- should not be filled.

"There's a real possibility the Council could choose not to fund deputy director positions next year," Hannemann said.

Harris declined to respond directly to the question of a hiring freeze.

"We've been freezing positions all over the city," he said. "That's how we balanced the budget last year."

The mayor said the only exceptions have been in the areas of health and safety.

As for Fukunaga, Harris said it makes good sense to hire a deputy chief in a department that manages $100 million in capital improvements annually.

The department, with 1,016 employees, manages the city's wastewater, solid waste and storm water quality program.

Lack of a top management team could result in serious problems for the city that would cost more than a deputy director's salary, he said.