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City wants to
hire more engineers

A hiring freeze and a
restructuring have created
a number of openings

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

The city is looking for a few good engineers.

Since last July, the Design and Construction Department has been offering up to $535 a month more in "temporary shortage differential" pay for engineering positions.

Gary Yee, design and construction director, said the public is not affected by the shortages because they are primarily in the design and engineering branches.

Until recently, the department had 47 funded vacancies, most of them engineering positions. Yee said 10 people were hired in recent days, leaving 37 openings.

High on the want list are structural, civil, electrical and mechanical engineering positions. Starting pay ranges from $2,643 a month for a civil engineering II position to $4,297 a month for mechanical engineer VI and civil engineer VI jobs.

Yee said his department has lost about six engineers in recent months, including two division chiefs, to private industry.

But most of the remaining vacancies are the result of a general citywide hiring freeze over that last few years that have left unfilled positions accumulating in other agencies.

That's because the Design and Construction Department, formerly the Building Department, incorporated the engineering and planning functions, and positions, of all other city agencies as part of Mayor Jeremy Harris' 1998 reorganization.

Yee said the vacancies weren't filled immediately after the reorganization because his fledgling agency wasn't ready for them.

Councilman Mufi Hannemann, who is expected to run for mayor against incumbent Jeremy Harris this fall, said he's told the city is falling behind on the resurfacing of roads, the repair of parks and other essential projects partly as a result of the shortage in engineers and partly because political considerations have taken priority.

But according to Yee, fewer engineers has not resulted in a slowdown of the planning and design of city projects because a process once done different ways by different agencies is now consolidated and streamlined.

"We're getting a lot of contracts out sooner," he said.

Yee acknowledged that some overtime and compensation time pay has been awarded to existing staffers as a result of the shortage.

Actual amount paid out was not immediately available but, according to Yee, "it's not an inordinate amount."

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http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us