Public Works director reports ‘unsustainable’ staffing levels amid disaster recovery efforts

The Maui County Department of Public Works now has a single engineer working to manage two disasters — the recovery from the August 2023 wildfires and the recent Kona Low storms.

“We currently operate with one engineer, and she’s been doing a tremendous job keeping us afloat, but that’s not going to be sustainable long term, so we’re looking to bring in support for her,” said Director Jordan Molina during a Friday meeting of the County Council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee.

“We also have exploded in our facility maintenance obligations, and we are at a point where we need to expand our supervisory structure to ensure we can provide reliable services,” he said.

The department’s proposed expansion positions range from “boots on the ground” to “mid-tier and upper-tier management to help us get a handle on the day-to-day facility operations and also the repair and maintenance of programs that we oversee,” Molina said.

The department aims to “grow our team, provide career paths and so that requires us to consistently be evaluating and revamping our organizational structures, our positions and how we assign work to make our positions attractive for people to come in and promote up into,” he said, adding that “we have a heavy lift still with supporting wildfire recovery now with the infusion of the ($1.6 billion disaster relief) infrastructure funding.”

“Our engineering team is working to be able to deliver on those projects within the schedules we’ve been given,” Molina told committee members.

Then, after the Kona Low storms, the department has a “whole bunch of new projects added to our plate with the flooding impacts we’ve encountered,” he said. “We just try and continue to improve how we deliver services to the community across all our divisions.”

Public Works officials reported 60 vacancies on the books, though Molina noted only 12 are considered “true” vacancies for which the department has not started the recruitment process.

Staffing and pay challenges

The staffing crisis within the Department of Public Works is being compounded by a lack of competitive pay and a performance evaluation system that Molina described as a “source of discouragement and frustration” for his staff.

Molina explained that the department is currently “restricted to entry-level offerings” and cannot compete in the marketplace, particularly for engineers. He noted that despite recent pay adjustments, the recruitment lists for unlicensed engineers remain empty because the county simply cannot offer enough to attract qualified candidates.

Beyond base pay, Molina took aim at the county’s rigid personnel structure, arguing that it effectively ignores excellence.

He told council members that the current evaluation program provides “nothing more than a pat on the back” for those who exceed expectations, while primarily serving as a tool to penalize poor performers.

“It’s definitely a source of discouragement and frustration for those staff that want to excel at what they do here at the county,” Molina said. He noted that while he has proposed bonus programs to incentivize high-performing employees, those efforts have been blocked by administrative and civil service barriers.

He noted that pay ranges for unlicensed engineers remain too low to attract candidates in the current marketplace.

Specialized crews face additional pressures as well. “Our guys don’t get standby pay either, but they’re basically on call 24/7,” Molina said regarding storm response teams.

“I have been doing everything short of screaming, to try and get help, and it is the most difficult part of this job, hands down,” he said. “I will go fight wildfires all day then try to deal through personnel.”

Public Works overall budget details

Overall, the Public Works Department’s operations and equipment request for fiscal 2027 is $86.6 million, up by $3.6 million or 4.4% from the current fiscal year. For personnel, the department aims to increase its 376.3-member workforce by five or 1.3% to 381.3 positions next fiscal year. The department’s proposed capital improvement budget of $244.3 million is the largest among county departments, making it 35% of the total $698.2 million. The Department of Water Supply is second, at 25.3%, with a proposed budget of $176.45 million.

Infrastructure impacts and project delays

The department is seeking several expansion positions to oversee facility maintenance and repair programs, particularly as the county acquires older buildings that require significant upkeep.

Council members expressed concern over the impact of these vacancies on local infrastructure.

Currently, resurfacing projects on Ala Moana Street in Lahaina and in the Lahaina burn zone are on hold to coordinate with utility work and federal funding.

Rising fuel prices are also impacting the current budget, with officials anticipating a shortfall that may require an amendment later in the fiscal year.

Budget priorities and facility planning

To address the budget crunch, Molina identified the $11.9 million countywide baseyard facilities program as a project that could be deferred if the council needs to cut spending.

He noted that while revitalizing 100-year-old facilities is “past due,” crews could manage for another year to prioritize more immediate needs.

Despite potential deferrals, planning is underway for a new Hāna garage.

The proposed new facilities would be designed to accommodate the Department of Public Works along with the Department of Water Supply and emergency services.

Personnel Services addressing a ‘death spiral’

After the committee completed its review of the Public Works Department on Friday, it turned its attention to the Department of Personnel Services and Director Cynthia Razo-Porter. She faced numerous questions about systemic bottlenecks that have left departments like Public Works struggling to fill vacancies.

The discussion highlighted what Council Member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez called a “death spiral” wherein pay isn’t competitive enough to fill vacancies, and high-performing employees are rewarded with more work.

Razo-Porter was asked about whether the county could, as Molina suggested, put in place a system to reward high performers.

“We recently implemented a program to address some of that, but that was mostly exclusively for our excluded employees,” she said.

She was aware that the Department of Public Works had discussed doing that within its department, “and so the objective would be to create that countywide, not just (for) one department competing for another department. So we do have some plans to implement those types of policies, but they would require consultation with the union, and some really stringent kind of guardrails around it.”

Razo-Porter noted staffing challenges within her own department, including space limitations that prevent the hiring of more staff.

And, “we have the same struggles that other departments face with competitive salaries, you know, just people having other opportunities because it is a very competitive market,” she said. “We hired some really good employees and their former employer doubled their salary and gave them a promotion and they left pretty quickly.”

Regarding maxed-out office space, Razo-Porter said that has been an ongoing issue.

“We keep remodeling, reconfiguring, adding a wall, building another cubicle, buying a desk,” she said.

Paper weight

Another problem is paper documents, committee members learned.

When asked about a $400,000 budget request to scan and digitize Department of Personnel Services documents, Razo-Porter said the request is for $300,000 to scan and digitize documents “due to the sheer volume.”

“We have four cabinets that are filled with, I don’t know, like 2,000 pounds of documents,” she said. And, a contractor has informed the department that the floor of the old courthouse, where the documents would be stored, cannot support the weight of those file cabinets, so they cannot be moved there.

Temporary hire Band-aids

Committee members heard about “89-day” temporary hires, which are often used as a band-aid for long-term vacancies. Razo-Porter said some departments have become reliant on these workers. In some cases, they resist permanent candidates because they prefer the “warm body” already in the seat.

Budget Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura and other members urged the department to find a sense of urgency. They suggested the council would support funding for leased office space or pilot incentive programs if it meant finally unblocking the gears of county government.

Personnel Department details

Overall, the department is requesting $3.24 million for its operations and equipment. Under the proposal, its personnel would increase by two full-time positions, an increase of 8% to 27 equivalent personnel.

Upcoming community meetings

Here’s the schedule for future community budget meetings, all of which begin at 6 p.m.

• April 14, Kīhei Community Center, Main Hall, 303 E. Līpoa St.
• April 15, Lānaʻi High & Elementary School Cafeteria, 555 Fraser Ave., Lānaʻi City.
• April 16, April 16, Kalana o Maui, Council Chamber, 8th Floor, 200 S. High St., Wailuku.
• April 17, Lahaina Civic Center, Social Hall, 1840 Honoapiʻilani Hwy.