Hawaii County finance committee backs creation of operations manager in Legislative Research Branch

The Hawaii County Committee on Finance voted 6–1 to forward Resolution 244-25, which amends sections of the 2025 salary ordinance to establish an operations manager position within the county’s Legislative Research Branch.

The measure, introduced by request, would convert an existing legislative specialist position into an at‑will operations manager post and add a corresponding pay schedule to Ordinance No. 25-39. Clerk Kirk Hendricks described the change as an organizational step to provide day‑to‑day supervision and expand the branch’s capacity.

"With that growth comes the responsibility to have, again, more clear, consistent, and proximate supervision of those responsibilities on a day to day basis," Clerk Kirk Hendricks said. "The goal here is very simple: it's to make sure that the staff in the Legislative Research Branch has direct oversight within the office itself, provide guidance, vision, and just basically administrative oversight."

The committee spent more than an hour on the item as members raised questions about process, timing, and whether the position would be filled by appointment or open recruitment. Councilmember Onishi pressed for greater transparency and asked whether departments had been consulted and whether the position had been tentatively filled.

"So my question is — are you going to open this up for — or is it going to be just appointed to someone? Correct? So where's the transparency?" Councilmember Onishi said during the discussion.

Hendricks replied that the post would be at‑will and that the change is a conversion of an existing, funded position rather than creation of a new funded slot. He said the office conducted recruitments to fill recent legislative specialist openings and that one current staff member would assume the new title without displacing others.

Councilmember Villegas and others supported the resolution as an investment in county legislative infrastructure. "I see this as investment in the infrastructure and the human capital and the positions so that the internal aspects of the clerk's office and of the administration…has the best infrastructure possible to be successful," Villegas said.

Councilmember Kimball said he welcomed the structure if it produced more substantive legislative research support, particularly during budget review. Several members emphasized the need for documented standard operating procedures for how departments and committee chairs will interact with LRB going forward.

On a roll call, the committee recorded six votes in favor and one opposed; Councilmember Onishi cast the lone no vote. The motion to forward the resolution to full council carried.

The operations manager post is described in the resolution as an at‑will position converted from an existing legislative specialist slot; Clerk Hendricks told the committee the change should not require a separate budget amendment because salary increases can be absorbed within existing appropriations. The resolution amends Ordinance No. 25-39 (the 2025 salary ordinance) to reflect the new title and pay schedule.

Committee members asked that the clerk’s office work with departments and corporation counsel to document workflows for drafting, legal review, and committee engagement as the branch increases its responsibilities. Hendricks said LRB will oversee the county drafting manual and work on republishing and cleaning up the county code as part of the branch’s expanded work.

The committee forwarded Resolution 244-25 to full council with a favorable recommendation (6 ayes, 1 no).