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<\/a>Mayor Kimo Alameda gives the State of the County address at Nani Mau Gardens in Hilo on Feb. 12, 2026. (Kelsey Walling\/Big Island Now)<\/p>\nAt that time, Alameda formed a task force<\/a> to tackle the issue within Human Resources. The task force brainstormed ideas about how to recruit.<\/p>\n Alameda said Wednesday that things have improved, with about 100 of those openings filled. But vacancies still are high, with 589 out of a workforce of 3,395 (17.3%).<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to have less vacancies and better retention, because if you don\u2019t have good retention, then you just always have vacancies because people are not happy with the quality,\u201d Alameda said. \u201cWe had to attack this from both ends.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In some departments, including the building department, service has improved, Alameda said. With the hiring of nine clerks for openings in Hilo and Kona, all clerk positions in the building department have been filled, cutting down the delay in reviewing and processing permits. Alameda also added a supervising building permit clerk position.<\/p>\n ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ADARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/p>\n Alameda said the task force attacked the vacancy problem from multiple angles, including recruiting at high schools and colleges. The task force also participated in job fairs. And the county is taking care of its current employees, who in turn become the \u201cbest recruiters,\u201d the mayor said.<\/p>\n Sommer Tokihiro, director of Human Resources, said the county is proactively evaluating its position class specifications, position descriptions, department needs and making changes to broaden the applicant pool. <\/p>\n She said the county has removed the requirements for degrees in specific disciplines, unless there is a regulatory or statutory requirement that requires a degree in a specific area, such as engineering.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has resulted in more qualified applicants being referred to hiring departments for interviews,\u201d Tokihiro said Friday.<\/p>\n The county has received more than 10,300 applications in 2025, compared to 9,200 in 2024.<\/p>\n ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/p>\n \u201cWe have also been working with departments to recruit for positions at multiple levels, so we can attract applicants that may meet the requirements at a lower level, and provide on-the-job training and experience, and a career ladder progression to the permanent class of work,\u201d Tokihiro said.<\/p>\n Benson Medina, the county\u02bbs director of research and development, has been building on the work started by Human Resources and is now working with nonprofits and the community college to find people wanting and needing work, whether it\u2019s in the public or private sector.<\/p>\n But there were some areas in the country that saw increases in vacancies, most drastically the Department of Water Supply that went from 44 to 81 openings over the past year.<\/p>\n Kawika Uyehara, deputy for the water supply department, said one reason is that there was an increase of specifically needed positions between the last fiscal year and this year.<\/p>\n \u201cAcross the board in our department, each of our divisions had a little bit of an increase in the number of positions budgeted,\u201d Uyehara said, noting a larger percentage of open positions was for the operating division.<\/p>\n ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s our boots on the ground folks that take care of the systems island-wide,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe have four operation base yards in Hilo, Waimea, Kona and Ka\u2018\u016b.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, the vacancy numbers reflect the Department of Water Supply\u2019s increasing capacity and filling positions that have been vacated because of a variety of reasons, including retirements and separations, said Tom Callis, a county spokesperson.<\/p>\n \u201cThe increase in personnel budget is due to current and anticipated workloads, promotional opportunities for current staff, continuity of operations, and succession planning,\u201d Callis said.<\/p>\n Positions within the Department of Water Supply are approved by the Water Board. A call to the board secretary went unreturned.<\/p>\n Tokihiro said positions within all departments are based on operational needs. <\/p>\n \u201cIn some cases, departments are able to re-evaluate vacant positions and reallocate positions to a different position to address a current need, and not have to add a position,\u201d she said. \u201cIn other cases, the department may still have the operational need for the vacant position and they just haven\u2019t been able to fill through recruitment, and new needs arise for positions in other areas. We look closely at current vacancies to evaluate all options when considering the need for adding positions in our departments.\u201d<\/p>\n Callis also said vacant positions in the county fluctuate with people leaving for other jobs or additional funding for positions that become available.<\/p>\n The task force has transitioned to fall under the county Department of Research and Development. Alameda said the county is in the next stage, where he recognizes a lack of employees across public and private sectors, including hospitality, construction and technology.<\/p>\n In the county, the Department of Environmental Management remains particularly challenging for filling openings, with many of the positions requiring a certain skillset, like those who work on wastewater, or requiring people who can work in the field and the office.<\/p>\n Alameda said he would like more middle management engineers in public works. He also would like more project managers in parks and recreation.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of projects that I want completed, but they can only move as fast as the staff,\u201d Alameda said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have somebody overseeing the project, then it cannot move.\u201d<\/p>\n A projects manager with parks and recreation or wastewater has an annual salary range of $72,516 to $103,212. <\/p>\n Alameda said the county also struggles with finding lifeguards for the public pools, saying they seem to lose candidates to the ocean safety side because the pay is a little better.<\/p>\n To address this, Alameda said, the county lowered the age for applicants to 16 years old after certification.<\/p>\n A pool lifeguard trainee has an annual salary range of $43,272 to $64,056. Pool lifeguard and senior pool lifeguard positions have an annual salary range from $46,800 to $74,904. <\/p>\n Also, Alameda thinks that honoring hazard pay earned during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 helped show county employees they were valued. The mayor estimated paying $50 million to almost 3,000 employees from four unions: State of Hawai\u2018i Organization of Police Officers, Hawai\u2018i Firefighters Association, Hawai\u2018i Government Employees Association and United Public Workers.<\/p>\n The mayor also does regular employee shoutouts during his Friday updates that post on social media to help with morale.<\/p>\n<\/a>Hawai\u02bbi County workers clean up debris from homeless encampment near the downtown Hilo canal on July 8, 2024. Photo credit: Hawai\u2018i County<\/p>\n<\/a>Hawai\u2018i County Department of Public Works crews clear a well Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, on Walua Road in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island. (Photo Courtesy: Hawai\u2018i County)<\/p>\n<\/a>A lifeguard looks over NAS Pool in Hilo as keiki use the diving board on the first day of its reopening. (File photo: Kelsey Walling)<\/p>\n