Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong
I cannot believe that Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong is asking the county Data Systems Department to collect data on which web sites employees are visiting during work hours. It is preposterous and a total waste of time and money.
The mission for Data Systems should be to get county department web sites either established or modernized, seeking a paperless and more efficient way to disseminate public information. Instead, we have a witch hunt on county employees that might be wasting more time surfing the internet.
This move made by our Hamakua councilman is an effort to make people think he is leaving no stone unturned in his mission to save taxpayer dollars. In reality, he is being totally archaic and counterproductive. An employee visiting a web site on the Internet is really no different than another county worker who cooks for himself or colleagues in the department break room, plans and hosts office party potlucks, leans too long on the shovel, or puffs on cigarettes outside.
Dominic Yagong is calling a witch hunt on people that waste county time. In doing so, he is using Data Systems, which could better spend public time and money creating and modernizing web sites for the various county departments.
I’m actually really disappointed in Dominic Yagong. I have often counted on him to be the voice of reason on the County Council. This time he is looking unnecessarily draconian:
“During meetings Tuesday (March 31, 2009) with department heads to discuss their individual budgets for next fiscal year, which begins July 1, Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong requested Data Systems Director Burt Tsuchiya to prepare a report on which Web sites employees are visiting during work hours.
Yagong said some employees have told him that other county workers are abusing their computer privileges by browsing Web sites that have nothing to do with their jobs.
He said he wants a breakdown by department on ‘the types of hits departments are taking on the Internet during county time.’
Yagong said if there is abuse, ‘we would be able to correlate it to productivity.’
If, for instance, some employees in a particular department are visiting Internet sites regularly that have nothing to do with county business, the county ‘may be able to correlate that to overtime,’ he said.”
(http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2009/04/01/local//local02.txt)
Luckily, Kona Councilman Kelly Greenwell had a sober moment in what sounds to me like a gathered group of officials drunk with power and authority.
“‘Unless there is a gross abuse, the idea of being police … to me is a very dangerous stance to take,’ Greenwell said.
If employees feel they are being watched all the time, that may hurt their productivity, Greenwell said.
‘I know you mean well,’ Greenwell said to Yagong, ‘but I think you’re treading on some pretty dangerous turf here. We don’t want to be police officers.’”
After the budget hearing, Dominic Yagong told reporter Jim Quirk that he wanted the Data Systems report, not to see people fired persay, but “to find out the truth” and to drive home a point that our county employees shouldn’t be progressive and surf the internet.
What’s wrong with this picture? Everything. It just stinks; it is so icky. Is Dominic Yagong going to call for county employees to not take cigarette breaks on the job? What about those county workers that lean on their shovels too long, or cook, eat, and talk story in the break room? Is Dominic Yagong going to want reports for these time wasters as well?
Dominic is opening Pandora’s box with the suggestion to correlate county employee productivity with web site visits. How much time and tape is wasted on so many of the County Council’s reports, resolutions, and bills? Truly. Dominic, can we please get to the more meaningful things, like addressing our landfill problem and turning it into an energy solution? Can we work on local economic development, which involves, among other things, establishing Hawaii County in cyberspace? Can we start thinking of how to save money, time, and resources, and how to maximize the quality of life? Sheesh.
Rather than spend time and money meant for a report on county employee internet surfing, pursue streaming Hawaii County Council meetings live on the Internet.
If Dominic Yagong wants to save the county some money, look to the Council budget. Make arrangements to host Hawaii County Council meetings in Kona at the Old Airport Park pavilion rather than the Sheraton Keahou Bay Resort and Spa ballroom; ban county worker, department head, and council member travel out of state. Try to avoid unnecessary meetings and business that essentially wastes the public’s time and money.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:44 am
True Dpminic on yet another solo mission and a personal rant. The charter says three council members can jointly ask for a heafring on a subject, such as hapopened in the Kohala Task Force investigation in the later 1970s.
That ought to happen before any staff time is wasted on this.
What next, intercepting personal mail and reading its contents?
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:04 am
I don’t see anything wrong with employee accountability. Are the workers “surfing” a little during a break, or are they spending hours watching youtube and switching screens when the boss walks by? Knowing they are monitered will keep them honest.
Worried about worker morale? There are lots of people who would like a cush government job even without internet access or disgusting “ciggy” breaks.
I would take it a little further and remove the back seats of the county crew cab trucks. Make it a little more difficult for county sponsored naps.
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:15 am
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April 19th, 2009 at 10:42 am
I really want to have my taxes increased to pay for County Employees watching pornos on the job. Everybody should be able to look at porn on my dime. What about you guys? Gonna chip in too?