More than one-third of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s 320 roles remain unfilled, from secretaries to pest control technicians and noxious weed specialists.

That exceeds the overall state government’s 27% job vacancy rate, and it has senators grilling agency leaders ahead of the upcoming legislative session that opens Wednesday.

“It really concerns me that we haven’t made progress,” Sen. Troy Hashimoto said at a briefing this week. “If you don’t get that under control and keep people, I don’t see how you’re going to proceed.”

The DOA laid out its two main priorities for the Senate Ways and Means Committee: $2.7 million for incentives and programs and another $2.9 million to pay its 46 plant industry inspectors from a different bucket. In obtaining that new money for the 46 inspectors the agency hopes to free up cash from a special fund to spend directly on invasive species control.

Twenty of the vacant positions fall under the Plant Industry Division, which oversees biological security and control. The division has been castigated over the past nine months for being ineffectual.

Among the division’s shortcomings is the spread of crop-killing coconut rhinoceros beetles across the archipelago, which were previously contained on Oahu for close to a decade. Stinging little fire ants have also become a key concern, especially for Oahu’s windward communities. 

At an information briefing with the Senate money committee Monday, lawmakers took issue with the department’s fixation on other priorities.

Those initiatives would be moot if biosecurity is not bolstered, WAM Chair Donovan Dela Cruz said.

“I don’t see why this isn’t all hands on deck — mainly where the money has to go — because if you don’t have crops there’s no sense in having other programs,” he said.

Acting Plant Industry Administrator Carol Okada said more staff members are needed, and she attempted to explain the department’s long-term goals, which includes about $15 million for projects between 2024 and 2027 to bolster pest control and biosecurity.

“We’ve been losing positions steadily year after year but now it’s almost below critical mass,” Okada said.

Those vacant roles include pest control technicians, plant quarantine inspectors and a plant quarantine manager. The salaries range from about $34,000 to $90,000.

The agency has long faced issues in staffing, at least as far back as 2009, when then-Gov. Linda Lingle cut dozens of positions to make up for a budget shortfall associated with the economic recession. Now it has the positions but not the bodies to fill them.

Hashimoto said that DOA Director Sharon Hurd’s predecessor tried to resolve the issue but struggled, encouraging Hurd to get “creative” about attracting more talent.

“Back then they told me that 50% of the department over the course of three to four years was churning,” he said.

DOA Deputy Chair Dexter Kishida said that filling those positions in the plant industry division is often difficult because competing outfits often pay more, such as the federal government or universities.

“Some of the positions require extensive education but the compensation doesn’t follow,” Kishida said in an interview.

The rapid spread of coconut rhinoceros beetles and little fire ants last year prompted outcry from the invasive species community and affected communities from across Oahu. The issue is not just a concern at the state level.

Honolulu City Council member Matt Weyer introduced a resolution on Dec. 28 recognizing the important role that the counties of Hawaii have in invasive species control, calling for the City and County to do more.

Hurd briefed Honolulu’s Housing, Sustainability and Health Committee on the invasive species, agreeing on the need for more collaboration.

Weyer’s resolution was approved by the committee and will go before the full council on Jan. 24.

On the state level, Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, who represents windward communities infested with little fire ants, has been one of the key lawmakers spearheading the issue on Oahu and scrutinizing the DOA’s processes.

At the briefing on Monday, Keohokalole raised questions over the plan the DOA had in August for how to use $8 million — including $2.9 million for staff — to fight invasive species and reorganize the plant industry division.

Hurd said the division had yet to decide on how to reorganize itself and the rest of the department to best align itself with its priorities.

Hurd attributed the delay to being distracted by the Aug. 8 wildfires on Maui.

“We had to refocus,” Hurd said. “We’ll get to it.”

“Hawaii Grown” is funded in part by grants from Ulupono Fund at the Hawaii Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation.