Citizens oppose officials’ pay raises

LIHU’E – Nobody who spoke out at yesterday’s Kaua’i County Council meeting

thinks the mayor is underpaid.

The council held a public hearing concerning

the proposed 10 percent salary hike for various county officials, including

Mayor Maryanne Kusaka, her administrative assistant, Wally Rezentes Sr.,

Prosecuting Attorney Michael Soong, police chief George Freitas and other

department heads and assistants.

The salary issue stems from months of

meetings by the Salary Commission, a non-partisan body appointed by the mayor

and the council.

“I must ask the council to reject the 10 percent pay

raise. Any raise should be tied to an independent evaluation,” said Glenn

Mickens, a Kaua`i resident for the past decade.

Mickens also noted there is

already a “huge disparity” between the $28,000 to $31,000 council members make

and the $73,118 Kusaka is pulling down. The proposed raise would hike the

hayor’s pay to $80,500.

“Government has this bottomless pit—just tax

dollars. It’s a deterrent to efficiency,” Mickens said.

Mel Rapozo, a

Lihu`e-based private investigator, shared some statistics on government

officials’ wages.

According to Rapozo, the mayor of Honolulu is paid

$102,000, and the mayors of Mau`i and the Big Island receive $87,098 and

$78,564, respectively. Rapozo said, Kaua`i, with 56,603 residents, is paying

its mayor the most at $1.29 per citizen, compared to 12 cents per 872,478

citizens in Honolulu, 72 cents per 120,711 citizens on Maui and 55 cents apiece

for the 143,135 people on Hawai`i.

“No matter how you look at it, Kauai’s

administration is paid fairly well,” Rapozo said.

“The reason that each and

every one of you got involved in politics should be public service. It should

not be to make it a career,” he told the Kaua’i officials.

John Owens, a

Northshore resident, called the proposed increases “exorbitant.”

“I do not

feel the proposed raises are in the best interests of the community. Raises

should be driven by distinguished performance, not time in service,” Owens

said.

John Barretto, a candidate for council in the upcoming election,

complained, “There is no money to increase bus service on the weekend for the

old, the weak and the very sick. If there are enough funds for a pay raise, use

it for the bus company.

“The only reason government exists is to do things

the public can’t do for themselves. A pay increase is not feasible or desirable

at this time.”

When officials “were elected or appointed there were no

secrets. They knew the pay—a contract, if you will,” Barretto

concluded.

The pay raise measure now goes back to the council’s Finance

Committee for further discussion before the full council votes on it.

The

committee chairman, Councilman James Tokioka, said no date had been set for the

final vote.

The bill received a preliminary council approva. Aug. 9 by a

6-to-1 vote, with only Councilman Gary Hooser opposing. The first vote is not

binding, and the council has in the past changed reversed itself when a bill

was considered the second time.

Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be

reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and dwilken@pulitzer.net