LIHU’E — In a move that surprised her critics, Mayor Maryanne Kusaka last night offered to remove herself from the list of Kaua’i County officials in line for salary hikes. “My critics are using the salary issue to make personal
LIHU’E — In a move that surprised her critics, Mayor Maryanne Kusaka last
night offered to remove herself from the list of Kaua’i County officials in
line for salary hikes.
“My critics are using the salary issue to make
personal attacks. If this is about me, don’t give me a pay raise. Pay my
appointees,” Kusaka said.
The mayor also noted during a County Council
meeting that her administration hadn’t had a pay increase in five years, while
other government employees continued to receive hikes.
“Please, may I
remind you, our public employee unions continue to receive collective
bargaining raises,” she said.
Kusaka said the county continues to lose
employees to municipalities that pay higher salaries, most recently a county
attorney who took a similar job with Maui County for about $10,000
more.
“We have lost and will continue to lose highly dedicated
professionals” because of “this short-sighted, (financially) punitive
attitude,” she said.
Kusaka waited through five hours of other matters to
make her points, but she didn’t wait five more minutes to hear her critics. She
left before the deluge of criticism sung by a familiar chorus began.
Mel
Rapozo, a Lihu`e private investigator, was up first.
“This is not punitive
… not personal. It’s strictly for one thing and one thing only. Money. I
think it’s clear the county cannot expend funds,” Rapozo said.
A County
Council candidate, Roger Ridgley Jr., agreed.
“I don’t think it’s time
right now. Some people are getting paid more than they are worth. I feel right
now that nobody should get a raise,” Ridgley said.
Glenn Mickens, a
citizen, had a different take on the issue. Noting that the county has pleaded
lack of funds for other issues recently, he wondered where the salary hike
money would come from.
“The bottom line for me, anyway, is not whether they
should get a raise, but is the money there?” Mickens asked.
“I’m very sorry
that the mayor left. This is a political issue. The timing of the proposal is
lousy,” said another citizen, John Owens.
Councilman Jimmy Tokioka,
chairman of the council’s Finance Committee, also commented on the timing of
the proposal.
“I want to make it clear that anything we do is not tied to
after the election. It’s a tough decision, but we have to make it,” he
said.
After polling each member of the council, Tokioka deferred a decision
and promised a further discussion and a vote at the next Finance Committee
meeting Sept. 27.
No vote on raises was taken last night.
The
ordinance amendment which would allow the council to set higher ranges of pay
for more than 40 department heads and chief deputies would, as written now,
also raise the mayor’s salary from $73,000 to $80,000.
The amendment was
proposed by the Kaua`i Salary Commission after eight months of debate.
At
the first reading of the bill, only Councilman Gary Hooser voted against the
proposed pay hikes. He has continued to reiterate his opposition.
“The
(current) pay scale is a good pay scale. The people (in government) are being
paid a fair wage,” he said.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached
at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and dwilken@pulitzer.net
