Salaries should not be based on individual performances

The salary commission should set salaries by job classifications and not by

individual performances. We should not hold grudges on a personal basis that

carry on and penalize future administrations. If this is done, I do not think

that we cut salaries if individuals do not perform — we remove them and save

the position.

In the private sector, a job position is rated accordingly by

dollars and cents. Applicants either accept the salary offered or look

elsewhere. If individuals accept and cannot do the job, he or she is removed or

transferred — it’s like saying, “We respect the job position and expect the

employee to do the job.”

Once again, job position should be the focus for

salary evaluations — personal grudges carry on if we put too much emphasis on

individuals, thereby penalizing future administrations.

Public workers’

salaries are settled by arbitration or contracts and can be settled by proper

finances scheduling over a period of time, retroactively. Unions should show

tolerance and patience. If government does not have the monies to pay on demand

— they should be more concerned about job security.

Also, something is

drastically wrong when an employee receives a higher salary than his or her

superiors by position.

We cannot set future budgets accurately if we do not

know job ratings and finance requirements ahead of time.

We always say,

“Now is not the time — when IS the right time? In the meantime,

administrations come and go and we have not corrected the system.

We have

many qualified personnel in our county government and we should not spend as

much money hiring consultants whose plans are shelved and filed for future use

— sometimes never!

Phil Laverly

Kapa’a