Council members: How will you vote on raises?

Even though I lost the council race, I thought it was my patriotic duty to

voice my protest against the pay raise for the Kaua’i County Council.

I

mentioned to the members of the Salary Commission that they often recommend

increases because the council appoints three of them, the mayor appoints three

of them and then they get together to select the seventh member. That is about

as fair as elections in a communist country.

I mentioned how Councilman

Jimmy Tokioka’s video said he was brought up with such high morals that it is

even difficult to talk about his achievements. An extremely moral person would

refuse to vote for a pay raise for the mayor and her aides when his own wife is

one of the mayor’s aides.

Someone mentioned Councilman Ron Kouchi stated he

works full-time because even when he is standing in line at a store, people

talk to him about council issues. Did Kouchi make a joke??

One day while I

was walking miles and miles, I met Councilman Bryan Baptiste and asked him why

everyone on the council except Gary Hooser voted to give Kusaka traveling

money. Baptiste said Hooser didn’t vote to deny Kusaka traveling money. She

takes it from a fund, even though the council doesn’t want her to travel.

I

called Hooser that evening and he explained how Baptiste doesn’t remember there

was a vote to appoint money for traveling to sister cities.

Here are some

numbers for absentee balloting. Strange how (of the major contenders) Hooser

and John Barretto are the only ones who strongly spoke out against giving the

mayor and her aides pay raises, and they did much worse with absentee ballots.

Hooser had 45 percent of the absentee vote and 55.3 percent on election day.

Barretto captured only 22.3 percent of the absentee vote and 31.5 percent on

election day.

Absentee balloting was bad for both Hawaiian girls. Rhoda

Libre had 11.5 percent of the absentee vote and 20.7 percent on election day.

Kauilani Kahalekai had 13.1 percent of the absentee vote and 19.4 percent on

election day.

The only candidate who consistently does much better with

absentee voting is Kouchi. He captured 61 percent of the absentee vote and 53.3

percent on election day — almost 8 percent less on election day.

The

members of the Salary Commission are unhappy the vote for the pay raises is at

election time. I urge all voters to contact their elected councilmen and find

out how they will vote for the proposed humongous salary increase for the mayor

and her aides.

Remind them you will remember two years from now if they put

off the vote for the raises until after the Nov. 7, 2000 election.

Bob

Cariffe

Lihu’e