• Salary parity • Bush’s travels Salary parity One reason given is to achieve pay parity with Hawai‘i and Maui counties. The current population of Kaua‘i is approx. 60,000 while that of Hawai‘i is 155,000 and Maui has 134,000. This
• Salary parity
• Bush’s travels
Salary parity
One reason given is to achieve pay parity with Hawai‘i and Maui counties. The current population of Kaua‘i is approx. 60,000 while that of Hawai‘i is 155,000 and Maui has 134,000. This means that a salary of $100,000 paid to an assistant department head would cost every man, woman, and child on Kaua‘i $1.67 ¤ or $6.68 for a typical family of four. That same $100K salary would only cost a Maui family $3.00 and a Big Island family a mere $2.60. Are we here on Kaua‘i so much richer than our neighbor island counterparts? Carrying this concept to an extreme, why not compare these salaries to those paid in Honolulu (or New York or Tokyo)? Or maybe to Oprah Winfrey who only works one hour a day?
With our smaller population, perhaps we don’t need as many department heads, assistants, and assistants to the assistants. Fewer people on the payroll, with the savings going to hiring experienced and knowledgeable consultants on an as-needed basis could solve a lot of our fiscal problems.
Another reason given for the pay raises is that the union employees make more than their managers. This argument is a case of the tail wagging the dog. Because our elected and appointed officials are so fearful of the power of the public employee unions, they have let their pay demands escalate exponentially. And now these same people who have given away the keys to the candy store want to get their share too.
Although sometimes it seems that the sole purpose of the residents is to do the bidding of the county, especially when it comes time to pay the tax bill, the politicians, bureaucrats, and unionized workers are really our employees.
Stan Godes
Hanalei
Bush’s travels
Having now compared the military service records of George W. Bush and John Kerry, I would like to move on to the one document in President Bush’s past that I am most interested in seeing-not his military records, but his passport.
I believe that, prior to assuming the office of President, Bush had only been outside the United States twice.
No matter how much a person reads or watches TV, it is impossible to really understand the rest of the world without actually spending time there-just as it is impossible to truly appreciate Hawai‘i without coming here.
I realize that many average Americans cannot afford to travel overseas. But surely those who reach the level of presidential candidates should do so, as a vital part of their education. In this global age, it is no longer acceptable to elect a President who speaks only one language and who has not traveled extensively throughout the world.
A comparison of the passports of Bush and Kerry would be most enlightening as would a comparison of their language ability, in both English and other languages.
Barbara Elmore
Lihu‘e
