Regarding the July 1 raises for the City Council and certain city officials, I offer some action items regarding the Honolulu Salary Commission:
>> Make a position on the commission a paid one, following its own logic and “appropriately compensating” officials for their work.
>> Make the commission independent from all elected city officials.
>> Enact commission decisions via legislative or popular vote rather than by Council vote.
>> Empower the commission to recommend incremental raises.
>> Resolve the “Is it a part-time or full-time position?” confusion.
>> If part-time, resolve the outside job problem by disallowing conflicts of interest.
>> Abolish the commission. Now that pay is indexed and deferred matching has been restored, tie officials’ pay to the cost of living.
I leave it to the officials to act, but it certainly seems as though something must be done to avoid the painful process and results of the commission’s latest decision.
Eric McCutcheon
Maunalani Heights
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