As for directors getting paid less than their subordinates, so what?
Case in point, a fire deputy or fire chief are not in harm’s way on a day-to-day basis as is a fireman or captain. A deputy or chief position is an entirely different job. It is archaic to think that they should automatically make more than their subordinates.
The list of 20 salaries total over $2.5 million a year, which is a lot of money. Putting this in perspective, it is essential to consider the entire compensation package. Because there are many compensation plans, dependent mainly upon the particular union contract, consider the following scenario:
Subtracting sick and personal leave (18 days per year), holidays (14 days per year), and annual leave (18 days per year), an employee is required to be at work approximately 210 days per year. An employee that is paid $150,000 per year, which equals $714 per day or $89 per hour, for the amount of time they spend on the job. As for additional benefits, this employee contributes 6 percent of their pay to a retirement plan for about 30 years. In retirement, this employee will get approximately 60 percent of the average of the highest three years of employment, for the rest of their life, plus a raise of about 2 percent every year. The 6 percent contribution is depleted in about three years of retirement and then the state has to pay up. The retiree also gets a stipend to cover health insurance and Medicare.
Did the commission consider all these perks?
It is real difficult to imagine that the average person on the Big Island receives anything close to this compensation. As for this average person getting one of these positions, let us be clear, these positions are not 100 percent competitive.
It is obvious that Hawaii is facing a fiscal crisis of gargantuan proportions, proportionally similar to the state of California and the federal government. Employee compensation is a big part of this. This begs the question, what do we do? Many things could be done to rectify this situation, but local control is paramount.
Hawaii is different from the rest of the states, in that all counties are physically separated from each other. Each county is also unique in culture, attitude, and economics — amongst other things. Whenever certain issues arise, we are often forced to ask an unseen bureaucrat in Honolulu, whose decision may not be appropriate for our situation. Many times this process also requires travel to Oahu. This is very inefficient in terms of time and money.
As for the very generous compensation package alluded to in the newspaper article, wages and benefits are set in Honolulu, where the cost of living is much higher than on the Big Island.
It is time that these issues are addressed by allowing each county to take charge of its own affairs. This would include all departments such as: Taxation, the University of Hawaii branches, the public school system, the Department of Transportation (Why do we need two highway departments anyway?), the Department of Land and Natural Resources, to name a few.
Much to the chagrin of my union friends, this process would also localize the union contract negotiations which would more closely reflect local concerns and economics. This is called local control. The state would thus be totally subordinate to the counties.
As for the fact that no members of the public opposed the Salary Commission action, perhaps the meeting time and place should be published one week in advance in the local paper in a readable font, and in a prominent location.
I must commend the two commissioners who had the spinal fortitude to realize that something was not right about this whole process. Mahalo to Harold Dow and Florence Ikeda. Perhaps they, too, realize the unsustainable nature of this huge expenditure.
Kawika Fischer is a resident of Captain Cook.
