The Salary Commission is not doing the job correctly. The charter says to consider private business and public business.
The Salary Commission is not doing the job correctly. The charter says to consider private business and public business.
No private sector company gives out the kind of raises the Salary Commission gave out.
If the Big Island wants to be like Maui then have a Property Tax Commission that sets property taxes at Maui’s lower rates.
It also is not uncommon to pay an employee more than the manager in the private sector. It is common to pay a senior software engineer more than the manager in the technical field.
Would a water well engineer who could fix a pump be worth more than the manager? Can one believe that the Salary Commission was considering a new wave of raises? I would vote to eliminate the Salary Commission and tie manager salary increases to the cost of living index like Social Security. If bigger increases are needed put it on the ballot.
Hawaii County government should be run more like a business than a country club. I suggest the following changes. Change the pCard system to be like private business. Issue the cards in the holder’s name. Make the holder responsible for paying the bill. To be reimbursed requires an expense report giving the exact business need. Require a reasonable time of 30 days to submit the report. Make a deal with the card company to get a percentage of any interest payed on the card as income to the county.
Suspend all off island travel by government employees without approval by the mayor’s office. Don’t allow six county council members to waste money traveling to Oahu and staying in a hotel when there is no business need. Stop funding the Hilo golf course expenses.
Change any employee making more than $100,000 a year to salaried. Give salaried employees discretionary time off for overtime instead of money.
Don’t fund discretionary money for county council members. Change the seniority rule so that if a laid off employee replaces a lower paid employee in a different position they get the salary of the employee being replaced. Allow overpaid employees to accept lower pay or be laid off.
The county budget needs to be trimmed. I have seen many of these suggestions implemented in private business.
Michael Wilson is a resident of Captain Cook.
