By July, the Honolulu City Council will likely see a 64% salary increase, but there has been some pushback among the public and councilmembers.
Back in April, the Honolulu Salary Commission proposed increases to salaries for elected officials and certain appointed department heads.
Councilmembers are seeing a bump from $68,904 up to $113,304, and the chair will go from $76,968 up to $123,288.
While the commission held public hearings earlier this year, some, like Councilmember Augie Tulba, would like a public hearing at the council level.
"I think one of the things that we failed to do is really informing the public," Tulba said Monday.
Tulba is joined by Councilmember Andria Tupola in introducing two resolutions rejecting the salary increases, but those were stalled pending referral for an agenda. In late May, Tulba sought member signatures to get the resolutions heard, but that failed ahead of June 1.
In a statement, Tupola called the one-time 64% raise "excessive."
“I would support a resolution to cap the salary commission recommendations to no more than 10% in one fiscal year," Tupola said. "I believe there is an easy win-win here: Reject the current salary increase proposal, have the salary commission come back with a more modest increase over a period of time, and get back to doing the work of the people.”
On Tuesday, Councilmember Radiant Cordero said she would return her salary should the measure go into effect, and supported the ban on outside employment.
"I signed up to be a public servant and will continue to work for my community and do not require a pay raise to do so," Cordero said in a statement.
Some local neighborhood boards have also been critical of the lack of public hearings, and of the large 64% salary gain.
At the Palolo Neighborhood Board meeting in May, Chair Josh Frost said he was for the raise, just not in the way it was being done. He compared it to when the state’s minimum wage was raised.
"Both the business community and the political establishment screamed bloody murder over a $5 raise over five years," Frost said. "I absolutely think they should deserve a raise, I do not think they deserve $113,000 or whatever it is a year, especially while a lot of them are all also working second jobs."
At the same meeting, fellow board member Dean McColgan voiced his support for the council to vote on its first raise in about a decade. But, McColgan said, people may take issue with the one-time percentage value.
"When it's such a big number, people are going to react to the big number, whereas the mistake, in my opinion, is that they did not receive gradual raises along the last 10-year period," McColgan said. "As we all know, if that the number is smaller and it's a softer hit on a yearly or annual basis, it probably would have gone a lot better."
The sweeping increase is a point of contention.
Vice Chair Esther Kiaʻāina said she would have liked a step increase.
"Do I wish that the increases were incremental over time? Absolutely, but that's not what was given to us," Kiaʻāina told HPR. "There's part of me that's feeling for a lot of the hard work that is put in, there seems to not be any value in the work that we do and that saddens me."
Kiaʻāina, along with Chair Tommy Waters, will introduce Bill 33 on Wednesday, which would limit members from holding outside employment. A separate resolution proposes the same change but as a charter amendment for the 2024 ballot — letting residents decide.
The City Charter doesn’t define whether the council is full or part-time, but the council designated itself so. This bill and resolution would essentially make them exclusive full-time lawmakers.
"Being a city councilmember is not just being present for city council meetings and for hearings, it's being present to find out the needs and concerns of your communities and working with the administration on addressing some of them," Kiaʻāina said.
But Tulba called the legislation a distraction from the salary talks.
"This issue of what is full-time and part-time is not even in the charter," Tulba said. "So I just think it's something like a smokescreen from dealing with the real issues: 64%"
State legislators are part-time lawmakers, primarily in session from January to May. Outside of session, many hold full-time jobs.
The part-time Kauaʻi County Council was previously the least paid in the state. In September, they opted to follow their salary commission's recommendation and take a 15% raise, done in steps.
It's a political move to vote on your own salary, said Kauaʻi Council Chair Mel Rapozo.
"There's no real clear-cut mechanism in place that would be purely objective, I think, you know, the councils… when the councils have to vote, it creates a problem, because I think for political reasons, it’s very difficult to approve a raise for yourself," Rapozo said.
Though he wasn't in office when the last council passed a raise, he said the salary commission's resolution appeared for public hearing.
"(It's) mandated that we have it on our agenda so the public has an opportunity to comment," Rapozo said.
Maui, which has one of the highest paid councils, is considered neither full nor part-time.
The regular Honolulu City Council will meet at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
