The Honolulu City Council will continue discussions on whether members can hold outside employment after killing a bill this month.
Vice Chair Esther Kiaʻāina and Chair Tommy Waters introduced a bill and resolution to bar members from outside employment. Only the resolution, which would option the question as a charter amendment next election, is still alive.
Kiaʻāina asked to kill the bill at Wednesday’s meeting, noting that more public input is the goal.
"While I want more dialogue on these issues, I would respectfully ask that we pull Bill 33 because it only relates to the council having a say in that," Kiaʻāina said. "The intent was just to make it become effective earlier."
This move was made after a lengthy discussion on whether or not council is a full or part-time job.
These are talks that have been made before. Councilmember Andria Tupola said she went back to read old council charters on the topic.
"When I read it, I was like, this is the exact same conversation from 1955, and the reason why we're gonna get stuck at it is because we're not considered employees," Tupola said at council. "We're not subjected to hourly and wage laws, and we're not necessarily disciplined when we don't do these things."
These discussions are, in part, related to ongoing salary conflicts.
The council will likely see a 64% raise in July, at the recommendation of the Salary Commission. Councilmembers will see a bump from $68,904 up to $113,304, and the chair will go from $76,968 up to $123,288. The council last openly rejected a raise in 2013.
Some councilmembers have asked that a measure regarding the raise be on a council agenda ahead of the effective date, even if to just reject the raise publicly, though many have said they are against it.
Waters has come under fire for not moving forward on a hearing, citing a potential conflict of interest.
"A 'no' vote on a resolution to reject the salaries that's a double negative, it results in a positive, so a 'no' vote on a resolution to reject salary, one-time salary adjustment results in the pay going up, which is a direct conflict of interest," Waters said.
During the meeting, some members disclosed potential conflicts before the vote on the resolution, which passed and will go to committee this summer.
Councilmembers must tread lightly on discussions about salary increases, per Deputy Corporation Counsel Duane Pang. But since there's a connotation that the outside employment resolution and bill are related to the salary increases, it may be OK to have these discussions.
"Members of the public, if they perceive it's related to a bill or something else that is on the agenda, you can accept that the testimony but whether it would put the body cannot be talking about matters that are not on the agenda," Pang said.
