The Hawaii County Council has voted not to turn down a 22% raise given to them a year ago. Their reasons?
The desire not to politicize the salary process, poor timing, the need to boost spending to help the economy and personal financial hardship.
Emily Naeole says she buys gas for stranded motorists, food for the hungry, and donates to other charitable causes. She also points out that she’s a single mom and feels she deserves every penny.
Kelly Greenwell says that “it’s not belt-tightening time.”
These days, when thousands upon thousands of people across the country are being laid off, when health insurance costs are rising, when employees are being asked to take furloughs and pay cuts, these are not the times to be taking more money from the people who pay your salaries. Kelly Greenwell is completely wrong. These are belt-tightening times. If you cannot see this, Mr. Greenwell, then it’s high time you pay attention to the world around you.
The six council members who voted for this bill, Naeole, Greenwell, Donald Ikeda, J Yoshimoto, Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, and Guy Enriques, ought to lose your vote in their next elections. Unless, of course, they support similar raises for county employees. After all, what better way to boost spending to help the economy than to give people raises? What better way to help prevent personal financial hardships?
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