The Honolulu Salary Commission voted Tuesday to increase the pay of the city medical examiner by 25 percent, to $250,000, in an attempt to attract qualified people for a job that has not been permanently filled since late 2009.
But the commission deferred a decision on raising the police chief’s pay to $160,000 from 143,729 and the deputy police chiefs’ pay to $152,000 from $137,000, pending more discussion at its April 1 meeting.
"The reality is we’re not fully out of a recession yet, and there’s a real concern of what’s the appropriate level to increase the salaries," Chairwoman Sara Buehler said.
Since taking office in January, Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s department directors and deputies have taken voluntarily 5 percent pay cuts.
Salary Commission member Jeff Portnoy agreed that the police chief and two deputy chiefs should receive a salary increase, but he opposed the proposed raises.
He said the pay increase should be closer to increases in the private sector.
"I’m not in favor of something more than 2 to 3 percent," Portnoy said.
Commission member Kevin Sakamoto pointed out that assistant police chiefs who are under union contract are paid more than the department’s top executives. One assistant chief earns slightly more than the chief, while four assistant chiefs earn more than the deputy chief, according to the city Department of Human Resources.
The position of medical examiner has been vacant since the retirement of Kanthi De Alwis in October 2009. Deputy William Goodhue was named acting director, but retired in September 2011.
Human Resources officials said only two people inquired about the $200,000-a-year job last year, adding that one of the two wasn’t serious about being hired and that there were problems with the other applicant.
The National Association of Medical Examiners canceled the city Office of the Medical Examiner’s certification in 2010 because the department did not meet the group’s criteria.
In the meantime, some former city forensic pathologists, including De Alwis, have been working for the department on a contract basis.
The demand for qualified forensic pathologists is high. There are only about 500 of them board-certified, while there are some 2,200 coroner’s or medical examiner’s offices in the nation, the city said.
The salary commission also voted to increase the pay for deputy medical examiner — also a vacant position — to $200,000 from $129,168.
Once the Salary Commission approves the pay for city department heads and their deputies, the new rate of pay takes effect 60 days later, unless the City Council rejects the commission’s decision by a three-fourths vote, according to the City Charter.
