Letter: Mayor sneaks around issue of big pay raises

Thanks to David Shapiro for exposing the effort by the mayor and City Council to get outlandish pay raises through the Honolulu Salary Commission, a group appointed by the mayor and the Council (“Mayor, Honolulu City Council asking big raises from handpicked panel,” Star-Advertiser, Volcanic Ash, March 19).

This is such typical sneaky politics. The mayor has set up a smokescreen by touring the island, holding town hall meetings while the pay raises are being discussed. When asked in a television interview about the raises, Blangiardi said he didn’t come to talk about that, but wanted to talk about the town hall meetings.

Blangiardi would get a 17.1% raise, while the highest inflation reading for the U.S. in the last year is 9.2%. Why? He hasn’t solved the homelessness problem or the street pothole problem, and with real property taxes through the roof, he offers a one-time $300 rebate. Will the property taxes pay for these raises?

City Council members shouldn’t be paid for a full-time job. They already work full-time: half-time for the city and half-time for the construction companies and unions that pay them by making campaign fund contributions.

Don Voyce

Aina Haina

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