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CRAIG T. KOJIMA/CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
City Council members posed for a Jan. 3 inauguration-day photo. They stand to get pay raises of 60%-plus unless they decline the increases.
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The beginning of 2023 looked promising for seniors, as Social Security went up and helped with higher food and electricity costs.
Oops! Spoke too soon. Our elected leaders decided to raise property taxes, and the reserve funds condo owners must have, so condo maintenance went up, too.
And it got worse. The Honolulu Salary Commission thinks some city workers should have a 63% pay increase. When City Council members ran for office, though, they knew what the pay was and we heard how much they cared about Honolulu. I hope the mayor looks a little harder to get qualified workers who think serving Honolulu is more important than the salary.
To top it off: Sunday’s front-page story about HMSA’s exorbitant salaries for their executives and their business practices in the last few years was mind-blowing (“HMSA execs saw big pandemic pay raises,” Star-Advertiser). How can HMSA justify its actions when it can’t compensate doctors fairly? No wonder doctors leave.
Let’s hope the City Council settles for much lower raises, and HMSA shows some heart for doctors and the people who need them.
Pat Paterson
Moiliili
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