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Honolulu does not need a salary commission to set the pay for City Council members and other city officials. All we need is common sense.
If these elected and appointed officials are supposed to represent their constituents, then they should be paid similar to those they represent. After all, they should feel the same pain they inflict on us with the decisions they make.
Use the area median income (AMI) for an individual in Honolulu as the basis for Council members’ pay: 110% of individual AMI for Council members, 115% for the chair, 150% for the mayor with the remaining officials receiving a percentage of the mayor’s pay as they do now. To stay current, the pay rate can be adjusted based on the AMI at each election cycle.
No more politics, just plain common sense.
Miles Baidack
Hawaii Kai
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