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hike recommendation—even though it could be looked at as compensating for a half-decade with no increase.
<br /> Kobayashi and Menor said they might consider 4 percent.
<br /> "Somehow it is hard to accept a pay raise when we are trying to find money for so many things,"said Kobayashi,
<br /> who chairs the Council's Budget Committee.
<br /> Menor agreed. "My concern is based on the fact that the city is still facing budgetary constraints in terms of the
<br /> difficult times we are having in finding money for important programs and services,"he said.
<br /> Honolulu's City Council is not alone in repeatedly rejecting its own pay raises.
<br /> San Diego's salary commission finally got fed up this year after its City Council rejected a proposed raise for 10
<br /> consecutive years. During that time,the cost of living has increased 27 percent,as the commission noted in a
<br /> February 2014 report.
<br /> So instead of recommending that San Diego City Council salaries increase from$75,386 to$105,310 this year,
<br /> the commission said it wasn't going to bother.
<br /> The"salary setting commission believes that any recommended pay increase at this time would simply be
<br /> politicized by the City Council and would take the focus away from the real dysfunction here,which is the fact that
<br /> Council members vote on their own pay,a gross conflict of interest,"the commission wrote.
<br /> Instead, San Diego's commission recommended a charter amendment that would prohibit council members from
<br /> having any say in their own salaries.
<br /> Kirk Caldwell is also up for an 8 percent raise this year, which would boost the mayor's salary to$153,239. But he
<br /> too has rejected a pay increase. He currently earns$129,607 because he rejected a prior raise and voluntarily
<br /> reduced his own salary by about$12,000.
<br /> But in addition to his mayoral salary, Caldwell is paid between$200,000 and$299,999 as a director of Territorial
<br /> Savings Bank, according to the financial disclosure form that he filed with the city. He also collects a state
<br /> pension of between$10,000 and$24,999 a year and his wife, Donna Tanoue, earns between$700,000 and
<br /> $799,999 as Vice Chair of Bank of Hawaii.
<br /> Mayoral salaries for similar cities varied widely, ranging from a low of about$100,000 in San Diego to a high of
<br /> $271,000 in San Francisco.
<br /> Earning More Than the Boss
<br /> Chris Takashige directs one of the city's most important agencies,the Department of Design and Construction.
<br /> He's responsible for overseeing the planning,design and construction of the city's capital improvement projects,
<br /> such as roads, parks and wastewater systems.
<br /> Takashige, along with other city department heads,earns$121,896.
<br /> However,six of his staff earn more than him,with one employee eaming as much as$139,736.
<br /> "It's an awkward situation,"said Buehler, of having your staff earn more than you.
<br /> The salary commission has proposed boosting the salaries of directors and deputy directors of city departments
<br /> by 8 percent, in part,to help reestablish the salary hierarchy.Ten other departments have employees who also
<br /> earn more than their directors and deputy directors.
<br /> Buehler said the proposed hikes are also aimed at making the positions more competitive with the private sector
<br /> where people can earn more.
<br /> "We have a situation where we need to consider many different factors,"she said. "One is that we want to pay our
<br /> top department heads in city salaries that will lure them away from the private sector."
<br /> There are significant perks to city employment, however. Fringe benefits can amount to an additional 60 percent of
<br /> an employee's salary, including 21 vacation days and 21 sick days a year,health coverage and pension benefits.
<br /> The commission suggested more moderate increases for a few of the positions, including a 2 percent raise for the
<br /> Royal Hawaiian Band director and medical examiner.The medical examiner's salary was bumped up from
<br /> $200,000 to$250,000 last year after being vacant for four years.
<br /> The City Council has discretion over which proposed salary increases it approves.Any salary hike would go into
<br /> effect in July.You can read the full list of proposed salaries here.
<br /> Civil Beat compared the salaries of Honolulu's mayor, City Council members, police and fire chiefs and medical
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