Kaua'i mayor speaks against HGEA raises

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Mayor Bryan Baptiste has told the Kaua'i County Council that he does not endorse the recent HGEA contract arbitration decision, partly because the arbitration process removes decision-making from elected officials and partly because the county can't afford it.

On March 29, an arbitration panel awarded a 5 percent raise over two years to the 23,000 state and county white-collar workers represented by the Hawai'i Government Employees Association.

"I cannot ... endorse an award derived through a process which clearly removes decision-making and fiscal management control from the hands of those the electorate entrusted with those powers," Baptiste said in a letter to the council.

Baptiste listed a series of objections to both the arbitration process and the award itself. One point: The increase would pay some civil-service engineers $93,378 a year, while county department heads — their bosses — make a maximum of $69,371.Ê

"The decision is focused on providing HGEA members increases based on the increases for the firefighters and police officers, instead of the statutory criteria of pay for comparable work in Hawai'i, and does not consider whether the increases are reasonable considering the impact on taxpayers or on public services," Baptiste wroteÊ

Baptiste said the estimated cost of the HGEA arbitration award is an additional $990,000 in the fiscal year starting in July.

He said the county, which would be required to pay for the cost of the awards largely through property taxes, already faces citizen threats of initiatives to limit property taxes.

Gov. Linda Lingle last week said that the state can't afford the increases, and Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris said the city can't, either.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.