Kamehameha Schools trustees reject raise
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Trustees of the Kamehameha Schools have decided to turn down raises of up to 70 percent recently approved by a state judge.
The five trustees reached the agreement Tuesday night, said Kamehameha Schools spokesman Kekoa Paulsen. Board chairman Nainoa Thompson could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The annual salary for each trustee is about $97,500, with the chair receiving about $120,000 a year. A three-member, court-appointed panel recommended late last year that the salary for the chair be increased to $207,000, and to $180,000 for the other trustees.
In January, Probate Judge Colleen Hirai rejected the panel's recommendation, but approved trustee compensation raises to as much as $165,000, and $210,000 for the chair.
But the trustees waived the proposed raises Tuesday and said they would keep their salaries at the same level as for the past three years. The raises were opposed by the attorney general's office and members of the school community.
In an e-mail sent to staff and alumni, Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Officer Dee Jay Mailer said the trustees' decision was in the best interest of the school. Mailer, a 1970 Kamehameha graduate, took over as CEO in January.
"At this time, everyone at Kamehameha is exercising budget constraint as we prudently manage the resources of the trust while maintaining the high quality of our educational reach," Mailer wrote. "By taking this action, the trustees are clearly modeling the same behavior we are all demanding of ourselves."
Alumnus Roy Benham, who sits on Kamehameha's board of advisers, praised the trustees' decision.
"I'm glad to see they turned it down. That's good," Benham said. "That doesn't mean we're going to close the door, but let's see how the new CEO works out, and which direction we're going and whether we're really making progress."
Besides Thompson, the trustees include Constance Lau, J. Douglas Ing, Robert Kihune and Diane Plotts.
Their pay has remained the same since reorganization of the $4.3 billion trust in 1999. Before that, trustee pay was based on a percentage of the estate's gross receipts.
In fiscal year 1998, the trustees each received more than $1 million. But after an investigation in 1999 into mismanagement and abuse of power, four trustees of what was then called Bishop Estate were ousted, and the fifth resigned.
Under a 2001 court order, trustee compensation will be reviewed every three years, Paulsen said.
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
