Retired Senate clerk back on payroll
By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Paul T. Kawaguchi retired last year as chief clerk of the state Senate, but he's still on the job, collecting not just his regular salary of $7,300 per month but also his full pension benefits.
That's because Senate President Robert Bunda hired Kawaguchi as a contract employee to continue working full time as Senate clerk while the Legislature's in session from January through May, Bunda aide Laura Figueira said yesterday.
"That's not an unusual thing with session employees," Figueira said. "He (Kawaguchi) retired and the senator asked him if he would come back under contract for full time during the session, and he agreed to do that."
Bunda said Kawaguchi's "institutional knowledge of the system and rules of the senate make him invaluable. When he decided on retirement last year I knew of no one better suited for the job."
State Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), head of the Republican minority caucus in the senate, said he did not know that Kawaguchi "is double dipping" — collecting full salary and full pension benefits at the same time — adding that he was "disappointed to hear it."
Hemmings called Kawaguchi "a great clerk for the Senate. He's been very even-handed in his treatment of senators, regardless of their party affiliation."
But Hemmings went on to say that "double dipping is not in the public's best interest and quite frankly I'm surprised to hear that this is going on."
Attempts to reach Kawaguchi for comment were unsuccessful. He was on vacation this week in Las Vegas but did not return a telephone message left for him at his hotel room Thursday evening. Messages left for him at his Senate office were not returned.
The Legislature is in recess this week but resumes work Tuesday. Other Senate staffers are still on the job during the recess period but Figueira said Kawaguchi is not working and is not being paid during the one-week recess.
That's because, as a pensioner hired back under contract, Kawaguchi can work no more than 89 days straight without losing his retirement benefits, Figueira said. So his contract ends during the one-week legislative recess and then restarts after the Legislature comes back to work next week, according to Figueira.
Retired Honolulu Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi is in a similar labor situation. He retired last year but the Honolulu Fire Commission hired him back under an 89-day contract that ends next month, allowing him to collect his pension plus the same $110,000-per-year salary he was being paid before he retired.
The Fire Commission said it intended to employ Leonardi under several successive 89-day contracts to allow him to complete several major projects he initiated before he retired.
Figueira said that Kawaguchi's agreement with Bunda requires that he become a part-time Senate employee, working no more than 19 hours per week, as of June 1, after the legislative session ends, meaning his monthly salary will drop to about $3,600. His total pay for the year will be $62,146, which is 70 percent of what he was making before he retired, according to Figueira.
Kawaguchi, 56, began working for the state in 1970, first at the Health Department and later at the Department of Public Safety.
In 1991, he worked on the staff of then-state Sen. Norman Mizuguchi, became deputy Senate clerk in 1994 and then chief clerk in 1997.
Kawaguchi and his staff keep track of thousands of pieces of legislation and massive amounts of paperwork generated on a daily basis by lawmakers.
Senate staffers are working during the legislative recess but are able to cope without Kawaguchi, Figueira said.
"What we're doing now is ministerial," she said.
"Everything is running smoothly, there have been no problems or complaints. But we wouldn't be able to spare him if we were in session, that's for sure."
Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2447.
