2 HCC members introduce bill to reject pay increase

HONOULU (KHON2) — Council members Augie Tulba and Andria Tupola have announced that they have introduced two resolutions that will reject the pay raises adopted by the Salary Commission.

The commission called for a pay increase of more than 60% for city council members. Meanwhile, the Mayor and other city officials will get about a 12.5% increase in salary.  

One of their resolutions calls for a rejection all the pay raises for officials.

The other one is just for City Council members. There will be a public hearing to be held on the proposals.

Tulba said a big reason why he cosigned on the resolutions is to hear directly from the public.

Tulba said, “It gives the public an opportunity to weigh in, to express what they really feel about, you know, these raises. Because, at the end of the day, who keeps saying this? It is not our money; it’s your money. It’s the taxpayers’ money.”

Tupola said she cannot support the Honolulu Salary Commission’s recommendations amid economic struggles for many of the State’s residents.

“I as a leader, I’m not going to give myself a raise or a better platform to stand on when there are so many people hurting in Hawaiʻi,” Tupola said. “Are any raises appropriate right now, right now in the economy that we’re in right now? And, so, I think, as a council, we have to take that into consideration.”

According to bylaws, seven of the nine council members will need to vote against the pay raise in order to reject it. If no action is taken, the raises would take effect starting in July.