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I wish I could find the slides from that "secret budget meeting" the council had. It was supposed to outline how much of the budget was personnel costs negotiated at the state level. Something like 75% of the budget? Some ideas to fix that:
1. Layoffs. We may not be able to control how much each position is payed, but we should be able to reduce headcount. If we had a mayor with a spine he'd start trimming the fat.
2. Get more from government employees: In exchange for these high paying jobs, we should expect things like studies, pool cleaning, soccer field designing, and cleanup/renovation of government facilities to be done in house, and not contracted out. How long did government employees sit on their thumbs waiting for someone else to clean the Pahoa pool? Remember the housing in Kea'au they couldn't use for evacuees because it was trashed and the employees responsible couldn't be bothered to clean it or fix a faucet?
Personally, I'm a fan of good hard working government, and I think they can get things done for the greater good that the market won't. So I would love to see number 2 work. But if no can, no can pay you.
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2. Get more from government employees:
Not part of your job description?
With your salary, benefits, vacation days, and pension plan, we can find someone who will be happy to include it in their job description. Best of luck finding a private sector job with your former salary, benefits, vacation days, and pension plan after you walk through that door...
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/201...s-at-475m/
The county's current outstanding debt, including bonds, state revolving loans, bank notes and bonds reimbursable by the Department of Water Supply, now stands at $475.2 million, a 33.7 percent increase from the $355.4 million debt in 2008.
The county added $30 million to the debt load earlier this month, taking out bond anticipation notes in advance of a future bond float.
More debt, and higher taxes, and yet somehow we're getting fewer services.
we should be able to reduce headcount
If nothing can ever be built (near someone's house, no road access, no utilities, incorrect zoning, violates the public trust, doesn't fit the CDP, would only create traffic/noise/crime, etc) then we don't need a Planning Department, environmental impact studies, zoning review, plans checkers...
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DO you think that cost of living might have something to do with this statistic? Everything's more expensive on an Island in the middle of the Pacific.
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
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VancouverIsland, one can live very affordably off-grid and closer to the land, modifying one's consumption to what is available cheaply and locally. The Big Island has a lower cost of living than Oaho, and Hilo side lower than Kona. Many of us do the math and give up a little convenience to live sustainably and affordably. Is it too much to ask that our government and government employees try to live affordably and lower costs too?
Also, most of the crap sold in any given mainland Walmart has traveled halfway around the globe. "Middle of the Pacific" is less and less of a reason, and more of an excuse.
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Everything's more expensive on an Island in the middle of the Pacific.
It's not the shipping cost, it's the overhead of a government that acts like it's on an island in the middle of the Pacific. There's no competition, you pay whatever they demand, and pass those costs on to the consumer.
Anyone else notice the nice new fence all around Makuu Market? I'll bet the price of parking goes up now that people can't walk in from the highway...
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" . . . the crap sold in any given mainland Walmart has traveled halfway around the globe."
And the crap sold in Hawaii Walmarts goes a quarter of the way back around the globe again to get here. Those container ships filled with Chinese junk go right past here to distribution centers in California before being reshipped to us. Hawaii is not large enough a market to rate direct shipment of most Asian consumer goods, and of course the Jones Act kicks in and screws us yet again.
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Hawaii is not large enough a market to rate direct shipment
Here's a chart I ran across last week which proves your point Chunkster, perhaps even more than your point. It shows the 20 busiest ports on earth in a graph. Of the top 50 ports, China accounts for 40.4% of the shipping, the US 3.9%. Hawaii may not even be a full drop in the bucket:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/02/v...est-ports/
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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quote:
Originally posted by kalakoa
It's not the shipping cost, it's the overhead of a government that acts like it's on an island in the middle of the Pacific. There's no competition, you pay whatever they demand, and pass those costs on to the consumer.
Kalakoa, I don't disagree that monopolies are a large part of the extra costs here (and the political class's insistence on supporting the monopolies - see the vacation rental issue as one of many examples) - but shipping is a significant element: I've spent well over $100K shipping goods and equipment to Hawaii - one of the shipping brokers told me, after he received a check for $70K from my project, that, for what it cost to send each container to me here in Hawaii, he could send two containers to India... We all pay the price of the Jones act daily in our cost of living...
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