Salary Commission votes to raise Mayor’s salary, but dials back pay for managing director and deputy

This morning the Maui County Salary Commission rescinded its two-week-old decision on pay raises for the mayor, managing director and deputy managing director. Then, it recalibrated raises for those top leadership positions, using as a benchmark a recent Hawaiʻi State Salary Commission pay raise for Gov. Josh Green.

The commission voted 5-1 to increase the mayor’s pay, beginning July 1, from $211,119 to $245,000 per year and reduce earlier approved salaries from $325,104 to $240,000 for managing director and from $292,594 to $216,000 for deputy managing director.

Currently, Mayor Richard Bissen earns $159,578 per year; and Managing Director Josiah Nishita makes $172,154. Nishita’s increase from there to $240,000 will be $67,846, or 39.4% more, far less than his earlier raise of 89%.

The mayor’s raise of $85,422 is an increase of 53.5% from his current annual salary. Currently, the Council chair earns $86,336, and council members make $80,299. Their pay raises are 23.2% and 26.2%, respectively.

This morning, acting Commission Chair Grant Nakama asked commissioners to reconsider their March 28 vote because of an earlier “oversight” about “structural differences” in governance arising from consultant MGT‘s study.

He said the consultant’s classification and compensation report used, as comparable pay for mayor and managing director, Mainland counties in which the managing director, or county manager, essentially serves as the chief administrative officer and the mayor holds a largely “ceremonial” position, not operational.

In other “county manager” governments, the managing director directs strategy and has decision-making responsibility, almost exclusively, not the mayor, Nakama said. Because of that structural difference and the study’s reliance on those as comparables, “what we end up with is the inflation of the MD (managing director) salary,” he said.

Nakama said he confirmed this structural difference with the MGT consultant.

He asked commissioners, in light of structural differences, “I’d like us to consider correcting the pay disparity [between] the mayor and the MD, but without increasing the overall pay (cost) that we approved last week.”

In Maui County, the mayor is chief executive officer of Maui County’s executive branch of government and the managing director is second in command, stepping in as acting mayor when the mayor is traveling out of state. Nevertheless, the managing director carries heavy day-to-day administrative and policy responsibilities.

The managing director CEO model employed elsewhere explains why, in those jurisdictions, managing directors earn more than mayors.

In discussion, commissioners said they wanted to rethink the higher level of salaries (in relation to the mayor) for managing director and deputy managing director because “technically, they’re subordinate to the mayor.”

When reconsidering Maui County’s mayor-managing director salaries, Nakama suggested using as a benchmark the $250,000 annual pay approved last month for the governor determined by the Hawaiʻi State Salary Commission. The governor voluntarily asked for a reduction in the pay amount.

“I’d also like us to consider that (the governor’s approved pay level of $250,000) as a ceiling,” he said. “Those are the guardrails, I guess, in the criteria that I had in mind.”

Nakama suggested setting the Maui mayor and management leadership salaries immediately below the pay level set by the Hawaiʻi State Salary Commission for the governor; and the deputy managing director at 90% of the managing director.

Nakama’s first proposal was to set the mayor at $249,000, and the managing director at $245,000, with the deputy at $220,500. But his initial suggestion didn’t get the necessary five commission votes for approval.

Later, the commission first voted unanimously to rescind its March 28 vote for pay raises for the mayor, managing director and deputy managing director. Then, it followed with a vote to set the pay at $245,000, $240,000 and $216,000, respectively, for those positions.

Voting in favor were Nakama, Lindsay Ball, William Curtis Jr., Gerri Lewis and Lois Prey. New Commissioner Lester Iwao Yano dissented.

Friday morning’s vote came in the wake of negative public reaction to the commission’s unanimous, 5-0 vote last month in favor of double-digit percentage salary pay hikes. The rationale for those pay increases — set at “market leader,” 75th percentile, when compared with other comparable jurisdictions — is to attract and retain top talent to elected and appointed executive and legislative branch positions in Maui County. The 75th percentile means that the commission decided to give raises that are 25% higher than the 50%, middle amount paid to public officials in comparable communities.

The commission also had available pay raise options in 50th percentile (average) and 65th percentile (above average).

In discussion Friday, commissioners returned to their reasoning for giving large raises — primarily because of Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living and because commissioners particularly want to retain and attract “competent managers.”

Comments posted about the pay raises on Maui Now’s Facebook page have been negative, with some incorrectly pointing fingers at affected officials who “gave themselves” raises.

The Maui County Charter gives the Salary Commission sole authority to set the salaries of elected and appointed Maui County officials. The mayor appoints and the Council confirms the commission’s nine members.

Today’s vote does not affect other pay raises that go into effect July 1. Those range from a high of $239,043 for fire chief, police chief, corporation counsel, prosecuting attorney and county clerk to a low of $106,367 and $101,302, respectively, for Council chair and council members.

A list of the pay hikes is in a March 28 letter from acting commission Chair Grant Nakama. The current raises for later this year are on top of 5% increases that went into effect July 1, 2024.

Detailed draft minutes are available from the commission’s March 28 meeting.

In an earlier vote Friday, the commission agreed to give 75th percentile pay raises to the director and deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and East Maui Water Authority. Nakama recused himself from discussion or voting on those positions.