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Wednesday, October 10, 2018
‘The optics of this stink’
Salary Commission mulls raises for top county offi cials, delays vote
Bad for business
Pahoa merchants struggle to make end’s meet following lava disaster
By MICHAEL
BRESTOVANSKY
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Nearly two months
after the apparent pause
in volcanic activity
in lower Puna, Pahoa
businesses are struggling
to stay afloat.
The town took an
economic hit earlier this
year when the Kilauea
eruption began May 3
in Leilani Estates, as
visitors avoided the
island in general and
lower Puna in particular.
Then, the town suffered
a second blow when
the eruption paused:
Now visitors have
stopped going to Pahoa
to try to see the lava.
“They say, ‘If
there’s no flow, they
no go,’” said resident
Althea Yabes.
Yabes’ husband,
Amedeo Markoff,
said the eruption
wiped out much of the
town’s economy — 40
percent, he estimated
— and left it with
fewer attractions to
drive visitors to return.
“It’s way more
than just 700 homes,”
Markoff said, referring
to the number of homes
destroyed by lava. “Say
half of those were bedand
breakfasts, say they
get four visitors a week.
You do the math. You’re
talking about thirty, forty
thousand visitors a year.
And then you have all
the people servicing
those places: the maids,
the cleaners, the guys
who clean the yards.”
Markoff, a member
of the Mainstreet Pahoa
Association and owner
of the Puna Gallery
and Gift Emporium,
By NANCY COOK LAUER
West Hawaii Today
Much smaller raises are
being considered for top
county officials next year,
following last year’s eye-popping
double-digit hikes.
The county Salary
Commission on Tuesday
mulled raises of about $5,600
for each top position, a
3.4 percent to 7.5 percent
increase, for the next budget
year that starts July 1. That’s
on top of raises of $16,700
to $42,900, or 13.2 percent
to 39.7 percent, last year.
The raises are for the mayor,
County Council, department
chiefs and deputies. The
mayor, for example, would
see his pay rise to $168,223
annually; the County Council
chairman would be paid
$82,657 and a council member
would get $75,649.
The Salary Commission
has the sole power to set
raises for those positions.
It’s authorized by charter to
ensure salaries have a reasonable
relation to comparable
positions in the public and
private sector. The commission
also wants to ensure
supervisors are making
more than the rank-and-file
positions they supervise.
The commission justified
last year’s big increases as
catch-up following several
years of no raises at all. Now
it’s a matter of refining the
process and ensuring the officials’
pay keeps up, they said.
The commission postponed
voting on the increases, even
though it was pointed out
that there would be a much
longer process to do so if a
Index
Big Isle history B4
Classified B6
Comics B5
Commentary A4
ROSEGG
MISSING EVIDENCE
Issue No. 283
16 Pages in
2 Sections
Today’s
weather
Page A2
Community A6
Crossword B4
Cryptoquote B4
Dear Abby B4
Horoscope B4
Nation A7
Obituaries A2
Scoreboard B3
Sports B1
State A3
Stocks A2
Surf Report A2
Internet
Visit us on the Web at:
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com
Inside
>>> A chart of the raises being
proposed by the Salary Commission
for top county of cials. A5
See RAISES Page A5
Two large
projects eyed
for Big Island
By TOM CALLIS
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Utility-scale solar
farms could be coming
to Hawaii Island.
Hawaiian Electric
announced Tuesday
that it selected companies
to build two
solar projects on the
island that would have
a combined capacity
of 60 megawatts. As
for who they are and
where the projects
would be located,
residents will have
to wait and see.
“Until we send the
contracts to the Public
Utilities Commission,
we can’t say,” said
HECO spokesman
Peter Rosegg, citing
a nondisclosure
agreement.
“It will take fairly
large land,” he added.
“It would have to be
flat, not up the side of
the mountain. If you
look around, you can
probably say these
are the best bets.”
Rosegg said the
utility is
requiring
the companies
to make
their
pitch to
the public,
which he anticipated
to happen within
the next few weeks.
Statewide, there are
seven solar projects
being proposed, all
made possible with the
help of battery storage.
Rosegg said the
Hawaii Island projects
would be able to
store 240 megawatts
No charges will
be filed in case
By TIFFANY
DEMASTERS
West Hawaii Today
KAILUA-KONA
— No charges will
be filed in a missing
drug evidence case
involving a former
officer with the Hawaii
Police Department.
“After careful
review, we have decided
not to file charges,”
the Department of
the Prosecuting
Attorney for the
City and County of
Honolulu said in a
statement Tuesday.
In the statement, the
Honolulu prosecuting
attorney’s office indicated
it was asked to
review a conflict case
from Hawaii County
involving three alleged
counts of securing the
proceeds of an offense.
“Based on the evidence
presented to us
there is no probable
SOLAR POWER
See SOLAR Page A5
See EVIDENCE Page A8
Photos by HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
The business space where Roy’s Thai Food was is now for rent in downtown Pahoa.
Owner of Puna Gallery and Gift Emporium Amedeo
Markoff and his wife, Althea Yabes, stand in their
shop Tuesday in downtown Pahoa.
See PAHOA Page A8
/www.hawaiitribune-herald.com