Amusing Article
August 20, 2010 | 07:37 PM

Dear Maui Time,

You are by far my favorite local publication. You don't pull punches or pretend to be "politically correct." I think this is one of your best pieces of work. I've paid taxes into our County since I started working in high school, which was about 12 years ago. This might be a contrivercial statement, but I feel comfortable about the directors and especially the Chiefs of Police and Fire, making the amount of money that they do. In fact, I'm surprised they aren't being paid more. I think it's important to keep the pay for these positions competitive, otherwise we would lose quality people to the corporate world. Everyone knows that County workers get paid less than the average corporate or private enterprise worker of similar capacity. Add that to the fact that County workers are completey underappreciated, and no one would ever want to be a County worker, especially a Director or Chief.

The only part of the article that could have improved it would be for you to include all the "perks" that the Council members seem to have. On top of their salaries, some Council members rack up thousands in travel benefits (including per diem while traveling off island.) Not to mention the fact that the Chair Mateo sent out a memo to all of the other departments basically saying that they and their staff will be exempt from the furloughs that even department heads are subjected to. According to our illustrious Chair, they are in control of their own budgets and do not have to account for how they spend their money when it comes to their staff and other expenses.

I think Maui Time should take this article a little deeper and explore the real issue, which is our Council members spending. Did you know that in this tough economic time when we are all suffering cut backs and furloughs, the Council thought it appropriate to present their already overpaid part-time working executive assistants cash bonuses? The only other Council members to receive these cash bonuses were the overworked and underpaid police dispatchers.

At any rate, thank you Maui Time for always keeping it real. I look forward to your next issue!

Pixie Kea