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Kauai mayor, officials
lose pay-raise bid

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Star-Bulletin staff

LIHUE -- The Kauai County Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to reject a 10 percent pay increase for Mayor Maryann Kusaka, about 30 of her appointed department heads and their deputies and county Prosecutor Michael Soong.

Kusaka had asked for 14 percent and the County Salary Commission, after months of deliberation, opted for 10 percent.

Several Council members said discussions with voters in their current re-election campaigns showed no support for the proposed pay raises.

Kusaka issued a prepared statement that did not comment on the rejection. She said she would implement performance evaluations of the department heads that the Salary Commission also recommended.

The county's top officials have not had a pay raise since 1995. The requested increase was not based on performance but on raises received by employees represented by unions over the past five years.