Lawsuit Filed Over U. of Hawaii Pay
A group of journalists has filed a lawsuit to block the University of Hawaii from paying its next president $442,000 a year--more than double his predecessor’s salary--without holding public hearings.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in circuit court, alleges the university and its board of regents violated Hawaii’s open meetings law when it announced Evan Dobelle’s appointment March 12.
His salary, which would remain the same until his contract expires in 2008, was not disclosed before the announcement, according to the suit. The current president, Kenneth Mortimer, earns $167,000 a year.
“The issue of the lawsuit is not the amount, it’s whether the public had the opportunity to review this amount and comment on it,” said Stirling Morita, president of the Hawaii chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which filed suit with Common Cause Hawaii and graduate student Mamo Kim.
Jim Manke, spokesman for the university, said he could not comment on pending litigation.
University faculty ended a strike last week after reaching a two-year contract agreement with the state. Meanwhile, Hawaii’s 13,000 public school teachers remain on strike. Both strikes began April 5.
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