KITV had an good story that hasn’t gotten much attention about Mililani state Sen. Michelle Kidani’s off-session job as an aide to new Honolulu City Councilman Lee Donohue, who was appointed to fill the last six months of Charles Djou’s term.
A legislator can’t legally hold a second state job, but Kidani says she’s obtained a city ethics ruling that it’s OK to work for a county.
The position pays her $4,000 a month, slightly more than the $3,856 she makes as a senator. In the off-session last year, she returned to the job with the Honolulu neighborhood boards office that she held before winning the Senate seat from Ron Menor in 2008.
Kidani says there’s no conflict between working for a council member and serving in the Legislature, but that seems questionable.
The city has major dealings with the state, especially on funding, and interests that often differ. She could well find find herself voting as a senator on city issues she worked on as a council aide.
Besides the potential conflicts, it just seems unbecoming for a sitting senator to serve as a council member’s wonk.
The job can’t sit well with her colleagues in the Legislature, who have argued that they deserve higher pay because their jobs, while officially part-time, are effectively full-time.
If Kidani can work a demanding full-time job for another government agency during the eight months the Legislature is out of session, obviously the Senate position is very much part-time.
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