Kamehameha Schools trustees take 10% pay cut, reject raise

[dkf]

Trustees of Kamehameha Schools have taken a 10 percent pay cut, citing the charitable estate's weakened financial condition.

Trustees Douglas Ing, Corbett Kalama, Robert Kihune, Diane Plotts and Nainoa Thompson also rejected a controversial plan, approved yesterday by state Probate Judge Colleen Hirai, that would have increased their maximum pay by as much as 69 percent.

"Given the current financial condition of the trust at this time, the Kamehameha Schools trustees will not accept any increase until the situation improves," board members said in a news release yesterday.

"In addition, each trustee has elected to take a 10 percent decrease in current compensation, effective immediately."

The moves come after Kamehameha Schools reported in January that the value of its endowment had declined by more than $1.7 billion, or about 18 percent, during the first four months of its latest fiscal year because of the meltdown in the nation's financial markets.

The financial crisis has prompted the trust to place under review several major construction projects at its Kapalama Heights and Neighbor Island campus, trust spokesman Kekoa Paulsen said.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090228/NEWS01/902280359

[babylonsister]

1. They're leading by example. How sweet is that? Recommend. nt

[dkf]

2. Cool huh?

I guess those Congressional hearings did make a difference.

[tularetom]

3. They done good

BTW is that the private school that Obama attended?

[dkf]

4. No, Obama attended Punahou.

Kamehameha Schools is for kids with Hawaiian ancestry and is funded with $ and lands from Bernice Pauahi Bishop who inherited it from a line of Hawaiian Royalty.

Hawaii had a history of building homes on leasehold lands, a lot of which was owned by the Bishop Estate/Kamehameha Schools. In those days the estate was land rich and cash poor. But oh, maybe 20-30 years ago, we passed a law requiring large land owners to offer the land for sale to lessees. That generated a ton of cash for the estate and made the trusteeship very lucrative.

There used to be a pretty incestuous relationship where the Supreme Court would pick ex-government officials as trustees, but they stopped that some years ago. I guess this crew of trustees is more sensitive to bad publicity as a result.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Obama went to Punahou, he was barred from Kam due to racial reasons