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“Welcome to your new job with the government of the state of Hawaii.”

That is the first thing any new state employee is required to be told under new procedures implemented by the 2011 Hawaii Legislature. Here is the remainder of the text of the form new public employees are required to review and sign on their first day of work:

“You should consider yourself a very lucky person. You have been hired to serve the citizens of Hawaii. They are grateful for your service and as a sign of appreciation, they would like to give you certain privileges.

“Nobody shall ever know your name. The law requires that your name, compensation, job title, business address, business telephone number, job description, education and training background, previous work experience, dates of first and last employment, position number, type of appointment, service code, department, division, branch, office, section, unit and island of employment be kept confidential.

“Nobody will ever be able to know where you work or what you do. Your new ID badge will not have your name on it. Nor will it have a picture. A number is good enough, although it will not be your position number. Your voice mail will use that same number. As will your business card. Use that number to answer the phone when somebody calls and to introduce yourself when you meet members of the public.

“As for your salary, that too is confidential. We promise nobody will ever know what you’re paid. Just because the public is paying your salary doesn’t mean they should know how much you make, no matter how well you do your job or who you might be related to or what special consideration you have been given. What counts is your privacy. Your salary is not the people’s concern.

“On the day you start your new job, know this: You have the Legislature to thank for this. To conclude: We suggest that you as a union member keep that in mind when elections roll around.”

You think I’m joking?

Only slightly. What you just read represents the logical extension of a proposal put forward by 15 senators who have their own unique interpretation of the meaning of public. They’ve sprung into action because an online news service (Civil Beat) published the salaries of state employees in a searchable database on its website.

Their bill, , would limit the public’s right to know about state employees to just what positions/job titles the state has and what the salary range for them is.

Consider a different approach, one that rather reinforces what it means to be a public servant, one taken in California. There they tell it straight to new government employees.

They tell them public actually means public. Our former reporter-host Noelle Chun wrote about her experience as a new state employee in California when we published her first stories revealing the names and salaries of state employees in Hawaii.

“Just so you know, anyone can look up your salary on the Sacramento Bee’s website,” is what Noelle was told on her first day.

The message in California:

“Welcome to your new job. You are privileged to work for the people and with that opportunity comes certain costs. One is that the idea of transparency about how public money is spent supersedes your privacy. One of the most rewarding things about your job is you are part of something much bigger and more important than any individual. You are the backbone of our society. In order to keep the people’s trust, it’s important that the people know who bears that responsibility and how much they’re paid to do so. We cannot afford to create a special class of citizens. Of course these conditions aren’t for everyone. Some of you may find you’re more comfortable in the private sector. But here in government we have a higher calling and that calling is to maintain the trust of the people and to do that they must know who is working for them and how much they’re being paid. We understand if you don’t like it, but different rules do apply to government employees. You’re wearing their badge. You’re driving their trucks. You’re working on their permits.

“So get used to it. We call it public service for a reason.”

In California, the people who wrote the law were working for the people. Who are the people sponsoring working for?

They are Democratic Sens.: Pohai Ryan, Suzanne Chun Oakland, Donovan Dela Cruz, Kalani English, Will Espero, Carol Fukunaga, Mike Gabbard, Brickwood Galuteria, David Ige, Michelle Kidani, Donna Mercado Kim, Clarence Nishihara, Maile Shimabukuro, Malama Solomon and Jill Tokuda, a majority of the 25-seat body.