Changing Hawaii
By Diane Yukihiro Chang
Friday, April 26, 1996
Governor Chang removed her bifocals and smiled. "It all started in 1996, in the last full week of April," she reminisced. "I was the editorial page editor for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, which is still the greatest newspaper in the history of these islands.
"Then one day, I had three telephone conversations with a common theme.
"The first caller criticized the University of Hawaii Board of Regents for being insolent to state Sen. Malama Solomon. You see, Joe Blanco was the chairman of the BOR as well as an assistant to Grandma's predecessor in this office. But Solomon was giving Blanco a hard time, saying it was a conflict of interest for him to hold both jobs. The BOR said she was full of it.
"In those days, my dearies, I didn't have as much patience as I do now. So I said to this irate caller, 'Listen, the regents are trying to run the university but the legislators keep butting in. If the BOR doesn't think Blanco has a conflict, what business is it of yours? Does it hurt you in any way?' And I hung up the phone.
"The second caller was opposed to the premise of same-gender marriage. This was a controversial issue back then. In fact, the Legislature tried to get involved in what was so obviously under the jurisdiction of the Hawaii Supreme Court."
"You mean gay people couldn't get married?" her grandkids gasped.
"Hard to believe, isn't it?" the governor answered. "Anyway, I was so exasperated from trying to explain to this reader that this was a civil-rights matter because homosexuals didn't love the opposite gender, that I again said, 'Listen. What business is it of yours who people marry? Does it hurt you in any way?' And I hung up.
"The last caller was a City Council member who wanted editorial support for downsizing the Office of Information and Complaint. He said he wanted to gut the department because it was a blatant mouthpiece for the mayor.
"That did it - I blew up. 'Of course it's a mouthpiece for the mayor's office! Somebody's got to tell the public what's going on in this crazy city. Beside, who is going to write, type and disseminate the hundreds of proclamations, press releases, messages and other communications that have to get out? Would the Council members like to divvy up this formidable workload?
"'Listen. What business is it of yours who's getting credit for this, as long as the questions are being answered? How does it hurt you if the mayor's office is doing it?' And the Council member hung up.
THAT'S when it suddenly dawned on me, my dearest grandchildren, that what this town lacked was leaders with common sense, who knew when to mind their own business and when an issue was totally out of their jurisdiction. Since this was obviously a dire need in our community, I decided to enter politics. And the rest is history."
Appeased by their grandmother's always lively reminiscence, the spirited keiki jumped off the desk, waved aloha and shut the door behind them. All was quiet again. Governor Chang put on her bifocals and returned to her business.