Economic Revitalization
could start with these ideas

By invitation, 'regular' folks
submitted 600 proposals on how to
fix the economy

By Rob Perez
Star-Bulletin

While the state's high-powered task force considers grandiose strategies to revitalize the economy, Blaine from the Big Island has a simple idea.

Require the University of Hawaii football team to play Army, Navy and Air Force every year at Aloha Stadium.

Huh?

Blaine reasons the games would be a natural draw for Hawaii's large military population, presumably encouraging spending in the economy.

Next idea?

This comes courtesy of Kauai churchgoer Fred Wenger:

Charge discounted prices for luau customers not wanting to drink alcohol.

As the Economic Revitalization Task Force pores over reams of data and testimony from countless experts and executives, all with ideas about how to kickstart the economy, Hawaii's "regular" folks have offered their own.

By the hundreds.

The football and luau proposals are among roughly 600 that people have e-mailed, faxed, mailed, hand-carried and phoned to the panel since early August, when the task force of top executives and politicians invited the public to submit ideas.

Even tourists and former residents have offered help, sending notes from as far as Japan and the mainland.

A 'hula girl' solution

The suggestions are as varied as they are numerous.

Some are intriguing, some downright bizarre. Some are unrealistic, some full of spite.

Many state the obvious: that Hawaii can't conduct business as usual if it wants to better compete in today's global economy.

And even if the ideas never make the task force's short list, they make for interesting reading.

Consider these unconventional solutions, some part of grander plans offered by the writers:

<img src="bu.gif"> Have children watch television by turning off the volume and reading soundtrack captions - an option available on newer sets. Donald Lubitz of Honolulu believes that will make students more literate and better workers.

<img src="bu.gif">Reread the recent Forbes article blasting Hawaii's business environment.

<img src="bu.gif">Require taxi drivers to wear Aloha shirts and have a "hula girl" on each dashboard, creating more aloha for tourists, suggests Tom Sebas of Honolulu.

<img src="bu.gif">Participate in daylight savings with the rest of the country, keeping the time spread between Hawaii and the mainland at a minimum. That could boost local business potential by 20 percent to 25 percent, says Ron Ogata of Oahu.

Most of the ideas were more conventional, even if many were short on specifics.

Calls to cut government

Not surprisingly, cutting the size of government was one of the most common themes.

"Wherever that's been done, prosperity has followed," wrote one person, who identified himself only as a 50-year voting resident. "We could eliminate 6,000 to 8,000 state jobs and not even notice it!"

Another popular solution: improve the business climate. How to accomplish that can take many forms, according to the people's voices.

Cut taxes. Create investment incentives. Remove unnecessary or duplicative government requirements.

Vince Shahayda of Honolulu suggested repealing every business regulation that cannot be proven to have a direct economic good.

Others pushed a particular strategy.

Some recommended trying to lure affluent retirees who could bring new money into the economy but don't need jobs. Turn Kona on the Big Island into a retirement community, said one respondent, and "phase out yuppie egomaniacs."

Seeing business as salvation

For others, legalized gambling, especially casino cruises or a state lottery, was considered the economy's salvation.

"Too many of our own people are spending way too much money in other states," bemoaned Michael Sasano of Pearl City.

For Honolulu resident Diann Boone, who spent a year teaching in China, the answer lies partly with the world's most populous nation. She said businessmen there, including millionaires, asked her where in the United States they should start businesses.

"What better place than in Hawaii for them to invest their money, with our close ties to China from the plantation days onward," Boone wrote.

While politicians and bureaucrats tended to get the most blame for the state's economic woes, the private sector also took some shots.

"Too many of Hawaii's business people are snivelling crybabies that blame the government and everyone else but themselves for their problems," wrote Craig Watase of Honolulu.

A more common critique, though, was voiced by Big Island resident John Ackert, who suggested term limits to loosen the hold of senior legislators.

"Until this is done these legislators will weaken, water down, inhibit or completely block any changes that would be meaningful," Ackert says.

Venting anger

For many people, writing to the task force merely was a way to vent frustrations. The unions and Bishop Estate were popular targets.

One anonymous scribe even took the task force to task: "You are the greedy, inconsiderate crud who care less about the people of this state but more about yourselves."

Then there were the pessimists, like Sharon Akana of Kaneohe.

Akana wished the task force good luck but said its effort was "too little, too late." She predicted the state would file for bankruptcy.

A few skeptics even questioned the panel's call for suggestions.

"I'm not sure that filling out and mailing in a questionnaire like this is really going to be effective," said Kailua freelance writer William Dorrance.

"It strikes me as being a sop to enable the task force to say, 'We gave the public a chance to make suggestions!' and then ignore the sheer volume of questionnaires received.

"Good luck!"