Cayetano wants to put
state economy on track

By Mike Yuen
Star-Bulletin

Gov. Ben Cayetano says his administration has done a good job despite Hawaii's persistent economic problems, and that's why he wants another term in office -- to continue his efforts to get the state back on track.

"If anything motivates me in this election, it is that we need to finish the work we have begun," Cayetano said yesterday after he filed for re-election.

Accompanied by first lady Vicky Cayetano, Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, eight department heads and more than 100 supporters, Cayetano said his administration has done more for business and education than any other since statehood.

"We have perhaps, if anything, been short on the public relations side, the telling to the people of what we've done," said Cayetano, a Democrat. "But that's because we have had our nose to the grindstone."

Specific achievements Cayetano cites include laying the groundwork for a University of Hawaii campus in Kapolei, enacting a bill that cuts personal income taxes $752 million over the next four years, and establishing a special board and funding for the promotion and marketing of tourism.

"We have planted the seeds for many good things to happen," Cayetano said.

Cayetano criticized Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle, saying the Maui mayor's campaign speeches so far have amounted to generalities.

"It's easy to say in hindsight you would do this and that," said Cayetano, 58.

"But when you're in the hot seat as I have been for the last 3-1/2 years and you make some hard decisions, that experience, I think, counts a lot for what you're going to do for the future."

Lingle, 45, has faulted Cayetano for not doing more to end the state's nearly decade-long economic slump. She said she will improve the state's standard of living and make government more efficient and business-friendly.

Former Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi, 77, another candidate for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, also blames Cayetano for failing to improve the isle economy. He maintains that Lingle overstates what she has done for Maui.

Cayetano served four years in the state House, eight in the state Senate and eight as lieutenant governor before being elected the state's chief executive in 1994.