Talk Story
Building a consensus
the Ben Cayetano wayWHEN ceremonial escorts led Ben Cayetano to the podium to deliver his final State of the State message Tuesday, one of them gave him a hug. It wasn't a fellow Democrat. It was Sen. Sam Slom, a Republican.
To some, the governor may be a lame duck, but he sees a vital role for himself as his term winds down.
It's "to tell the public that the kinds of things the Republicans said Democrats wouldn't do, we've done. We cut government. We cut taxes.
"My disappointment is that we could have done so much more."
Reflecting recently on his term in office, Cayetano said, "I believe that a Republican governor wouldn't have been able to do the things we've done." Still, "making changes that affect your lifelong friends is very difficult. It's not going to make people happy."
As a member of the majority party, Cayetano takes pride in its accomplishments: building schools, reforming the Bishop Estate, reducing the size of government, cutting taxes and making teachers more accountable.
Still, "It hurts to see people who have supported you feeling disappointed and betrayed."
That sense of betrayal was evident on Tuesday. Legislators sat on their hands while the governor delivered perhaps the best and most heartfelt speech of his career, but it was a speech that showed him again at odds with his own party.
The state of the State, according to the governor, is surprisingly good. Despite the crushing economic blow Hawaii suffered on Sept. 11, there's "light at the end of the tunnel" and "cautious reason for optimism" about a stronger and swifter recovery than after the Gulf War.
The governor attributes Hawaii's resiliency to the outstanding community and business response to the crisis and to economic reforms enacted since 1995 -- such as tax cuts, high-tech incentives, business diversification and downsized state government.
His prescription for the future:
>> First, balance the budget as the state Constitution requires. If the Legislature doesn't like his proposal to use the Hurricane Relief Fund and liquor tax hike to do it, Ben says "OK, but find alternatives."
>> Second, strengthen and diversify the economy by further developing the health care, biotechnology and high-tech industries. Look for new opportunities.
>> Third, improve education by nurturing a new culture of teacher accountability and professional development, catching up on the school main- tenance backlog, building a West Oahu campus for the University of Hawaii and raising admission and curriculum standards at UH-Manoa.
Cayetano said we have to reward our best teachers and give the others incentives to get better. "The teacher strike was painful, but it wasn't just about money."
The bill for school repairs is now at $614 million and growing at the rate of $51 million a year, the governor said. He wants $200 million for repairs from this Legislature to start closing the gap.
To turn Kapolei into a college town like Eugene, Ore., he wants $142 million to build a new campus and says UH President Evan Dobelle can do it in 18 months. "If he can't do it, fire him," Cayetano said and grinned.
The new Kapolei campus and the rest of the UH system provide options for students who can't meet higher admission standards, Cayetano said. Therefore, we can now upgrade UH-Manoa and turn it into "The Berkeley of the Pacific."
The governor denied that there is a backlog of capital spending, as House Majority leader Marcus Oshiro claimed last week. He insisted that now is the time, with interest rates at historic lows, to invest, build, give the construction industry and the economy a boost while positioning Hawaii for a brighter future.
"It's the right time and the right thing to do," Cayetano said.
In the end, there was polite applause, but Democratic legislators appeared unreceptive. As one observer put it, Cayetano, House Speaker Calvin Say and Senate President Bobby Bunda are "on different planets."
Cayetano's advice to the Legislature: "Get the job done. Even if you don't, people will know how hard you tried and respect you for it."
He urged the joint session to set politics aside. "Make Hawaii better, even if you lose your job. You owe it to the people and you owe it to yourselves."
Amen.
John Flanagan is the Star-Bulletin's contributing editor.
He can be reached at: jflanagan@starbulletin.com.