[ OUR OPINION ]
Voters seek answers
to improve economyCANDIDATES for state office should not have been surprised to learn that respondents to the Star-Bulletin/KITV 4 News poll regard Hawaii's economy as the No. 1 issue in the upcoming elections. The economy is likely to continue as the state's most troublesome problem until Hawaii becomes less dependent on tourism and military dollars. Achieving that diversity should be the challenge of elected officials.
THE ISSUE Respondents to a poll regard Hawaii's limited economic growth as the greatest threat to Hawaii's future.
Governor Cayetano has appreciated that need, seeking ways to make Hawaii the medical center of the Pacific and an attraction for the high-technology industry. Ground will be broken in October for a 10-acre University of Hawaii medical school complex in Kakaako. Both Cayetano and Mayor Harris have taken strides toward making Kapolei a high-tech magnet. Hawaii still seems many years away from achieving a satisfactory level of diversity.
The effect of the Sept. 11 attack on America has exposed Hawaii's economic vulnerability because of its dependence on tourism. The drastic drop in visitors to the islands created an economic crisis that sent state officials scurrying for stopgap measures. Although Hawaii seems to be slowly recovering, permanent solutions are needed.
That is why, when asked what they consider to be the greatest threat to Hawaii's future, 27 percent of the Star-Bulletin/KITV poll's respondents said the state's limited economic growth topped their concerns. The poll showed that the high cost of living (23 percent) ranked second and the quality of education (19 percent) was third. In fact, concerns about education quality and the high costs of doing business are major deterrents in trying to improve the economy by attracting new business to the state.
A 1999 study ranked Hawaii 26th among states in adapting to technological advances in recent years. The study, cited by Cayetano in urging greater progress, showed Hawaii as 46th in high-tech jobs per capita. However, Hawaii was third-best in integrating information technology in schools, a factor that should pay dividends in the future.
Meanwhile, political candidates should inform voters about their strategies to change Hawaii's unfortunate but accurate image as being unfriendly to business. Few companies -- high- or low-tech -- will be attracted to Hawaii as long as that image exists.
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Settle civil-service issues
in homeland security billCONGRESSIONAL debate over consolidation of numerous federal agencies into a new Department of Homeland Security is quickly degenerating into a classic labor-management confrontation. Anti-union Republican senators and Democrats beholden to organized labor should make concessions to avoid the wrath of Americans insistent on increased security against terrorism.
THE ISSUE The Senate is divided over civil-service regulations for the proposed Department of Homeland Security.
Flexibility by both sides of the labor-management tug-of-war is needed for creation of a new, consolidated agency to protect the country against terrorism. Congress should not engage in protracted partisan debate that will result in a post-election, lame-duck session.
The House passed its version of the Homeland Security bill in July, but senators were unable to resolve their differences during the August recess. Republicans say the secretary of Homeland Security will need to have broad discretion to hire, fire and promote workers and adjust pay scales in order to enhance efficiency. That should not result in federal employees having to forfeit the civil-service protections they have gained during many decades in their present agencies.
New York's police officers and firefighters all were protected by union agreements, but they still were models of heroism last Sept. 11. The civilian employees in the Pentagon also have civil-service safeguards that have not deterred them from performing their jobs in the nation's defense. Tom Ridge, the White House director of Homeland Security, says that preserving existing civil-service rules would be like merely changing the letterheads of the 22 merging agencies, but that overstates the situation.
The Democrats' Senate bill would not permit changes in the civil-service system or the continued representation of 43,000 Homeland Security employees by 17 unions, the largest being the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union. A Republican amendment would allow Bush to set up a sweeping personnel system for all 170,000 employees destined to be part of the new department.
Another GOP amendment would allow the administration to exempt entire government units from union agreements for reasons of national security. The Democratic bill would limit that power to individual positions and require more justification to exempt employees. That disagreement is especially suitable for the bargaining table.
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, Editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
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Lucy Young-Oda, Assistant Editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comMary Poole, Editorial Page Editor, 529-4790; mpoole@starbulletin.com
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