Lingle wants to have Governor-elect Linda Lingle is asking Gov. Ben Cayetano not to sign a multimillion-dollar contract to build a new prison before he leaves office.
new prison role
She wants the chance to weigh the
Ex-finance chief will lead transition team
merits of the construction deal
By Genevieve A. Suzuki
gsuzuki@starbulletin.com"If the contract you are considering is a good one, it will also be a good one three weeks from now when our administration will have an opportunity to review it," Lingle said in a letter faxed yesterday to Cayetano and state Attorney General Earl Anzai.
Cayetano has been negotiating with a private developer over a $100 million contract to build a 1,100-bed prison in Halawa Valley.
The governor said he will not issue a formal response to Lingle's letter until he sees it, said spokesman Cedric Yamanaka.
"He also says we've come a long way up to this point and will continue to negotiate," Yamanaka said.
Lingle also questioned why there was only one bid for the project and after the initial bid was rejected, why the project was not put out to bid again. "No information has been released about whether the Office of the Governor is negotiating with only one entity or more than one, what the financing arrangement is or whether the new prison includes substance abuse treatment," Lingle wrote.
"We want the opportunity to make the final decision in light of what we envision for the corrections system," said lieutenant governor-elect James Aiona, who said he has been asked to oversee prisons, the state's drug problem and other crime-related issues in the Lingle administration.
At a news conference yesterday, Aiona said it would be a tragedy to build another prison without providing facilities for substance abuse treatment.
"We have real people with real problems who need real solutions," he said.
Aiona is a former Family Court and Circuit Court judge who set up the state's Drug Court program.
Aiona and Lingle learned of the governor's plans for the new prison from the media. "We haven't had direct contact from him," Aiona said.
He also said he wants to split up the law enforcement and the corrections functions of the Public Safety Department.
The corrections department deals more directly with inmates and rehabilitation, and the sheriffs are more concerned with law enforcement, such as issuing bench warrants and protecting judges, according to Aiona.
"The head of public safety has to wear two hats and has conflicting interests," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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