On Politics Richard Borreca

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Now they get it -- just blame the editor

A SERIES OF communications blunders is forcing Gov. Linda Lingle to create a committee to examine how state government gets information to the public.

That's a news story I never thought I would write or read, but it is true; the state fumbled getting the word out about the earthquake last week because Civil Defense went dark along with the rest of the state.

Before the task force gets bogged down in technical specifications or starts ordering up new equipment, I suggest that Civil Defense figure out a way to completely open its doors to the news media when a disaster hits.

On Sept. 11, 1992, a Category 4 hurricane named Iniki tore right over Kauai. I was at the state Civil Defense operation at Burkheimer Tunnel covering Gov. John Waihee's operation. There was not anywhere in the headquarters I couldn't go.

I sat next to the radio operators trying to make contact with then-Kauai Mayor JoAnn Yukimura, I heard Star-Bulletin reporter Helen Altonn in Lihue dictating an update over the Civil Defense radio as Iniki came ashore and I could see Civil Defense workers doing precisely what they had practiced.

The understanding was "don't bother anyone working, but go where you need to go."

The reporters at Civil Defense that night could see exactly what was occurring, which was impressive; Civil Defense and the National Guard spend a lot of time practicing things we in the public rarely consider, except in a disaster.

To this day, I think the state's reaction to Iniki was one of Waihee's finest moments.

Reporters who are allowed to come and go inside government will report on what it is doing; if shut out, we will speculate on what government is hiding or lying about.

The issue of lying brings up another item from last week: the Hawaii Democratic Party's problem with writing truthful campaign ads. For the third election in a row, the Democrats have been caught fabricating ads.

In 2002, they sent out mailers claiming that Republicans who were not even in the Legislature had voted to protect oil companies. After they were caught, Andy Winer, the Democrats' coordinated campaign director, said the mailers "were factual." Yes, they contained facts, just false facts.

In 2004, a Democratic mailer accused a GOP House member of voting against the state budget. He actually voted for it. Then-party chairman Brickwood Galuteria explained that changing a "yes" vote into a "no" was a "typo."

Last week, the Randy Iwase and Malama Solomon campaign for governor and lieutenant governor ran a TV spot with fake headlines pasted on a real newspaper. Again Galuteria said he knew they were changing the words, but this time called it an "editing" error.

For a party hammering on the mendacity of George Bush, the Democrats need more than a spell-check program.