MONDAY was filled with ill omens. Something of a pattern was starting to develop at the state Legislature. Despite promises that nobody was going to raise any taxes, when the legislative waters calmed there were lots of "revenue enhancers" floating up to the surface. Hawaii state government
takes a big hitThe family car was seen as a new way to get money, as plans to tax selling your car or tax the mere act of owning a car bobbed up to the top.
Then Hawaii took a big national hit, as Governing magazine concluded a two-year study of the states and reported that Hawaii was poorly run -- one of the worst of the 50.
We can complain and whine about our state among ourselves, but who wants our faults displayed in a magazine read by most of the nation's influential state policy-makers?
The report, which you can read for yourself on the Internet at http://www.governing.com, gave Hawaii a C- and blamed the poor performance on complacency, a slow-to-act civil service system and a failed information technology sector.
The shame of all that is, as Katherine Barrett, one of the study's authors noted, 20 years ago, "Hawaii was regarded as a model for management."
We did a lot of things well and more importantly, as University of Hawaii Professor James Dator said in a Jan. 23 Insight article, the young state wanted to do everything with excellence.
Now, however, the whole country knows that even Mississippi's bureaucrats score better than Hawaii's.
If Hawaii officials are bumblers, even more depressing are the continual reports about how Hawaii handles children, specifically its battered children.
State auditor Marion Higa's report on child protective services can only make you sad and mad that the agency has failed so many times even after the Legislature vowed to improve it.
The problems continued even after the governor said he was closely monitoring it.
As depressing as Monday seemed, Tuesday brightened after a talk with Donna Ching, a University of Hawaii extension specialist, who works with Hawaii's farmers and agricultural leaders.
Ching also knows her way around the Legislature and the state government -- her father is the late Sen. Donald Ching, who was one of the state's progressive leaders.
What we need to do, Ching says, is find the will and encourage the vision for Hawaii.
"I'm continually amazed at how resilient our farmers are," she said.
We have a lot of potential. We can have a sustainable, diversified local economy and we can make the business environment more friendly, she says.
CHING has helped lead legislative retreats and takes a group of farmers through the legislative process every year, so she knows the problems, the cast of characters and the chances for success.
"In agriculture, a lot of people are finding unique niches. We have such potential. We can grow any crop in the world," she says.
As for Hawaii growing the political will to step it up, Ching sees the state before a rapidly narrowing crossroads.
Technology is forcing change at an ever-increasing rate and Hawaii must first accept that there will be changes and then adapt the changes to our state.
Ching thinks we have both the time and will to do it, which makes for a view more optimistic than the one presented by Monday's news.
Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@pixi.com