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’Net helps offset
low attendance at
western governors’
isle meeting

Just nine of 21 members
turned out, but others can
participate via the Internet

Public can also observe at:
http://www.pixelworld.com/wga

By Treena Shapiro
Star-Bulletin

Economic opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region include telecommunications, information technology and filling in gaps in training and management skills, the Western Governors' Association was told yesterday.

At the governors' annual meeting, David McClain, dean of the University of Hawaii-Manoa College of Business Administration said small business could also profit from this advice as well.

"These are the guys who set the rules that small business has to play by," he said.

"It's interesting to see that many of the concerns of small business are their concerns, too."

For example, when Gov. Jim Geringer of Wyoming expressed concern about interest rates, McClain advised him to regulate only where necessary and set up a tax structure that rewards people for taking risks and being productive.

The governors will be meeting in Honolulu through tomorrow, discussing ways to help reduce demand for illicit drugs and viewing demonstrations on high-technology that can used to improve state government, employee productivity and e-commerce.

Two of Hawaii's high-tech companies, Pixelworld Networks and Highspeed.Com, will be helping the association deal with the low attendance at this year's meeting by putting the conference on the World Wide Web.

While the Western Governors' Association represents 18 states, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, only nine governors are in attendance.

However, the meeting will be broadcast live over the Internet, so governors who didn't make the trip can still participate in the discussions.

Gov. Benjamin Cayetano, chairman of the association, said the attendance was down two or three from last year's meeting in Wyoming, possibly because this is an election year.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush is running for president, two or three governors are running for re-election and other governors are committed to the Bush or Al Gore presidential campaigns and going to conventions, he said. Some just had scheduling conflicts.

Attending a meeting in Honolulu could have become a campaign issue, since taxpayers may not have considered a meeting here a legitimate expense, he acknowledged.

"That is an image that we've had to overcome. We're doing it on the business side right now with PBEC (Pacific Basin Economic Council) and Asian Development Bank," which set meetings in Honolulu, he said. "It's going to be harder on the political side."

During the annual board meeting tomorrow, five absent governors will participate over the Internet, providing a quorum as the governors discuss issues such as air and water quality, electricity usage and recent wildfires in New Mexico.

The public can observe the meeting live or look for more information at the Web site http://www.pixelworld.com/wga.

The proceedings will also be broadcast live on 'Olelo television.