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GOV. Ben Cayetano sees himself as a champion of the underdog. Of all the budget cuts he's been forced to make, he bled most for the loss of social services that assist the neediest people in our community. Bluntness
handicaps CayetanoSo how did he end up with a bunch of people in wheelchairs rallying against him at the state Capitol -- with some support from his own lieutenant governor?
It's all in the governor's leadership style. He's a blunt pragmatist who surrounds himself with other pragmatists so sure of their righteousness that it borders on arrogance.
Cayetano and his brain trust probably never saw the indignation coming when they inexplicably joined Alabama in challenging the Americans with Disabilities Act before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The attorney general says it's a simple case of states' rights to stop the federal government from intruding in state business by allowing people with disabilities to sue the state for failing to abide by federal law.
Cayetano's critics say it goes back to the Felix-Waihee consent decree, in which the state settled a federal lawsuit by promising to provide more services to disabled schoolchildren. The case has bedeviled Cayetano since he took office, as the federal court has sanctioned the state repeatedly for failing to provide the promised services. Cayetano blames the state budget crunch.
If Alabama prevails in the ADA case, Cayetano's critics say, the state could end-run the Felix lawsuit by challenging the sister federal law that spawned Felix.
If this is Cayetano's pragmatic solution to a vexing problem, the public isn't buying it.
The ADA is no simple states' rights issue. It's one of many civil rights laws passed by Congress to assure that all Americans are treated equally no matter what state they live in.
As Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono pointed out in opposing the administration's position, there are no comparable state laws to protect people with disabilities in Hawaii if the ADA falls. It's no surprise, then, that people with disabilities see Cayetano's bizarre alliance with Alabama as an attack on their hard-won rights.
The ADA is not unjustly burdensome to the state or private business. It simply requires that people with disabilities have reasonable access to services, jobs and facilities -- just like everybody else.
A few lawyers have given the ADA a bad name by suing local businesses for disabled access in a manner that amounts to extortion. They go looking for trouble and get some businesses to pay off just to avoid costly litigation and bad publicity.
But it's the attorneys who are responsible for the abuse -- not the law. Businesses like L&L Drive-In and Hyatt hotels have proved it's possible to stand up to the ADA terrorists and win.
As a disabled person, I don't believe Cayetano bears any malice toward people with disabilities. He has fought discrimination all of his life.
But he didn't think this issue through carefully enough before he acted. He and Attorney General Earl Anzai took a narrow view of the law, ignored the broader implications of their action and didn't consider the message they were sending to the public.
They let expediency cloud their vision of what is right and they've got folks in wheelchairs rallying on their doorstep as a result.
People expect government leaders to set an example in following the law -- not to exempt themselves from the responsibilities they impose on the rest of us.
David Shapiro is managing editor of the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at editor@starbulletin.com.
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