Hawaii's Libertarian Party elected new officers May 19 at its annual state convention. Longtime
Libertarian takes
party leadershipLongtime island Libertarian Roger Taylor was elected as chairman.
The other officers include George Berish, vice chairman; John Spangler, treasurer; Jerry Murphy, secretary; Ken Lindsay, Guy Monahan, John Orendt, Stuart Hayashi and Aaron Anderson, at-large committee members.
Taylor twice ran for Congress and once for the state House of Representatives.
Mink picks: Three retired teachers and a utility company retiree have been appointed to U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink's congressional liaison staff on the neighbor islands.
Irene Haraguchi is in Hilo, Caroline Nakashima in Kona and Yuriko Tasaka on Kauai. Maui Electric Co. retiree Hideo Abe is on Kauai.
Readin', writin', repairs: If the repair and maintenance of public schools cannot be completed in a timely manner, then the state should look at the possibility of privatizing those jobs to get the work done, according to House Republicans.
"The real answer and the real reform is fixing our process so repair and maintenance can be done in a timely and cost-effective manner," Rep. Mark Moses (R, Ewa) said.
"And that means improving how (Department of Accounting and General Services) and every department does its work -- or taking the job away entirely."
State officials say it will take 10 years to catch up with back repairs at schools if funding remains at $60 million per year.
But Moses said the state could possibly look at privatization or managed competition -- where the private sector and the public employee unions bid to do the work -- to get the job done if the work cannot be done within the current system.
House minority leader Galen Fox said the bureaucracy needs to meet measurable performance goals.
"Repairs just have to be done in a timely manner. And if you can't do it in a timely manner, we should find someone who can."
A man of letters: The shake-up in the U.S. Senate last week gives Hawaii's Dan Akaka a new job: the U.S. Post Office.
That is one of several new subcommittee chairmanships that Akaka will handle, according to Paul Cardus, spokesman for Akaka.
Hawaii's junior senator becomes chairman of:
>> The Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic Preservation and Recreation, which is in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
>> The Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation and Federal Services, which covers all federal employees, national security and arms proliferation, export policy, intergovernmental relationships and the U.S. Postal Service.
>> The Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, in the Armed Services Committee, which covers military readiness, training, logistics, maintenance, construc- tion, business management, reform, commercial management, information technology management and defense environmental programs.
Lunch money: Gov. Ben Cayetano signed a bill into law that provides a $1 tax credit per exemption to qualified state taxpayers.
Because the state had surplus funds the past two fiscal years, the Legislature must refund money to taxpayers under the state Constitution.
The tax credit applies to the 2001 tax year.
Those who were convicted of a felony or spent a full taxable year in a youth correctional facility, prison or jail will not receive the income tax credit.
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