Asked to grade her first 100 days in office, Gov. Linda Lingle declines and instead draws a comparison to a child starting out in school.
Even some opponents think Lingle
A chronology
and Aiona have made progress,
while others await resultsBy Richard Borreca and Pat Omandam
rborreca@starbulletin.com | pomandam@starbulletin.com"You could say she gave her maximum effort ... you don't get a grade, but you can say she has good work habits," said Lingle, who hits the 100-day milestone today. "I come in here and give it everything I got, every day."
Veteran Democratic legislators view the administration of Lingle and Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona -- the state's first Republican leadership since 1962 -- as a work in progress and are still waiting to see results.
"For right now, I would give her a C+," says Sen. Robert Bunda, Senate president.
Speaker of the House Calvin Say is a bit easier, giving the governor a B.
"The positive attributes were trying to balance the budget without any tax increase and also agreeing not to touch the Hurricane Relief Fund," he said.
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano had the harshest assessment for Lingle's performance to date, saying her unfamiliarity with state government shows in her public statements and decisions.
"Her political promises and rhetoric have boxed her in and limited her options," Cayetano said in an e-mail to the Star-Bulletin. "Her position on the Hurricane Relief Fund is the best example. Public education and the poor and needy will suffer unnecessarily."
In an interview this week at her state Capitol office, Lingle, 49, said it is too early in her four-year term to assess her accomplishments, but noted that she has already made progress.
"We are moving to extend mental health parity, we are moving Aloha Tower to the Hawaii Community Development Agency, cleaning up the procurement process, and bringing in top-quality people," Lingle said.
STAR-BULLETIN / JANUARY 2003
Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and Gov. Linda Lingle greet the press after their inauguration ceremonies in January.
Lingle was successful in one of her most public campaign promises, restoring uncontested ceded-land payments to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Although lawmakers and opponents initially said it was not possible, Lingle was able to provide OHA with its first check last month.
"Across the board, at a minimum, we have at least begun to talk about certain issues," Lingle said. "There is nothing I could point to that at this time that we have made no progress."
Some of her early goals, she said, included raising the state's national and international profile, something she says she partially accomplished with appearances on a variety of network television shows while traveling to Washington, D.C., and New York last month.
At that time, she also crossed off her to-do list a campaign promise to lobby the Bush administration and testify before Congress in favor of federal recognition for native Hawaiians.
Locally, Lingle's early forays into the Legislature have not been without controversy. She is getting low marks, for instance, from the local chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons.
"We think the governor has really failed the people of Hawaii," Gregory Marchildon, state AARP director, said.
His criticism centers on two issues: Lingle's opposition during the campaign to a state plan to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and to long-term care insurance proposals.
Lingle put in place her own prescription drug plan, which Marchildon called "a small charity program" that will help only 20,000 of Hawaii's poorest senior citizens, while the plan passed by the Legislature last year would benefit 120,000, he said.
"Her plan falls massively short of what needs to be done," Marchildon said. "On this issue, she gets a failing grade."
He also said that while the Lingle administration's long-term care tax credit proposal is a start, the plan to tax all Hawaii residents $10 a month for a long-term care plan, was a better idea.
"On our issues during the first 100 days, the jury is out. At best, she certainly has a lot of work to do," Marchildon said.
Another group, the Sierra Club, had been critical of Lingle early on, but now praises some of her actions.
Jeff Mikulina, Sierra Club director, said Lingle and the environmental group eventually found a lot of common ground.
"We are hopeful we can work together. We imagine the same future. It is just how we get there that differs," Mikulina said.
Mikulina cited Lingle's endorsement of repealing a law to automatically approve land use changes and reducing liability for state trail and park users and energy conservation measures as making the Sierra Club "happy to be standing side-by-side with the Governor."
"We are proud to be working with the administration on those measures," Mikulina said.
One of the governor's most controversial issues, changing Hawaii's centralized school system into seven individual school boards, still tops Lingle's agenda and may still have some life left in it.
"I want to have some impact on education reform this year," Lingle said.
Bunda said he supports the process of negotiation between the House, Senate and administration and expects there could be movement this year. "I think perhaps that we may ultimately come around to the governor's position, but the House and Senate want to try out different things," Bunda said.
Meanwhile, GOP leaders said Lingle has done well in her 100 days, and praised her selection of Cabinet appointees as highly qualified leaders.
"We have a governor that is willing and capable to turn the ship of state in a new direction, which she's doing," said Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings (R, Waimanalo), who gave Lingle a grade of B-plus.
State Sen. Sam Slom (R, Hawaii Kai) gave the governor an A-plus. He said Lingle has kept all of her campaign promises, and has handled the transition well. Slom added Lingle has gotten the Legislature to discuss three top issues for her this session: ethics, education and the economy.
"I think the only learning curve that she has probably yet to learn is the fact that there are people in and out of this government that do not wish the new administration well," Slom said yesterday. "And that they are not cooperating for the benefit of the people of Hawaii."
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Gov. Linda Lingle met with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last month during a trip to the mainland in an effort to raise the state's national and international profile.
Lingle’s first 100 days
Here's a chronology of highlights during Linda Lingle's first 100 days as Hawaii governor:>> Today: Hosts Washington Place lunch reception to mark her administration's 100th day in office.
>> March 7: Calls state House cuts to her $1 million emergency funding for the Governor's Office "a terrible distraction and childish."
>> March 5: Holds reception after Tetsuo Harano's name is formally restored on to the H-3 tunnels.
>> March 4: Rebukes state Librarian Virginia Lowell on her approach to coping with budget cuts within the library system.
>> March 3: Downplays as "gossip," a Washington Times report that terrorists planned to attack the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in recent weeks.
>> Feb. 27: Meets with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former mayor Rudy Giuliani.
>> Feb. 25: Testifies before U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in favor of federal recognition for native Hawaiians.
>> Feb. 24: Participates in governors meeting with President Bush. Also attends opening of Office of Hawaiian Affairs office in Washington, D.C. and appears on CNN's "Inside Politics."
>> Feb. 23: Joins the nation's governors at a White House dinner and suggests to First Lady Laura Bush that Hawaii-grown coffee be served regularly at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
>> Feb. 22: Attends winter meeting of National Governors Association. Appears on video for I Am Your Child Foundation, a national nonprofit group that stresses the importance of childhood development.
>> Feb. 21: Meets separately with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and with U.S. Attorney General to discuss federal recognition for native Hawaiians.
>> Feb. 12: Orders state departments to immediately resume quarterly ceded-land revenue payments to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
>> Feb. 7: Maintains Hawaii "blue-guarded" security alert level after the national level is raised to "orange high-risk" alert.
>> Feb. 3: Forms public-private partnership to provide prescription drug assistance to needy residents.
>> Jan. 22: Submits 168-bill administration package to Legislature.
>> Jan. 21: Gives inaugural State of the State address.
>> Jan. 14: Appoints Robert Lee as Adjutant General and Gary Ishikawa as Deputy Adjutant General. Names Peter Young as Land and Natural Resources director, Lillian Koller as Human Services director and Ernest Lau as Land and Natural Resources deputy director.
>> Jan. 9: Appoints Rodney Haraga as Transportation director and Ted Liu as Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism director.
>> Jan. 3: Announces formation of a new HECO subsidiary that will invest in renewable energy projects for Hawaii.
>> Dec. 30: Approves $70,000 in grants to help organic producers and handlers.
>> Dec. 19: Announces plan to improve management and operation of Housing and Community Development Corp.
>> Dec. 9: Appoints Micah Kane as Hawaiian Home Lands director and Mark Bennett as Attorney General.
>> Dec. 2: Sworn in as Hawaii's first Republican governor in 40 years.
Compiled by Star-Bulletin reporter Pat Omandam
