[ OUR OPINION ]

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Halfway through
term, Lingle’s
accomplishments elusive

THE ISSUE After two years on the job, the governor is struggling to leave her mark.

In the two years since her inauguration, Republican Linda Lingle's journeyman performance as governor hasn't yielded the dazzling changes she proposed during her "Agenda for a New Beginning" election campaign.

Though no one would naively expect political promises to be met quickly or even halfway through her term, Lingle has struggled, finding formidable the Democrats who control the state Legislature. But not one to bang her head against a wall, she is shrewd enough to know when to let go of projects with little chance for acceptance.

Lingle told the Star-Bulletin's Richard Borreca she will spend no more political capital on her drive to divide the Board of Education into seven separate panels.

The plan was so pivotal to her agenda that she organized a task force, retained experts to help persuade the public, held town meetings, distributed thousands of pages of printed materials and raised funds to lobby for it.

Lawmakers wouldn't have any of it, and crafted their own proposals for public education reform, passing legislation to change school funding methods and other improvements over her veto.

The governor hasn't been sitting on her hands. Instead of major surgery, she's nipped and tucked state operations with some success. Her administration has reduced fees the public and businesses pay for licenses and permits by $5 million, collected 28 percent more in delinquent taxes and formed units that focus on environmental issues.

Most impressive has been progress on another agenda item -- to place more Hawaiians on homestead land. Led by a skillful director, Micah Kane, the Hawaiian homelands department has put together strong initiatives to build houses and commercial projects that would give Hawaiians, some of whom have waited for decades, homes with opportunities to find jobs nearby.

On other fronts, Lingle still has a long way to go.

Transportation problems in the state's capital city seem to increase almost daily and her plans for a rail transit system have yet to leave the station.

Perhaps the biggest blow to Lingle was the November election when she found she could not translate her personal popularity among voters into support for Republican legislative and school board candidates. Democrats fired up their organization to defeat them as well as George W. Bush, who polls had indicated had a strong following here.

Lingle's biggest accomplishment, however, may be in her ability to spark discussion and to motivate the political machinery to get things done. Arguably, school reforms might have taken place without her provocation, but the swiftness with which lawmakers completed the measures undoubtedly stemmed from her prodding.

The governor has two more years -- possible six -- as the state's leader. She would serve Hawaii well if she continues to stimulate the opposition and her own followers.