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Hawaii incurs
an unfair stigma
for business meetings

THE ISSUE Some county officials say they will not attend a national meeting in Hawaii because of voters' perception.

IN a brochure offering a glimpse of Hawaii's natural beauty, City Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz asks fellow county council members from across the country to "join us in paradise" at their association's annual conference in July. However, some council members say they will stay away from Hawaii because their constituents perceive "paradise" as unsuitable for serious work. Hawaii does not deserve such a stigma.

During last year's presidential primaries, Sen. John Kerry joked with reporters that he would have been ridiculed for taking a "campaign junket" if he had traveled to Hawaii, although he said he might consider such a trip if he won the nomination. After winning the primary -- and Hawaii's support of the Democratic ticket came into doubt -- Al Gore and Vice President Dick Cheney campaigned here.

In December, then-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge braved media wrath by attending the second annual Asia-Pacific Homeland Security Summit and Exposition in Honolulu. Gotcha ABC News reporters said their cameras "caught Ridge, along with several aides, relaxing by one of the five pools at the Honolulu resort" during what was listed on his schedule as "office time." How dare Ridge and his aides relax for a few minutes in paradise!

Now it's county council members' turn to take the heat. The National Association of Counties will hold its annual conference July 15-19 at the Hawaii Convention Center, and council members from the mainland are being pressured not to attend, lest they be accused of accepting a junket.

"I just don't feel like a trip to Hawaii is feasible, is a smart thing to do when the county government is asking the people for more money," Sammy Hinson, president of a North Carolina government watchdog group, told the Star-Bulletin's Crystal Kua. County officials from North Carolina, Louisiana, Kansas and Alabama said they are feeling the pressure from such groups. Some officials say they plan to pay for their own expenses to avoid such criticism.

State and county officials in Hawaii routinely attend national meetings on the mainland, despite the distant travel and expense. Their mainland colleagues should not ostracize Hawaii by refusing to reciprocate on rare occasions, accepting the simplistic explanation of Morgan County, Ala., County Commission chairman John Glasscock: "If you go to a beach, you're on vacation."

Marsha Wienert, Governor Lingle's tourism liaison, called that "one of the biggest misperceptions we have because we are viewed in many parts of the world as being a phenomenal vacation destination that everybody dreams about going to. Shame on us for building our image that way."