Letters

Building Everyone’s Future

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

Governor Linda Lingle recently announced that she will release over $1.8 billion for more than fifteen hundred of capital improvement projects around the state. She further promised to work with the counties and industry to expedite the permitting, design and completion of these projects to create jobs and inject cash into our declining economy.

On Moloka‘i, the governor’s list includes thirty-five projects, ranging from termite tenting at Kaunakakai Elementary ($6,000) to improvements at the Moloka‘i Airport’s Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting Station ($6.3 million). Twenty-eight of those projects involve educational facilities, including repairs and renovations. Total estimated construction costs: $25.9 million.

Increasing government spending to help drive an economy in distress is a tried and true strategy. FDR used it to help move the US economy during the Great Depression and President-elect Barack Obama continues to support government CIP spending at the federal level as a way of softening the impact of our nation’s current economic downturn.

So it’s pretty hard to argue with the governor’s proposals here on Moloka‘i, considering that we should see both a strengthened economy and improved school facilities when the day is done. Still, now that some time has passed since the initial announcement, we can take some time to look more closely at the details.

First, while we are all grateful to Governor Lingle for taking the initiative to get these projects moving, it’s important that the public realize that each first had to make its way through the budget process. In other words, each of these projects represents many hours of legislative work in reviewing proposals, determining policies, and setting priorities. And, since once a project makes it into the budget it falls within the governor’s authority to release the funds, her current decision to move these projects ahead can equally be seen as her deciding not to hold them up any longer.

In short, it would have been nice if Governor Lingle had acknowledged the work that had been done by others to get us to this point as loudly as she touted her administration’s work in releasing the money.

In addition, while it is the governor’s job to consider the state as a whole, it is my job to focus on my district. Yes, we will enjoy benefits from the spending, but how much of the money will end up in the pockets of our residents?

Moloka‘i needs jobs. I would like to see a real effort made to ensure that these twenty-eight projects mean employment for Moloka‘i residents, rather than other people coming to the island just to do the work. If the demand for labor exceeds our capacity, or if a job calls for specialized skills, no one will complain that someone from Maui or Honolulu does the work. But all else being equal, I hope we can count on a lot of Moloka‘i residents getting up early and going to a job site.

Yes, in the end the Lingle administration does deserve credit for finding ways to help our economy. Let’s keep reminding them that there are ways to help down at the community level too.

Investing in ourselves

Monday, December 15th, 2008

A recent article in one of our statewide daily newspapers featured three Molokai businesses that are using photovoltaic systems to reduce their electric bills. The Friendly Market Center, Kamoi Snack-N-Go, and Molokai Drugs each installed sunlight-powered electrical systems that have reduced their consumption of electricity by up to ninety percent.

One challenge is that while the electricity the system generates is essentially free, the system itself is not. The Friendly Market system, for example, cost about $700,000 for an 81.2 kilowatt system. Even with a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant paying a quarter of the system’s cost, and with state and federal tax credits offsetting more of the investment, it is a substantial amount of money. Friendly Market expects the system to pay for itself in about four and a half years, so there is a payoff in sight down the road.

The “glass-half-empty” way of looking at the example these three businesses are helping to set may be that free electricity is not really free, and unless you can find a few government agencies willing to split the cost, the point where the initial investment begins to provide a real savings is pretty far into your future. However, I don’t think that view provides the most accurate picture.

The fact is that there are programs available to help defray the cost of alternative energy systems, and I am thankful that we have neighbors who are willing to make a commitment to the long term. You may recall that a few weeks ago, I wrote about how critics of a proposed wind farm and statewide power distribution system said that single-home photovoltaic systems were a better alternative energy investment. In that case, my position was, okay, but how would everyone pay for it?

The point is that there is no single alternative energy solution for every need in our community. We cannot look at alternative energy the same way we look at the existing electrical grid: a single source providing every kilowatt we need to fulfill our energy requirements. Instead, each of us must consider what our total consumption is likely to be, and ask what approach will best serve those needs.

Friendly Market, Kamoi Snack-N-Go, and Molokai Drugs deserve credit for making an investment of time and money. At the same time, everyone in the community should thank them for taking action that will eventually provide secondary benefits far beyond what is immediately apparent.

One challenge of our dependence on fossil fuels is the fluctuation in cost. While oil prices are now moving lower, we all know they will rise again. The stability offered by alternative energy will also help these businesses keep their prices down, particularly once the systems themselves are paid for. That’s a benefit we will all enjoy.

I am committed to continuing my support for the spread of alternative energy in our community, and ensuring that the widest range of options will be available. I also hope all of us will continue to ask what more we can do individually to help us all.

A time for peace

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

With the harvest completed, everyone rested and let the land lay fallow. They offered food in tribute to their chief and to Lono in thanks for their wise stewardship. Without wisdom, the land would become barren, and the people’s life and culture were tied to the land.

While almost no one among us could afford to stop work for an entire quarter of the year, Makahiki stills serves as a reminder of the values that should guide us. Appreciation for the things we are given by our culture, our efforts, and our fates. The abundance that marks so many of our lives. And the wise stewardship that the best among us offer.

Even in a place that enjoys a year-round growing season, it is difficult to fathom allowing productive fields lie unused through four long months. Simple math tells us that ancient practitioners could have increased their annual yields by a quarter just by keeping fields in use. Yet the concept of fallow fields is critical to understanding true stewardship.

A fallow field is not wasted space; it is land in renewal. The period where a land remains unplanted allows the soil to replenish it moisture and nutrients. It regains the texture that provides roots with air. Decaying matter slowly develops into a loamy compost that shows its strength with the next planting.

Today, when every moment is consumed by meetings and activities, when we cannot stop checking our Blackberries and iPhones or worrying about cellular coverage, we seldom stop to replenish. It’s a drive-through, satellite-fed, multi-tasked life. The only fallow time we have is while we’re asleep, unless we dream about work, too.

And then there’s peace. We should marvel at a society where everyone accepted that whatever was happening the day before Makahiki, no matter who was arguing with whom, what group was set upon the defeat of what faction, it all stopped. Four months of peace. I would guess that enemies did not necessarily celebrate together, but the fact that they were celebrating separately instead of fighting on the same battlefield is pretty remarkable.

On November 20, 2008, the State of Hawai‘i observed its first Makahiki Commemoration Day. It wasn’t a holiday, so you probably had to work. Still, it stands as a reminder of what Makahiki was, and how our sometimes more-civilized ancestors made the best use of their time.

Hope for all of Us

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

The voters—on Maui, Moloka‘i and Lana‘i, as well as across our state and our nation—have had their say.  I am humbled to return to the Hawaiian Senate as your voice in the legislature. My thanks to you for your votes of confidence; we have a decisive victory and clear mandate for the next four years. Through our partnership we have created a solid momentum to turn our economy around, protect our lifestyle and become more food & energy self-reliant.

And because I realize that some of you did not vote for me, I will recommit myself to listening to everyone who takes the time to express themselves. I represent our district, not just the people who vote for me, so please feel free to bring me your concerns or comments.

We prepare fearlessly for the change that confronts us, personally, locally and nationally. We draw strength for the days ahead from our renewed national wellspring of hope.

Our country is jubilant as Barack Obama prepares to assume the role of America’s 44^th President, and it seems that most of the world shares our sense of renewal. Yet, we must keep our focus on the days ahead. Nationally and internationally, one of our greatest challenges will be healing the divisions that have hung between us the past few years. Some days it feels as if our nation’s economy will crumble around our ears. Our sons, daughters, brothers and sisters continue to fight and die in the Middle East. Our greatest hope may lie in the fact that we now have a new, unifying figure to join us together in doing what we must as a nation.

Here at home, we face similar challenges as our economy slows, threatening jobs and our primary economic engine, tourism. Having enjoyed so many years of economic prosperity, we must now take on the challenge of guiding our state through rocky times.

I stand ready to lead our beloved district on our journey into the future. We have already organized the Senate, and I will assume the Chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Transportation, Intergovernmental and International Affairs, as well as the Vice Chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Energy & the Environment. Additionally, I will sit as a member of the Senate Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee.

With my heartfelt thanks for your continued confidence, and my commitment to do what is best for the people of our state and our district, I invite all of you to play a part in helping to build the future we want for ourselves and our next generation. And even as we look toward our new president as a figure of hope, we should remind ourselves that the real source of hope is right here. We are the hope, together.

Long Division

Saturday, November 8th, 2008

Yet at the end of a nearly-two-year campaign, American voters responded to one aspect of his personal approach that all of us feel came from his spending his formative years in the most culturally-diverse state in the nation: he knows how to bring people together. The contrast between the Republican campaign and the Democratic campaign was stark. One side talked about fear, and distrust, and domestic terrorists. The other spoke of uniting our country, respecting diversity, and caring for those who need our help. The latter view won out. And I think that view is the Hawai‘i view.

Local people learn early on that living on an island in a sea of cultural cross-currents takes certain skills, foremost of which is knowing how to get along. There are small gestures and demonstrations of sensitivity, respectful rituals by which we show each other that we care about everyone’s comfort.

When Barack Obama talks about inclusiveness, when he tells those who voted for his opponent that he will be their President too, he is displaying that same skill of getting along. And when the country responded by building a new coalition of winning states, with a broader and deeper reach than we have seen for decades, they validated our local spirit of cooperation.

Our nation has been divided a long time. Somewhere along the line, those on the national stage developed an affinity for the politics of polarization. Winning by the barest of margins while maintaining the deepest of divisions, they cast the national debate in terms so stark and acrimonious that the public developed a distaste for government. Somewhere in the victory of politics over principle, civility was lost.

Now, just a few days after the Presidential election, I can’t help but feel that we are in a moment of—you’ve heard the word before—change. I can’t shake the impression that the country could be different, that we may find a way to include more people, more concerns, and more avenues of success.

We can’t say for sure that Barack Obama gained his approach or his perspective growing up among the diversity of Hawai‘i. But we can be sure that the spirit that drives him is very familiar to anyone who has truly made Hawai‘i home. And we can feel the core of that spirit, a spirit that could well become the theme and hope of a better America, beating in the heart of our own community.

Friends Indeed

Friday, October 31st, 2008

According to an item in the Honolulu Advertiser (Wednesday, October 29), "Families with household income that falls within 80 percent of federal guidelines may qualify for payments of $20 per household member, up to $120 maximum per billing cycle. Payments are made directly to the utility company."

The same published report says that, "Consideration also is being given to residents who fall within 81 percent to 100 percent of income guidelines, with payments of $15 per household member up to $90 maximum per billing cycle."

For more information, contact Lyn McNeff at 808-249-2990.

That concludes the "public service announcement" portion of this column. What I am left with after hearing of the county’s action is a renewed sense that our community has not only the ability to help each other in times of need, but also the will. Of the two, the latter is probably the more important.

I imagine it would be easy for some people to see those impacted by the sudden surge in water rates as "them." As long as "they" have a problem and I don’t, the urge to take action is absent. The only productive response is to accept that the problems of the community are my problems, too. Maui County did that and, despite hard economic times, made it as priority to provide help.

I would contrast the county’s response to the Moloka‘i water situation with the state’s response to another situation developing in Oahu’s Kahana Valley. There, a group of tenants have asked the state to allow them to lease existing lots set aside for individuals who provide cultural resources to the ‘Ahupua‘a O Kahana Valley State Park, a "living park" that allows families with long-time ties to the valley to live there. Despite ongoing negotiations, the Attorney General issued an opinion in March that found that the new leases were not allowed under existing law. The Department of Land and Natural Resources is now evicting the affected families, while refusing to say why those evictions are necessary immediately. The DLNR has also refused to delay the evictions long enough to allow the State Legislature to address the shortcomings of current laws. It is a fairly involved story, but I encourage you to look into it.

When we see a family having a hard time, we help them. Maui county has not offered to pay the entire water bills of the families on Moloka‘i who will benefit from the Neighbors in Need program; they did what they could. Even if the DLNR can’t allow leases under the current law, the department should be willing—at the very least—to allow time for a solution to emerge. And for the DLNR to even address the question of why the eviction absolutely must proceed immediately? Clearly they are no friends of the public, indeed.