After Deadline
Advertiser community panel urges readers to share ideas with legislators
By John Simonds
Advertiser Reader Representative
Inspiring public interest in the priorities of the state Legislature and the operations of the public schools challenged members of The Advertiser's editorial board during their five-week term that ended Wednesday.
Public members included George W. Ashford Jr., an attorney, former Navy officer and a Kailua resident; Thomas Crabtree, also of Kailua, a physician serving at Tripler Army Medical Center; Esther Cup Choy of Kane'ohe, a retired elementary school counselor; Iris M. Gonzalez, an operations research analyst at Hickam Air Force Base; and Robert Marciel, sales manager in The Advertiser's circulation department.
The health of the community as well as its institutions concerned board guests. They suggested ways The Advertiser could pursue leadership in providing information to keep fears of dengue fever and anthrax in perspective and helping legislators and education officials find ways to make progress in hard times.
Visiting members urged The Advertiser to encourage readers to express their ideas and convey a sense of immediacy to state representatives and senators preparing for the special session of the Legislature, which ran from Oct. 22 through Friday. The Advertiser responded on Oct. 14, with an editorial urging readers to share with legislators their suggestions for guiding Hawai'i out of short- and long-term economic crises. The newspaper also published on the editorial page alphabetical lists of state House and Senate members, their office phones, fax numbers and e-mail addresses.
Letter writers, faxers and e-mailers caught the spirit of the session's possibilities, evidenced in a range of published ideas for rescuing or redirecting the state, and ideas for helping Hawai'i continue to flow into the newsroom as well as to Capitol offices.
Seeing the editorial and list of legislators in the paper and later noticing it posted in public places to guide others was gratifying to one visiting member. "The real buzz," added another guest, "is to see what you talk about showing up in the paper."
Editorial board participants commented on a wide array of Hawai'i topics, including how to grow Hawai'i's economy, whether the proposed University of Hawai'i health and wellness center could be a centerpiece in a new healthcare industry to attract visitors and patients from elsewhere, upgrading the state's public health system and mosquito control, the rise of teleconferencing as an alternative to long-distance travel, comparisons of terrorists and anti-globalists, and safeguarding Hawai'i and overcoming its isolation.
Suggestions for dramatizing Hawai'i's economic plight included gathering the unemployed to demonstrate at the Capitol or inviting legislators to visit unemployment offices. Guest members said Hawai'i should view the session as an opportunity to choose a new destiny, combining a spirit of sacrifice with chances to explore new paths. It's time for a strategic business plan, visitors agreed, for visionary thinking, even in a committee-driven Legislature that seldom rewards it. Visiting board members compared the bipartisan cooperation of Congress with politics-as-usual at the State Capitol.
Some editorial visitors speculated that the lack of big achievements from the special session foreshadowed the emergence of legalized gambling in the 2002 session. Disappointed that "big thinkers with big ideas" did not surface to make the session more historic, editorial visitors still saw possibilities to invest in Hawai'i's future by using money already committed to repair public school buildings. It is work crying to be done that needs no new laws to enable it, a program that would deliver statewide benefits to the economy and education as well. Upgraded buildings lead to other improvements, members reasoned, and work in some schools is long overdue. An Advertiser editorial of Oct. 28 made the points.
How to upgrade the performance of schools and find new leadership after the departure of the superintendent also got the attention of board members. Everyone agreed that many entities shared control of the school system but that no single person or group had enough authority to run it effectively.
Bringing more parents into school operations and moving toward local autonomy seemed like a good approach, but some members said only "hot-button" issues could interest communities in their schools. Opinion differed on whether superintendents affect schools at the student-teacher level. Some said they have a daily impact on schools. Another view held that strong principals would keep teachers motivated even in tough times. Perseverance and the right attitude are needed for teachers to succeed, said some members.
Others said teachers should take more risks and worry less about getting permission to try new ideas. One member said capable teachers find ways to get the job done right, no matter who's running the system, or how effectively.
Another group of community members will begin the November term on Wednesday.
Reach John Simonds at jsimonds@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8033.
