The September 11th attack
Politicians seek unified plan

By Kevin Dayton and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

Those who witnessed the aftermath of Hurricane 'Iniki know that in a crisis, government and business in Hawai'i can push aside mountains.

Gov. Ben Cayetano needs to be a consensus builder. Advertiser library photo • April 4, 2001

Although the physical devastation is 5,000 miles away, the psychological and economic damage in Hawai'i is profound. The attacks shook the political and economic landscape in Hawai'i, and will now test the state's leadership as it hasn't been tested since the last surprise attack on America nearly 60 years ago, when the damage to the Islands was physical.

Experienced political hands predict that for at least a brief time, the usual political posturing and bureaucratic glue will disappear from the Capitol and state offices, offering a unique opportunity to harness creativity and simply make things happen.

But they also caution that it won't last. Familiar adversarial roles may quickly return in this year before a critical election, and the moment may be lost.

The proof of what is possible is Kaua'i in 1992 after Iniki destroyed homes, hotels and nearly the entire infrastructure of public works.

Immediately after the hurricane, government and private officials collaborated to open a new landfill to dispose of uncounted tons of debris, built a new public transportation system from scratch, and delivered health care, clean water, shelter and cash to people who had been cut off from the world.

In short, they accomplished tasks in a few weeks that normally would take years, said Jack Lewin, former state director of health and a former candidate for governor. Lewin said people in his department bemoaned the return to business-as-usual a month later when the bureaucratic walls and other obstacles reappeared.

Millions to aid Kaua'i

A similar pattern emerged at the Capitol, where lawmakers rammed through bills to provide millions of dollars in aid to Kaua'i and waive hotel room taxes. With only a few objections, they also approved a statewide surcharge on electricity users to rebuild the Kaua'i power grid.

"In some ways it does take a crisis to get people out of their deep sleep and to change very ingrained patterns," said Lewin, who is now chief executive officer of the California Medical Association. "Leaders in Hawai'i need to look at this economic rather than physical crisis as an opportunity to pull people together, because sometimes it takes the ability to exploit the crisis to make change happen.

"The advantage is people's attention is focused on the need for change, and those elements of society that are resistant to change can be overcome by a groundswell of public opinion, and by a willingness of people inside of companies and government agencies to do something different," he said.

With a special session of the Legislature expected in two weeks, there is tremendous pressure on Gov. Ben Cayetano to step out of character and form a business-government-labor coalition that has the vision and clout to rescue — or at least stabilize — the state economy with bold action, not simply the creation of another blue-ribbon task force.

The role of consensus builder is a new one for Cayetano, a Democrat who is better known for taking political positions like hilltops and fighting to hold them. But last week he was busily trying to bring people together, calling meeting after meeting that included big and small businesses, labor, economists and educators, Republicans and Democrats.

After weeks of back-and-forth sniping by Cayetano and the public teachers' union over exactly what the state had agreed to during the teachers' strike in April, Cayetano shoved the entire issue off the table. He gave the teachers their raises and said the two sides would settle their differences elsewhere, at another time.

There will also be enormous pressure on both Republicans and dissident Democrat lawmakers to swallow their criticisms, set aside their differences and support the plan that emerges.

"The kind of usual political debate, criticism back and forth that goes on in the political community, has pretty well shut itself down," said former state representative Jim Shon, a Democrat from the liberal wing of the party.

"From a purely political point of view, the politician would want to be seen as a part of the process, part of the solution, part of being actively engaged, on board with the team doing this," he said.

Shon also observed the public attitude toward government seems to have abruptly shifted as well. People ordinarily might be wary of government action and wonder what it will cost them, but today, he said, "I think the public is bracing itself for sacrifice."

'Worse than Gulf War'

People have also typically been skeptical about the competence and expertise of government and had more confidence in the private sector, Shon said.

"All of a sudden people are turning back to government for their safety, for their economic bailout, so for a period of time this may actually rejuvenate and resuscitate in the minds of voters the importance of government and that there are certain things that only government can do," Shon said.

Former Gov. John Waihe'e, a Democrat who sat in on one of Cayetano's meetings last week with business and civic leaders, said he believes Hawai'i's predicament today is worse than at the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1990, when Waihe'e was governor.

"I think most people will pull together and work out some kind of a common solution," Waihe'e said. "What's going to be necessary is putting flesh on ideas that actually work, and what we've got to guard against is just dragging up stuff that never passed before, and using the emergency as an excuse to do it."

Waihe'e declined to be more specific, saying only that there are plenty of "pet solutions" to Hawai'i's problems.

"The most important thing they ought to be focusing on is sending a message they are committed to recovery, and that they're doing something about it," Waihe'e said. "The community needs to feel there is leadership in Hawai'i, somebody's taking care of business."

That is not to say there is no room for disagreement. It may simply be a question of how far dissenters can go before they are viewed as getting in the way of action.

Senate Vice President Colleen Hanabusa said the Legislature won't "rubber stamp" Cayetano's proposals. House Health Committee Chairman Dennis Arakaki said he has questions about the effectiveness of the emergency tourism marketing campaign undertaken by the state during the Gulf War. And Hawai'i Republican Party chairwoman Linda Lingle said last week Cayetano needs to go to Washington to lobby for Hawai'i, a suggestion he dismissed as unproductive.

Lingle, who is expected to be a candidate for governor in 2002, said she believes the parties are coming together because everyone recognizes it is a time for nonpartisanship. She also said there's a lot of cooperation because the ideas being discussed — such as reducing the capital gains tax and delaying the minimum wage hike — have traditionally been Republican proposals.

"I think that's a reason you'll see a lot of coming together, because the Democrats are having to admit and recognize that these things do help the economy and keep people on the job," she said. "We feel good about the discussion."

She also said elected officials need to keep in contact with the public, saying that she has received many requests from groups to speak because "they are starving for someone who they view as somehow official to come out and talk about what are we going to do."

Reach Kevin Dayton or Lynda Arakawa at 525-8070, at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.