AFTER DEADLINE
Readers, voters look for answers as legislative session begins
By John Simonds
Advertiser Reader Representative
The annual opening of the Legislature is a good time to remind everyone serving the public that readers and voters are looking for answers.
Accountability is in season, whether in government or the business of pursuing it, keeping up with its actions, tracking the issues and personalities in another fast-moving election year.
The Advertiser's "How to reach your legislator" on Page A7 last Sunday presented a full page of photos, phone, fax, room numbers and e-mail addresses of all 51 House and 25 Senate members. On Page A6, readers found a survey response in grid form showing positions of members on 20 issues that may come before them this session.
It's a chance for readers and voters to reconnect with people they've elected and get a sense of how they might vote this year on a range of matters under the Capitol roof.
The survey was taken in November with an early December deadline. All but three senators and five representatives replied to at least some of the questions. Some said the issues were too complex for simple answers and others begged off until hearing public testimony and considering specific bills.
One caller noted the survey had no mention of the traffic photo-enforcement issue. It's a topic that zoomed into larger view after the survey was launched, and it could be a headliner this session.
Some topics that inspire callers and letter writers don't make the legislative previews but could pop up in the session — campaign spending rules, gasoline prices, the Aloha-Hawaiian airlines merger, Aloha Stadium security and what to do about cats and dogs.
What's on the public's mind at the moment may surprise some agenda setters, but newspapers get quick feedback from their readers.
• Callers were quick Thursday morning to spot a Page A2 photograph that was supposed to be of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo but was not. A wrong face had been "cropped" from a group photo. The Advertiser published a correct photo of Arroyo on Page One Friday.
• Another caller objected to the wording of a lead paragraph in Wednesday's Page One story about possible criminal investigation of campaign spending on O'ahu. The paragraph, the caller noted, was based on a complaint being considered by the state Campaign Spending Commission. She said many readers would not read beyond the early words "violated state law" to the end of a 35-word sentence to put them in context.
• A longtime reader asked why The Advertiser had no report of the 53rd annual Narcissus Festival Queen Pageant last weekend at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. The newsroom did not schedule coverage of the Saturday-night event but plans a feature interview with the queen.
• A publicist expressed frustration over the news media's stating that all speeders would be ticketed, even those driving one mile above the limit. The state Department of Transportation is not saying this, the publicist said, but for legal reasons it cannot make public any leeway it may allow on speeding. So officials are unable even to hint that latitude may exist in enforcement.
• Another caller complained about a People item on Wednesday illustrated by Rudolph Giuliani's photo. It was not about the former New York mayor but his divorce lawyer, who also is representing an actor in an unrelated case. The caller said she thought it was a misleading reach to picture the mayor.
• A concerned visitor called to know what happened to a sailor who was beaten in Waikiki and hospitalized. Stories appeared in The Advertiser Jan. 11 and 12. The victim was upgraded from critical and transferred to Tripler Army Hospital.
• A happy reader called twice to thank The Advertiser for placing the Jumble puzzle in a corner location, making it easier to fold the page and cut out the puzzle. She said she and her family enjoy unscrambling the words each night at their dinner table.
Reach John Simonds at jsimonds@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8033.
