Posted on: Friday, November 8, 2002
Double-decking freeway among Lingle's proposals
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By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Linda Lingle discussed a wide range of ideas in her first news conference after winning Tuesday's election for governor. Among other things, she suggested building a double-decker toll highway to ease the commute from Kapolei to town.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Governor-elect Linda Lingle said yesterday at her first news conference since winning Hawai'i's top government post that she is considering having the state build a double-decker toll highway between downtown and Kapolei.
The "super zipper," as she called it, would lower the amount of time that Leeward commuters spend in their cars each day. Lingle said she did not know how much it would cost but such a massive and complex construction project would undoubtedly cost hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars.
As the governor-elect began the work of setting up a new administration, she discussed a range of issues — from traffic and health issues to launching an audit to assess the state's financial situation.
The most intriguing idea was the proposal for an elevated highway for carpool or high-occupancy vehicles rising above the existing freeway. Lingle said it could vastly improve the quality of life for residents who work in town and live in Leeward O'ahu.
The plan would be to help commuters by "giving them their own roadway to get in and out of town," she said. There would be no on-ramps or off-ramps for in-between destinations.
Some people might be willing to pay $1 each way for the time savings, as they do in many Mainland cities, she said.
"There is certainly a potential for some sort of toll arrangement," she said, suggesting that employers in that area might subsidize the toll or travel expense. "You're just going to have to be a lot more creative, I think, than we have been.
"To allow the traffic gridlock to continue from that side of the island, I think, dooms the Second City and takes people away from their families for hours every day, and I think we can make a big improvement," Lingle said of the area that has long been planned as a second urban core to downtown Honolulu.
"When people are away from their families so much, children are on their own so much, they don't have supervision, it's just highly likely they're going to start getting into trouble," she said.
To fill the ranks of her administration, Lingle said she is forming screening committees to sort through applications. She envisions the committees coming up with three nominees for each key position before she makes her final choices. The one appointment she has decided to make is her campaign manager Bob Awana to serve as her chief of staff. Other priority appointments include the heads of the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture as well as a tourism liaison position within her office, she said.
Lingle said she believes there are many good workers within state government who can help in the administration.
"We just want to make sure everybody who joins us sees this as the greatest privilege they've ever had to go out and actually make things better for people," she said, noting that she doesn't care if they are Democrats or Republicans.
She expects the transition from Gov. Ben Cayetano's administration to be a smooth one as she takes office Dec. 2. "I think he's committed that the people of Hawai'i get the best possible government they can," she said.
One key appointment will be the replacement of state Supreme Court Justice Mario Ramil, who is retiring at the end of the year. Lingle said she will look for someone respected in the legal community, "someone who will not try to make law from the bench but will interpret existing laws." And she plans to work with the bar association on ways to improve the judicial selection process though she did not yet have suggestions for policy changes.
She said she will make good on a campaign promise to allow the faculty union, the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly which endorsed her, to have input in the selection of at least one of the regents she will name in coming months.
She said she is particularly eager to handle health issues, such as long-term care insurance, the cost of prescription drugs, workers' compensation issues, Medicare and Medicaid. She described health concerns as one of the most complex issues facing the state today involving a large portion of the state budget.
Toward that end, Lingle said she will work to eliminate the tax on medical services. She said she plans to meet with leaders of both parties on that issue, a top concern of many voters, especially senior citizens.
"To tax people for being sick and injured is just wrong," she said.
She also called on the state to emphasize a more diversified agriculture that could move the state toward more self-sufficiency and would be an important export as well as "a great backdrop for the visitor industry." Part of her charge, she said, is make changes to the agriculture department, which "has become much too regulatory and enforcement-oriented and serving as an advocate for the industry."
To save the state money, she said she will sit down with state auditor Marion Higa next week, "asking her to help us identify those areas where she sees the biggest cost savings in the shortest period of time or improved public services."
Lingle said she thinks millions can be cut quickly from the state administration, starting with government vehicles to directors and travel expenses for state workers.
She is also proposing a financial audit of the state. "I want an independent look," she said. "It's like when you come into a new company — it's no different — you want to know exactly what the position is when you take over."
Lingle said she values Higa's opinion because the auditor has a reputation as an independent who remains neutral politically. She also said she will rely on the advice of trusted advisers Randy Roth, an attorney and law professor, and Wayne Fujita, who served as her deputy finance director when she served as Maui mayor.
On a personal note, Lingle said she has not yet thought about moving into the new governor's residence. And she is still wearing a bandage on her leg from spending the final long days of the campaign in high heels.
Lingle said she hasn't given much thought to how being a woman governor is different from any other governor. "I always have to have extra panty hose with me," she said with a smile.
But while she discounts the personal significance of being the first female governor, she is mindful of her position as a role model for girls and women.
She said she expects over the next four years to have people get to see the different sides of her personality and her approach.
"Anyone you start going out with, you don't know them right away, it takes some time, and I think it will be the same for me and the public," she said.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
