Lingle wants different jail
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Gov.-elect Linda Lingle said an innovative plan to build a Big Island alternative prison that emphasizes drug abuse treatment is a main reason she has asked Gov. Ben Cayetano not to approve a new jail on O'ahu before she is sworn into office.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Lingle also clarified that her proposal for adding toll lanes to H-1 Freeway from Kapolei to Honolulu would not double-deck the existing freeway, but would instead be an "elevated parallel" addition.
Gov.-elect Linda Lingle reacts to a reporter's question during a press conference at her campaign headquarters.
"What we're really talking about is using the light rail route that was already proposed and had already gone through the environmental review process, and so I don't think it will have the controversy that what was described as a double-decker would have," she said.
She said she believed the toll proposal would likely make it easier to secure federal money for up to 80 percent of the project.
The expansion is meant to ease the crowded commute to and from Honolulu as West O'ahu grows, but some environmentalists say investing in mass transit would be a better approach.
Lingle said the Big Island prison would be privately operated with guidance from Dr. Terry Shintani, president of the Hawai'i Health Foundation and director of preventative and integrative medicine at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.
"He has a fascinating proposal that would in fact make Hawai'i a world center for rehabilitation in prisons, alternative rehabilitation methods," Lingle said.
Lingle said the alternative prison would be built on land controlled by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands and would take a holistic approach to rehabilitation that included the low-fat vegetarian "Hawaii Diet" Shintani is well known for developing.
"For me, as a governor-elect, it was just something exciting that came across in the days right after the election that made me feel it's worthwhile to step back and to take a broader look at how we're dealing with our prison situation, with rehabilitation, with drug treatment, with the issue of sending so many prisoners out of state," she said.
She said she had not yet spoken with Shintani about the plan but had read about it and wanted to hear more before the state commits to build the jail Cayetano has proposed. That facility, to be built in Halawa Valley, would replace the overcrowded O'ahu Community Correctional Center in Kalihi.
Cayetano has said his administration does not plan to delay its negotiations because it has worked for months on the difficult project and wants to see it through. But Lingle said she sees no compelling reason the jail cannot wait until she takes office next month and can decide whether it is appropriate.
The Cayetano administration had estimated the jail would cost $130 million, but rejected a more expensive bid from a development group headed by Durrant and is now trying to reduce the price.
Hawaiian Homelands Commission chairman Raynard Soon said a large parcel adjacent to the Hilo airport is available for the prison project. Shintani was on the Mainland and not immediately available to comment.
Lingle flew to the Mainland yesterday to attend the 2002 Seminar for New Governors in Austin, Texas and the Republican Governors Association annual conference in Dana Point, Calif.
Lingle's staff also announced details for her Dec. 2 inauguration. A parade in front of 'Iolani Palace will be followed by a brief concert on the lawn, and Lingle will be sworn in at the Capitol rotunda at noon.
The free and public event will be followed by a $150 per plate inaugural dinner and dance for 1,200 at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
A free party with fireworks will be held for the public the following day at Magic Island and is open to the first 3,500 people who pick up tickets at Lingle's 1290 Ala Moana Blvd. headquarters.
