Cayetano, Lingle meeting aims at smooth succession
| • | Cayetano gives up jail plan |
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
With Gov.-elect Linda Lingle expected to name no more than a few Cabinet members before she is sworn-in on Monday, Gov. Ben Cayetano is asking his own appointees to help make the transition as smooth as possible.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Lingle, in turn, may retain a couple of Cayetano's Cabinet members, but she declined to identify them yesterday. The other departments will likely be headed by division chiefs until her appointments can be made, Lingle said.
Gov.-elect Linda Lingle thanks Gov. Ben Cayetano after they met at the State Capitol. Lingle and Cayetano held a nearly two-hour meeting yesterday to discuss issues before the new governor takes office Monday.
Transition was the key subject at an amicable wide-ranging, nearly two-hour- long meeting in the governor's office late yesterday afternoon, the first session between Democrat Cayetano and Republican Lingle since her election on Nov. 5.
The transition is being closely watched because it is the first time a Republican will be in Hawai'i's highest executive seat in four decades.
Cayetano said the discussion was "very, very positive" and touched on a number of issues, including the site of additional corrections facilities and airports.
"We have offered our help, including anytime after the election," Cayetano said. "Our folks were saying, 'Just anytime, give us a call.' "
Lingle, who recently returned after more than a week on the Mainland attending two gubernatorial conferences, declined to discuss details on specific issues.
"I appreciate the candor the governor had, and I'd like to kind of keep that between us," she said. "But it was very helpful to hear what he believes were the most pressing issues in the state right now."
She added that she appreciated talking "to someone who has experienced this for eight years, what their view is now, looking back."
On the Cabinet positions, Lingle said she expects to name two of them tomorrow. "I think they'll continue to follow like that, probably it'll be two at a time over the next couple of weeks," she said.
Committees that she has set up to review applications for a number of other agencies are still working, she said. Only committees set up to review applications for the directors of health and agriculture and the tourism liaison have submitted recommendations, she said.
To date, only Chief of Staff Robert Awana and Communications Director Lenny Klompus have been named to the Cabinet.
"We knew it takes a little bit of time to form up the committees and let them look at the résumés," Lingle said. "Overall, I don't feel any pressure to rush. I'd rather take some time on the front end to make sure that we get the very best people that we can, that they get properly vetted. These are positions that will have to be approved by the state Senate."
Lingle said Cayetano-appointed department heads not expected to return will be out after Monday. "Usually, what happens is a top civil servant will get temporarily assigned into that position. I think it's easier if you are going to change eventually to change at the earliest possible moment, so that's how we're going to make that adjustment," she said.
Lingle said "there possibly could be a couple of Cabinet people that are held over, as well as some other positions, but we'll just have to deal with that in the days ahead."
Asked whom he recommended Lingle keep, Cayetano said it would be presumptuous of him to recommend which of his appointees to retain, adding that are all capable.
Cayetano said he has instructed his appointees to avail themselves to Lingle. "What we've talked about is how we can help make this transition a smooth one, because what's important, overall, is that Gov.-elect Lingle be given every opportunity to succeed in what she's doing," he said. "Once the election is over, the people have spoken and that's the process, and I respect that."
Lingle said she has decided to move into the new governor's home behind Washington Place. She said she intends to be moved into the two-story home by Dec. 15. "I went and took a look and it's a very comfortable house," she said. "I was concerned with what it would be like, how big it was, how ostentatious. I think it's very well done, tastefully done."
She said there was also room upstairs for her to "segregate" her two cats, one a stray she adopted during the campaign.
Yesterday's closed-door session was also attended by Awana and Sam Callejo, Cayetano's chief of staff.
Reach Gordon Pang at 525-8070 or gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.
