Lingle seeking volunteers for her administration

By Gordon K.Y. Pang and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

Gov.-elect Linda Lingle announced yesterday she will seek volunteer "professional" interns from the private sector to work in her administration because the Legislature slashed the governor's office budget this year.

Georgina Kawamura

Randall Roth Associated Press photos

Lingle, who will be sworn into office Monday, held her first press conference since her return from a weeklong trip to the Mainland where she attended two conferences.

She also announced the latest selection for her Cabinet, saying she will appoint former Maui budget director Georgina Kawamura, who served from 1987 to 1998, to state budget director.

The governor-elect also formally announced her appointment of University of Hawai'i law professor Randall Roth as her senior policy adviser.

Lingle's appointments suggest that although she formed screening committees to help her select key Cabinet posts, she will also keep close to her trusted people to help run her administration. Kawamura served under Lingle during her tenure as Maui mayor, while Roth has been a supporter and adviser since 1998.

Neither was screened through the committees, which are advising her on who will lead nine other state agencies.

Lingle told reporters yesterday the internship program is a good way to tap authorities on various issues, particularly with a tight budget. Such people would not receive a government paycheck but would be on loan from their employer.

"We're finding there's such a wide variety of issues that people want to talk about. And we don't feel that certainly with six people we're able to really gather the kind of information we need to make good decisions," Lingle said.

Gov. Ben Cayetano has 60 people in his office, but the Legislature allotted money in next year's budget for six posts, she said.

While Cayetano has penciled in a restoration of the positions in the preliminary operating budget he will turn over to Lingle when he leaves office Monday, Lingle said her administration needs to "be creative from a budget point of view" if it is to have more than six people on the job before the Legislature meets.

"Government for too long has felt that it has all the answers, that it has to be the one steering the canoe, paddling the canoe," Lingle said.

"We think there's so much talent out there in the community, in the business sector, in the non-profit sector, in the art community, in the sports community. We just want more people involved than just the people who were elected."

A similar program will be set up for college students, she said.

Despite the budget cuts, Lingle said she does not believe the Legislature was being vindictive.

"They were just trying to balance the budget, and I think they ran out of time. And so they grabbed money where they thought they could get it from," she said. "They knew that most of the people were appointees and would be leaving anyway at the end of the year, but I don't think they took into consideration the magnitude of a transition of this kind."

Lingle said she likely will also deal with the shortage in her office through temporary transfers from other state agencies.

The internship programs would be administered by Roth, who she said is a good example of how the professional intern program would work. The UH Board of Regents last week approved giving Roth paid leave from his $90,000-plus job for a year so that he can work for Lingle, under a "loan-out arrangement" he said he suggested to Lingle and UH president Evan Dobelle.

Roth also said Lingle's administration needs to seek help not just from college students, but from "some of the very, very top people in this community" who can take a brief leave from their positions to spend several months in the governor's office.

"People who, maybe because of their position, could never consider making it a long-term commitment to serve in an administration but may very well be able to get a leave from what they're currently doing to spend maybe six months helping get legislation through ... doing research or helping with the outreach so that we can gather as much information from the community as possible."

Roth, who said he doesn't anticipate the internship program creating conflicts of interest, will also be in charge of helping guide Lingle's local and national agenda. "Randy will lead our effort to move our ideas through the state Legislature as well as develop a strategy to get our priorities such as Native Hawaiian recognition and benefits for World War II Filipino veterans adopted at the national level," Lingle said.

Lingle said another federal issue her administration will focus on is homeland security, specifically regarding Hawai'i's ports.

Lingle said she envisions a major federal push for more port security, but that it is premature to talk about specific dollar amounts.

"Hawai'i has a strategic location. That's why so much of America's military forces are here and for that reason we're also a strategic (location) ... probably from a terrorist's point of view," she said. "I want to be clear to the public that this is something we're aware of. We're focused on not just the port security but the security for the people of Hawai'i generally.

"I want them to feel calm about it and relaxed but to be well aware that emergency preparedness will be a major focus for us."

Among the key challenges Kawamura will have to face when she takes office Monday is finding $200 million to replace money from the Hurricane Relief Fund that the Cayetano administration has tapped as revenue in the upcoming state operating budget. Lingle reiterated yesterday that she opposes taking money from the fund.

"That's not an option for us," Lingle said.

Kawamura said she will submit the budget put together by the current administration to the Legislature on Dec. 16, and will go back and request revisions during the session.

Reach Gordon Y. K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com. They can also both be reached at 525-8070.