Posted on: Friday, January 21, 2005

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

Dear State Lawmakers:

We don't need aromatherapy bath gel and fleece baby clothes.

Please just help us live decent lives.

Love, Us.

Reports are coming out of the tsunami zone of well-intentioned but poorly matched gifts being shipped in from America. The Los Angeles Times had a story that detailed the misfit efforts:

Cold-weather baby outfits and winter coats for a tropical climate. Foofy bath gels and lotions for people who don't have running water for bathing. Canned cream corn for people who don't eat canned creamed anything.

And though it's dangerously grinch-like to question sending toys to children, there's something odd about sending dolls, sports gear, toy cars and other symbols of American wealth to children who need food, water, homes and medical care. After a natural disaster, people don't need distraction from their problems; they need solutions. But we Americans love our distractions.

Hawai'i politicians love a good distraction as well.

As the ignition is turned in the 2005 Hawai'i state legislative session and the balky old engine sputters to a start, let's hope our elected leaders can find the sweet spot between good intention and practical application.

So far, it's sounding promising.

Opening-day speeches emphasized affordable housing, looking for solutions to the untenable traffic jams that bring trauma to our daily lives, and tax cuts for the middle class so they can actually live middle-class lives.

Throw in fixing the public schools, stemming the crystal meth epidemic and true campaign finance reform, and we're talking meaningful changes that could actually make our lives better.

But each year, there threatens to be a distraction that draws all eyes away from the real problems and possible solutions.

One year it was the van-cams. One year it was the homophobic hysteria over same-sex marriage. Last year the beef over breaking up public school governance ate up so much time and energy, there was no juice left for true reform and meaningful change.

The day after this session opened, a committee of lawmakers gathered to review Hawai'i's tsunami preparedness plan. Isn't that state Civil Defense kuleana? Uh-oh.

Focus. Focus.

The wall of water is already here.

Public housing. Public transportation. Public schools. Fix the damage there.

Tax cuts. Homes for the middle class. Drug treatment and prevention. We need that now.

When May comes around and they're standing there singing "Hawai'i Aloha," let's hope we can thank our elected officials for giving us the help we need, not foofy packages we can't use.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.