01-24-2010 - Leadership, Commitment, and Courage

Where We Are and the Change We Need
January 24, 2010

As our state legislature begins its work for 2010 and Governor Lingle prepares her State of the State address, I am reflecting on the thousands of conversations I’ve had across our islands in the past few months.

According to our state leaders, the budget is the biggest challenge facing Hawaii today. But I’m hearing something very different.

For people I’ve met, the big challenge they have is lost jobs or fear of losing them. The big challenge is dealing with a pay cut, or a loss of health insurance; paying the rent or saving to pay college tuitions. Some are losing their homes to foreclosure, and some are draining their retirement savings to care for an elderly family member. Business owners tell me their biggest challenge is meeting payroll or getting the permits they need to expand. Government employees and nonprofits are challenged to meet society’s needs with barely any support. Parents and teachers are having a big challenge with Furlough Fridays, worrying about how the loss of instructional days will affect children’s futures. And for some I have met, the big challenge is wondering if they will have food and shelter tomorrow.

The people I’ve met don’t want to know how the government will balance the budget. They want to know how we will do the things we need to do with the budget we have. What creative measures will we adopt, what public-private partnerships will be formed, what risks will we take, and what will be asked of them to help meet those needs?

While the budget deficit is a real and vexing problem for our state and county leaders, we are also faced with a crippling confidence deficit. Throughout my years in public office, I have seen us emerge from natural disasters, wars, recessions, and social conflicts because we knew we could get through them. But today’s levels of anxiety are deeper than I have ever seen. Most disturbing of all, there is growing doubt that children today will be able and willing to live in Hawaii twenty years from now.

Yet in my encounters with people, I also hear and feel an enthusiastic desire for change. People want the chance to set their energies free—to bring all our creative talents together for a common cause. We want to do this. We can do it and we will.

The first and most important issue for us to tackle is the economy

We have a choice. One option is to resuscitate Hawaii’s economy of the past—wealth, power and opportunity concentrated in the hands of a few; an abundance of low-wage jobs; over-dependence on foreign economies; weakening our cultural values and traditions; consuming our resources faster than they are replenished.

Or we can build a new economy—one that is often talked about but never realized because it requires cooperation and courage and change. It requires leadership and long-term commitment to that change.

We need the new economy, and we can get there if we act right now and focus our limited means on three priorities:

• Jobs. There are millions of federal dollars we can access to help the private sector create good jobs right now, but we have to step up our efforts one hundred fold. We need to get every single dollar for public-private partnerships that swiftly create green jobs, high-tech jobs, jobs in construction, education, health services, human services, small businesses—some of these jobs will be temporary, but many of these jobs will become catalysts for our future economy. We need to get these dollars circulating in the economy and stimulating the development of new private industries.


• Investing in people. The fundamental driver of economic growth in Hawaii’s past was land. The fundamental driver for our economic future is the individual human being and his or her skills, intelligence, character, health, and happiness. We need to put more time, effort and, yes, money into the education and social welfare of our people. Most importantly, the earlier in life we begin, the bigger the economic and social payoff in the future. Our system of higher education and the private sector must be full partners to foster creativity and innovation.


• Moving rapidly toward self-sufficiency and sustainability. The Governor, legislature, business leaders, and many others deserve praise for developing plans to move Hawaii toward energy independence. They have proven that we can agree to work together if we put our minds to it. Now we must take it to the next level, and fast. We need to produce our own energy, grow our own food, build a clean and green infrastructure, strengthen our locally owned small businesses, keep local talent here at home, and do all of this in a way where we don’t consume resources to the detriment of future generations. When we do this, we will keep billions of dollars, which are now leaving the state, circulating in our own economy to invest in our own people and communities.

These are the priorities to build a new economy in Hawaii right now and to climb out of our budget deficit. But there is one huge hurdle remaining.

We cannot rebuild our economy without rebuilding confidence in our government. Most reasonable people don’t mind paying taxes if they have faith in the way they are being spent. But trust in government has steadily eroded. This has little to do with the public employee who is doing his or her best with decreasing support. It has everything to do with a lack of leadership—we in public office must set aside personal political agendas, make a total commitment to the long road ahead, and hold ourselves accountable for all that leadership demands.

We can take four steps to get Hawaii’s government back on track

• Prioritize. I’ve outlined three economic priorities. When you agree on priorities you have a basis for making tough decisions. Flat, across-the-board cuts do not demonstrate fairness; they demonstrate aimlessness. Especially when times are tight, some things are simply more important than others. We need to say what those things are, and govern accordingly. It isn’t easy, but leadership never is.


• Partner with the federal government. We have a president from Hawaii and a powerful Congressional presence. Our agendas in energy independence, educational reform and other areas are well aligned. We need to be taking full advantage of this at the state and county levels. Instead we have let opportunities pass us by.


• Partner with the people. I have heard too many stories of government being an impediment, whether it is with permitting and regulations or antiquated rules and systems. Our leaders have been unable to articulate clear missions of public service for our government agencies, and as a result, they simply move too slowly or not at all. People need to know that their government is competent and cares, and this starts at the top.


• Work together. I have never seen Hawaii so divided and so incapable of coming together around common goals. The governor and legislature are locked in a stalemate and we are paralyzed by fights over budget cuts, civil unions, rail transit, land, water, and more. We can’t even cooperate to put children back in school. The worst part is our leaders all too often exploit these divisions and end up defending positions rather than resolving issues. Sometimes, we just lack the political courage to confront our conflicts with honesty and respect. This needs to stop now, again, starting at the top.

Here is an example of where we could begin. I believe Furlough Fridays are an absolute disgrace—a total collapse of leadership where the failure of adults resulted in a violation of our highest principle: that children come first. I said this to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and I will continue to say it until our children are back in school.

Recently, a collaboration of stakeholders, under the leadership of our interim superintendent, Kathy Matayoshi, submitted an impressive application to the Obama Administration as part of the federal Race To The Top initiative. A successful application will bring millions of dollars to Hawaii. More importantly, it will fundamentally transform our schools in ways we can barely imagine. It has been described as our “moon shot” to put all our cooperative efforts to an energizing educational goal. Whether we win the competition this time around or not, I support it. We need to vigorously pursue all such efforts.

So in the midst of Furlough Fridays, we are entering a Race To The Top. And I ask all of the people of Hawaii and our leaders—which future do we choose? Are we going to furlough our future or do we want to race to the top… in education and energy; in technology and sustainability; in business and culture; in community strength and human dignity.

The people I talk to across our Hawaii want to race to the top. With that clear statement of purpose, I am totally committed to work side-by-side with you.

Imua Hawaii.

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