Never mind what the City projects, can you explain to me how the Island of Oahu will sustain these additional people in the future? Where will they work to financially support themselves?

Our visitor industry has improved slightly but not nearly enough to absorb tens of thousands of additional workers. Our City and State gov’t worforce is already bloated and with the rail project coming that will cost taxpayers multi BILLIONS to build and then many millions for maintenance for the life of the rail will result in money getting diverted away from our City and State gov’t departments, which means a LOSS of the number of warm bodies working in City & State gov’t. I doubt civilian work for the military in Hawaii can provides thousands of additional jobs. Construction industry? Even the rail that will cost BILLIONS will only provide a limited number of TEMPORARY jobs.

Like an aquarium of finite size, oxygen content, filtering capacity; the Island of Oahu has a FINITE carrying capacity and I think most residents will agree that we have reached that point. Yes I know Mufi and others want to force expansion of that carrying capacity such as building the now failed Ho’opili “urban sprawl” development in Kapolei that was supposed to go hand in hand with Mufi’s rail and further build tract homes on the Ewa plains, but I think most Oahu residents realize we have reached our limits regarding job opportunities, land use, traffic, sewage, water & electrical use. For our gov’t leaders to try to force an increase in development and the expense of the majority of residents who have already invested and built a life in Hawaii, to attract more people to live on Oahu to them would be BAD idea and their way of life living in Hawaii for many will be severely degraded. Another reason why these upcoming elections are so critical.

It is currently slightly over 900,000 people plus each year seven times the number of permanent residents visit O`AHU and stay at least one night.

Went to a public presentation last year on a supplemental EIS for H-Power and nearly fell out of my chair when the number flashed across the screen during the PP presentation. That’s a 50% increase is less than 15 years HERE ON O`AHU!!!

For Lingle’s civil union veto one I agree with you 100 percent. For the others such as the Super Ferry fiasco, Calvin Say and Hanabusa are EQUALLY responsible for that mess as Lingle. The Super Ferry could have never have gone as far as it did without Say and Hanabusa’s full support. Furlough Fridays could have been resolved by the Democrat legislature by either raising the GET or raiding the Hurricane/Rainy day funds to pay for gov’t workers salaries, however Democrats chose NOT to do so.

Regarding Koller and DHS, didn’t she try to streamline DHS by reducing the number of office and use more online resources? Of course DHS workers would be incredibly upset by that, but maybe the DHS is overburdened by too many gov’t workers stuck on pencil and paper instead of using computers? Is that a good thing? I do know the DOE is messed up big time and that has nothing to do with Lingle. In fact given Higa’s scathing audit of the DOE and their purchasing and contracting budget, Demo State legislatures should be DEMANDING for an audit like Aiona, however what comes out of the State Leg this session regarding the DOE? A bill to INCREASE the salaries of DOE execs, including the Superintendent to pay him/her up to about $200K! How stupid and ineffective is that! In that case Lingle did the right thing and had to veto that measure.

My point is Lingle as governor has done some good things and really BAD things, but so has the Democratic controlled legislature AND Mufi as mayor of Honolulu. I think it is safe to say regardless of who becomes the next Gov, whether it is Mufi, Neil OR Duke, NOTHING will change, most likely things will get worse. The only hope for positive change I have is Panos, who actually dares for real change in bucking the system of same old, same old.

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from tommy:
…needlessly delaying the rail (hello, Oahu voted for it! will of the people and all that)
===================

The rail project is literally make or brake for the future of Hawaii. It is the mother of all wasteful projects that a State can undertake, especially given our small population of about 1.3 million, with only about 800K living on Oahu and only a small fraction who will actually use the rail. I don’t care what BS is coming from Mufi, the construction industry, Parson, etc. If the 4 mile Las Vegas elevated rail built by Parsons/Bombardier is bankrupt to the tune of 1/2 to 1 BILLION dollars, and should have been a duck soup SIMPLE project given they do NOT have to build over a maze of unforseen/poorly mapped sewage, water & gas lines built decades ago, INCLUDING having to build a train track on land that contains ancient ancestral bones, Oahu’s rail project is nothing more than a 10++ BILLION make work project where billions of Hawaii taxpayer’s dollars will be siphoned from the State and will be Hawaii’s mistake of the Century. Of course for Mufi and the associated special interest who stand to directly benefit from the project they will make a KILLING at Hawaii taxpayer’s expense.

History will repeat itself compared to the Hawaii Convention Center, only the convention center pales in comparison to the rail project. It is appropriate to point out our elected gov’t leaders allowed Sukarman Sukampto to flip the Aloha Motors site, where the convention center now stands and make a profit of something like $44 million, all paid with taxpayer monies. Of course Sukampto with his gambling addiction, lost all of that money and more to various casinos around the world, but I doubt Parsons and Bombardier executives and their associated companies will do the same with all of the money they will make at Hawaii taxpayer’s expense.

Truly sad to reflect back on the two terms. So much to do, so few accomplishments. She did have the mandate she refers to in her 2002
position paper, she seems to have lacked either the administrative skills or the will to govern. She certainly had a talent gap in her appointment candidates, with just a few exceptions. As her administration aged this became more apparent, the only superior exception I can think of in 2nd term appts. was L. Thielen at DLNR.
I like her she’s whip smart and empathetic in person. The obvious issue was she had stony ground to plow with the Leg and the bureaucracy. I think it wore her out. The loss of B. Awana was huge. She certainly has more of a future in politics than the last two guys, but she carries the scars of office more than the laurels.

I’ll just mention two points.

When Lingle ran for governor the second time, one of her campaign promises was to eliminate the GET on food and medicine (I guess she meant over-the-counter meds since prescriptions already are exempt).

In eight years, she never introduced a bill to do just that.

I also remember Lingle’s first State of the State address where she boldly pronounced that the days of the old-boy network were over saying that her cabinet appointees were there on the basis of their qualifications. She said, “A new beginning means a zero tolerance for rewarding friends and punishing enemies.”

Hmmm . . . the Republican Party attorney became attorney general (Bennett), the party chair (Kane) got DHHL, Kitty Lagareta went to UH BOR, her husband Roland and Eddie Flores were appointed to the East-West Center Board of Governors, another party chair (Morioka) got deputy director of transportation, etc.

The Who had it right, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

her legacy as mayor of Maui:
she became governor of Hawaii.

First as a democrat then a republican.
she would have lost if she were a candidate
for governor as a democrat.

“As Governor, within the first 180 days of my administration, I will: Authorize a complete, independent audit of the state’s finances in cooperation with State Auditor Marion Higa.”

Now, do you think the Gov could blow off the dust and leave a copy of that on her desk for Mufi, if he wins, since thats exactly the same thing he’s saying he’ll do?

Go ahead – borrow that one for your weekly summary, Dave.