Teacher fights, sound bites steam up start of summer

Hawaii’s summer doldrums are starting to look a lot like an election as we "flASHback" on the month’s news that amused and confused:

» At their first face-to-face campaign appearance, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and his Democratic challenger, state Sen. David Ige, each blamed the other for the state’s problems. It was one of those rare occasions when both candidates were right.

» Ige has surged ahead in some polls despite lacking the millions of dollars in campaign funds Abercrombie has amassed. The challenger’s appeal seems to be, "Why pay so much for bad leadership when you can get it for free?"

» Pacific Resource Partnership apologized for its allegations of corruption that brought down former Gov. Ben Cayetano in the 2012 mayor’s race. It was a win-win for Cayetano; he got back his good name and he still doesn’t have to be mayor.

» The Hawaii teachers union filed a grievance to invalidate performance reviews that teachers agreed to in their last contract. Teachers do labor negotiations in two phases: First they sign a contract, then they hire lawyers to renege on it.

» Retired principals demanded that schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi be fired, but the Board of Education instead extended her contract at a $50,000 raise. It seems principals don’t get to keep expelling people after they retire.

» University of Hawaii regents ended a tumultuous year by appointing David Lassner as the permanent UH president, a job for which he didn’t apply and supposedly wasn’t eligible. This was a selection process done by the book — a comic book.

» A proposal being considered by the City Council would move City Hall from the historic Honolulu Hale to a new site in Kapolei. As if the smell from the landfill isn’t causing enough complaints in Ko Olina.

» State Sen. Malama Solomon said whales should be held to blame when they get run over, not the boaters who ram into them. I’m so glad her committee isn’t in charge of solving our pedestrian fatality problem.

» State Medicaid officials erroneously notified 4,500 aged, blind and disabled people that their benefits would end, then repeated the blunder with a like number of Quest patients. God only gives us burdens we can handle; the state doesn’t follow suit.

And now my favorite quotes of the first governor’s debate:

From David Ige: "Political pundits have said that I wouldn’t know a sound bite if it bit me in the okole. And I acknowledge that. I’m not a great politician." Only a politician would use a sound bite to deny knowing what a sound bite is.

From Neil Abercrombie: "We’re back, we’re on track, we’re in the black." You know he’s in trouble when his new sound bite rings like a gambler’s incantation before he rolls the dice.

Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.