Sometimes, the convergence of government blunders is so startling that it cannot pass unrebuked. So it was recently, when side-by-side news stories on one day revealed how "the system" is failing its citizens, from ongoing Handi-Van snafus to a mishandled negligent-homicide case, to an accused child-assaulting teacher being cleared to teach here. Add in yet-another bungled mailing of Medicaid-Quest notices to beneficiaries — and the clarion call must be sounded for improvements, accountability and consequences. Bad bureaucracy cannot become the norm, enabled by apathy.

That’s a fundamental message for all tiers in government — but one particularly worth emphasizing now, as the state administration comes under new management Monday with the swearing-in of a new governor, David Ige.

More accountability must come to bear on bad performance, just as kudos are important for those doing good work on behalf of taxpayers. The tone for quality starts from the top, from the chief executive making wise appointments of department heads who will raise the bar and, at the very least, demand basic competence.

Unfortunately, even basic standards can be a struggle, as evidenced by recent blunders, all making news Nov. 19:

» The Department of Human Services mailed out fliers in August wrongly stating that Kaiser Permanente Hawaii is not accepting new Med-Quest members. The problem came to light when residents wanting to sign up for Kaiser were told, wrongly by the DHS, that capacity was reached.

What’s as troubling as the misinformation — perhaps more so — is the lackadaisical response to it.

"There was some kind of glitch in the system. They (DHS) really won’t own it, and they won’t do anything about it to make it right," said state Sen. Roz Baker. " … There are a number of legislators who have asked Med-Quest to fix it and correct it, and as far as I know, they have been unresponsive to fixing the problem."

This was at least the fourth time in about a year that DHS has botched information to people it is charged with helping. In one instance a year ago, it took DHS three mailings to get correct information to 250,000 Quest members about health insurance options, a series of goofs that cost taxpayers $176,254.

» In the accused-teacher case, Deborah Hoshiyama was arrested Nov. 18 on a warrant over alleged misconduct in Arizona from seven years ago; she maintains her innocence and was to be extradited for trial. However that case turns out, it revealed a serious gap in Hawaii’s teacher licensing process. Hoshiyama had been working since Nov. 7 at Voyager Charter School; the school principal maintains she had been cleared to work here, but a state Department of Education spokeswoman said Hoshiyama’s application was still being processed and had not been approved for hire or payroll.

But Hoshiyama was already working at Voyager, having been issued a license by the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, which is separate from the DOE. This reveals a disconnect that warrants further investigation and review of the teacher licensing process.

» The city Prosecuter’s Office lost track of a negligent-homicide case in which an Ewa Beach man died after being hit by a truck. Prosecutors had decided to charge the truck driver in the death, but the case file was misplaced. It reemerged only after the victim’s family asked about the case, but by then the statute of limitations had expired — leaving the grieving family without the chance for legal justice. When this came to light, Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro did take responsibility and vowed improvements, and the deputy prosecutor was suspended for four days without pay this month.

» Problems with the Handi-Van paratransit service are chronic, but the outrage of its clients boiled over due to a new reservations system that has made things worse, not better. Handi-Van users have disabilities that magnify difficulties in overcoming operational glitches: what might be a mere inconvenience for the able-bodied becomes a serious barrier to mobility. These are daily quality of life impacts that cannot be taken lightly.

Government is a major industry in Hawaii, with about 1 in 5 here employed as a public worker. But big is better only if it is responsive and does well by the people it is supposed to serve. Lately, it seems, there’s plenty of room for improvement.