Marion Higa set a high bar

Hawaii department supervisors have learned over the past two decades to toe the line or brace themselves for a public scolding from state auditor Marion Higa. Now Higa is retiring, at the end of this year, leaving state legislators with the challenging task of finding a person with the integrity, grace and courage to fill the position. It will be no small task to replace the state’s most trusted official.

Higa, 70, joined the auditor’s office 41 years ago and was put in charge in late 1991, appointed by state legislators in the following year. According to the state Constitution, her replacement will be appointed by majority votes by the House and the Senate.

The Legislature’s role in making the appointment did not result in an auditor politically and quietly representing Democratic control. Upon starting in the office, Higa made her reports public and later made them immediately available on the auditor’s website. The assessments have been readable, succinct and bold.

Her audits have taken on key questions about the Hawaii Superferry, the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and have revealed fiscal deficiencies at charter schools and a bench-warrants backlog at the state Sheriff Division.

Targets of her audits have been accusatory but found difficulty dismissing their meticulous contents. Under Democratic governors, department directors have taken issue and complained that an audit may have cited faults that were corrected at the time of the audit’s publication. Higa has recalled that, as governors, Ben Cayetano and John Waihee "got miffed" about reports, but their reactions didn’t compare with a rebuke by then-Gov. Linda Lingle after a critical audit of state investment management, saying Higa herself should be investigated.

As a state senator 10 years ago, U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa credited Higa’s office for having "major influences and changing major policy." Auditors from other states have commended Higa for producing accurate, fair and objective reports.

Over the decades, agencies and policies serving open government and the public good have risen, then fallen, in their watchdog strength, such as the once-formidable Office of Information Practices. Through it all, Higa’s Office of the Auditor retained its reputation and clout.

The Hawaii auditor has more flexibility than those in other states, who may not be constitutionally created or may be confined to only financial statement audits, while others are chosen by governors. Higa has noted that when Hawaii’s first Constitutional Convention in 1950 considered creation of the position, delegates viewed those of other states and decided on a "watchdog function."

While being provided that broad capability to undertake studies and investigations, the auditor is difficult to unseat. The Constitution says the auditor is chosen by separate House and Senate majority votes, but removal must be by two-thirds of a vote by the House and Senate in joint session, and only for cause.

"That’s a very high bar, and that protects anyone you appoint from removal," Higa has pointed out.

Higa never faced anyone’s notion of removal, due to public recognition of her excellent performance in a challenging job. Few people are blessed with that level of ability and composure, and legislators should prepare to decide on a worthy successor.