2012 changes will test new isle leaders

The Mayans were right, after all. The world really did come to an end in 2012.

That prediction applied to Hawaii, at least. The past year has marked a watershed moment for the 50th State.

Consider both that there has been a changing of the guard, and just how long that guard has been in place.

This refers, of course, to the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, who was part of the postwar generation of leaders who helped shape Hawaii. In his long tenure in government, first in the territorial Legislature and then quickly up the ranks until his arrival on Capitol Hill, Inouye was seen as the dean of the state’s leadership team.

Throughout his career, he weighed in on key decisions and gained the position in the Senate to bring various developments since statehood to fruition. To a considerable degree, leaders on lower echelons deferred to him and proceeded on the assumption that he’d be there to carry the ball across the goal line.

And up until this point, accession to higher office in Hawaii has been severely constrained, with few opportunities to advance and an unwritten rule about the pecking order. There was always a sense that the most experienced state lawmakers had the clear advantage in the rare event of a U.S. House opening — where they remained as long as they wished — and that the one serving longest in the House was next in line for the even rarer Senate seat.

All that could be changing. Tulsi Gabbard, a young former state lawmaker and war veteran newly arrived at the City Council, leaped past other more seasoned contenders, including former Mayor Mufi Hannemann, to win a seat in the U.S. House. The appointment of an interim replacement for Inouye — Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz — was also a departure from convention. With the retirement of U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, the top strata of leadership is green. Perhaps it will be fluid, too, and the era of lifetime tenure in D.C. will be over. Time will tell.

Beyond that big story, the year was marked by other headline events:

» Oahu’s rail project, which Inouye long shepherded, finally emerged from a maelstrom of challenges onto a relatively clear path, with the approval of the $1.55 billion in federal funds.

Also: Last week a federal judge ruled that work on the westernmost segments of the 20-mile alignment may proceed while the city fulfills earlier orders to make a fuller examination on routing alternatives in the urban segment. The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, as well as the new mix of City Council members, will have their hands full getting construction of the rail itself, as well as plans for the stations, on firmer footing.

» Two large Ewa-Central Oahu developments — Ho‘opili and Koa Ridge — that will in part rely on the transportation capacity of rail were given the green light this year; just where to draw the line on further urbanization continues to roil community debate.

» The rail project likely would have stalled for good had one of its chief critics, former Gov. Ben Cayetano, been elected mayor. A withering attack of ads from a pro-rail political action committee undoubtedly had its desired effect, and Kirk Caldwell, who is a supporter of the project, will take over City Hall in a few days.

» On the larger political stage, the Hawaii-born president, Barack Obama, was re-elected after a stunningly expensive and seemingly endless campaign season ground to a halt.

» It’s been a year of mixed blessings in the state’s largest agency, the Department of Education, which has weathered a storm of criticism from federal overseers of its ongoing school reform initiative, Race to the Top, with Inouye’s back-room support a pivotal element. This leaves another festering problem for the DOE, however: the unresolved labor dispute over the handling of contract negotiations for teachers still weighs down progress toward change.

» The Stevie Wonder bogus concert scam at the University of Hawaii Athletics Department led to turnover at the top there. And, although the top brass at UH remains in place — again, with the support of Inouye — the episode demonstrated how tenuous the hold on leadership can be when things are managed poorly.

Above all, the sudden shakeup in state leadership was the overarching theme of the year. The final passing of the postwar generation will bring some immediate pain, but perhaps removing the safety net will force others to step up their game. That will be the hope of several new years to come.