Gov. David Ige campaigned for office on his mentor George Ariyoshi’s old mantra of "quiet but effective."
We’re far off from being able to judge whether he’s effective, but he’s certainly delivered the quiet in his first month and a half — and it’s a welcome break from the usual political clamor.
Ige has made no grand pronouncements, fanned no controversies and, unlike his immediate predecessors, promised no New Days, New Beginnings or Hot Times in the Old Town Tonight.
Instead, he’s diligently assembled his Cabinet, tweaked the budget he inherited from Neil Abercrombie, consulted with legislators about the new session and worked on Monday’s State of the State speech that will reveal his specific priorities.
The closest thing to a stir was when Ige learned his appointment of federal administrator Elizabeth Kim as state labor director may have been illegal.
Though she was raised here, because of her work in Washington she didn’t have the immediate year of residency required by the state Constitution for Cabinet-level appointees.
Ige and his staff sought legal advice, concluded after a day that they had run afoul of the Constitution, admitted the mistake and withdrew the nomination, looking instead for another job for the well-respected Kim not covered by the residency requirement.
Said Mike McCartney, Ige’s chief of staff: "It’s clear. It’s not productive to argue about it. I think we’ve got to get on with our work."
No drama, no games, just forthrightly working the problem.
Compare this with the theatrics across the street at City Hall over the orchestrated crisis on rail finances.
After Mayor Kirk Caldwell and rail officials repeatedly asserted construction of the $5.26 billion train was "on time and on budget," suddenly it’s behind schedule and running a deficit nearing $1 billion and growing.
Caldwell pushed the panic button, pressuring the City Council to RIGHT AWAY loan rail $400 million from city bonds or construction may stop, then pushing state legislators to RIGHT AWAY permanently extend the half-percent rail excise tax, due to expire in 2022, or the rail agency might not be able to repay the bonds.
While campaigning, Caldwell assured voters that rail construction would be fully paid when the tax expired in 2022, with no mortgage carrying forward.
Now he glibly seeks to extend the mortgage — in the form of a continued 12.5 percent tax increase — not one year, not five years, but forever.
Ige’s only response so far has been to wonder what’s the rush to extend the tax when it doesn’t expire for seven more years.
It’ll be fascinating to see what shakes out when the governor’s distaste for drama collides with the mayor’s Quentin Tarantino production.
That’s where we start judging Ige on the effective part.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.
