One thing about having Neil Abercrombie at the state’s helm: It hasn’t been a dull 12 months.

Since becoming governor a year ago today, the 73-year-old Democrat has managed to declare a civil emergency that went undetected by most citizens until two months after the fact; muddled through the legislative session during a fiscal crisis with failed proposals to tax pensions and impose a new soda tax; and both alienated public labor (in the ongoing battle with the teachers union) and compromised smoothly (in settling early with the Hawaii Government Employees Association).

Along the way, the high from his 2010 election-day landslide steadily eroded, to the point that by October, his job approval rating had plunged to 30 percent, the lowest of any governor in the nation. Also along the way, four of Abercrombie’s top aides abruptly resigned in October, sending a strong public message of disarray in leadership.

The dwindling trust in Abercrombie as a leader, ironically, reflects how little trust he has in others. When he sought courtesy resignations from a raft of public commission and agency appointees, the move came without a stated, reasoned rationale. Not surprisingly, most appointees declined, and the governor emerged looking power hungry and secretive.

The secrecy image was only furthered in subsequent months. Abercrombie stubbornly refused to disclose the names of judicial nominees — no big deal with the past two governors — and it took a lawsuit to make him relent. In September, it was revealed that he had invoked his emergency powers in June to exempt the military from land-use rules to clean up World War II-era munitions.

Even when he tried to push through his legislative money proposals, some of which were intriguing and had merit, he failed to dialogue with the public and lawmakers to justify the game plan.

And ultimately, that is what the governor must do: rebuild people’s trust in him, and his proposals, by bringing them into the conversation and decisionmaking. Pronouncements — like the infamous "I am the governor; I’m not your pal" in trying to dial back Medicare Part B reimbursements for retired public workers — are not consensus builders. They merely make people defensive, suspicious and equally combative.

Still. Few can accuse Abercrombie of not being true to his convictions and charging forward on them. His boldness, channeled in a right way, could indeed be contagious.

On civil unions, while many others did do the heavy lifting, Abercrombie did the right thing in quickly and efficiently signing the legislation in February.

Moving forward, he has come out early and unequivocally in support of a proposed $500 million residential, mixed-use project in Kakaako — and the needed debate over a 650-foot skyscraper will surely be lively and enlightening. And in revealing a $200 million settlement proposal with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Abercrombie has set the stage for a possible resolution to a long-festering ceded-lands dispute between the state and Native Hawaiians; legislative approval is pending.

The Legislature also will be the political battleground as the state deals with a projected $1.2 billion gap in the next two fiscal years, even as Abercrombie warns of an "undeniable storm" of fiscal challenges like rising public worker retirements and health care costs. Proposals like the soda tax have been mentioned again, and whether the governor and his renewed team can make a good case for them is eagerly awaited.

Despite his dismal public approval numbers at this point, the feisty Abercrombie sounds ready for this second quarter of his term. He has accepted blame for the mistakes and his constituents can only trust in his sincerity in doing right by them. Tha will mean, as the state’s top executive, being judicious in listening more and keeping the filter firmly on when it’s needed — but conversely, being more open with the public in selling and articulating sound justifications for specific initiatives.