We had a government that was closed, a governor who was absent and a state website that was hamajang as we "flASHback" on the month’s news that amused and confused:
» While anxiety gripped Hawaii during the three-week federal shutdown, Gov. Neil Abercrombie vacationed in France, then headed for lucrativecampaign fundraisers in New York and Florida. To assure constituents he felt our pain, he sent back an old French saying he learned: "Let zem eat cake."
» In Abercrombie’s absence, Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui declared a hiring freeze on nonessential state jobs until the federal crisis passed. It was a gutsy call by the guy who holds the least essential job in state government.
» Hawaii was the first state to embrace Obamacare, but the last to let consumers buy health insurance because of a botched $200 million state website. So what’s worse, a national government that isn’tworkingbecause it’s closed or a local government that isn’tworkingbecause it’s open?
» Between fundraisers, Abercrombie stopped in Washington for briefings on the congressional standoff. His meetings with fellow Democrats kept getting interrupted by Republicans patting his back for delaying Obamacare when they couldn’t.
» Coral Andrews, director of the Hawaii Health Connector, assured consumers that personal information they put into the buggy Obamacare website won’t further compromise their privacy. The feds already get all the information they need by tapping our cellphones and Facebook accounts.
» House Speaker Joseph Souki replaced Rep. Karen Awana as majority floor leader after she bounced a check to pay a Campaign Spending Commission fine, but Souki hinted a committee chairmanship could be in her future. She’d be a natural choice to head the Finance Committee.
» The city Ethics Commission said a transition team that raised hundreds of thousands for Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s inauguration didn’t violate the law, but caused "serious concerns about the integrity of city government." Only in government can lack of integrity and ethical compliance coexist.
» The city said it has met all court orders and announced $1.56 billion for rail construction in 2006, as Caldwell declared: "This is what building rail is about. It’s about being open, transparent and sharing information with the public." I thought it was about sharing tax dollars with developers.
» The Board of Water Supply blamed a "perfect storm" of misfortune for astronomical bills sent to many customers. First, batteries on thousands of meters died. Then, water officials’ brains died and they switched to monthly billing.
And the quote of the month … from health benefits expert Barbara Coriell on the state’s bungled Obamacare website: "Why isn’t there a big box as the first thing you see on the website that says, ‘We apologize Hawaii, the system is not working’?" That’s already taken as the state motto.
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Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.
