Lee Cataluna: Hawaii mayors should be left to lead their unique COVID-19 lockdown situations

Apparently, there’s a section of the population that doesn’t know what the expression WTF means.

Last week Lt. Gov Josh Green used the term to succinctly sum up the situation on Hawaii’s beaches, which had become a mishmash of confusing rules regarding social distancing, exercise exemptions and cops yelling at people for walking on the sand.

A number of people asked what the term WTF means. The delicate definition is that it is an expression of incredulity, something one might say when a situation defies logic or explanation. The first two letters stand for “what the” and the F stands for the thing that F usually stands for when it’s used in conversation when the kids aren’t in the room. (So now you know, Auntie, though perhaps you were being a bit coy by asking.)

The remedy for that confusing mix of COVID-19 beach regulations (and all the other conflicting rules and orders that have come and gone over the last two months) was for Gov. David Ige to proclaim that all county mayors must obtain his approval prior to issuing any emergency order, rule or proclamation.

Statewide coordination of the response to the pandemic could have been accomplished collaboratively rather than with a top-down directive from the governor limiting the ability of mayors to act quickly and independently. It should have been addressed weeks ago before dueling rules got so obvious.

While coordination has clearly been lacking, concerns arise when the person putting himself in charge of the counties’ kuleana has not done a great job with the state’s kuleana. Case in point: the state’s inexcusable inability to handle unemployment claims. One would think making that system work to properly serve the thousands of Hawaii residents out of work would be a top priority for the governor and a key measurement of leadership during this crisis. Weeks have passed, and there have only been “improvements” to the system, and numerous problems remain.

But that isn’t the only troubling aspect of this new order.

Each island has specific and unique issues that might require its own set of home-grown rules. Hawaii island beaches are not at all like Waikiki or Kailua. Maui’s traffic, though frequently backed up for miles, is not like the H-1. Kauai still proudly carries the mindset of the unconquered. Decisions about the specific situations in neighbor island communities shouldn’t be made in downtown Honolulu. They should be made with immediacy on the front line; boots on the ground, eyes on the situation like a field general. Like a county leader.

Hawaii residents have done such an exemplary job in staying home, staying safe and looking out for one another. The part that hasn’t been fixed in all this time is the unemployment filings. That needs full attention, all hands on deck, even if Ige has to take calls and hand-enter data himself. He should let the mayors do their jobs so he can, once and for all, fix the state’s unemployment snafu (that’s another acronym … go look it up).