Our state is facing arguably its greatest economic crisis since WWII, and the brain trust in charge of charting a path out of this economic devastation is whining about how they’re getting their feelings hurt by members of the Senate Special Committee on COVID-19.
Are we not in emergency mode? Is this not the sort of situation where you just jump to the work and deal with hard feelings later?
If you can’t handle some hard questions from Donavan Dela Cruz and company, maybe you shouldn’t be a department head for a state agency.
Granted, Sen. Dela Cruz has a sharp edge to him, but his constituency didn’t vote him into office to be a sweetheart. The same is true for every state senator. Their campaign literature always talks about their willingness to fight for Hawaii. Voters want fighters.
If DBEDT Director Mike McCartney won’t let his lambs show up to answer questions that might hurt their feelings, then he should be the brave shepherd and sit there to answer questions himself. Saying, “We posted the information online” is such an avoidance move.
Instead, McCartney is filing a complaint claiming violations of Rule 81 of the senate Standards of Conduct, which includes these passages:
“Members should conduct themselves in a respectful manner befitting the office with which they as elected officials have been entrusted, respecting and complying with the law and acting at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity of the Senate.”
“Exercise patience, tolerance and courtesy to all those with whom they deal with in an official capacity, and require staff and others subject to their direction and control to maintain similar standards of conduct, fidelity, and diligence inherent in public service.”
Certainly, there’s blame to go around. We’ve all seen the video of Sen. Donna Mercado Kim yelling at the Department of Transportation’s Jade Butay and heard about Sen. Glenn Wakai’s badgering of HTA. Even seen in the best light — fighting for the good of Hawaii or making sure things are done correctly — those kinds of theatrics are gratuitous and often unproductive, though they can make for tasty Facebook Live videos.
There are no easy answers for how to rework the economy so that it’s not all built back upon the risky structure of out-of-control tourism, but yelling at uncreative state bureaucrats because they don’t have ideas probably isn’t going to make them suddenly innovative or psychic.
But if you can’t handle the fire, get out of the kitchen. Hawaii’s economic house is burning right now. There are folks out of work at the moment who would be willing to do the job, take the paycheck and endure some hot-seat questioning from Dela Cruz and Wakai for the greater good of Hawaii’s future.
In the words of everybody’s mother, knock it off, sit down and work it out.
This has gone on for weeks now, and it’s shameful.
This is a time for everyone getting a state paycheck to rise up to their best selves, be brave and work together.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
