For Sandy Ma, government, Hawaii government, is all about power — who has it and who can control it.

Ma, the daughter of China-born parents, is the executive director of Common Cause Hawaii, the nationally affiliated government reform group, and she thinks that power can be used to help Hawaii.

Ma today knows this is a critical time as Hawaii’s Democratic-controlled state Legislature wraps up its annual season and heads into the pivotal 2022 state and national elections.

Government and political action have always been part of her life.

According to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser report written when she was named new Common Cause executive director in 2019, Ma has focused on changing political issues for the better.

Before Common Cause, she worked with the state’s Office of Planning on climate issues and then went into private practice. Ma had practiced public-interest law on the mainland and returned to it with her Common Cause post.

Now, she sees her role as an active participant in changing government and hopes that is how Hawaii voters see their own citizen duties.

“Since I started with Common Cause Hawaii, the issues have not changed — accountability, ethics and transparency — but I would say they have grown more urgent and pronounced, exacerbated by the pandemic, corruption charges against state legislators and government employees, and allegations of severe police misconduct against minority populations,” Ma said in an interview.

“The people must know and trust that their government — elected officials and executive branch employees — are working for them and not for their own personal interests or special interests.”

As the Legislature starts to make its final decisions this year, Ma is watching a series of open government and public accountability bills.

Common Cause has been a strong lobbying opponent of some of the Legislature’s more controversial actions, such as the much-criticized “gut and replace” bills, that were even condemned by the Hawaii Supreme Court.

The former House speaker and now Honolulu City Councilman Calvin Say praises both Ma and Common Cause, saying they have helped with “more openness and transparency with legislation.”

“Both CC (Common Cause) and Sandy Ma have made a tremendous impact on the behavior of the present Legislature processes,” Say said in response to my questions.

“Good government advocates must rally around Sandy in order for her to have some presence at the table,” Say urged.

Current House Speaker Scott Saiki says Common Cause plays an important role as a local government watchdog.

“Organizations like Common Cause are vital because they serve as a check on government overreach and advance our democratic system. I doubt that there is a Common Cause in Russia,” Saiki said.

“People like Sandy Ma deserve a lot of credit because it can be intimidating to question or even criticize elected officials and government leaders … legislators also want government to be the best that it can be. I encourage Common Cause and similar organizations to continue their advocacy and to speak out.”

In this election year, Ma said, now is the time for voters to start reaching out to legislators and those running for office to start lobbying for change.

“We the people can and should use our voice and contact our elected officials via phone or email or on social media to let them know how we view what they are doing in office, a performance evaluation,” Ma said. “We can tell them how to vote on issues. We can tell them not to accept corporate donations. We can and should hold them accountable every day they are in office, and not just when they are on the ballot.”

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.