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David Ige may be capping two terms as governor of Hawaii, but one of the real sources of power and political clout in Ige’s administration has been Mike McCartney, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Although there may be very little “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” excitement in the Ige-McCartney alliance, to understand how personal relationships drive Hawaii politics, you can see how Ige and McCartney have, as a team, driven local government for decades.
With Ige at the end of his term now, it is not known if McCartney will find another source of local political influence as powerful as being next to Ige for so long.
When Ige held his first news conference as governor-elect in 2014, the first thing he said was, “As my former colleague in the state Senate, I know Mike is a committed public servant who is dedicated to making Hawaii a better place.” Ige then promptly made McCartney his chief of staff.
McCartney was in the state Senate for a decade, serving for a while as majority leader; he ran the state teachers’ union; was chairman of the state Democratic Party; served as human resources director for former Gov. Ben Cayetano; and formerly headed local public television.
But all clout is finite, and McCartney’s place in the sun is growing dimmer.
Just last week in a detailed piece by Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter Andrew Gomes, McCartney said, “his agency is now in charge of redeveloping Aloha Stadium following more than a decade of work by the Stadium Authority, private consultants, state lawmakers and the state Department of Accounting and General Services.”
What McCartney thinks and what is reality are on different tracks.
It is as if after ignoring your homework for the entire semester, you are rushing to dream up some plan to salvage a passing grade. In this case: how to turn rebuilding Aloha Stadium from a promise into a plan with real details and timelines.
Not happening. Time is up. There will be no more working groups, call for studies, or time to touch any more bases.
Barring an amazing upset, Lt. Gov. Josh Green will be elected governor and take office in December.
When queried about the notion that “McCartney said he plans to hire an internal special project team within DBEDT to deliver a new stadium under a simple design-build contract,” Green basically had to pour some reality on the question. He appeared ready with the buckets of cold water for McCartney’s last-minute enthusiasm.
Green’s reply when asked for comment was: “The next governor will need to fully assess ALL of the recent stadium proposals and decisions to make sure they are in the best interest of the state.”
There was no reference to whatever McCartney thinks his plans will be, and there was nothing about what the new administration thinks McCartney’s role will be in setting policy or making plans to build or not build a stadium.
The reality is that Ige and McCartney could not build the new stadium, even though the old stadium was shut down in December 2020 due to structural issues.
Whether he wants it or not, Green stands to inherit the dilemma and chance to do the job right.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.
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