Editorial: Green, Luke have a running start

‘Huliau” — a turning point, or time of change — was the theme of Gov. Josh Green’s inaugural ceremony on Monday, in which he and newly installed Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke took the helm of the state.

The governor seems aware that people expect to see the green shoots of that change rather soon, especially given that lawmakers have set up some healthy spending plans, a landscape seeded with the budgetary surplus now in hand.

Green’s address focused on his background as a medical doctor, and his affinity for social services was prominent. He underscored his long-stated priorities for increasing affordable housing, sheltering the homeless and narrowing the gaps in health-care access.

For her part, Luke restated her principal assignment in the No. 2 job: overseeing another push to expand the number of children who are enrolled in preschool.

Important as that is, bringing that to fruition has been a challenge for decades. Education, post-COVID, is facing its own host of problems even without the early-education needs being added to the heap. But Luke made the commitment even more public in her remarks at the Neal Blaisdell Center, so expectations have been raised.

And the new governor himself will have to bolster that by working closely with the state Department of Education to help students continue their recovery from learning loss, one of the deepest social scars left by the pandemic.

Green will exercise some influence by naming the replacements for three Board of Education members who will end their terms next June, but more messaging about his vision for education is needed long before then.

In public statements on other top-tier issues, Green has signaled that his near-term plans include unveiling his intention for the Aloha Stadium redevelopment project. That really needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

And given Green’s focus on affordable housing, he will be hard-pressed to explain any kind of blueprint that does not include a substantial affordable housing component at the Halawa site.

Green’s first actions actually preceded his inauguration by a few days, with last week’s announcement of most of his Cabinet picks. Keith Regan and Chris Sadayasu, respectively nominated as comptroller and as director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, will have Aloha Stadium on their view screens, too.

And Nani Medeiros was tapped as housing chief, a new Cabinet-level position. Medeiros worked with Green in the establishment of “kauhale” villages for the homeless.

Another newly created position will be that of the climate “czar” Green said he plans to appoint. He hopes to make Hawaii a national leader in policies that advance renewable energy and reinforce Hawaii’s defenses from sea level rise and other repercussions of climate change, a welcome renewal of long-stated goals.

Green, his identity as a physician always in mind, plainly ranks a healthy population as a top concern. He is keeping two Health Department deputies in place, Kathleen Ho and Marian Tsuji, overseeing environmental and behavioral health, respectively.

Some continuity at the Health Department, which will have a new director in Kenneth Fink and will still be navigating the changing course of COVID-19, will be critical. Oversight of the Red Hill contamination crisis, as well as the ongoing work of the new State Hospital, will be key to managing core community needs.

The governor must keep an eye out for an economy that is still uncertain, but his administration is launching with resources. Not the least of these is an optimistic outlook and resolve, and that’s not a bad way to start.