When Gov. David Ige walks into Monday’s joint legislative session, the gathered lawmakers will be listening very carefully to the Pearl City Democrat’s second State of the State speech.
Despite the good relationship Ige shares with his former colleagues, the speech will be given to a tough crowd that is fairly numb to any politician’s promises.
In an unscientific survey of a half-dozen veteran Democrats, I found more skepticism than praise from legislators still waiting to be convinced that Ige has the answers.
“You mean ‘Governor No Can Do?’” responded one Democrat when asked what he thought Ige should say during Monday’s speech.
Another veteran House leader, speaking with the promise of anonymity, said Ige, like his predecessor, former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, should be expected to come at the job with a complete skill set because of the years he has in office, but “may not understand his role and how he is supposed to fulfill it.”
“If you ask people, they will not be able to say he has a tangible goal,” the legislator said.
Another legislator said it took Ige until last month to have his Cabinet organized enough to send representatives to all the neighborhood board meetings on Oahu.
“So they went one year without being able to get their voice out to the community,” the lawmaker said, adding that Ige’s allies worry that “he is not connecting with anyone.”
Still another lawmaker complained that even Ige’s own staff admits that the communication problem extends to simply returning calls and messages from lawmakers.
“Mike McCartney (Ige’s chief of staff) even said in a hearing last week that he knows he is two weeks behind in returning messages,” the legislator complained.
All the legislators said they had concerns that the Ige administration is running a government that is unable to spend millions in appropriated federal funds and has a difficult time implementing computer and high-tech software upgrades.
“He should do something to show that he is running an efficient, smoothly functioning, well-oiled machine. He has to show that he is aware of the state’s money and he is wisely managing it,” the long-time House member said.
Another lawmaker urged Ige to get personally involved in more state issues than just the state homelessness plans.
“I want to see him on his high horse supporting education,” said another Democrat. “He talked about education during his campaign, but he has yet to put those expectations into reality.”
Finally in a moment of praise, another lawmaker said Ige should brag a bit about managing a budget that is rising slowly and expected to be hit with further economic contrac-
tions.
Still, Ige should remember that when he walks into the House chamber Monday, the crowd will be polite, but he is playing a tough room.
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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
