Bishop Museum is selling off land. HC&S is ending sugar operations. The University of Hawaii is shelving plans
for a building in Sen. Dan
Inouye’s honor.
More stark reminders of what Hawaii is like without Inouye.
The Great Recession did not affect Hawaii as much as the great receding of support the islands have experienced since Inouye’s passing.
When Inouye died, Hawaii lost more than a reliable source of funding and political influence. For decades, Inouye set policies, established priorities, decided what Hawaii should value, pursue and support. He didn’t grant wishes like Santa. He told us what to wish for. That commanding, paternalistic leadership is what Hawaii is lacking in this moment of unprecedented change. Just about every other elected official either is trying to put out fires with cups of water or to duck responsibilities by focusing on barking dogs or aloha shirt Fridays.
When Inouye’s death was announced in 2012, the Bishop Museum issued a statement that could not have been more clear about his importance to its organization:
“The Senator’s support of the Museum spanned decades,” it read. “His commitment to education led to the establishment of the Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center in 2005. And his dedication to Native Hawaiian culture and history resulted in innovative partnerships and programs that ultimately led to the renovation and restoration of Hawaiian Hall in 2009. Were it not for Senator Inouye, Bishop Museum would not be the community and educational institution that it is today.”
Just three years later, Bishop Museum is charging visitors a parking fee on top of admission, putting 547 acres of land on the market and culling both its collection and its staff.
In 2010, Inouye met with workers at Hawaiian Commercial &Sugar Co. on Maui to talk about a federal grant that would provide $4 million annually to research alternative crops. He didn’t just promise to support the plantation, he made a vow.
“In my name, I promise HC&S will not go under like the 16 other sugar cane operations,” Inouye pledged to the men and women. “If I am wrong, I will be out of a job.”
And now, UH is putting on hold plans to build a campus center that would have honored Inouye by hosting educational events, research fellows and public lectures.
It wasn’t long ago when a mere hint of suggestion that a project that had been touched by Inouye shouldn’t be supported was cause for censure.
Now, everyone is in agreement: Repairs on the Manoa campus take priority over building something in the senator’s name.
That is a huge change.
There was a long period of time when just about every major political and business story in Hawaii included a quote from the senator. When it mattered that something happened, it mattered what Inouye had to say about it.
The effects of that loss of leadership are starting to become clear, and with no successor in sight, it could go on for years.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
