In a fairly anti-climactic general election, three months after bruising primary races, Hawaii voters have chosen veteran lawmakers Josh Green as their next governor and Sylvia Luke as lieutenant governor. When the two Democrats are sworn in on Dec. 5, they will face a long list of precariously unfinished business and ongoing issues left by Green’s predecessor, David Ige.
The redevelopment of Aloha Stadium in Halawa. Devising a coherent, firm strategy to deal with coastal erosion. Overseeing the Navy’s safe and swift defueling of the massive Red Hill tanks. Tourism cheers and overtourism jeers. Action on Hawaii’s aging jail and prisons. Reducing homelessness statewide — and, of course, more home production to address Hawaii’s affordable housing shortfall.
All that coming up doesn’t take away from the congratulations due today to the Green-Luke team. Voters overwhelmingly chose them — he’s the current lieutenant governor, she’s the outgoing chair of the House Finance Committee — over the Republican team of former Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona and Hilo pastor Seaula Tupai. Tuesday’s 8:20 p.m. printout, tallying about 80% of ballots cast, had Green/Luke with 66.3% of the vote, to Aiona/Tupai’s 32.3%.
The first 100 days of the Green administration promise to be a marked contrast in styles from the last eight years under Ige. Green is kinetic and verbose, while Ige is methodical and halting — and residents hope the new governor’s energy and brash ways will bode well for solutions.
For many, Green’s strength is rooted in his credentials as a medical doctor, a persona he cultivated with initiatives such as a 2019 measles vaccination effort in Samoa amid an outbreak there, and, of course, offering up opinions on COVID-19 policies, even when Ige wasn’t ready to do so. Prepandemic, he did well in staking out, and helping to carry through, the kauhale or village concept to help people get off the streets, tapping some “ohana zones” funding appropriated by the Legislature.
Luke’s legislative connections and fiscal know-how would be an asset, but it’s an open question whether the Green-Luke campaign chumminess will translate into an effective partnership. It would be mutually beneficial if it does — especially since Green could surely use an effective legislative advocate for funds and programs that will help Hawaii’s working people, such as a robust pre-K rollout that Luke has enthusiastically discussed on the campaign trail. And Green’s stated penchant for “executive orders” to get things done will quickly get checked and undermined by ambitious legislators if he doesn’t more publicly share credit and reach consensus.
It also will be key whom Green chooses as his department directors and deputies, to spearhead state programs and his agenda. Ideally, it would be a Cabinet that includes good, experienced hands — the Department of Health’s Libby Char and Kathleen Ho come to mind — mixed with leaders with fresh ideas who will inspire positive change.
A quick glance at expectations, to keep Green on his promised path:
>> Aloha Stadium: With 98 state-owned acres around a rail station, workforce housing must be a major use here. This is a rare opportunity to make headway on a statewide housing crisis that Green said “has reached a state of emergency.”
>> Homelessness: He vows to reduce homelessness by more than 50% over the next four years, and effectively eliminate chronic homelessness by 2030. It’s promising that he had a hand in creating Iwilei’s H4 clinic, a public-private partnership that serves as a new health-care model for the homeless, and partnered with HomeAid Hawaii to build the first of the aforementioned “kauhale” communities.
>> Environment/coastal erosion: Green should implement a statewide climate change and resiliency plan to mitigate damage caused by sea-level rise; and invest new state and federal resources in a multibillion-dollar green economy to create thousands of new jobs.
>> Schools: Ige promised to be the education governor, and while he did make headway on air-conditioning in sweltering schools, the COVID-19 pandemic has left Hawaii students with alarming learning losses. The Green administration will need to press schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi to make significant strides to raise the educational levels of the keiki who will be Hawaii’s future.
Last but not least, high-cost-of-living issues are already squeezing many hard-working families. If economic recession hits, the governor and his team must be ready with a robust social-safety net. There will be no more pandemic-
related federal bailouts, so it’ll be up to smart state budgeting and efficient essential services to help those living on the edge in high-cost Hawaii.
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