Jennifer Sabas has been keeping busy since her former boss, U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, died in December 2012 at age 88.
Resume highlights at the moment for the senator’s former chief of staff include:
» Executive director of Move Oahu Forward, a pro-rail organization she joined in May 2013.
» Consultant to the Military Affairs Council of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, which is concerned about the economic impact of a reduced Army presence in Hawaii.
» Director of the Daniel K. Inouye Institute Fund, which has been soliciting private and public funds to establish a Daniel K. Inouye Center for Democratic Leadership at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, estimated to eventually cost about $38 million.
On Tuesday it was announced that Sabas now is also a lobbyist for UH, under a $189,000-a-year contract signed last month with The National Group in Washington, D.C., whose owner, D.C. resident Vincent Versage has partnered with her company, Kaimana Hila, to seek federal research dollars for UH.
Inouye, of course, was a giant in Hawaii politics, due to his seniority and resultant power in Washington, D.C., where he represented Hawaii interests as a Democratic senator for 49 years, and before that as a House member for several years, starting right after statehood in 1959.
Sabas, 53, first worked for Inouye as an intern when she was a first-year law student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. In 1987, she joined his staff full time after he was named chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition (the Iran-Contra committee).
Sabas was teaching first-year law students at Catholic University Law School in Washington, D.C., when she got the job offer from Inouye, "so I started as soon as I was done grading papers, in May of ’87, and I never looked back."
Sabas, who became Inouye’s chief of staff in 1993, is a graduate of Castle High School in Kaneohe and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science before heading off to law school.
She and her husband, John, also a consultant, have three sons and live in Kaneohe.
Question: You’ve had a pretty long career in some ways and you seem to be involved in a lot of things right now. In relation to Move Oahu Forward, why was this group formed and how does it achieve its purpose?
Answer: It was formed as a business-support organization to support rail. It was actually formed prior to that election when (anti-rail candidate) Gov. Ben Cayetano ran for mayor. It was formed probably a year before that, when the senator (Daniel Inouye) was still very much alive. But the organization was formed — I’m actually the second director of the organization — because the business community felt there needed to be a … voice representing businesses. … And then during the election, Move Oahu Forward did do some of the positives, getting out some of the numbers and the financials during that time.
Q: What is it doing now? I’m mean, rail is sort of a fait accompli, isn’t it? Is the group still really necessary?
A: It continues to be supportive because of community interface. The rail is definitely going on, so if you live on the west side, you start to see the columns going up … and as a result of that, there are additional traffic concerns among the westside small businesses. … So part of what the organization hopes to do is be supportive.
Q: The groups that contribute to Move Oahu Forward, I suppose they have an interest in rail? Are they contractors?
A: Not necessarily. Our two chairs are Richard Dahl of the James Campbell Co. on the west side, and Connie Lau with Hawaiian Electric Industries. … It was important that it not be a contractor organization, but rather just a separate voice. And I think also, while it’s not our immediate mission, you will see some transit-oriented development opportunities, and it’s actually kind of a broader opportunity, especially to provide more equitable redevelopment as the rail comes up.
Q: You also are involved as a consultant to the Military Affairs Council of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. How did that come about? I imagine it had a lot to do with Sen. Inouye being such a major proponent of the military in Hawaii.
A: Yeah. He’d always had a longstanding relationship with the Military Affairs Council, and because he was such a senior figure in the military community in Hawaii, as well as in Washington, collectively we worked very well together. So with his passing there’s a pretty big puka, a void, in working with the Chamber.
So my contract, as the consultant, is really to build up the stature of the organization, because now the community — whether it’s the business community, the labor community, our locally elected officials — need to stand up and be supportive … about the role of the military in Hawaii, from a security standpoint as well as an economic standpoint.
Q: How do you respond to those who say the military in Hawaii is actually costing Hawaii residents more than it’s worth, and it also even doesn’t serve our nation’s security as well?
A: I guess I would have to respectfully disagree. Hawaii is a key part of the rebalance to the Pacific, which is why all major commands are here. … And as we continue forward, the Asia-Pacific region will continue to be a critical region for our nation’s economic security, as well as national security. The two are tied together. Without national security, there is no economic security.
You know, the military sector is the second-largest economic engine in this town. It’s something like $8.8 billion, with the multiplier taking it to $14-something billion. So it is very significant.
Now, will it stay here at that magnitude? I’m not sure with the draw-down, so it’s something our new elected leaders need to decide what the balance is.
Q: About the Daniel K. Inouye Institute, whose idea was it and how did you get involved?
A: As you know, I had the honor of working for him for 25 years, both in Hawaii and Washington. So, with his passing, Irene Inouye, his widow, and I sat down and decided it was such a story to be told. We wanted to at least be able to raise some private dollars and be able to do some programs — you know, scholarship programs — and because such a big part of his life was in Washington, one of our interests was really to tie some of the big institutions in Washington to Hawaii, mainly for the benefit of students and young people.
So we have two agreements, one with the Library of Congress and one with the Smithsonian, the National Museum of American History … (which has) partnered with our University of Hawaii to support the preservation of the senator’s papers that currently reside at the university’s Hamilton Library. We ended up gifting them, I think, about 1,200 boxes of papers, if you can believe that.
Q: To what degree is any of that stuff classified?
A: Interesting that you should ask that. A few weeks ago we got a call because the archivist team, as they were going through the papers — the Iran-Contra papers together with the Select Committee on Intelligence papers — they opened one of the boxes and in there was one of those — you know, from the movies, right? — there was one of those big stamps that said “Classified.” … So I guess they have a protocol, (and) they had to call the National Archives in Washington, and the next thing we know I’m getting a call because they’re sending out a team to review the documents, to sequester the documents and take them back to Washington ….
Q: Were those guys FBI? What kind of team was that?
A: Well, one of the three-letter agencies.
Q: Besides you, who else is behind the Daniel K. Inouye Institute Fund?
A: It’s really Irene and I.
Q: Why is the Daniel K. Inouye Institute Fund under the umbrella of the Hawaii Community Foundation?
A: It was just something that we thought we wanted to do. The other option could very well have been the University of Hawaii Foundation. We enjoy a wonderful relationship with university and they’ve been incredibly supportive, but we do have other partners that we work with, so we wanted to have a level of autonomy. We also decided that being under the foundation’s umbrella, we didn’t then have to set up a separate nonprofit, with a board and, you know, governance, and all of that. We could come under the community foundation and be one of many funds that they manage for the community.
Q: So now you’re raising money; how is the financing going to break down on this — private, public, whatever?
A: Yes, it’s a combination, and it really does depend on what we go forward to do. We did a large share of fundraising, so we’re kind of taking a pause, to now really focus on the types of programs that we want to have carry the senator’s name.
Q: The estimated cost of the center has about doubled since it was first unveiled and I’m wondering why.
A: One of the reasons that the facility became a much bigger facility than initially envisioned was … to increase its functionality for students, to have it be a gathering place on that side of the campus. … So when you look at how the basic design was, right now you have a full second floor, all classroom space, and the entire first floor is kind of a gathering space but it could be open for big lectures, big guest speakers …
Q: When do you see construction starting?
A: I’m not really sure. We’re pending for final UH regent approval to proceed with the design contract. And the Legislature was very kind in providing the design dollars. So the dollars are already set aside and only for this use. I’m not a construction person but I think they said it would take from the time there is a notice to proceed about 15-18 months, which would get us to the final construction drawings.
Q: Has anybody talked about combining the Inouye and Obama properties in Hawaii?
A: No, they have not. And part of it is timing. From what I understand, the Obamas will make their decision some time in the spring.
Q: Are there other senators who have institutes in their names?
A: Yes. All senior senators do. … So as part of (our research) we went to visit the Bob Dole (library) in Kansas and the Robert Byrd (library) in West Virginia. There are many of them. Mitch McConnell, he’s still a sitting member, he has one. … So we’re actually doing our homework, looking at other centers to see what they did well, … what worked really well, what didn’t work.
Q: How do you define working well?
A: My criteria would really be the level of student engagement. And so, at the Dirkson Center… in Illinois, … what they told me … was that you need to make sure that you have an academic program, whether that’s an actual degree program that resides in your center or it’s a certificate program because it gathers the students. If not that, then you better have good pupus.
So our academic lead (at UH) is the School of Social Sciences at Manoa. … Its Public Policy Center will reside in our center. We’re moving programs that will just increase the level of functionality of the building. … We could take all the current interim programs out of the political science department and with all our contacts just kind of game up, you know?
Q: Would that save the university money at all?
A: I think part of the premise, especially on the operating side, is because we’re moving programs and ratcheting up the caliber, it’s really a wash.
Q: After Sen. Inouye died, there was all that flap about his last wish and who should run to replace him. All that aside, how do you see the future of the Democratic Party of Hawaii at this point, considering there does seem to be two dominant factions, which I would categorize, maybe incorrectly, as the Inouye wing and the Abercrombie wing?
A: You know, I hope that with the conclusion of this election and how it went that there would be opportunities for healing, and I think just with how Gov.-elect (David) Ige set the stage for his campaign, I hope that there will be healing, because it needs to happen for the good of the party and the people. And I would say the same thing with regard to our delegation, because it needs to happen for the good of the party and the people.
Q: How do you think our delegates are going to get along in Washington?
A: Well, again, there is healing that needs to go on. It was a lot of hard feelings, but the people have spoken. And we really need to move forward.
We have four members, they’re very freshman. Both chambers solidly went red, went Republican, so we’re definitely going to need to band together, if we’re going to be able to hold position on stuff that is important.
Q: Do you think in terms of the military issue that their being Democrats won’t matter because they can expect a lot of support in that way, from Republicans?
A: The military issues are a little easier to reach across the aisle and be a little bit more bipartisan, which is very important. So, you know, having Tulsi (Gabbard) there, having Mark (Takai) there — both are National Guard officers — will truly help. Mazie (Hirono) is on the Armed Services Committee, which will help from a military standpoint. And Brian (Schatz) is on Commerce, which is tourism, and he’s on the Energy committee, which deals with renewable energy. So while we’re waiting to see what committees Mark will get, the delegation is — all things relative — pretty well positioned. They need to just row the boat together.
Q: Paddle the canoe together?
A: Paddle the canoe together.
