[I]f the State of Hawaii intends to move beyond the effects of the COVID saga, and the corruption scandals that have plagued it, to the benefit of Governor Ige’s “Hawaii 2.0” plan to bring in new industries and new opportunities for Hawaii people, it needs to get its “house in order” when it comes to its image.
Thanks to the vaccine, which we were told going back to the beginning of the COVID saga was the only real solution to solving the crisis, this relaxation can come with confidence. And it’s this confidence that our state government needs to start expressing should it want to play the role of supporter of society, rather than the oppressor.
Here is an idea about what the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) could do to get people’s opinions about the project more positive – simply put – create a vision.
[S]ome in the media, have decided instead to use language that is more used to describe police actions on the continent, to both create a narrative of HPD, and direct public opinion in that way.
The reason why I find it absurd is found in this question “what made him a person that could skirt the rules, get away with what he did and then plead out for what was an outrageous violation of the public trust?
So, no hearings. No ability for the people, again, to say what Frank Costanza said to start the airing: “The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you’re gonna hear about it!”
What excites me about this possibility is the fact that this would be a forward-looking image of Honolulu that describes the potential of its future, and not continually reverting to a past that does not exist. It would be something that people, both tourists, and residents, could see as the progress of the city into the 21st Century
There are some great ideas out there to entertain and even implement. But perhaps we are too tired from being pushed and pulled by a crisis. Too worn out from being ignored by the political powers. Maybe too cynical that things could change for the better for everyone.
That bold vision is simply this – take whatever is happening at the White House (and Congress if he can) off the front pages of the news. I suspect that the new President, in his folksier ways, plans to reverse the concentration of interest on whatever his office is saying, in the news.
That is why I don’t think everyone should be shocked when you see what the City is spending on HPD with all these items. Why? Because that is what they did in the past. And that is what they are going to do in the future, especially if Congress opens the money bag again and dumps out even more COVID-related money.