LIHU‘E — Had former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie been Hawai‘i governor when furloughs of public-school teachers were being mulled to cut the state Department of Education budget, the conversation would have been short, he said. “I never would have it
LIHU‘E — Had former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie been Hawai‘i governor when furloughs of public-school teachers were being mulled to cut the state Department of Education budget, the conversation would have been short, he said.
“I never would have it on the table to begin with,” he said during an interview at The Garden Island office Wednesday afternoon.
This was said not to second-guess Gov. Linda Lingle’s decision to close public schools on furlough Fridays in order to save money, he said, but rather to illustrate the point of how the state’s next governor ought to take “full, complete responsibility for education” and other critical issues, including energy independence, food sovereignty, economic recovery and environmental sustainability.
Instead of teacher furloughs, he’d demand flattening out the DOE administration, and any other means necessary, to implement his plan for public-education reform and improvement in Hawai‘i, he said.
The governor should be allowed to appoint the DOE superintendent, or at a minimum appoint the members of the Board of Education who select the superintendent, he said.
Teachers and principals need to be given the autonomy and authority to succeed, and the DOE administration needs streamlining and decentralization, Abercrombie said.
Education professionals need to be given the maximum capacity not only to act like professionals, but to be professionals, he said.
The same holds true for the University of Hawai‘i system, which he called the “most underutilized resource in the state.”
As has been the basis of all of his decisions in his 40-year political career at the county, state and federal levels, he said his decisions as governor would be guided by the answer to a single question: Does the special interest match the public interest?
“I think there’s a crisis of leadership in the state,” said Abercrombie, defending his decision to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives in order to campaign full time for the Democratic nomination for governor.
It would be disingenuous to remain in the House and attempt to successfully campaign for governor, he said, in part because of the “profound, deep issues” the state faces.
“We have to do this thing for survival’s sake.”
Between 2006 and 2008, Abercrombie devoted a lot of his time and energy to help then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama become president, he said.
Then the recession hit, along with his “real serious leadership” concern with Lingle coming to the end of her eight years at Washington Place, the governor’s mansion in Honolulu.
“There’s a paralysis of leadership in Hawai‘i,” he said.
When he looked at the potential Democratic candidates seeking the governor’s office this year, he said he realized that with his legislative experience he’d make a good candidate.
He said he is someone looking at the governor’s office as a “cornerstone, not a stepping stone,” and has no desire to be a U.S. senator or member of a president’s cabinet.
At the national level, the important issues of energy independence, food sovereignty and economic recovery as far as Congress goes “are pretty much on track, including for Hawai‘i,” and three key pieces of legislation are in capable Democratic majority hands either approved or poised for approval: the 2011 defense spending bill; the Akaka bill for a Native Hawaiian form of governance moved to the U.S. Senate; and health care reform bills passed.
Using a poker term, he made the decision to “go all in” and resign from his U.S. House seat (representing urban O‘ahu) in order to commit his full energy to running for governor, he said.
Because of the “deep and abiding issues” facing the state, “I needed to be here full time to do it,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-rural O‘ahu-Neighbor Islands, and Speaker of the House Nancy Peolsi, wished him good luck, and confirmed his decision to resign was necessary for his campaign, he said.
He said making that tough decision allows him to, for example, sit down with the editorial leadership of The Garden Island newspaper, shortly before officially opening his Kaua‘i campaign headquarters on Kuhio Highway across from Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Wednesday.
He said he wants to bring Obama’s culture of change momentum to Hawai‘i, using a Hawai‘i-White House connection particular to him because of his close personal relationship with Obama and Obama’s Hawai‘i family, he said.
He also wants to take advantage of U.S. Department of Defense alliances he has created locally and in Washington, D.C., especially with the military’s emphasis on alternative-energy projects backed by federal funds to get them done in this state, he said.
The Democratic gubernatorial primary and general elections will be won or lost on the Neighbor Islands, said Abercrombie.
“People want to be taken into account,” and be the subject of the campaign, not the object, he said.
“I’ve been an independent change agent all my life, a proud Democrat,” said Abercrombie. “I’m nobody’s rubber stamp. Nobody tells me what to do.”
Abercrombie said he is against raising the state general excise tax, adding that taxpayers in the state need to be convinced their current taxes are being well spent before they’re increased.
Finally, he said he understands that the office belongs to the office-holder only as long as he or she has the people’s trust.
