"We have a campus at Manoa that is deteriorating... We have a community college system that the rest of us on the neighbor islands depend upon." Linda Lingle Maui County Mayor

Maui Mayor Linda Lingle's run for governor of Hawai`i is all but official.

"I'm committed to run," Lingle said.

During a recent visit to Hilo, Lingle discussed her views on higher education, economy and government accountability.

The University of Hawai`i system is vital to the future of Hawai`i, Lingle said.

The proposed West O`ahu campus, Lingle said, is "the biggest mistake our University is about to make."

Lingle said the $100 million earmarked for the West O`ahu campus would be better spent on the existing system.

"We have a campus at Manoa that is deteriorating," Lingle said. "We have a community college system that the rest of us on the neighbor islands depend upon.

"We have a campus here in Hilo that needs financial support... UH Hilo is critical to the economy here in Hilo," Lingle said.

Lingle got her start covering government meetings for the Moloka`i community newspaper she started. She said she decided she could do a better job than the people who were there.

"I was 27, and I didn't know any better, so I just tried for it," she said.

Lingle ran for public office in 1980, and was elected as Molokai's representative in the Maui County Council.

After serving five terms on the council, she ran for mayor in 1990, defeating former Maui mayor Elmer Carvalho. Lingle is now in her second term.

Her dissatisfaction with the status quo has now led her to make a bid for governor. Lingle plans to officially announce her candidacy next year.

Lingle cited "a lack of leadership, a lack of management experience" in Hawai`i state government as the cause of the poor economic climate.

Lingle said that the economy is not going to get stronger with the people in office today because they don't have the ability to help Hawai`i turn around.

"Job growth in Hawai`i for the first five months of this year was zero--and that was an improvement, because the last three years in a row it was down--less than zero," she said.

Although she supports efforts to bring businesses from other countries to Hawai`i, Lingle said that government should create a proper economic environment for people doing business locally.

"Our first obligation should be to the people in business who are already here, who have toughed it out for years," she said.

"I have the experience to come in and slash the regulation, to speed up government workers by giving them a purpose and a mission," Lingle said.

One program Lingle established on Maui is tracking the performance of every county department. The results allowed anyone to see how well each department did in a given week.

Lingle said that this improves the accountability of government. It also gives government workers on Maui specific goals to achieve, she said.

Government workers, Lingle added, have been getting an unfairly bad rap.

"I think one of the saddest things that has happened in Hawai`i is the negative attitude that the public has toward government workers," she said.

The problem, Lingle said, is the lack of a standard of work for the average government employee.

She said: "How could you possibly come in and do a good job if you don't know each day what you are trying to achieve?"

Lingle said she has worked to set standards, and that every employee of Maui County knows that their mission is to improve the quality of life by providing outstanding public service in partnership with the community.

"That, simply put, is the role of government," Lingle said.

Lingle was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Southern California. She graduated from California State University-Northridge with a degree in Journalism.

She came to Hawai`i in 1975, and moved to Moloka`i the following year.

"I think Hawaii's best years are yet to come ... it is going to take all of us working together to bring that about," Lingle said.

Published by special arrangement with The ScoR, the alternative student newspaper at the University of Hawai`i-Hilo. See related article.

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