Here are Hawaii Reporter's nominees for 50 people who helped Hawaii become a better place to live, work and go to school in 2003 (not listed in any particular order). This list is not all inclusive -- there are many more people who are making great strides and making an impact with their families, their businesses, their communities and in the lives of the people around them. Feel free to send in the names of these people to the editor of Hawaii Reporter at mailto:Malia@hawaiireporter.com so they too can be added to the list.

Accountability in Government

• 1. Cliff Slater, one of the nation's two foremost transportation experts based in Hawaii, has exposed the City administrators, including the Department of Transportation Services Director Cheryl Soon and Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, for misrepresenting a number of major facts on their proposed $1 billion Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT). Slater, whose writings on transportation are required reading in many American universities, has highly publicized the cities misrepresentations on the BRT through the Alliance for TrafficImprovement Web site, www.honolulutraffic.com. He also has publicized the problems with the proposed BRT through his columns in The Honolulu Advertiser, through his lawsuit against the city and the Federal Transit Authority over the misrepresentations, and through his debates against city officials backing the BRT. He has brought community awareness to the transportation issues surrounding the state, including the traffic problems the BRT will cause through its lane takings in major thoroughfares throughout Honolulu and the billions of taxpayer dollars that will inevitably be wasted on the project.
• 2. Panos Prevedouros, the second of the nation's two foremost transportation experts based in Hawaii whose writings are required reading in many American universities, is working with state officials to identify traffic problem areas, mainly on Oahu, and simple, cost-effective solutions. A university engineering professor, Prevadorous also is inspiring a number of up and coming engineers to look at transportation issues from a whole different perspective than that of many government bureaucrats.
• 3. Dale Evans, owner of Charley's Taxi, has worked with the state over the last year on a special taskforce set up by Gov. Linda Lingle to make the taxi dispatch system at the Honolulu International Airport run more fairly and honestly. Her persistence has led to a new system being put into place where a non-taxi related company will now be in charge of dispatching taxis to customers, thereby eliminating bias and a corrupt system present over the last four decades. Customers also will be served better by the open taxi system and taxpayers will be more reassured that the rent the state is paid by the operator is accounted for, accurate and paid on time, unlike in the past.
• 4. Lowell Kalapa, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, has worked diligently over the last year at the state Legislature, at the Honolulu City Council and in the community to ensure the public understands how it is being taxed. He writes editorials, gives speeches and workshops, and testifies frequently to inform lawmakers and the public of the impact of proposed increases in taxes and fees, and what the Hawaii taxes mean in both the big and small picture for Hawaii's taxpayers. He has energetically and habitually been a taxpayer advocate.
• 5. Bette Tatum, president of the National Federation of Independent Business-Hawaii, has lobbied the Legislature tirelessly and cheerfully in hopes of defeating legislation that hurts business and in getting passed legislation that helps make the business climate better.
• 6. Sam Slom, a Republican state Senator who represents East Oahu and the president/executive director of Small Business Hawaii, is one of Hawaii's most outspoken advocates for small business, accountability in government and the rights of the taxpayer. He has worked consistently at the state Legislature and with the 2,000 members of the small business organization he heads, to educate the public and lawmakers about barriers to a healthy business climate and prosperous economy in Hawaii. His task is monumental as Hawaii is consistently rated as having the worst business climate of any state in the nation. But that has not stopped Slom who enthusiastically continues the fight for the free market and business in Hawaii, at the Legislature, in the public and media arenas and with administrators appointed by Gov. Linda Lingle.
• 7. Colleen Hanabusa, a Democrat state Senator who represents Waianae and other parts of West Oahu, and an attorney in private practice, has continued to bring accountability to government, particularly for those issues that affect the community she represents. She also co-chaired the first-ever House-Senate investigative committee to look into how the billions of dollars spent on special needs students in the public schools, referred to in some cases as "Felix students" because of a lawsuit by the family of a special needs student Jennifer Felix. Hanabusa uncovered through her work on this committee and the work of other legislators from both major political parties and Houses, major waste of government funds in the system as well as some outright corruption that is now being investigated and prosecuted by state and federal authorities.
• 8. Les Ihara, a Democrat state Senator who represents Kaimuki, has worked over the last year to bring more openness and transparency to government and the legislative process. Ihara, who co-founded the "Good Government Caucus" in the state Legislature, is focusing on reforming the legislative rules to make the legislative process more accountable to the public. He has worked tirelessly on the Senate floor to note when the Senate majority is not following procedure or being less than forthright in its actions.
• 9. Bertha Leong, a Republican state Representative from Aina Haina, has focused her efforts on her community, especially the local public school, which had been previously ignored by the state and Department of Education. The school needed a simple bridge to allow the children to cross from school to their playground safely and quickly, but the bridge was never funded by the state. Gov. Linda Lingle helped Leong ensure the bridge was funded and built. The long battle for the children was over this year after many ups and downs and promises that were broken in favor of political games.
• 10. Marion Higa, auditor for the state of Hawaii, has overseen a number of audits of state agencies and programs that have led to the reform of these entities and better accountability for taxpayers on how their money is being spent. She has worked tirelessly and fairly and withstood a number of attacks by those who were highly critical of her audits (who were usually those being audited). Her reports have helped bring much-needed public and media awareness to important management and fiscal issues facing the state.
• 11. Les Tanaka, the newly appointed auditor for the City & County of Honolulu, has initiated audits in his first few months on the job as the first-ever city auditor, on three important areas. One audit, soon to be released, focuses on the liquor commission, which has been under heavy criticism after eight of its 15 inspectors were indicted by federal authorities for allegedly taking bribes and extorting money and gifts from companies they were inspecting. Another audit investigates the raiding of the city sewer fund, which was drained by the administration of Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris of more than $100 million over two years to balance the city budget. The third audit under way is of the Department of Enterprise Services, an agency that oversees and manages all concessions on property owned by the city.
• 12. Anne Mederios, a stay-at-home mother in Kailua, was upset when the City and County of Honolulu began to rip out swing sets from the public parks and not replace them with any facilities for young children. She made it her primary mission to get the swings re-installed. After running into seemingly ridiculous and insurmountable odds, including a council woman unwilling to even speak to her unless she got 150 signatures on a petition (she got 300), and a parks department unwilling to help her, she got the city this month to agree to reinstall the swings. Mederios, whose editorials were published in Hawaii Reporter, is a testament to how one person can make a difference in her community and the lives of others.
• 13. Tracy Ryan, president of the Libertarian Party of Hawaii, is expanding her party's reach through editorials and by participating in public forums and debates. She has brought stability to her party and enabled Libertarian ideals to be publicized in a state with a rather small formal Libertarian presence.
• 14. Richard Rowland, president of free market think, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, has sometimes been the lone voice of sanity on the government taskforces he has been appointed to and he hasn't hesitated to let his voice and ideas be heard through his editorials, public comments, and minority reports. Through the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, he also has brought into Hawaii a number of free market experts for workshops who have in turn brought with them good ideas for Hawaii's businesses and government. The Grassroot Institutecontinues to publish a number of studies on what is working and not working in Hawaii in terms of government policy, mandates and regulations. The Institute also is working with a number of directors in the Gov. Linda Lingle administration in partnership with other think tanks and free market institutes to make Hawaii's government be more accountable, efficient, and more effective for its customers.
• 15. Gary Arizala, founder of Alphabetland Preschools, has created a network of schools in Hawaii who are helping children from their earliest years in life. Arizala, who was just presented with the Grassroot Institute's "2003 Unsung Hero Award" has been active in helping to improve Hawaii's business climate and supporting a number of charitable organizations, including those working to bring accountability to government.
• 16. Dick Wendt, founder of the JELD-Win Corporation and the American Institute for Full Employment think tank based in Klamath Falls, Oregon, is another winner of the Grassroot Institute's "2003 Unsung Hero Award." Wendt is sending teams of experts from his think tank, which has the mission of getting every American who wants to work placed in a productive and satisfying job, to Hawaii to reform Hawaii's worst-in-the-nation welfare program, is doing so from his own pocket and without recognition. His team members are assisting Lillian Koller, director of the Department of Human Services, in her effort to reform Hawaii's Welfare to Work program. Wendt's team and Koller's department are striving to get Hawaii off its dependency on federal exemptions to getting people off of welfare and to work, and on par with a pace with the rest of America.

Reforming Government

• 17. Lillian Koller, director of the Department of Human Services, an appointed position under Gov. Linda Lingle, is bringing a whole new attitude to the state department plagued with dealing with the most daunting problems the people of Hawaii face, including child abuse, substance abuse, and unemployment and homelessness. Her department also works on placing residents in low income housing, getting them on and then off of welfare and other subsidies such as food stamps. Her responsibilities are overwhelming to anyone looking in from the outside, or working with her on the inside, for that matter. But Koller, with the help of American Institute for Full Employment, a mainland think tank, is calling on those dependent on government to use the subsidies as a "springboard" to a better life. She is empowering those in her department to realize they are the "Cavalry" to many people in need in Hawaii, and that they must take on the problems head on that their clients face and stop looking for federal exemptions or funding or excuses to avoid the problems.
• 18. Linda Lingle, the first Republican governor to be elected in nearly four decades in Hawaii and the first woman governor, has pledged to reform government through three major areas: restoring trust in government; reforming Hawaii's public education system; and rebuilding and strengthening the economy and business climate. So far, she has stuck to her pledge to reform Hawaii's near last in the nation, centralized public education system by forming an active taskforce to study the problems and propose solutions and take those solutions to the community and the legislature. She also has pledged to make that her number one issue at the state Legislature in 2004. She also has looked for ways to make government more accountable to taxpayers, and to improve the economy, and has laid the groundwork for that by appointing directors to her cabinet who are courageous, creative and innovative leaders. She also is pushing legislation to restore trust in government and pledges to continue to do so in 2004.
• 19. Russell Pang, press secretary to Gov. Linda Lingle, has brought a whole new attitude to his job, which is dealing with the press. He is open and forthright with the press and follows through in providing government documents, contacts and information the press needs in order to report on time and accurately to the public. Pang is a vast improvement over the last press secretary/communications director to then Gov. Benjamin Cayetano, Jackie Kido, who made an art out of being mean and intimidating to the press who was critical of Cayetano and who also tried her best to keep information from the press.
• 20. Bob Watada, executive director of the Hawaii State Campaign Spending Commission, has worked diligently, honestly and openly in his efforts to make lawmakers be accountable for their political campaign activities. He has courageously pursued the campaign violations of some of the most powerful people in the state, including Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano, former Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, and former Maui Mayor Kimo Apana. He is a self-declared Democrat, but shown no political bias in his investigations. He has, with the help of a tough and fair commission and good investigators, brought more accountability into Hawaii politics and public awareness into the political donation process. Most of all, he is working with law enforcement to break the well established "pay to play" system in Hawaii, where some lawmakers insist on political contributions in return for political favors, such as government contracts, permitting and rights to concessions.
• 21. Randy Lee, the Honolulu deputy prosecutor in charge of investigating white collar crime on Oahu, is working with a small team of law enforcement to break up the extensive network of crimes being committed by some of Hawaii's most powerful politicians and their supporters. Lee is the lead prosecutor on a number of important investigations. That includes the one involving potentially hundreds of consultants and contractors and their families and friends who conspired to give at least $1.5 million in illegal campaign contributions to Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris in hopes of political favoritism by his administration.
• 22. Dan Hanagami, a major with the Honolulu Police Department, has worked with Deputy Prosecutor Randy Lee, on a number of high-profile, white collar crime investigations. Hanagami and Lee are known as the "Batman and Robin" team, as together they have taken on some important and highly publicized cases, such as the investigation into police stealing food from prisoners, a civil police employee stealing from the department, and the many investigations into political corruption. Without the Batman and Robin team and the support by their superiors, Hawaii politicians would still be free to engage in any kind of political corruption without fear of being brought to justice for their actions.
• 23. Steve Alm, former U.S. Attorney appointed under former President William Clinton, is one of the strictest, but fairest judges in State District Court. Despite tremendous pressure to give convicted criminals lighter sentences, Alm has maintained consistency in his positions and rulings. Currently attorneys for a 72-year-old lawyer convicted of a crime related to campaign spending violations involving Honolulu Major Jeremy Harris's campaign are trying to get Alm either off the case or to reverse his ruling on a 10-day jail sentence for their client. They are doing so on the basis that the other judge ruling on related cases (who by the way has a serious conflict of interest on the cases he has tried) has let off his convicts with no jail time. Alm continues to maintain professionalism and fairness.
• 24. Peter Carlisle, the prosecutor for the City & County of Honolulu, has been an advocate for making the justice system in Hawaii more accountable and more responsive to victims, rather than the perpetrators. He has actively lobbied the Hawaii State Legislature for tougher penalties for criminals, more jail space and longer sentences with less chance for parole.
• 25. Ed Kubo, U.S. Attorney in Hawaii, has concentrated his efforts primarily on stopping the sale of illegal drugs in the state. He has particularly focused on the manufacturing, importation and sale of the drug known as "ice," that causes many users to become violent and addictive users, and in some cases, career criminals to support the habit. His work and his willingness to team up with other law enforcement on city, state and federal levels, has led to the break up of several drug manufacturing houses and arrest of those drug distributors involved.
• 26. Mark Bennett, new state attorney general, has been aggressive in having his department go after welfare fraud and other kinds of fraud ignored in the past because the crimes seemed small scale. He also is endorsing and enabling an investigation into corruption in contracting at the Honolulu International Airportinvolving more than $1.2 million in taxpayer funds that were stolen through a bid-rigging scheme perpetuated by five companies and state employees.
• 27. Letha DeCaires, spokeswoman and head of a program known as community-police program known as Crimestoppers, works with the media, police and community to solve crimes, find missing people and reward those in the community who help stop or bring resolution to crimes by turning in suspected or wanted criminals.
• 28. Albert "Spike" Denis, head of Safeguard Services, a large company with a security guard force and private detective division, has worked behind the scenes with various law enforcement in the state, city and federal levels to stop a variety of crimes from occurring or to solve crimes that have occurred. Detectives from Safeguard, who partnered with sister agency Goodenow and Associates, have solved many white collar crimes for city and state law enforcement involving the corruption of politicians or the misuse of taxpayer, non-profit or campaign funds.
• 29. William "Bud" Stonebraker, a Republican state Representative, spent a greater part of the 2003 Legislative Session lobbying for a "three-strikes law," so law enforcement can better combat crime and put repeat criminals who committed serious offenses behind bars for a substantial amount of time. He held press conferences and lobbied the public, fellow lawmakers and the media to support a "three strikes" law in Hawaii. Democrats, who are the majority in the House and Senate, promised, after much pressure from Stonebraker and other Republicans, to look into the issue further in 2003, as did lead law enforcement officials, to come up with a solid proposal in 2004.
• 30. Charles Djou, a Republican member of the non-partisan Honolulu City Council Member, has worked hard to safeguard the city taxpayers' money, keep the Honolulu Jeremy Harris administration in check for its excessive spending habits and maintain city government spending in order to prevent tax and fee increases. Quite often he is the lone voice on the 9-member council that is fighting for the taxpayer. He also is the zoning chair.
• 31. Ann Kobayashi, a Democrat member of the non-partisan Honolulu City Council and the powerful Budget chair, has gone head to head with the administration of Honolulu Jeremy Harris in an effort to find out where and how the taxpayers' money is being spent. Though in some cases she has fought back tax and fee increases, she did lead her majority faction in the council to approving a 60 percent increase in the city's Vehicle Weight Tax in order to fund $5 million in police raises. She also did approve property tax increases and fee increases to nearly every city service. However, in terms of the Council, she is one of the most vocal in challenging the formerly unchallenged elaborate spending habits of Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris.
• 32. Mark Recktenwald, new director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, has worked to reform the rules and regulations governing Hawaii's healthcare providers, so there is a more fair playing field for providers and consumers, competition in the marketplace and more options for consumers. Currently a major competitor to the only two remaining providers, HMSA and Kaiser, is moving into the Hawaii marketplace, which means more choice for the consumers, and possibly lower prices for healthcare plans. He also is looking at ways Medical Savings Accounts or MSAs can work in Hawaii (these are illegal). In addition, he is striving to do his part with the support of his department to make Hawaii a more business friendly state.
• 33. Nelson Befitel, new director of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, is diligent in his efforts to make his department, known as one of the hostile to business owners, more friendly to business owners. He is working with experts to reform departments such as HIOSH, the state inspection agency. HIOSH is known as the single biggest threat to businesses. One reason is the director has publicly gone after businesses she has a vendetta for, rather than using a more fair and legal approach to seeking out companies that many be violating state rules relating to safety, educating them on the law, and enforcing the law if it is broken.
• 34. Ted Liu, the director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, has helped keep the governor's pledge to help make Hawaii a more business friendly state. He has empowered the state's Small Business Regulatory Review Board to identify, make public and then help solve problems related to the regulation of businesses or industries. He also is working to make his department more accountable. Though he would not discuss the cases, Liu, just weeks on the job, had to contend with two different employees who had not shown up to work for years. In one case, a state employee on full pay and benefits had not shown up to work for 6 years. Liu had to identify such problem employees in his massive department and work to ensure such problems are resolved so the taxpayers benefit, rather than the union-protected workers taking advantage of the bureaucratic state system.
• 35. Georgina Kawamura, director of the state Department of Budget and Finance, took a strong position at the state Legislature against growing government through more spending and higher taxes. She was an advocate for the taxpayer, despite substantial pressure from special interest groups and state entities used to increased funding without accountability.
• 36. Russ Saito, director of the Department of Accounting and General Services, is working to bring accountability to procurement by the state. However, the procurement process has been severely corrupted for so long by people in and out of the state government, that he is facing a daunting task. However, he is working with local law enforcement to develop and enforce administrative rules that prevent those companies found to have violated state law, particularly by "paying to play" or paying off politicians in exchange for government contracts, from getting more state contracts.
• 37. Ed Case, newly elected Democrat U.S. Representative of Hawaii's second district, has focused his efforts on business, education and the economy while in office since Dec. 2002. One of Case's major pieces of legislation introduced in 2003 seeks to eliminate or reform the Jones Act, which is the act that requires all state to state shipping be done on American owned ships. Case and other opponents to the Jones Act, say it prevents real competition in the shipping industry and rather forms a monopolistic shipping industry that particularly harms consumers and businesses in Hawaii. To Case's credit, he is the only one of four Hawaii congressmen who are in opposition to the Jones Act. All other congressmen from Hawaii receive substantial donations from the Jones Act advocates, which includes the shipping companies benefiting from the monopolistic situation.

Reforming Hawaii's Education System

• 38. Ted Hong, the state's head negotiator and newly appointed regent for the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, has taken on the role as investigator and government watchdog while on the board. Though he has not yet been confirmed by the state Senate to the position, he has courageously and tenaciously questioned the president of the University, Evan Dobelle, who has been accused by many, including the state auditor, of wasteful and lavish spending. He is helping to bring accountability to budgeting and spending at the University, which for years has been a black hole for taxpayer money. The university also has been known as a final resting place for those favored by the Democrats in power who needed high paying jobs with lavish benefits, yet no accountability for their work product, if they even chose to work at all.
• 39. Laura Thielen, an elected Board of Education member, is the only vocal member of the centralized board that is fighting for decentralization of her own power through decentralization of the school board system from one to at least seven elected school boards. A Democrat, she is supporting Republican Gov. Linda Lingle's platform to reform Hawaii's public education system, one of the worst in the nation in terms of test scores and drop out rates, which calls for decentralization and the implementation of a weighted student formula, where the money follows the student. Thielen also is an active member of the governor's committee to help push the proposed reforms forward through the state legislature and to the public for a vote in the Nov. 2004 election.
• 40. William Ouchi, well known author of books on education and UCLA professor, is the first person who with a partner published a detailed study on where the more than $1.9 billion annually of taxpayer money is being spent in Hawaii's public education system. His recently released study focuses on the fact that just 49 cents of every dollars is being spent in the classroom, whereas the rest of the money is going to fund bureaucracy in the system. Ouchi, a voluntary consultant on the governor's education taskforce, is advocating decentralization of Hawaii's public education system, which the only school system in the nation to be run under a single, statewide board and bureaucracy. He also recommends as does the governor's taskforce that the system follow the weighted student formula plan his most recent book highlights, where the money follows the student through the system, thereby more evenly distributing school funds and bringing in more money to the classroom.
• 41. Randy Roth, one of the governor's top advisors, gave up a safe, relatively quiet job as a law professor at the University of Hawaii law school (temporarily) for a job that requires he take on one high profile controversy after another. Roth, who was the governor's senior policy advisor until he recently gave up the position to become the governor's first senior education policy advisor, is now focusing on pushing the reforms through suggested by the governor's education taskforce known as CARE.
• 42. Laura Brown, a parent activist in the public school system turned writer, researcher and analyst for Hawaii Reporter, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and other mainland think tanks, has made problems in the public education system in Hawaii more understandable to parents, students, teachers, bureaucrats and taxpayers. She has broken down complex problems and funding mechanisms and exposed problems in the system in her numerous articles, editorials and reports published in Hawaii Reporter, Grassroot Institute's publications and letters and interviews with other media.

''Media Bringing Accountability to Government, Business - Giving Readers the Facts''

• 43. Ken Schoolland, author of the free market book, The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible, has touched thousands of lives around the world. Schoolland, an economics professor at Hawaii Pacific University, has had his award-winning book republished in 31 languages and it is being used around the world to teach students about the benefits of the free market. His book is republished chapter by chapter in Hawaii Reporter every Monday.
• 44. Rick Hamada, host of the conservative radio morning talk show on KHVH 830 AM, has opened up a whole new world to his many listeners and helped to educate about government and politics and rally his listeners to fight for more accountability in government. He has covered topics no other media will touch because of its controversy and complexity. He also brings a different perspective to local, national and international issues that the more liberal media reports with liberal bias. To his credit, Hamada has welcomed members of all political parties on his station to discuss their positions and views. He also has fielded debates between Republican and Democrat Party chairs and candidates as well as regular interviews with Gov. Linda Lingle.
• 45. Rick Daysog, investigative reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, has been the only reporter consistently documenting every single incident surrounding the investigation into the campaign and administration of Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris. He is diligent, fair and accurate in his reporting, which often includes extensive research and computer assisted investigations that he initiates.
• 46. James Dooley, investigative reporter for The Honolulu Advertiser, can be relied on to document corruption in many areas of government, such as the state housing authority and contracting at the Honolulu International Airport. His investigative reports have led to law enforcement opening or broadening investigations and he also educates the public and other media about corruption in various levels of government.
• 47. Keoki Kerr, investigative reporter for KITV 4, also has uncovered stories of corruption in government, of which there are many in Hawaii, and document them on television in an understandable format. This is especially helpful for those people who do not read newspapers or the Internet and instead rely on television exclusively as their news source.
• 48. Kam Napier, managing editor for Honolulu Magazine, always has interesting stories in the monthly issues for which he oversees production. Napier, who