The following hearing notices, which are subject to change, were sorted and taken from the Hawaii State Capitol Web site. Please check that site for updates and/or changes to the schedule at https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/docs/hearing/hearing2.asp?press1=docs&button1=current Go there and click on the Hearing Date to view the Hearing Notice. Hearings notices for both House and Senate measures in all committees: Hearing ‘Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee’ 1/24/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM 1/24/03 1:00 PM HB14 RELATING TO TELEPHONE SOLICITATIONS. CPC 1/24/03 1:00 PM HB17 RELATING TO PAGER AND CELLULAR PHONE SPAM. CPC 1/24/03 1:00 PM HB22 RELATING TO CONSUMER CREDIT REPORTING. CPC 1/24/03 1:00 PM HB43 RELATING TO INSURANCE FRAUD. CPC 1/24/03 1:00 PM HB75 RELATING TO CONDOMINIUMS. CPC 1/24/03 1:00 PM HB93 RELATING TO THE CONTINUING EDUCATION OF DESIGN PROFESSIONALS. CPC 1/24/03 1:00 PM HB96 RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES. CPC 1/24/03 1:00 PM HB139 RELATING TO THE MOTOR VEHICLE RENTAL INDUSTRY. CPC 1/24/03 1:00 PM HB140 RELATING TO THE MOTOR VEHICLE RENTAL INDUSTRY. CPC 1/24/03 1:00 PM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN 1/27/03 8:30 AM HB76 RELATING TO THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF HAWAII. HSH 1/27/03 8:30 AM HB77 RELATING TO THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF HAWAII. HSH 1/27/03 8:30 AM HB122 RELATING TO PRESUMPTIVE MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY FOR PREGNANT WOMEN. HSH/HLT 1/27/03 8:30 AM HB232 RELATING TO GOOD BEGINNINGS ALLIANCE. HSH/HLT 1/27/03 8:30 AM HB233 AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS AND MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE CHILDREN’S JUSTICE CENTER. HSH/HLT 1/27/03 8:30 AM HB243 RELATING TO TORT LIABILITY. HSH/HLT 1/27/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB81 RELATING TO THE PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTIONS OF THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB82 RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS COMMISSION ACT. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB83 RELATING TO A LAND EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE STATE OF HAWAII AND THE ALOHA COUNCIL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB84 RELATING TO ACCRETED LANDS. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB104 RELATING TO FOREST RESERVES. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB156 RELATING TO THE HAWAII FORESTRY AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVE. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB158 RELATING TO THE CONTROL OF AXIS DEER IN MAUI COUNTY. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB160 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE’S FORESTRY PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT HILO. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB161 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE EAST KAUAI IRRIGATION SYSTEM. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB192 RELATING TO ACCRETED LANDS. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB194 RELATING TO WATERSHEDS. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB208 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR COMPLETING FENCE ENCLOSURES AROUND LANA`I’S WATERSHED. WLH 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB85 RELATING TO ACCRETED LANDS. WLH/EEP 1/27/03 9:00 AM HB193 RELATING TO LANDOWNERS’ LIABILITY. WLH/EEP 1/27/03 9:30 AM HB47 RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES. TRN 1/27/03 9:30 AM HB48 RELATING TO THE LEASING OF SUBMERGED LANDS. TRN 1/27/03 9:30 AM HB49 RELATING TO TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS. TRN 1/27/03 9:30 AM HB52 RELATING TO CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY. TRN 1/27/03 9:30 AM HB53 RELATING TO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION’S MARITIME RELATED USES. TRN 1/27/03 9:30 AM HB57 RELATING TO TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT. TRN 1/27/03 9:30 AM HB58 RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES. TRN 1/27/03 9:30 AM HB60 RELATING TO IMPACT FEES. TRN 1/27/03 10:00 AM HB129 RELATING TO BRIDGE TO HOPE. HSH/LAB 1/27/03 1:00 PM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN 1/27/03 2:00 PM HB276 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT. EDN 1/27/03 2:00 PM HB277 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDN 1/27/03 2:00 PM HB281 RELATING TO STATE EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE. EDN 1/27/03 2:00 PM HB289 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDN 1/27/03 2:00 PM HB292 RELATING TO THE SCHOOL PRIORITY FUND. EDN 1/27/03 2:00 PM HB312 RELATING TO INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS. EDN 1/27/03 2:00 PM HB334 RELATING TO PRINCIPALS AND VICE-PRINCIPALS. EDN 1/27/03 2:00 PM HB335 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDN 1/27/03 2:00 PM HB336 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDN 1/27/03 2:00 PM HB338 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDN 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB78 RELATING TO ELDER ABUSE. HMS 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB79 RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES. HMS 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB637 RELATING TO MISSING CHILDREN. HMS 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB743 RELATING TO FAMILY CAREGIVERS. HMS 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB746 RELATING TO CANCER. HMS 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB851 AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS AND MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE KULAMALU LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY IN KULA, MAUI. HMS 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB859 RELATING TO BRIDGE TO HOPE. HMS 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB26 RELATING TO THE LEGISLATIVE JOURNALS. TMG 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB308 RELATING TO THE SALE OF INTOXICATING LIQUOR. TMG 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB386 RELATING TO UTILIZATION OF FEDERAL FUNDS. TMG 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB531 RELATING TO COUNTY LIABILITY. TMG 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB532 RELATING TO COUNTY LIABILITY. TMG 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB592 RELATING TO THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION. TMG 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB735 RELATING TO ADMINISTRATIVE RULES. TMG 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB737 RELATING TO ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE. TMG 1/27/03 2:45 PM SB862 RELATING TO PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION BY PUBLIC ENTITIES AGAINST INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. TMG 1/28/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM 1/28/03 1:00 PM None Informational Briefing Summary FIN 1/29/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM 1/29/03 1:00 PM SB10 RELATING TO COUNSELING. EDU 1/29/03 1:00 PM SB13 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDU 1/29/03 1:00 PM SB16 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDU 1/29/03 1:00 PM SB17 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDU 1/29/03 1:00 PM SB18 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDU 1/29/03 1:00 PM SB60 RELATING TO SCHOOL ASSESSMENT LIAISONS. EDU 1/29/03 1:00 PM SB80 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR SCHOOL SAFETY RESOURCE OFFICERS. EDU 1/29/03 1:00 PM SB350 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDU 1/29/03 1:00 PM SB701 RELATING TO EDUCATION. EDU 1/29/03 1:00 PM SB816 RELATING TO SAFETY RESOURCE OFFICER PROGRAM. EDU 1/29/03 2:45 PM SB96 RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES. HMS 1/29/03 2:45 PM SB401 RELATING TO EARLY CHILDHOOD. HMS 1/29/03 2:45 PM SB486 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE HANA YOUTH CENTER. HMS 1/29/03 2:45 PM SB494 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE MAUI ADULT DAY CARE CENTER. HMS 1/29/03 2:45 PM SB504 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE MAUI FOOD BANK. HMS 1/29/03 2:45 PM SB514 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR QUEST ORTHODONTIC SERVICES. HMS 1/29/03 2:45 PM SB697 RELATING TO CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES. HMS 1/29/03 2:45 PM SB786 RELATING TO ADOPTION. HMS 1/29/03 2:45 PM SB865 RELATING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATE FOOD SECURITY COUNCIL. HMS 1/29/03 2:45 PM SB867 RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES. HMS 1/30/03 8:30 AM None Informational Briefing Summary WAM 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB98 RELATING TO NATIVE HAWAIIAN HEALTH. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB381 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE PAYMENT OF DAMAGES FOR HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TRUST INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB381 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE PAYMENT OF DAMAGES FOR HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TRUST INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB382 RELATING TO HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB383 RELATING TO HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TRUST INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB383 RELATING TO HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TRUST INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB476 RELATING TO CEDED LAND REVENUES. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB477 RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS COMMISSION ACT. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB478 RELATING TO THE PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTIONS OF THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB610 RELATING TO INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS RESOLUTION UNDER THE HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TRUST. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB610 RELATING TO INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS RESOLUTION UNDER THE HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TRUST. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB615 RELATING TO SPECIAL ATTORNEYS GENERAL. JHW 1/30/03 9:00 AM SB638 RELATING TO HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION. JHW
Raising Hawaii's Property Taxes -Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris – Hero or Scoundrel – You Vote
Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris says it is time to raise property taxes. He made the statement in his State of the City address Jan. 23, saying without explanation that the city is taking in less taxes than it did 9 years ago. He says the city does not have a spending problem, rather a declining revenue problem.
Former and current Honolulu City Council members who oppose the tax increase say Harris has wasted millions of dollars on construction contracts given to friends and campaign supporters in exchange for campaign donations and has spent money on parties on the beach and on building expansive new, unnecessary parks. They also cite as wasteful the mayor’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit System that will cost taxpayers $1 billion to build and considerably more to operate and subsidize. These Council critics say taxes should not be increased in a time where Hawaii’s economy is just starting to make a comeback and when the state is facing uncertainty because of a possible war with Iraq. Rather taxes should remain the same or be lowered.
“Jeremy Harris Centered”
What do you think? Is the Mayor a Hero or Scoundrel
Raising Hawaii’s Property Taxes -Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris – Hero or Scoundrel – You Vote
Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris says it is time to raise property taxes. He made the statement in his State of the City address Jan. 23, saying without explanation that the city is taking in less taxes than it did 9 years ago. He says the city does not have a spending problem, rather a declining revenue problem.
Former and current Honolulu City Council members who oppose the tax increase say Harris has wasted millions of dollars on construction contracts given to friends and campaign supporters in exchange for campaign donations and has spent money on parties on the beach and on building expansive new, unnecessary parks. They also cite as wasteful the mayor’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit System that will cost taxpayers $1 billion to build and considerably more to operate and subsidize. These Council critics say taxes should not be increased in a time where Hawaii’s economy is just starting to make a comeback and when the state is facing uncertainty because of a possible war with Iraq. Rather taxes should remain the same or be lowered.
“Jeremy Harris Centered”
What do you think? Is the Mayor a Hero or Scoundrel
Raising Hawaii's Property Taxes -Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris – Hero or Scoundrel – You Vote
Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris says it is time to raise property taxes. He made the statement in his State of the City address Jan. 23, saying without explanation that the city is taking in less taxes than it did 9 years ago. He says the city does not have a spending problem, rather a declining revenue problem. Former and current Honolulu City Council members who oppose the tax increase say Harris has wasted millions of dollars on construction contracts given to friends and campaign supporters in exchange for campaign donations and has spent money on parties on the beach and on building expansive new, unnecessary parks. They also cite as wasteful the mayor’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit System that will cost taxpayers $1 billion to build and considerably more to operate and subsidize. These Council critics say taxes should not be increased in a time where Hawaii’s economy is just starting to make a comeback and when the state is facing uncertainty because of a possible war with Iraq. Rather taxes should remain the same or be lowered. “Jeremy Harris Centered” What do you think? Is the Mayor a Hero or Scoundrel ? You Vote.
Raising Hawaii’s Property Taxes -Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris – Hero or Scoundrel – You Vote
Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris says it is time to raise property taxes. He made the statement in his State of the City address Jan. 23, saying without explanation that the city is taking in less taxes than it did 9 years ago. He says the city does not have a spending problem, rather a declining revenue problem. Former and current Honolulu City Council members who oppose the tax increase say Harris has wasted millions of dollars on construction contracts given to friends and campaign supporters in exchange for campaign donations and has spent money on parties on the beach and on building expansive new, unnecessary parks. They also cite as wasteful the mayor’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit System that will cost taxpayers $1 billion to build and considerably more to operate and subsidize. These Council critics say taxes should not be increased in a time where Hawaii’s economy is just starting to make a comeback and when the state is facing uncertainty because of a possible war with Iraq. Rather taxes should remain the same or be lowered. “Jeremy Harris Centered” What do you think? Is the Mayor a Hero or Scoundrel ? You Vote.
Gov. Lingle Takes off on Charter School Reform at Voyager School-Charting New Territory in the Education Reform Movement
“Laura Brown Image”
Hawaii’s Charter School law sets schools up to fail, according to a U.S. Department of Education Undersecretary who recently examined the local charter school climate. Yesterday, Gov. Linda Lingle made the first move to renew charter school growth locally, starting by raising public awareness with a press conference at Voyager Charter School in Kakaako. The wall behind Lingle was plastered with several bright blue posters containing five examples of school choice: Local School Boards, Charter Schools, Home Schools, E-schools and Magnet Schools. It was hard to miss the point that school ”’choice”’ is the direction this administration will pursue.
Voyager is situated in a storefront on Auahi Street behind CompUsa. The school offers an integrated curriculum and a team approach to teaching, along with a small student-to-teacher ratio. Students expressed their satisfaction as they told the governor about their school, but it was their well-mannered behavior and expressions of joy and wonder at the impromptu gathering with their special guest that revealed to onlookers that Voyager seems to have hit on a formula that works.
The gathering provided Lingle with the opportunity to reiterate her administration’s main focus for education reform: allow charter schools to flourish by removing the cap for new charters and by providing fair funding (95 percent federal funding formula with 5 percent to state DOE Administration), allow the people to decide by referendum on the school board issue and remove principals from the union.
Instead of relegating words like “choice,” “parent involvement” and “charter schools” to the sterile discussions of the Capitol where legislators and lobbyists are often far removed from the public school experience, the governor beckoned the public to join her — to discover the look, the feel and the experience of what it means to have freedom, for perhaps the first time, to choose a school where children thrive and want to learn.
”’Laura Brown is the education reporter for HawaiiReporter.com and can be reached via email at”’ mailto:LauraBrown@hawaii.rr.com
Rebuttal to Statement That Dispute Over Burial Sites is Overblown
A Jan. 18, 2003, Honolulu Star-Bulletin letter to editor stated: “we make too much out of a bunch of old bones and rock, after all that’s exactly what it is.” That may be the case, to that letter writer and is sadly, pathetically typical ethnocentric myopia.
Let’s back up a bit and look at the facts:
White man came to Hawaii, stole the land and destroyed the monarchy, took it over, called it their own, imposed their own form of government and laws on these people. (Some may counter; “everyone’s better off now,” but the Hawaiian people did not ask for nor did they want this.) This is what white man has been doing for many years; Ask any “American” Indian or “African American.”
There will always be your typical “Rice and Conklins and other rebel rousers and kooks” attempting to destroy the last vestiges of dignity and ownership of Hawaiians by whining that the white man’s law shouldn’t and don’t provide for the caretaking and reparations to any degree of the people of the host culture. And they justify their argument with the wholesale, blanket excuse; it’s “racist.” They justify their rants by quoting various examples of their laws they and their people forcibly imposed on Kanaka Maoli.
“The American constitution says this’n’that and justifies our destructive pernicious ways. The government we force upon you to live by will also prevent you from living the life you want.”
“We will also bring over haole politicians and enact our foreign ways to cover your beautiful land with an overabundance of street/highway signage, buildings, freeways, and slowly but surely make this land another El Lay. We will ban your language and force hula and your various cultural practices underground. We will allow tourists to pursue litigious American ways and everytime someone enters the “wilderness,” which is what most of Hawaii is, we will allow them to sue, at any provocation. We’ve got 70 yellow pages of lawyers, and dadgummit, we’re gonna use ’em!”
It may not be right but it sure is legal and that’s one of the most evil things about this scenario.
As far as the treatment of bones is concerned; The apathy foreigners have toward their ancestors is not universal. Heiau are sacred to Hawaiians, as are kupuna iwi; bones of ancestors, and the lessons, memory and ways of those that have gone before.
The destruction of the religious ways of the indigenous culture is one of the most evil things perpetrated by America. The destruction of this land, just because it is happening slowly and is almost unnoticeable, doesn’t mean it should be accepted.
This scenario is doubly poisonous: We now take your land and destroy your culture, then we impose ”’our”’ laws, which guarantee ”’we”’ will always dominate you and your land.
”’Allen StJames is a resident of Honolulu and can be reached by email at:”’ mailto:tiki@tikitrader.com
What is Seen and Not Seen in the Federal Budget Deficits
President Bush’s budget director, Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., has now admitted what most people have been expecting — that the era of federal budget deficits has returned for the foreseeable future. In the current fiscal year, the deficit will most probably be greater than $200 billion and will very likely be more than $300 billion in the next fiscal year. Daniels also forecast that there would be no end to federal budget deficits for the next 10 years.
But Daniels added that there should be little concern about how much the amount of federal spending exceeds the tax revenues taken in by the U.S. government. After all, the deficits will represent “only” about 2-3 percent of a U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around $10 trillion. Nor should anyone worry that government borrowing will push up interest rates in the financial markets because, according to Daniels, in an increasingly global market lenders from around the world will easily supply the lendable funds needed to cover these deficits, resulting in a relatively negligible rise in
U.S. interest rates.
The impression that the Bush administration is trying to create is clearly that these deficits will not matter. The planned increases in spending on domestic and defense programs impose no necessary noticeable burden upon the American public. The deficits will be a drop in the bucket in terms of the overall size of the national economy, and they will have minimal impact on the costs of private-sector borrowing for either investment or consumer purchases.
In spite of the administration’s rhetoric and rationales, however,
everything has its cost, and this is as true for budget deficits as for
anything else. More than 150 years ago, the French economist Fr
Seek Time to Deliver on Promises
Kenyans are justifiably jubilant about prospects of a new government that seems committed to change. After the headlines fade and the excitement wears off, however, they must sustain the pressure for political reforms instead of reducing it.
A new and democratically elected president means little if he does not follow through on his pledges to reduce corruption and ensure his government stays lean.
The over-excited throng that attended the president’s inauguration serves as a warning to the new regime; that it must address their needs urgently. People now know how sweet it is to change a regime, and they will not hesitate to do the same thing in the next five years.
The new government has an uphill task of fulfilling the high expectations of the people, and it would be advisable for it to ask for more time to deliver on its pledges.
Sound economic policy involves considering both short-term and long-term effects of whatever one does and its impact on everybody — not just a minority. Focusing on a few visible solutions will, in the long run, be counter-productive. Will the new team turn the economy around?
Scavenged From Foreign Junkyards
Picture a bus that broke down due to bad roads and reckless driving, with passengers agitating for change of driver. The scholar, George Ayitteh, describes this bus accurately in his book, Africa in Chaos, when he talks of a vehicle with “– a motley collection of obsolete, discarded parts … scavenged from foreign junkyards, and operating on borrowed ideology.
“The carburettor was a gift from Norway and the battery was donated by Austria. The tyres came from Britain and China and are mismatched. A headlight is broken and the electrical system malfunctions. Turn the ignition switch and the windshield wipers fall off. The engine sputters and belches smoke that pollutes the entire country. There are no brakes or shock absorbers [checks and balances]. The fan belt is ripped, which means its cooling system is inoperative.”
In this same bus, some passengers are keen on scavenging the remaining parts. Some are either selling them or simply taking them into hiding.
President Mwai Kibaki may be a good driver, but the bus needs urgent fixing. To simply use ropes and other accessories to make the bus move on will not help Kenya.
The new team should organize the available resources prior to asking for foreign aid. They should enlighten Kenyans on the fact that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and take this country off dependence on aid.
They should ensure that Kenyans get economic freedom that will allow them, without looking up to the government for solutions, to address their individual economic needs. They should take off the heavy burden caused by corruption that costs Kenya an estimated $895 million a year.
Without the constitutional provision of a limited presidential term, it would have been almost impossible to dislodge Moi from office. That he agreed to hand over makes him a hero to Kenya and Africa in general.
Other Heads of State who have been in power for more than 10 years ought to rethink their strategies and allow their citizens to enjoy the ventilatory exhilaration that Kenyans tasted on December 30 last year.
The question is, will the proposed new constitution take effect and allow power-sharing?
Change of power through term limits has made Kenya achieve a democratic feat admired all over Africa. Term limits for Members of Parliament and civic leaders will do a greater job, for it will make Kenyans more responsive to constituent demands and less prone to inciting tribal sentiments.
The new constitution should move away from addressing interests of certain ethnic and religious groups, and focus fully on specific principles.
The Constitution of Kenya Review Commission should identify key principles that could make it easier for Kenyans to manage their daily lives without creating a bigger government system. The previous regime made serious mistakes due to lack of balance of power between the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary and local government.
Freedom of Expression
Addressing aspects of protection of life and private property and allowing people to own the same are key areas that transcend religious and ethnic interests.
Giving provision for the minority to express themselves by ensuring that freedom of expression is allowed will go a long way towards moulding a strong democracy.
Press freedom is urgently required. The new regime ought to ensure that the airwaves are liberalized and laws that make it difficult for people to engage in both print and electronic media services repealed.
Our fragile democracy will not hold long if people are the uninformed and misinformed. Only liberalized media will create the competition necessary to ensure that people get accurate information.
Most important of all, the new government must limit its role in economic activity and allow Kenyans to choose freely what they would rather do to create wealth.
”’James S. Shikwati is the director, Inter Region Economic Network [IREN Kenya]”’
Gov. Lingle Takes off on Charter School Reform at Voyager School-Charting New Territory in the Education Reform Movement
Laura Brown Image Hawaii’s Charter School law sets schools up to fail, according to a U.S. Department of Education Undersecretary who recently examined the local charter school climate. Yesterday, Gov. Linda Lingle made the first move to renew charter school growth locally, starting by raising public awareness with a press conference at Voyager Charter School in Kakaako. The wall behind Lingle was plastered with several bright blue posters containing five examples of school choice: Local School Boards, Charter Schools, Home Schools, E-schools and Magnet Schools. It was hard to miss the point that school ”choice” is the direction this administration will pursue. Voyager is situated in a storefront on Auahi Street behind CompUsa. The school offers an integrated curriculum and a team approach to teaching, along with a small student-to-teacher ratio. Students expressed their satisfaction as they told the governor about their school, but it was their well-mannered behavior and expressions of joy and wonder at the impromptu gathering with their special guest that revealed to onlookers that Voyager seems to have hit on a formula that works. The gathering provided Lingle with the opportunity to reiterate her administration’s main focus for education reform: allow charter schools to flourish by removing the cap for new charters and by providing fair funding (95 percent federal funding formula with 5 percent to state DOE Administration), allow the people to decide by referendum on the school board issue and remove principals from the union. Instead of relegating words like “choice,” “parent involvement” and “charter schools” to the sterile discussions of the Capitol where legislators and lobbyists are often far removed from the public school experience, the governor beckoned the public to join her — to discover the look, the feel and the experience of what it means to have freedom, for perhaps the first time, to choose a school where children thrive and want to learn. ”Laura Brown is the education reporter for HawaiiReporter.com and can be reached via email at” mailto:LauraBrown@hawaii.rr.com