Ige Speech “Unfocused, Disappointing, Lacking in Details,” Charges Representative Bob McDermott

News Release from Rep Bob McDermott (R-Ewa), January 23, 2017

“David Ige is a nice man with a lovely family. But that does not make him a leader. Once again his State of the State speech offered little in specifics and direction to confront the challenges Hawaii faces.”

Here’s My Scorecard on the Governor’s Key Issues:

Education F . Another d top down administrative approached repackaged as "Blueprint for Change". It sounds a lot like the old SCBM (school community based management) of the early 1990's, and destined to suffer the same fate, being chewed up by the bureaucracy until it dies. Whether it's No Child Left Behind, Race To The Top, or Common Core, teachers are tired of this sort of nonsense and just want to teach.

His effort on the A/C and cooling of 1000 classrooms and his ignoring of the crisis at Campbell HS, have demonstrated his abysmal lack of leadership and general lack of urgency within the bureaucracy, a true embarrassment for the State. We need more discussion on rebuilding our dilapidated infrastructure and prioritizing the expenditure of education dollars based on enrollment projections in a child-centered student-based policy. Get the politicians out of the disbursement of educational CIP.

Completely absent in his speech was any concern about the non-college bound student. To that end, I have introduced legislation for a pilot project for establishing vocational/technical education in auto mechanics, plumbing, carpentry and related fields.

Agriculture F Agriculture is not helped by the Government purchasing land, in fact it is stymied by adding a layer of application to use the land. Favoritism and back door deals will abound. You keep Ag land in Ag by zoning and land use ordinances. It is stupid to spend the money on land when we have kids with no suitable cafeterias like Campbell and Fort Shafter elementary.

Affordable Housing F. Okay, the same guys who brought us 42 air conditioners are going to solve the housing crisis. Enough said. The answer is to use his emergency powers to free up some land for rental development by the private sector so they can bypass the ten year permitting process.

Homelessness D- This is a tough issue. He is doing his best. However, throwing more money at free and reduced housing means you are going to get more folks looking for free and reduced housing. As an immediate measure, I would suggest a tent city or look at securing scores of FEMA trailers and placing them on State-owned land.

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