• Pat Hunter-Williams Pat Hunter-Williams In response to the article which reported the HSTA early endorsement of Kaua‘i Senator Gary Hooser and former Mayor Kusaka’s comments about the endorsement (The Garden Island June 28), along with the forum letter of
• Pat Hunter-Williams
Pat Hunter-Williams
In response to the article which reported the HSTA early endorsement of Kaua‘i Senator Gary Hooser and former Mayor Kusaka’s comments about the endorsement (The Garden Island June 28), along with the forum letter of July 5 regarding the process used for endorsement, let me put my cards out on the table.
I would characterize myself as an independent Democrat. I am not a card-carrying Democrat and I vote for whom I think will do the best job, regardless of party affiliation.
I am also a teacher and an HSTA member. I am involved with Gary Hooser’s campaign. I have been involved with many campaigns of people from both the Republican and the Democratic parties. I was also one of those teachers who wrote letters to the editor, following the second HSTA endorsement of former Governor Ben Cayetano, stating that my union did not represent me and I was a Lingle supporter- which I was at that time.
HSTA, as a result of the fall-out from members over the Cayetano endorsement, radically changed the way it does business as it relates to political endorsements and the way in which endorsements are made. HSTA listened to its members and gave all teachers a loud voice in determining endorsements, taking the sole decision away from the teachers who sat on the Political Action Committees.
This is contrary to what former Mayor Kusaka said when she stated, “it’s like saying teachers can’t make their own good decisions.”
Teachers, are in fact, making their own decisions. It is teachers who sit on Political Action Committees, just as it is teachers who sit on other HSTA committees.
Many of us lobbied to change the way in which endorsements had previously been made, with all due respect to our colleagues who previously sat on PAC Committees. I was one of the most vocal critics of the former system of endorsement.
Along those lines, I am also proud to say that HSTA again responded to teachers who wanted the process speeded up in that we wanted to be involved in decision-making before the school year was out since many of us participate in professional development off island during the summer months.
We elect the teachers who sit on committees and this includes the Political Action Committee.
While it is certainly true that Kaua‘i does not have as much representation as we would like on that or any other state-wide committee, the representation is based on numbers- just as representation is based on numbers for state and national elections. Kaua‘i has approximately 800 members.
I think it is unreasonable, having sat on the local Kaua‘i Chapter Board, for every teacher to give input on every issue- that is why we vote to put teachers in these positions- to vote for us.
There is Kaua‘i representation on the Committee which made this endorsement decision. If former Mayor Kusaka was running for a different position, I would vote for her.
I hold former Mayor Kusaka in high regard and I appreciate the collective contributions she has made to education on this island and, in fact, throughout the state.
As for not talking to former Mayor Kusaka prior to the Senator Hooser endorsement, here is my analogy for what it is worth when you are satisfied with a service provider (which is what I think all public employees are, including teachers), then why should you change? Most of us then recommend that service provider, with whom we are satisfied, to friends and family, and that is what HSTA has done as it relates to the early endorsement of Senator Hooser.
I am more than satisfied with the changes HSTA has made, as a result of member input, on this and other issues, and I feel empowered by those changes. What needs to be remembered in all of this is that HSTA is “us” – the teachers of Kaua‘i and the state of Hawai‘i.
There is no “them” – HSTA is comprised of teachers who are striving to do a good job for the benefit of Kaua‘i na keiki and for all the na keiki of Hawai‘i. HSTA does not tell us what to do — we, as teachers, tell HSTA what to do as they represent us.
Pat Hunter-Williams is a resident of Anahola
