This article is to offer observations about the relationship of cultural considerations and the government of our island. It is not intended to be either comprehensive nor authoritative. Its objective is merely is to present some views of the author
This article is to offer observations about the relationship of cultural considerations and the government of our island. It is not intended to be either comprehensive nor authoritative. Its objective is merely is to present some views of the author on how culture affects the way we are governed.
The paramount feature of cultural impact on our governmental processes is its tilt toward maintaining the status quo and retarding innovative change. Recently we elected a new president for our country in part on his campaign promise of change. That message would not have the same resonance for a candidate seeking election in Kaua‘i.
Cultural considerations are, for present purposes, of two types: first, ethnic factors and second, environmental factors. Although they now constitute only a small minor fraction of the population of Kaua‘i, the heritage of our island is derived importantly from the people of Polynesian ancestry who were the sole inhabitants of this area until about 220 years ago.
Many of their descendants have not accepted the present government and they want to revert to the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. Relinquishing ingrained concepts has been difficult for them. Since 1788, people of multiple racial classes have populated our island. Mostly it has been by Orientals and Caucasians (who now comprise about 40 percent of the population each). Ethnicity patterns remain strongly evident in Kaua‘i voting and community affairs.
Our society is also impacted by environmental factors related to the economic structure of living conditions here. For many years until fairly recently, the principal livelihood for many residents was employment at the sugar plantations. The indoctrination of those in this environment has continued to leave its “plantation mentality” imprint.
An illustration of this togetherness influence is the gravitation of members of ethnic groups into the same occupational areas. Tony Sommer reports in his book “KPD Blue” that over 40 percent of the staff of the County offices are Filipino, while only 8 percent are Caucasian, a large variance from racial population data.
Our cultural history has a strong effect upon how we elect our representatives. The ideas, abilities and objectives of candidates for public office on Kaua‘i matter little. We fail to elect those persons with the best qualities when we go to the polls. The dominant criteria for success in gathering votes are favorable name recognition and ethnicity.
Similar factors are at work in regard to the mayor’s appointments to County Boards and Commissions. The mayor has complete discretion on his appointments to these bodies and it is quite evident that the applicable standards for the persons named are geared to political support and friendship rather than qualifications.
The result is that in some instances the entities are inept and dysfunctional. The Board of Ethics is illustrative. This board has the critical function of ruling on compliance with the code of ethics by county officers and key employees. Its ethically challenged nature and its failures have been well pointed out by Horace Stoessel, a thoughtful citizen and observer, and include a complete disregard for the clear language of the charter and announcing rulings without any attempt to provide justification for them.
It has been said that a basic requirement for service on the Kaua‘i police force is having been born in Kaua‘i. While this standard has not been universal in its observation, a disproportionate percentage of our police staff are Kauaians by birth. This structural limitation may also be affecting the department’s staffing. Kauai has about a 15 percent vacancy rate in its authorized force while in other Hawai‘i counties the rate is much lower.
Another way our area’s culture affects us is in its time-honored practice of protection of fellow workers against external pressures. One of the continuing concerns for Kaua‘i citizens has been the level of governmental costs arising from wasteful practices, particularly in the Department of Public Works.
Several years ago, first Gary Hooser and then Mel Rapozo championed a proposal in the County Council to require performance audits of selected county operations to evaluate their efficiency and to probe for potential grounds for improvement and cost reduction. Reluctantly, the council was persuaded and it adopted by 4-3 vote an ordinance for such audits. The council then authorized a $500,000 funding for the program. It soon became apparent that the results of an audit that might not be favorable to certain county offices or personnel would not be popular with county employees.
Guess what? No audits have been conducted because they would likely expose inefficiency and perhaps corruption and that would not be acceptable to the culture. Numerous similar instances where cultural factors have impacted the processes of our government could be mentioned. But those that have been mentioned seem sufficient to identify the issues involved.
Cultural values have an important place in our society and these comments are not intended to suggest otherwise. It is harder to defend ethnic preferences and discriminations as ultimately we will be best served by a color blind environment. Yet looking at our history we should recognize that on Kaua‘i cultural and ethnic factors have had for an extended time an undue gravitational pull on the processes of our government.
Tony Sommer ends his book with the statement “The overall culture in Kaua‘i County government … is racist and sexist and corrupt. And the politicians keep it that way.”
We should ask ourselves whether the cultural influences of the nature discussed are in the best interests of our society.
It is apparent that we cannot realistically expect to have a better government so long as our officials, elected and appointed, are chosen by a pattern of culture based considerations rather than on their merits and qualifications.
• Walter Lewis is a resident of Princeville and writes a bi-weekly column for The Garden Island.
