Small Business Hawaii | Volume 23 Number 9 | September 1998
Sam Slom is also a State Senator from the 8th District (Waialae Iki to Hawaii Kai)
and has a website at this URL: http://hotspotshawaii.com/sam/slom.html
Sam Slom is also a State Senator from the 8th District (Waialae Iki to Hawaii Kai)
and has a website at this URL: http://hotspotshawaii.com/sam/slom.html
Deja Vue? One of former Governor John Waihee's final political speeches in 1994 was about his pride in leaving the state "in a strong financial position with an $80 million cash surplus." Two weeks after Ben Cayetano won the '94 election as Governor (with a 36% vote tally of the 47% of the eligible population that voted) he talked glumly of a "$150 million deficit," saying he wasn't privy to the finances of the state as Lt. Governor for 8 years. In December, 1994, the deficit was raised to an estimated $250 million; in January, 1995, it was pegged at $350 million. Now, fast forward to 1998 and the current campaign. During and after the 1998 State Legislature which ended in May, a deficit in the magnitude of $400-$500 million was forecast by a number of prominent bean counters. As the public became more restless and surveys indicate the likelihood of the voters adding Mr. Cayetano to the unemployment rolls in November, the Cayetano Administration suddenly announced in August that there is no deficit ‹ there is a cash surplus estimated at $230 million. See, everything is alright again. But, who ya gonna believe? Who ya gonna vote for this time?? Remember in November. The most recent Honolulu Star-Bulletin /NBC Hawaii News 8 poll indicated 84% of those surveyed were not satisfied with Hawaii's economy; 47% thought Maui Mayor Linda Lingle was the best candidate to do the most to improve the economy during the next four years; 22% thought Governor Cayetano was the best candidate. Visited with former Honolulu businesswoman/Toastmaster/Cancer volunteer/SBH Young Entrepreneur organizer, Pamela Gottlieb in Phoenix, Arizona last month. Pamela and husband Bob (a Realtor) are doing well ‹ very well ‹ as are so many expatriates there and in the Northwest. All parts of Phoenix and vicinity (Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale) are exploding with residential and commercial growth. Optimism is thick enough to cut with a knife. Such a contrast with Hawaii. Roy's Restaurant in Scottsdale is a winner and next he is on to NYC. All of the talent, resources‹and capital‹we have lost must be repatriated. Both First Hawaiian Bank and Bank of Hawaii continue to outsource credit card and other services to out-of-state firms, exporting more jobs as well. The 3rd annual Made-in-Hawaii exhibition in August was a smash hit at the Blaisdell. More than 25,000 people attended. Hawaii products are hot and are becoming more diversified. Now, if we could only have a healthy business climate so that the jobs and income could stay in the Islands. Received several calls and correspondence regarding the article about conflicts of interest and The Honolulu Advertiser in last month's SB News. It happened to others as well. The paper remains mum, but several changes are taking place down at the monopoly news building on Kapiolani. Morale is low. Meanwhile, what's with Pacific Business News? They hired Larry Fuller, former publisher of the 'Tiser, past member of the Guv's Economic Revitalization (Reelection) Task Force, and chief media cheerleader advocating an increase in the General Excise Tax on business, as their publisher. Then PBN did a sweet piece profile on the monopoly Hawaii Newspaper Agency (HNA). Will PBN lose its hard-hitting independence and become part of the Gannett status quo juggernaut? George Mason, phone home! ABC-TV news interviewed SBH's Kenny Lum and others regarding the impact on small business that the decline in Japanese tourism is having. Linda Lingle appeared on CNN's Financial World, and was interviewed by Forbes and the New York Times during a recent stopover in the Big Apple. Lingle talks to business and financial editors about the business vision for the future; the Governor talks more of racial and ethnic ways of getting reelected. With sugar gone and jobs gone, you'd think the folks in Waialua on Oahu's North Shore would welcome the addition of a corn processing facility on vacant cane lands. And with it, potentially hundreds of new jobs. Not so, because residents there mounted an assault on Iowa's Pioneer Seed Corn Co. Part of the problem is understandable: residents want to be informed about developments before reading about them in the press. However, Hawaii continues its reputation as a place that always seems to say "NO" to most any kind of productive development‹retail, manufacturing, tourist-related or even diversified ag. I received a letter, "Dear Fellow Democrat," inviting me to hear the always stimulating and globally warming, VP Al Gore at McKinley High August 25. Of course I accepted. Any man that is "proud" of President Clinton's courageous stand in the Lewinsky affair needs to be listened to. Gore is the best argument against impeachment of Clinton. In honor of the President, Hawaii opened its "Zipper Lane" on the H-1 freeway. Don't forget: VOTE Saturday, September 19 in the Primary. Your vote will make a difference. Remember, you can vote for any candidate of any party (but just one party). Wait till you see the new oversized ballots! You have many contested races and a wide choice of candidates, including many more business-experienced men and women. Vote as if your future depends on it‹because it does.
 A MOMUNMENT TO THE "DEATH OF COMMON SENSE" When I walk the side walk-widening project on Kalanianaole Highway, to make it possible for wheelchairs to get around fire hydrants, I feel like holding a banner saying, "This is a monument to the death of common sense in America," any volunteers? What's next? Permanent or removable extensions to get around rubbish containers? P.S. By the way, what happened to the engineer who planned and placed all those fire hydrants in the middle fo the side-walk? I hope he got a pay-raise! They must be geniuses.
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Editor: Sam Slom
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