Linda Lingle? I don't think so. If my information and memory are correct, she has a way of keeping things away from the public until it's too late to do anything about it. The Superferry has already been mentioned, but that's not what I'm referring to.
Remember the attempt to move the highway from Puamana to the pali? She financed a study to do it unbeknownst to the public. I managed to get onto the committee, along with a few others, to go over the plans. One of the very first things that the moderator did was draw an imaginary line on a map at the foothills of the mountain. I loudly indicated that that was not going to happen.
Reasons for my negative reaction have already been explained and it would be redundant if I did it here again. The point here is that we (the public) did not know she was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, to do a study for something that would only help the developers.
Another one she did was the prison at Puunene. That study was also done without notice to the public and at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. We didn't agree with the location and the fight is still going on.
I'm not smart enough to know what else she was doing behind closed doors but the above is an indication of what she is capable of. Put her in Washington? No way.
Gordon C. Cockett
Lahaina
