Showing Lagareta the door
May 2nd, 2008 by Jerry BurrisThe State Senate’s rejection of high-profile UH regent Kitty Lagareta has produced high-octane rhetoric from both sides.
Lagareta: The Legislature is trying to micro-manage the UH and lawmakers don’t like anyone who bucks their will.
Senate: The UH is struggling in many areas and the Regents are ultimate responsible.
All true. All true.
Over the years the Legislature has gone out of its way to tell the University how it should manage its affairs. Reluctantly, lawmakers gave the UH “autonomy” but that hasn’t stopped folks from trying to put their thumb in the academic pie where it isn’t wanted.
By the same token, the Regents are ultimately responsible for the UH and must answer to the folks who have to balance the state budget. And if the Senate’s advice and consent powers are to mean anything, it has to be able to refuse to consent from time-to-time.
So Senators have the right to reject anyone they want. But you can’t help wondering whether Lagareta’s in-your-face style and close association with Republican Gov. Linda Lingle didn’t have more than a little to do with the Senate’s decision to choose her particular appointment as the place to demonstrate their independence and concern about the state’s premier university.
Tags: burris, lagareta, legislature, Senate, UH
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:13 am
One way out of it is to elect the regents. Granted, not ideal (look at the elected BOE) but at least no one can say it’s partisan politics since the governor and the legislature would have nothing to do with selecting the regents.
May 3rd, 2008 at 10:07 am
I agree with the comment that the Regents should be thanked for their time.
Has anyone ever sat in on the hearing on appointing the Regents? I have. And there is one gentleman that exemplifies what a Regent should be. I am interested in seeing more comments on what people think they know about the Regents….if you are thinking they make tons of money doing their jobs, think again.
May 7th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Hi Jerrry,
Yes indeed. “All true.”
Actually “All TOO true”. So Lagareta, being a Regent, should be equally ashamed of her failure.
Sometimes I wonder. Am I the only person growing tired of the Lingle Party crew running a campaign based on first crying “the Democrats are Devils” followed by whining “Oh look! They are bedeviling my brilliant indicatives”.
Seriously, when did “in your face” become an admired quality in public debate? I’ve always believed that crude squabbling was only a weak woman’s or man’s imitation of strength.
And that though makes me sad that so few of Hawaii’s children get to read things like Abrahams Lincoln’s debates and writings or even the accounts of the debates among America’s founding fathers – examples of far more powerful and civilized use of our amazing language than “in your face” squabbling so revered in today’s TV/U-Tube culture.
Which reminds me. Has anyone else considered how part of the stalemate [at least for the 28 years Hawaii’s been my home] keeping Hawaii’s schools wallowing in failure is partly the fault of the same old Lingle Party mantra — “Unionized teachers are the problem” — and same old demands that — “the only solution is to cut the communities most capable of producing good schools free from those that are not.”
Nope. I applaud the removal of Lagareta. I mean what value is there in a Regent whose only skill is mastery or “in your face” aggression that did nothing more than belabor the obvious. Truly Ms. Lagareta, I could see all by my self that it is not working.
So, what I’d like to see instead is someone intelligent enough to pursue change without the Lingle parties attitude of my way or the highway … or perhaps equally appropriate … my way or the cry way.
Albeit, it’s too bad Hawaii couldn’t start with all new Regents. Sometimes starting over is best. For example, it worked well that America’s founders started over with a new idea for a nation than of merely pleading with a king for enough changes to make a monarchy tolerable. But they did it with arguments to the public and the world that were powerfully reasoned and powerfully explained – not with “in your face” squabbling, however skillfully done.
GLB