This will be my last blog post.

I have decided to support certain candidates running for election this year, and this poses a conflict of interest here on the blog. This is fair. And it's time for me to take a break from this...

Although before my "break" begins, you may want to watch "Insights" on PBS tomorrow night (February 4th):

A diverse panel including State Attorney General Mark Bennett, The Honorable Walter Heen - OHA Trustee, and Jonathan Osorio, Ph.D - Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at UH gathers to discuss the Akaka Bill. Panel members represent opinions from those who are for the bill, against the bill, and still in between. Join in for this discussion about where the bill stands, proposed amendments, and predictions for the future of the bill. Contributing editor Howard Dicus files his weekly "Everybody's Business" report on the state of Hawaii's economy and places the show's topic in an economic context.

http://www.pbshawaii.org/ourproductions/insight.php

Being my last blog post, I think I've earned the right to say what I really think. I think in the process of raising a nation, our Hawaiian leaders and administrators have forgotten that our nation was always about people first. As a people, we are entitled to better leaders than the ones we have right now, and I'm tired of having the pay such close attention to their follies. It's very sad to watch; it's even harder to watch its impact on my people. I have always enjoyed being around my people, on the land, more than anything. I look forward to getting back to that.

We have extraordinary people in the Hawaiian community, I would love to see them step into leadership positions. Our community needs it.

I don't know what happens to the blog. There is some effort to find someone to take it over, I will not be involved in that process.

I am thankful to all of you who read this blog. It never ceased to amaze me that people actually read this. I don't find myself that interesting. I am just someone who loves people and loves her culture. I am someone who believe that Hawai`i has something special to share with the world. I love "aloha" - because I believe it is a way of life that can make the world just, peaceful, and sustainable. I believe it is an extraorindary gift from the Hawaiian people to the world. All I ever sought to do was to encourage people, all people, to live aloha.

So since I started this as a way to celebrate the Hawaiian community, I thought I would end the same way. There were a lot of wonderful things I never got to write about, so here are two (of the many) that deserve mention:

First, I am a member of `Ahahui Ka`ahumanu. There are fews things in life I have found to be as wonderful or meaningful. I was brought in by my beloved Aunty Nickie only to discover my great-grandmother (my "Puna") had been a member. The `Ahahui has pledged $50,000 to Hawaiian Hall at Bishop Museum for the Ka`ahumanu case on the third floor, or Wao Lani. I think this is a beautiful gift to give the museum, Hawai`i and the many visitors to enjoy the hall. For 105 years, we have dedicated ourselves to honoring our Hawaiian history, this gift demonstrates the depth of our dedication. I am so proud and honored to be a member of this organization.

Second, I am copying a message that went out to the Civic Clubs earlier this week. Diabetes is a serious disease that impacts too many of our family members. I didn't know Kaho`onei well, but this blog was never about me, so I find it appropriate to end with someone's call to honor her friend.

Aloha mai, kakou

Me ke aloha,
Leimomi and Vicky

Click here to visit Vicky's personal page.If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/StepOut/StepOut480018010?px=5619985&pg=personal&fr_id=7072&et=h5gAohXtSX_OcxzA7hOPwg..&s_tafId=337156

Click here to view the team page for Team Kaho'onei. Then click on JOIN TEAM at the bottom. Be sure to provide your email address after the contactinformation section so you can use the online fund-raising tools.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/StepOut/StepOut480018010?team_id=451149&pg=team&fr_id=7072&et=yPh89bm4Gj04KXfewfD20A..&s_tafId=337156

It was a quiet opening day. The halls were empty. Few lei. Little food.

It effectively reflected the reality: there is no money.

Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said in her opening remarks:

"Now is the time to prove that we have our priorities in order, that we reflect the values that have made Hawaii special, and that we possess the political will and leadership skills to work past the bad facts to good solutions."

I think we are in universal agreement that the facts are bad. In fact, I'm pretty sure we leapt over the "bad" threshold about six months ago.

The question now: what are the good solutions?

The solution is to find ways to stimulate economic growth. Reconsider existing GET exemptions. Streamline regulatory processes so new projects can begin in a timely manner. Make ourselves eligible for as much external funding as possible.

This is the year for people to learn about the state budget. It's not like the state has a giant vault of gold bullion it can just distribute at its whim. There are many different colors of money. Now's the time for the public to education itself about that reality.

It is particularly important to understand about federally designated funds. In short: you use them or you lose them. And they need to be used as designated. It's not like you can take money given from the federal government to build a highway and then decide to use it for a school.

So we need to think about the importance of capital improvement projects and the legislative process. Good projects will bring in money from external sources. It is critical to get these dollars into the state. This will lead to employment, tax revenues, spending, economic growth and stability for families - this is partially how we will find our way out of our budget problems and generate the funds needed to take care of schools and other public services.

It's not glamorous, and I appreciate that opening day reflected this. This job ahead is hard. There are complicated and tough decisions ahead. It will be a slow, hard, detailed process. We need to be grateful to those taking it on this session.

My mom had a light blue station wagon when we were growing up. My parents lived in Mililani and we went to school in town (my mother also worked in town), so every morning, before dawn, we were loaded up like sacks of rice and placed in the back of the light blue station wagon for the ride to town.

We slept as much as two kids can sleep in the back of a station wagon with its 1980s shock system. We would get to Manoa, only to be carried up the stairs of my grandparents' house by my grandpa, where we would sleep a little more. So breakfast and getting ready for school was always done with my grandparents. Same with afterschool activities. We spent it with our grandparents in Manoa. Manoa was home.

Mom would come get us after work, and off would we drive, again in endless traffic to Mililani. Eventually, we would just stay in Manoa.

I realize now how much traffic impacted our lives. While it gave us priceless time and years with my grandparents in Manoa, it denied us family time with our own parents. It changed our quality of life. All due to traffic and that painful commute.

Rail is not about architecture to me, nor is it about unions. It's not that the minute details being debated aren't important, it's just that they're the sort of details that a community will never have complete consensus on. They're meant to delay the project, and that will only hurt people.

Rail is about giving generations of Hawai`i residents more time with their families by saving them time on the road. It's about improving the quality of lives for people in Central and Leeward O`ahu, and those of us who live in town need to give these communities those opportunities. We need to start behaving like an island community, and that means the entire island. Rail is about giving families more time to sit down together at breakfast or in the evenings. Something so simple, but something those of us who live in town probably don't even think about and have taken for granted for years.

I am confident that better communication about rail is coming. I feel that the information getting to the public doesn't always reflect what a good project this is, because rail is a good project.

There are politics, yes. But at the end of the day, we must put politics aside and help families, not hurt them.

Rail will help families. Start the project now.

Politics is a fascinating beast.

I'm not that interesting a human being; I'm certainly not one deserving of much attention. I love farmers' markets, acai bowls and bookstores. I was blessed with a great family, strong community and big brain.

I believe firmly in community. I love Hawai`i. I love the fact that everywhere I go, I know somebody or am related to somebody. We are an island community. We are always so much smaller than we realize. You just never know who you'll get seated next to at the sushi bar.

This "island living" demands a certain code of conduct - that we treat each other we a certain level of civility and respect. It's an acknoledgement of the reality that on an island, we just can't escape one another, and there is a quiet, constant understanding (especially in the wake of things like the Haiti tragedy) that in times of hardship, we will need one another.

It works for us. It's who we are.

So when we do engage in politics, it is understood in our local community that we do so within this unspoken code of conduct. We behave with civility. We remember that at the end of the day we all need to live here together, above all else, we don't attack each other's famiies.

I have always encouraged lively debate on this blog, perhaps more than I should have. I have been disappointed at times to see how the discussions have dissolved into name calling and personal attacks.

They have started to go too far. I will not tolerate personal attacks that involve my family or anyone else's family for that matter.

Comments will be closed until settings on the blog comments are modified such that all comments will be moderated. This was the best solution I could think of to allow the lively debate to continue while ensuring that people and their families are not personally attacked.

My apologies to all for any inconvenience.