Imagine waking up one morning to the news that opponents of privatizing public services had finally won the whole debate. Not only did they stop the move to privatize public services such as ambulances and garbage collection, but they were able to have the State take over the entire tourist industry as well.

There you are, sitting at the breakfast nook sipping coffee, when the Governor appears on television to announce that the tourist industry is really far too important and too costly to the State of Hawaii to allow it to be run by private industry. From now on, he says, all the hotels will be run by State employees, and all of them will be members of the government employees union.

As the Governor reveals his plan to take over the industry, he declares, "Tourism is everybody's business‹including both the profits and the losses." When tourists step off the plane at the airport they will be directed to The Bus awaiting to take them to the Department of Motor Vehicles where a new line has been set up for registering them to their assigned State hotels.

Tourists who are interested in a cultural tour will cue up again for a bus that will sweep them away on a spectacular sightseeing excursion to all the government schools and landfills, then to The City Shop for souvenirs. The grand finale will be, once a week, a luau at the stadium where the entertainment will be a debate on efficiency between the State's Director of Libraries and the State's Director of Prisons.

Of course the Governor is eager to follow the example of other tourist hot spots around the world, so he invited the Commissar of Intourist, the renowned Russian travel service, to be a consultant for the program. The Commissar has already recommended that food and banking services be absorbed by the State as well. Only with a complete takeover by selfless politicians and bureaucrats will the State be able to clean up the spoils system, the favoritism and patronage, that are so rampant in the private sector.

The Governor concludes his announcement by calling the legislature into special session. Reluctantly he insists that the State must tax and borrow a few hundred billion dollars more for the anticipated temporary shortfall in revenues. Pinching yourself to see if this is a nightmare, you conclude that this is really just the logical extension of those arguments against the privatization of government services. Ah, nirvana!

That's not to diminish the importance of State funding. It allows HVCB to do what no individual company can afford, i.e., image-building "Brand Hawaii" campaigns in major national media, especially television. Under this marketing umbrella, individual islands, resort destinations, hotels, attractions, travel agents and others are able to more effectively market their competitive products and services.

I might add that every one of Hawaii's competitors have sizable government-backed budgets for marketing, most of them larger than ours.

The State's $23 million investment in tourism marketing should not be viewed as an expense to taxpayers, but as an investment which contributes to a return of almost $1 billion in tourism-generated taxes. It also helps protect 177,000 tourism jobs statewide and the livelihood of thousands of small business people who depend on a strong visitor industry.

Further, the new convention center is anything but a "fiasco." First a substantial portion of its development cost is being paid for by tourist tax dollars - money from the 6 percent hotel room transient accommodations tax. Second, while still under construction, the convention center has attracted 23 bookings which are estimated to generate in excess of $500 million in new visitor spending. Hardly what we would term "corporate welfare."

Walt Decker's guest commentary (SB NEWS, May, 1997) pooh-poohed ideas that Richard Kelley and I had offered to stimulate the economy. For readers who may have missed what this fuss was about, I offer my 10-point plan to strengthen business and bolster private sector job growth on Oahu. (While Dr. Kelley can speak for himself, I would add that his success in building the Outrigger Hotels makes him a very credible source of ideas and advice on what it'll take to get the state's economy moving again.) In essence, we should:

1. Establish a structure. Councilmember John Henry Felix and I are urging the mayor to mimic the success of our sister counties by making economic development a cornerstone of his administration, and to launch this initiative by establishing a Honolulu Economic Council consisting of representatives from the private sector, labor, government, the City Council and administration, and the Oahu Economic Development Board.

2. Develop a plan or blueprint. The OEDB, in fact, recently completed an action plan, commissioned by the Economic Development, Planning and Tourism committee and accepted by the City Council, to jump-start our economy. In the process, the OEDB, Hawaii Society of Corporate Planner, Hawaii Business Roundtable, and a host of community groups identified five 'cluster' (tourism, defense, technology, education, and health) as having the greatest potential for job growth.

3. Promote tax incentives. In addition to reducing the tax burden on businesses, we can offer a host of incentives, such as enterprise zones, that provide tax relief to businesses that operate and create jobs in designated 'depressed' areas of the island.

4. Develop Kapolei. Oahu's Second City will provide an attractive counterpoint to Honolulu. However, it must not become another bedroom community. Kapolei should be a center for economic activity, and here government can lead the way by accelerating the relocation of jobs to this area.

5. Find solutions to our traffic woes. Traffic congestion wastes time and energy and tries our patience. More buses just aren't the answers to our congested streets and highways. Long-term solutions must be sought, including new mass transit alternatives.

6. Attract film and sports. We've done well in attracting film and television projects to the islands and have done equally well in bringing sporting events to Honolulu, but we could do much more. The Pro Bowl is a case in point. We may lose the game to Orlando because of its deep pockets. Maybe it's time the City stopped being a spectator and got into the game by joining the state in holding onto the Pro Bowl and attracting other events.

7. Continue streamlining the permit process. We've accomplished a lot in streamlining zoning and land use regulations, and we have to do more. The recently approved Waikiki Special District legislation languished in the Council for more than seven years until its passage this year. In the meantime, Waikiki, considered the engine of our visitor industry, suffered the consequences of this bureaucratic inertia.

8. Capitalize on our international standing. Hawaii is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States. We should begin acting like it and promote ourselves as a major center for business, trade, education, culture, and other activities typical of an international metropolis.

9. Coordinate capital improve-ments. The state and county governments frequently work at cross-purposes, at the expense of the taxpayers. Both have proposed purchasing the Ka Iwi shoreline, for example. Can't there be some coordination of these efforts, not only in the case of Ka Iwi but in projects throughout the island?

10. Preserve our quality of life. Economic prosperity will be for naught if the price is higher crime, water shortages, pollution, congestion, and the like. Economic growth must be balanced with preserving our quality of life.

We need positive, forward-looking ideas to create jobs and get our economy moving again. While criticizing existing conditions is necessary and welcome, merely complaining about things as they are will do little to give people hope and confidence in working together for the betterment of all. I hope the ideas I've offered, as well as those from people like Dr. Kelley, will help in that process.