Greenery
By ddepledge
State Sen. Josh Green, (D-Kohala, Kona, Kau), has applied to Gov.-elect Neil Abercrombie to become director of the state Department of Health, sources said tonight.
If Green, a Big Island emergency room doctor, is nominated and confirmed by the Senate, it would create a second Senate vacancy for Abercrombie to fill. State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa (D-Nanakuli, Makaha), will resign to go to Congress.
Green was elected to the state House in 2004. He was elected to the Senate two years ago and is the vice chairman of the Senate Health Committee. He appeared in a television advertisement on behalf of Abercrombie during the governor’s race.
Abercrombie must fill the vacancies from lists of three recommended nominees from the Democrats, who control the seats.
Political Radar
November 4th, 2010 at 2:20 am
Is that why Green appeared in an Abercrombie commercial and endorsed him? What a payoff scam!
November 4th, 2010 at 8:42 am
We need the most experienced people running the departments. Green would probably be a good choice for Director of Health.
November 4th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Green is a doctor and a senator… obvious choice for health
November 4th, 2010 at 9:13 am
M_F: Did you and I just read the same blog post? Green is an Big Island Rural Emergency Room Physician. To me, any physician, much less a man who spends quality time in the most rural areas of our State, fulfilling the most dire of our State’s public health needs, and is now inclined to step up even steeper in that call for public service, is a decent candidate for the Director of the Hawaii State Department of Health. He lives and breathes our States public health system every time he goes to work. To say he ‘gets it’ on what ails our public health system, especially our hospitals statewide, would be an understatement.
I would be with you on the ‘payoff’ idea, except at the salary this position (and all the cabinet positions, across the board are now the same) pays comparative to what a physician can make? Sorry, M_F, wheres the payoff?
November 4th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Apparently, more than Green is moving to greener pastures.
November 4th, 2010 at 11:39 am
You thought donations were without strings attached?
November 4th, 2010 at 11:49 am
Wow, MF, do you even know Josh before making a charge like that? I think your comment lowers the discussion.
Here’s an alternate theory: Josh and Neil have similar views about politics and what needs to be done, so Josh supports Neil’s election, seeing him as a man who might make a good governor. Neil wins, Josh sees this as an opportunity to take on a serious, pretty thankless, but important job and volunteers to head up the Department of Health. He is a practicing doctor as well as a senator and has worked hard to provide medical care to underserved areas in both capacities.
From my dealings with Josh, I have found him to be very hardworking and committed to public service as well as high achievement.
Maybe you think the Director of Health is a cushy job with big bucks?
November 4th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
MF, while I’m not a huge fan of Josh Green, it is conceivable that he endorsed Neil because he thinks Neil’s health policies would be better than Duke’s (he of the “immunize everyone but me” approach to health policy) and would rather be head of an executive branch agency that actually does stuff than a legislator who sets but cvan not execute policy.
This is what makes Donna KIm so insufferable; she sets policy as a legislator and then wants to micromanage its execution, with a vengeance. One wonders what, if anything, she would accomplish if she actually ran an executive branch department, instead of second-guessing everything they do. Maybe she should take over for Auditor Marion Higa when she tires of her similar “I’m gonna give you a root canal and colonoscopy simultaneously, without anaesthesia, and you’re gonna like it” approach to her position.
Of course, one might ask why Green ran for the legislature at all if that is the case. One answer would be that he has very different views/values than those propounded by the outgoing administration (of which Duke was the nominal #2 person). In the end, it sounds more like he’s bailing on his constituents than he is seeking a payoff. After all, even as a department director, he’ll make a fraction of what he’d make in private medical practice.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
I’ve heard some talk around town about Josh Green being considerd for the Director of Health spot, and it makes sense. I don’t know if he’d be a good Director or not, but he is the only doctor in the state that currently holds elective office. Also, according to Derrick’s blog post, he’s already served as Vice Chair of the Senate Health Committee, so it’s not like he doesn’t know the issues. From what I’ve seen, it certainly seems logical that Neil would consider him as a top choice. Lots of people appear in candidates’ commercials because they support the candidate, not because they’re looking for payback. It seems irresponsible for Manoa_Fisherman to suggest otherwise.
November 4th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Do you know of a better doctor with more political experience or a politician with more medical knowledge?
If he’s the best candidate for the job, then it doesn’t matter that he campaigned for Abercrombie.
November 4th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
What a low quality assumption. More likely is that after years of legislative stewardship , but with a Republican department head, someone as passionate and qualified as a doctor/legislator would be excited about having a hands on opportunity to implement the policies for the State. I think that it is admirable that legislators would leave comfortable positions to take up positions of direct leadership. Oh, kind of like Abercrombie coming back to serve as Governor. Sounds like true public service to me.
November 4th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
But is a doctor qualified to run a state government department???
November 4th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
I think Dr. Green has very strong opinions about how the State’s Department of Health can be better managed. Remember he did chair the Health committee while he was a Rep. in the House. He’s a good legislator, but I think he’d prefer to be implementing policy rather than making it. Also, it would very difficult for him to secure the Health chairmanship in the Senate. One, he’s a fairly new senator and two, the Senate Health committee is the “baby” of the Baker faction. So it seems like a good choice for him to seek opportunities where he could utilize his medical and political experiences. I do agree that if he does pursue the director position, he would be doing a disservice to his constituents. But we’d have to say that about all the other Senators/Reps/Councilmembers who vacated their positions to run for another position. That’s just politics.
November 4th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Newsflash Eric: the current Director was a private practicing physician before taking over DOH. Additionally, there are a number of previous Directors who were also physicians.
November 5th, 2010 at 1:45 am
Dr. Green has the votes to be confirmed?
November 5th, 2010 at 11:33 am
Josh was likely counting on President Kokubun’s power group to ease his way through Senate confirmation. Oops.
November 6th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
I can not think of a better qualified person to be the next Director of Health. Forget politics and get to know the person. Dr Green is a great doctor and a great person. He has alway had health care at the top of his priorities. Neil Abercombre is not honorable but that does not make Dr. Green as usless as our newly elected governor.