The administration, for instance, has cut by about half the time development proposals are reviewed by the Department of Health for environmental impacts, Naya said. He also noted that telecommunications deregulation has helped bring millions of dollars in investments and new jobs to the state. Electrical engineer Mark Segawa looks on. Naya cites the decision by Continental Airlines to build a maintenance hangar here as among the early evidence the changes are helping. But Naya acknowledges that much more remains to be done, that too much inefficiency remains in government.
Critics say too little is being done to improve things at the state and county levels.
Rapoza said she had to deal with three different state agencies to get the necessary approvals before she could open her business in 1995. Bureaucratic snags delayed the opening by months, she said. Naya said he gets frustrated when he hears about businesses getting the runaround from the state. One recent example involved Oji Paper Co., a Japanese paper manufacturer. Exasperated executives of the company were here on their 10th trip trying to negotiate a lease for state land on the Big Island when Naya heard about the company's plight.