But others will not be so charitable in this age of epidemic mistrust of government. The governor can't afford to shrug that people will think what they want and it's not his problem.
He needs to rebuild public trust in government by setting an unwavering example of ethical conduct. He has done a good job of this since his election, but the Atlanta trip is a step backward that needs to be rectified.
Newspapers, like government officials, trade on the public's trust. The Star-Bulletin has stringent ethics policies that don't allow us to accept freebies from any individual or institution seeking to influence the news.
If we were invited to Atlanta by AT&T and felt it important to our readers that we be there, we would go but pay our own way. If our representative wanted to take in the Olympics while there, that would be fine. But he or she would pay their own way.
The ethics are simple. AT&T is one of several companies seeking position in Hawaii's telecommunications market. If we accepted freebies from AT&T, how could we expect our readers and AT&T's competitors to believe we are covering the issue fairly and evenly?
For state officials, ethics are not simply self-imposed. They face legal requirements that they behave ethically. They would do themselves and the public a favor by following the same strict freebies policy we use.
Cayetano is going to have a difficult time convincing critics that AT&T hasn't bought itself a leg up in Hawaii's telecommunications wars. The perceived conflict of interest is a distraction he and his constituents don't need.
I know elected officials find themselves in a no-win situation on official travel. The public has a knee-jerk suspicion of any travel at taxpayer expense, a result of the globe-trotting of state executives and the shameless first-class junketing of legislators in the past.
So a thrifty guy like Cayetano views travel as an easier sell if somebody else is paying for it and it isn't costing taxpayers anything.
But this is not the way to regain public support for necessary official travel. The cost in lost credibility isn't worth the few dollars in savings. Better to choose the trips more wisely and pay our own way.
Times are tough, but the taxpayers of Hawaii can afford to send our governor to Atlanta if he needs to be there to represent our interests. And if he wants to catch some of the Olympics at his own expense while he's there, who's to begrudge him? Cayetano doesn't travel nearly as much as his predecessors.
IT'S clean, it's ethical and it's all out in the open. He can come back to deal with telecommunications issues without being handicapped by the suspicion that he's serving interests other than those of his constituents.
It's a tough bullet to bite. Accepting free travel makes it easier to balance the budget. Free entertainment is a wonderful perk. But it carries a big price tag in lost credibility and ability to deal impartially.
Cayetano ran on a platform of restoring honest and ethical government and reducing state spending. He's done a good job of both.
But on the few occasions when the two goals clash, ethics must rule. Money comes and goes, but a lost reputation for integrity - whether an individual's or the state's - is difficult to regain.
