Strong candidates for City Council

There are 14 candidates vying for four district seats on the Honolulu City Council this year. All of them deserve a close look by voters.

Three districts have more than two candidates, and those races will appear on the Aug. 11 ballot. To win outright, a candidate must get more than 50 percent of actual votes cast; otherwise, the top two candidates advance to the general election on Nov. 6. District 8 (Lower Aiea to Waipahu) has only two candidates — incumbent Brandon Elefante and Kelly Kitashima — so their race will be decided in the general election. Here are our primary election endorsements:

District 2 (Mililani Mauka to Kahaluu): Four candidates are running to succeed Council Chairman Ernie Martin, who leaves this year because of term limits.

Heidi Tsuneyoshi has worked for Martin for the past eight years, and describes herself as Martin’s senior adviser. Her job puts her close to the politics and people of this large and diverse district, which stretches from Mililani Mauka to the North Shore to Kahaluu. Among her top priorities are better oversight of Honolulu’s rail transit project; traffic congestion and the need to expand development of Kapolei; public safety; and the high cost of living. She would be a watchdog on spending for the $8.2 billion rail transit project.

Tsuneyoshi faces a strong opponent in former state Senate President Robert Bunda, a veteran pol with 28 years in the Legislature.

Besides easing the district’s traffic woes, Bunda’s top priorities include breaking the “chronic cycle of homelessness within families” through rapid re-housing and rental assistance, and bridging the sometimes acrimonious, time-wasting political feuds between the mayor and the Council — an important goal for the Council, whoever is elected.

Also running for this seat is Choon James, a real estate broker and well-known community activist who is a frequent presence at Honolulu Hale. James would seek ways to stabilize housing costs for residents, especially kupuna. The fourth candidate is David Burlew, who focuses on preserving rural areas under the banner, “Country on the Council.”

Certainly, Bunda’s political experience would be an asset at Honolulu Hale. But as part of what she calls “a new generation of leadership,” Tsuneyoshi has the potential to be an energetic and effective representative for District 2 residents. She should get the chance to serve.

District 4 (Hawaii Kai to Ala Moana Park): This is a rematch between the incumbent Trevor Ozawa and former state legislator Tommy Waters, who lost in the 2014 Council election to Ozawa by a mere 41 votes. Also in the hunt is Natalie Iwasa, a CPA and advocate for bicycle-friendly streets, who made a strong showing in the 2014 race for this seat. The fourth candidate is Ricky Marumoto, an assistant golf professional at Honolulu Country Club.

Waters, an attorney, served three terms in the state House between 2002-2008. His top priorities for this district are public safety and increasing the number of police officers; homelessness and the need for Housing First; and overdevelopment and the proliferation of monster houses.

Iwasa, a member of the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board, calls for revamping many of the city’s operations to make them more efficient. Marumoto wants the city to focus on flooding in East Oahu and dangerous street conditions.

Ozawa, a Martin ally and sometimes fierce critic of Mayor Kirk Caldwell, has been an outspoken, activist Council member, taking high-profile positions on everything from monster houses to diaper-changing facilities in new buildings. He has been a strong voice on the Council for accountability and transparency regarding the rail transit. Sometimes Ozawa goes too far and is forced to pull back, but he works hard for his constituents and the city. He gets our vote for a second term.

District 6 (Makiki to Kalihi): The incumbent, Carol Fukunaga, is rightly known for her responsiveness to her constituents, sometimes introducing bills at their request. Her top priorities for her district are street-level needs: public safety in city parks and sidewalks; improving basic services such as trash pickup; and enforcing rules against monster homes.

While Fukunaga’s cautious legislating style makes some impatient, it’s often in the interests of transparency and good governance. Fukunaga gets our vote.

Her closest challenger is Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, the executive director of the Hawaii Construction Alliance. He also is a member of the Liliha Neighborhood Board and chairman of the city’s Neighborhood Commission. Dos Santos- Tam has fought monster houses and advocates more resources to fight crime, and improving the infrastructure of neighborhoods.

A political action committee financed by the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters, which is a member of Dos Santos-Tam’s organization, raised some hackles when it recently issued a scathing attack ad targeting Fukunaga. In response, Dos Santos-Tam said, “There’s no place for mudslinging in Hawaii and that’s not something my campaign will ever condone.”

The other candidates running for this seat are Ikaika Hussey, a magazine publisher, and Zack Stoddard, a planner with the city Department of Planning and Permitting. Hussey supports rerouting the rail system mauka to the University of Hawaii, and leveraging transit-oriented development to help pay for the system. Stoddard wants to improve government responsiveness through greater transparency and better technology.

TOMORROW: The lieutenant governor’s race.