Democrats Seek Support for Sugar and HPOWER

Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.

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State Democratic Party Chairman James Kumagai said today he wants to have this May’s state party convention adopt, as part of its platform, support for sugar and the concept of HPOWER garbage-to-energy waste recovery program.

More than 1,000 delegates to the May 28-31 state convention were elected last night throughout Hawaii at the party’s 240 precincts. Besides adopting a party platform, Democrats will select a new party chairman.

There was a strong push by the Democrats aligned with Gov. George Ariyoshi to maintain their control of the major party elements. But the complete results of the election won’t be known for several days.

Kumagai, an environmental engineer, is unopposed at this time for re-election to another two-year term as unpaid party chief. …

Unlike the stormy convention sessions of the past decade, Kumagai said he doesn’t see "the extreme polarization" that occurred in the past when liberals tried desperately to wrest control from the more conservative "establishment" elements of the party.

Even this year’s gubernatorial election has failed to elicit the electricity of past election-year state conventions, although supporters of Lt. Gov. Jean King, who may run for governor, is said to be trying to raise a grassroots army. …

Kumagai said that he is now trying "to generate support for the state’s ailing sugar industry — support not in the sense of any type of legislative subsidy — but an awareness of what it means to Hawaii’s economy.

The party chieftain pointed to the problems of Amfac’s Big Island sugar plantation in Puna which will go out of production in 1984, displacing 500 workers.

"I hope to promote within the part ranks the idea of the partnership that exists when it comes to sugar between management and labor," Kumagai added. "They both have a stake in this effort."

"What I am advocating is a change in attitude," he said, "that the Big Five and big business are not the enemy of the people."

Kumagai and several Ariyoshi aides have been closely aligned with the push to try to get the Waipahu community to change its mind and accept the construction of HPOWER plant near the Oahu Sugar mill.