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Two Hawaii island career politicians. Two women in agriculture. Two very different personalities.
We are two totally different people," said former Mayor, Councilwoman and state Sen. Lorraine Inouye. "I’m more of a people person. I prefer hearing people’s concerns. … It’s not what I want, but it’s what the people in your district want."
She lost to incumbent Sen. Malama Solomon in the 2012 Democratic primary for the 4th Senate District by a slim 69-vote margin but feels she has greater support this time around.
Critics of the tough-talking senator have taken to a Facebook page, "Malama Solomon Must Go," which says she "berates and insults testifiers and pushes for bills the public doesn’t want."
Solomon, 63, says she’s a people person, too.
As such, she says she’s developed valuable relationships in the Senate and in the private sector, which helps her bring home the bacon.
"I really see my job as bringing home the dollars that are needed to improve the quality of life in my rural district," she said.
But being the kind of leader who tells the truth may offend some people, she said. "I’m not there to just tell you what you want to hear. I’m trying to come up with a plan."
Solomon, who served in the state Senate from 1983 to 1998 and as an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee from 1980 to 1982, was appointed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie in 2010 to replace Dwight Takamine, who was appointed labor and industrial relations director. She ran for lieutenant governor in 2006 on the Democratic ticket with Randall Iwase, who lost to Linda Lingle.
Inouye served in the state Senate from 1998 to 2008 and was Hawaii County mayor from 1990 to 1992 and Hawaii County councilwoman from 1984 to 1990.
The 74-year-old Inouye says the senator has gone on a different path from what constituents want.
"The PLDC (Public Land Development Corp.) awoke concerns of the community," she said. "What upset me was the bill and the act took away much of the authority from the county in terms of approvals, permitting and oversight" and "gave carte blanche to developers."
The PLDC, created in 2011 as the development arm of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, was given broad exemptions from land-use regulations. It was supposed to partner with the private sector on development projects on underused public land but was repealed in 2013 after strong opposition.
Solomon, who helped author the PLDC bill, said she thought it was a great plan because it would have allowed development of specific sites "around small boat harbors, to use those dollars and to reinvest it back into our public parks, improve hiking trails and engage in different kinds of partnerships."
She said people were confused and misinformed about development requirements.
Inouye, supported by the Sierra Club, and Solomon widely differ on the protection of whales and green sea turtles.
Inouye supports continuing to keep them on the endangered species list.
Solomon told a Hawaii island group in May that the number of humpback whales visiting Hawaii each year has grown from 1,000 during the 1960s to more than 20,000 and that she supports Alaska’s petition to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to have the central North Pacific population, estimated at 5,800, delisted.
A Hawaii fishing association petitioned NOAA last year to delist the entire North Pacific humpback population, estimated at about 20,000.
"This poses a problem," she said on a video of the meeting published by Big Island News Video. "The way NOAA is set up, you hit a whale, you’re to blame. The whale is blameless. OK, I have a problem with that. … We protect people. … People are our priority."
"It’s costing you money," she told them.
Solomon said the federal government should help the state manage protected areas if whales remain on the endangered species list, and some of the funding supporting that management could also come from the hotel room tax.
On the issue of genetically modified organisms, both candidates support a national labeling policy.
Both would like to see tougher laws on pesticide use, and more state oversight over large corporations such as Monsanto because of their large pesticide use.
Inouye, owner of Aloha Blooms Inc., a 10-acre anthurium farm, would not say exactly where she stands on GMO food crops.
She said the anthurium industry would not have survived without GMOs, as was the case of the papaya industry.
"I hear all the anti-GMO concerns," she said. "I am very concerned about the health and safety of the people."
Solomon, who manages Waiaka Farms and Ranch, the family business, is a biotechnology supporter and believes GMO crops should be left up to the farmer and that it is up to the consumer to buy them or not.
As for geothermal energy, both agree geothermal-fueled energy is a good way to lower energy-related costs on Hawaii island, as long as it’s safe and clean.
Solomon believes it could change the county’s economy, serve as an investment in the future and help increase food production as well as increase the tax base, but stressed geothermal natural resources belong to the state, not the county.
Inouye was mayor when the Puna geothermal plant blew out in 1991. She shut down the plant immediately and kept it closed until the Health Department, the governor and the developer could prove it could move ahead safely, despite political pressure to reopen it.
She criticized as unethical Solomon’s support of a specific company, Innovations Development Group, for the development of a 50-megawatt power plant and for changing the laws to allow geothermal development on Hawaiian homelands without county permitting.
Solomon said IDG is a Native Hawaiian corporation with a good track record, and sees nothing wrong with supporting it.
The candidate who wins in the Aug. 9 primary election will faces Alain Schiller, a Libertarian, in the general election.
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COURTESY L. INOYUE AND M. SOLOMON