Full Name: Isaac W. Choy

Name on Ballot: Isaac W. Choy

Age: 62

Political Party: Democrat

Running For: Hawaii House of Representatives

District: 23

Email Address: repchoy@hawaii.rr.com

Current Job: Certified public accountant

Place of birth: Tokyo

Campaign website: isaacwchoy.com

Job history past 10 years: CPA

Legislature

Ever run for public office? If so, when? Outcome? Yes

Representative

Other civic experience or community service?

Treasurer, Honolulu Community Action Program

President, Oahu Chapter, Hawaii Association of Public Accountants

Anything else you’d like voters to know about you?:

I am humbled and honored that the residents of District 23 has allowed me to represent them for these past eight years.

What makes you qualified to be a state representative?

I have served four terms in the Legislature in a variety of leadership positions on committees making critical decisions for Hawaii’s future. And I have served my community my entire adult life through volunteer work in community organizations, community activities, school activities, and professional organizations.

Gov. Ige says he will once again propose increases to the state gas tax, vehicle weight tax and state registration fees to help pay for state road projects. Do you support his proposal?

The state must look for ways to fund highway repairs and improvements. Currently, there is a problem of deploying federal highway’s improvement dollars with repair dollars. Before I could support any proposal I would like to see the how each of components will be coordinated to be used effectively.

If the Legislature is again asked to extend Oahu’s half-percent excise tax surcharge to finance construction or operation of the rail system, would you support such an extension?

I would need more information. The surcharge is city tax and I would like to see what proposals and alternatives the city has explored.

Should the state play a role in cracking down on illegal vacation rentals in Hawaii?

Tax revenue paid by our tourist is an essential part of our total revenue base I would support “cracking down” on any illegal activities, including illegal vacation rentals.

Should the Legislature require that police officers in Hawaii use “body cameras,” and help to fund the use of those cameras?

Before deployment of any new technology, I believe rules, regulation and expectations should be established to not only protect the public interacting with the officer but also the police officer.

Dozens of police officers in Hawaii are disciplined each year for committing crimes or violating departmental policies, but little information is released about the officers or their cases. Do you think there needs to be greater public disclosure?

I believe there should be a balance between the public rights to know and protection of the police officer’s rights of privacy in personnel issues. If the goal is to use the data obtained from disciplinary proceedings to improve regulations and procedures, then aggregated data could be disclosed.