The five Democrats vying for the second-highest position in state government kept things upbeat and friendly Monday evening at a forum sponsored by Hawaii News Now, stressing their qualifications and avoiding any criticism of one another.
In what was probably the most revealing moment of the evening, the candidates were asked by moderator Mahealani Richardson whether they would be willing to mobilize the Hawaii National Guard to clear the way for construction to proceed on the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.
Protesters blocked construction on the TMT project in 2015, and the state Supreme Court later invalidated a key permit for the project and ordered a new hearing. The court is now considering new arguments in connection with the project to determine whether it can go forward.
Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho and state Sen. Jill Tokuda each said they would be willing to activate the National Guard to allow work on the TMT if the project has valid permits, while Kim Coco Iwamoto and state Sen. Josh Green rejected that idea.
“I would never treat people with that much disrespect in the Hawaiian community,” said Green, a physician who served in the state House from 2004 to 2008 and in the state Senate for the past decade.
Former state Sen. Will Espero responded in a somewhat more ambiguous way, telling the audience at Kamehameha Schools, “Not the National Guard. We can do better.”
Carvalho stressed his cultural roots, his aloha and his administrative experience from nearly a decade as the chief executive of Kauai, while Green focused on his willingness as a doctor to “get into the trenches” to directly provide medical services to help cope with homelessness and drug addiction.
Iwamoto, who describes herself as a Democratic
socialist, is a former state Board of Education member, a lawyer and a therapeutic foster parent. She argued the state’s corporate income tax is too low and that property taxes on owners who live outside the state to raise money should be increased to cope with homelessness and poverty in Hawaii.
Espero served in the state House and Senate for 19 years until he resigned in May to run for lieutenant governor. He emphasized his work as chairman of the Senate Housing Committee advocating for more affordable housing and said he wants to be the “point man” on housing for the next state administration.
Tokuda, who has represented Kailua and Kaneohe in the state Senate since 2006, pointed to the “tough decisions” she has made as both a working mother and as former chairwoman of the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee.
