Name on ballot:

Paul Mossman

Running for:

Honolulu city council – District 3

Political party:

Non Partisan

Campaign website:

windwardsidefirst.com

Current occupation:

General Contractor

Age:

67

Previous job history:

31 Year In Business

Previous elected office, if any:

Kailua Neighborhood Board

Please describe your qualifications to represent the people of Oahu.

Those who run for public office should reflect the full range of life experience in their community. The housewife, the teacher, the plumber and bus driver all have as much insight and often more common sense that those who crave and seek public office. I have more faith in the people of my districts ability to make wise decisions, when dealing with their own destiny, than the professional political class.

What is the most pressing need for the people you seek to represent, and what can you do to address that need?

Greater representation and empowerment for the 115,000 citizens of District 3. The people of Waimanalo, Kailua and Kaneohe have only 3 choices about who will wield governing authority on the county level, a mayor, a prosecutor and a council member. How can windward based planning and community based decisions be done with a representation level far below what mainland cities and counties are given?

As Hawaii faces the COVID-19 pandemic, what more should county government do to protect residents’ health?

People are competent, given proper information, to protect themselves and their loved ones. The greatest catastrophe we face is economic. This demands a careful reexamination of direction and resources on the county level.

What should county government do to help residents who have been economically affected by the pandemic?

Hawaii should expect to receive limited assistance from the federal government. Reopening the visitor industry is of paramount importance.

Should public worker furloughs, pay cuts or downsizing be used to help the county deal with lower tax revenues and higher expenses during the pandemic? Why or why not?

Reexamining how the county does business and finding out what tools and better procedures can be used to help county workers be more productive in their trade, is a given. But, most of all cutting not just expenses but everywhere the county (and state) stand in the way of lowering the cost of living. All this can be implemented to avoid the need for anything like pay cuts.

What specific solutions do you propose to combat homelessness?

Homeless people have demonstrated they need cheap, fast housing and given a chance will often display grit and determination to help house themselves. A single wide trailer home can cost as little as twenty thousand dollars and there is abundant unoccupied acreage where they could be placed for rapid housing. Also, there is thousands of square feet of idle commercial space sitting un-leased for decades that could be acquired for emergency urban shelter. The free market and the enormous good will of Hawaii’s people will rapidly create all the housing needed once government, with its endless impediments gets out of the way.

Do you support or oppose stopping construction of the rail project at Middle Street? Please explain.

Rail will never recover the cost of its construction or operation. It is most likely obsolete as configured. It needs to stop at Middle Street. Also, there should be a complete reexamination of its rationale. Additionally, as much funding as possible must be reallocated for neglected maintenance of other county obligations that can produce far more immediate public benefit.

Do you support or oppose using new city funds to cover any shortfall in HART’s construction or operating costs? Please explain.

Oppose…

Do you support reforms to policing in Hawaii? If yes, please explain what reforms you support.

The Police Commission structure needs to be reexamined for its effectiveness. Reforms that help protect the lives of HPD officers and unite the communities they serve to build a better and safer quality of life for everyone, are the only additional reforms I would support.

What can county government do to mitigate the affects of sea-level rise on Oahu?

What best serves everyone’s interest is to have the most responsive government, the most dynamic and productive economy possible. Join with this broad based prosperity to better the lives of every citizen. Concentrating on this will put Oahu and all islands in the best possible position to handle whatever the future may hold be it sea-level rise or the out of the blue events such as the present pandemic.

Is there anything more that you would like voters to know about you?

My campaign website is windwardsidefirst.com. This is not to say the rest of Oahu isn’t important, but if we can empower and bring greater planning and prosperity to Windward Oahu, this can only result in greater prosperity for all. Windward Oahu and all of Hawaii have tremendous untapped potential. My goal, if elected, is to help bring greater opportunity to our Windward community.