Editorial: Choose wisely for Legislature, Council

Already, 2020 has been a year like no other — no same old, same old, that’s for sure. And Election 2020 already was slated to be historic for Hawaii, with the launch of statewide mail-in voting.

Unfortunately, too many of the races in the Legislature offer little excitement, with many incumbents going unchallenged at a time when Hawaii will need innovative thinking and bolder action to recover from a $2.3 billion state budget shortfall due to coronavirus shutdowns.

In the city-level races, though, change is inevitable. Voters will pick a new Honolulu mayor, as well as five new members of the nine-member City Council. These are highly consequential races that will determine the course of Oahu for at least the next four years. From property taxes, to the future of the controversial rail project, to vacation rentals in neighborhoods, city- government decisions and their decision-makers have a direct bearing on your pocketbook.

The executive roles of mayor in city government and of governor on the state level are balanced, respectively, by the deliberative bodies of City Council and Legislature; these district seats hold considerable constituency sway on public policies. Residents should take time to learn about their candidates and to vote — mailed ballots already have been delivered to homes; for those missing a ballot or needing more information, see elections.hawaii.gov/resources/county-election-divisions/.

Due to term limits, Councilmembers Ikaika Anderson (chairman), Ann Kobayashi, Joey Manahan, Ron Menor and Kym Pine cannot seek re-election. A glance at the contenders for their open seats:

>> District 1 (West Oahu, Kapolei, Makakilo): Kathy Davenport, Naomi Hanohano, Galen Kerfoot, Anthony Paris and Andria Tupola.

>> District 3 (Windward Oahu, Waimanalo): Grant (Kalani) Kalima, Warland Kealoha, Esther Kiaaina, Paul Mossman, Alan Texeira and Greg Thielen.

>> District 5 (Manoa, McCully, Kakaako): Philmund Lee, Calvin Say and Dave Watase.

>> District 7 (Kalihi, Salt Lake, Iwilei): Jacob Aki, Radiant Cordero and Ryan Mandado.

>> District 9 (Central Oahu, West Loch): Will Espero, Earl Tsuneyoshi and “Augie T.” Tulba.

All five Council races should garner high interest, and most candidates are familiar names in their communities. Included in the mix are current or former lawmakers (Tupola, Say and Espero served in the Legislature); community activists (for example, Kalima opposed the city’s athletics project for Sherwood Forest and Watase bucked the Corps of Engineers’ Ala Wai flood mitigation project); and aides to office-holders (Texeira is Anderson’s deputy chief of staff, Cordero is Manahan’s chief of staff and Aki is a senator’s chief of staff, for example).

Meanwhile, too few Legislature races have competition. Ten incumbents in the House’s 51 districts have no opposition, while four incumbents are unopposed for the 13 Senate seats up for vote this year, including Senate President Ron Kouchi. Interestingly, Kouchi’s House counterpart — Speaker Scott Saiki, the longtime representative for Kakaako/McCully — finds himself in one of this primary’s most contested races: against Kim Coco Iwamoto, a community activist and former school board member.

On Oahu, only four Senate races have contested primaries; that number is 15 for House seats.

The 2020 Legislature was a three-part slog that started in January but recessed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent federal CARES Act. Casualties of the session included legislative boldness on such problems as affordable housing — gone are a proposed residential leasehold program and $200 million to develop affordable rentals — and for a needed increase in the minimum wage, discussed at $13 an hour.

COVID-19 fears sucked all the lofty air out of the session — and legislators became preoccupied with approving pay raises for state workers and transferring $1.3 billion into the state’s “rainy day” fund to keep some control over allocations.

Gov. David Ige is now looking at the prospect of program cuts as well as state worker furloughs or pay cuts. With plunging state revenues due to economic inactivity and with a quarter-million residents drawing unemployment, the 2021 Legislature must focus on pushing or pulling Hawaii’s people out of the economic abyss.

Hawaii’s dismal 38.6% voter turnout is among the nation’s worst — but vote-by-mail this year makes casting a ballot more convenient than ever. And with state and city governments more cash-strapped than ever due to months of coronavirus shutdowns, that should be plenty of incentive for residents to help choose who will be holding the purse strings.