Editorial: Experience counts at Honolulu Hale

For policies and funding for Oahu’s core services, it all happens at City Hall. This election, voters will choose four of the nine City Council members, and the fact that three of those races have no incumbents guarantees that the Council will welcome at least three new members. They will help guide the direction of Oahu for the next several years — from realizing more housing for locals, to getting a handle on vacation rentals, to crime prevention and policing, to the pace of development and permitting, to parks and recreation upkeep. And those are just the highlights.

Here are the Star-Advertiser’s endorsements for the four contested City Council seats:

District 2 (Royal Kunia, Wahiawa, North Shore)

This is the Council’s most geographically diverse district, particularly so after the 2020 reapportionment, sweeping from Kahaluu around through most of Central Oahu. Vying for the seat are Matt Weyer, coming from the north Waipahu communities, and Makuakai Rothman, a lifelong North Shore resident and professional surfer.

Both contenders in this final leg of the campaign are familiar with traffic, infrastructure, housing and climate-change issues facing the district, but it’s Weyer who is best positioned to advocate for constituents.

Weyer’s experience as a long-term member of the Waipahu Neighborhood Board and his work as a city planner and Council policy adviser offers solid preparation. He lists housing, infrastructure and preservation of natural resources and agricultural land among his chief priorities.

District 4 (Waikiki, Kaimuki, Hawaii Kai)

There’s little reason to unseat Tommy Waters, despite a spirited challenge by Coast Guard veteran Kaleo Nakoa. Waters clearly has the deeper well of consensus skills, experience and knowledge base to be reelected, having served this district since 2019 and as Council chairman since January 2021.

Nakoa was among those at a May 2022 Hawaii school board meeting who loudly challenged officials on masking and other COVID-19 policies. His outline of issues include support for local farmers, more traffic cameras for safety, and keeping homes affordable for locals.

Waters has worked with his colleagues to appropriate more than $250 million to purchase, build and incentivize affordable housing. His Waikiki district has launched promising city initiatives: condemning then buying dilapidated properties to be turned into affordable housing; and the Safe and Sound program, with targeted actions against crime, drug use and homelessness. Public safety is a top priority for Waters, who underscores support for — and oversight of — the Honolulu Police Department.

District 6 (Downtown, Chinatown, Nuuanu, Kalihi)

Between Tyler Dos Santos-Tam and Traci Toguchi, both committed and knowledgeable about District 6 issues, Dos Santos-Tam has stronger credentials. He has a history of service, as a six-year member of the Neighborhood Board, and leadership, as co-founder of the HI Good Neighbor organization, demanding city action against “monster homes,” gambling operations and illegal vacation rentals.

He’s also politically connected, having served as executive director of the Hawaii Construction Alliance, 2013-2018, and Democratic Party of Hawaii chairman, 2020-2022.

Dos Santos-Tam pledges to prioritize community safety while recognizing that affordable housing and homeless services are related needs; his energy and ambition are needed to move the city forward.

District 8 (Pearl City, Waimalu, Waipio Gentry, Mililani)

It’s a close call between Ron Menor, who served eight years on the Council until term-limited in 2020, and Val Okimoto, who’s represented Mililani voters in the state House the last four years.

It’s clear that Okimoto resonates with voters who want to have new blood on the Council: in the primary election, she won 34% of the vote, to Menor’s 32.4%.

But she is light on specifics in her advocacy to tap into federal economic opportunity zones, while Menor has proven to be a dedicated public servant who deals with details and knows how to carry policymaking through.

As zoning chairman, he helped usher through Aiea and West Loch affordable housing projects, as well as an ordinance that aimed to crack down on illegal short-term rentals. On rail, Menor sees the necessity of a park-and-ride facility to serve Central Oahu commuters and pledges to work with stakeholders to find a solution. Let’s see what he can do in four years.