County Council Candidate Barbara Lively

[Barbara Lively]

Aloha everyone, my name is Barbara Lively and I am a candidate for the 5th District County Council seat. I am also a "Clean Elections" candidate that will be using public funds to run my campaign.

I decided to run for County Council last year, to provide better representation for us on the Council and to ensure implementation of the Puna Community Development Plan. I filed my nomination papers last week when it seemed there were still no "serious" challengers to our current representative.

I am confident I will provide the leadership we need and want, begining with representing ALL CONSTITUENTS in the district, with dignity and professionalism, to the best of my abilities and in spite of any personal views I may or may not have.

I pledge to use sound judgments based on information gained in readings or discussions with knowledgable people on any given issue and to give serious consideration to every matter that comes before the Council.

As your representative I will advocate for our needs and work with other Council Members to ensure all districts have what they need. I truly believe that what is good for each part is ultimately good for the whole.

I have been a member of this community for over 25 years serving in many capacities, and I will continue to work and volunteer my time here no matter what happens with this election.

I want to thank you for taking the time to read this post and for your interest in my candidacy. Please come to the HPP Hui on Sat. July 3, from 4:30-6:30 to meet me in person and to share your ideas for our district. This will also be an opportunity to sign my petition and donate $5 (personal check or money orders only, payable to the Hawaii Election Campaign Fund) to help me qualify for the Comprehensive Public Funding Pilot Project, to enable me to access public funds to run my campaign. Remember signing the petition and providing the $5 donation demonstrates your support for Clean Elections in general and in no way requires you to vote for me, and if you have already signed a petition for a candidate in this district that's ok too, you can sign for any or all candidates in your district!

If you can't make the event on July 3 and would like to contact me, please visit my website at: www.barbaralively.com or call me at: 640-9428

I look forward to a "Lively" election!

A Hui Hou

[Rob Tucker]

Welcome to Punaweb Barbara,

Feel free to make use of this forum to promote your candidacy and positions. District 5 has a strong filed of candidates this year. We are fortunate.

Assume the best and ask questions.

Punaweb moderator

[james weatherford]

Aloha Barbara,

Good luck with your public funded candidate application.

As you would be aware, the same as you, I delcared in January my intent to be a comprehensive public funded candidate and, like you, immediately began collecting signatures.

In March, I had the necessary 200+ signatures and $5 contributions, and completed the process. The Campaign Spending Commission certified my candidacy in April.

The 200+ registered voters who signed my application for comprehensive public funding consider me a “serious” contender, even if you do not.

The hundreds more with whom I have spoken since are also taking my candidacy seriously.

Interestingly, my campaign has been receiving unsolicited private contributions. Of course, all of these are returned with thanks, since a comprehensive public funded campaign is not allowed to receive private contributions.

I would encourage everyone who is interested to learn more about the pilot comprehensive public funding program (a.k.a. 'Clean Elections').
Go to the Campaign Spending Commission Website http://hawaii.gov/campaign/ (scroll to the bottom of the page).

At that site is information about the
'Clean Electins' law and candidate application process, as well as details regarding who has declared on what date and who has completed the process to receive funding.



James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park

[csgray]

Well, Lively did exactly what I was afraid of with her late entry into the race, she split the votes of people who wanted "serious" representation on the council and cost us a chance to have Puna represented by a thoughtful educated moderate, James Weatherford. Instead we will either have more of the same old same old with Emily, or a man so arrogant he wouldn't attend any forum where he had to respond to questions from actual voters, and received his funding from Hilo donors.

Running in this race was a supremely selfish move by Lively and we will all be paying the price for the next 2 years. She really owes the people of Puna an apology.

Carol

[KeaauRich]

Carol,
Why do you blame Lively? Are you assuming all her votes would have gone to James? There were three anti-Auntie candidates who all took votes from each other...and from Emily.

[csgray]

It is the Nader effect. Lively jumped in very late after all the other candidates were well established, saying there were no other "serious" candidates, at that point Weatherford was clearly a serious candidate who had been doing the hard work of campaigning for months.

Her 4th place finish shows that she wasn't a "serious" contender after all, all she did was peel votes away from Weatherford, allowing Fred and Emily to go to the runoff. She and Weatherford went to all the same forums and clearly did not have a lot of substantive differences on the big issues, while of course we do not really know where Fred stands on any issues. When you start your campaign that late in the cycle, when another candidate is already running who has very similar views as you, then yes, you should know you will just be splitting the votes of people who hold those views. I don't see these as purely "anti-Auntie" votes, but rather a matter of splitting the progressive moderate votes.

I don't see much, if any, automatic crossover from Weatherford and Lively voters to Fred Blas, except maybe from voters who want ABE (Anybody But Emily). Fred, from what little we know about his positions, holds very different views on the role of government and the issues facing the county than Weatherford and Lively, so yes, I do think she split the votes which would have mostly gone for Weatherford. She should have had the self restraint to stay out of the race and supported James, since he was already established in the race and appealed to the same voters as she would. It's not like there is a huge difference between the two on positions and issues, and now we are stuck with a Fred vs. Emily contest which leaves the moderate progressive faction with two choices who do not reflect our values.

Carol