08-05-2014, 12:45 PM
I have met all the candidates and have talked to many directly. I have attended all the forums except one and have seen some very positive ideas. So here are my observations of the candidates. First, I am biased toward Frances Pueo so that is my disclaimer. She is not in my district but if she were, I would vote for her.
I think Cherish Almeida is a caring person who does outreach work for her church. I believe she cares about the issues. As a mother, she cares about the future of the environment for her children to experience. She seems honest and straightforward. I believe she needs thicker skin and more years of experience to go toe-to-toe with some of the council member peers she will need to work with.
Tim Law seems like a straight shooter too. He cares about the farmers and does not want to see GMO bans “destroy” our GMO farmers.
Daniel Paleka seems like a nice guy. He has studied political science and has been in law enforcement which might be good skills in our council. My concern is that he is very much pro Mayor Kenoi and Mayor Kenoi does want the incinerator plan rather than recycle plan.
Daniel Cunningham does have some brilliant ideas when you talk to him one on one. However, he does not know how to get his ideas understood by others and comes off a little nutty. If he could get grounded a bit and relate to others as human to human, he might be able to get people to understand what he is trying to say.
RJ Hampton is also very bright. She initiated and got passed much of the legislation that came from Emily Naeole’s terms. RJ does create drama around her which detracts from her ideas.
Tiffany Hunt is smart. That’s all I’ll say. There is plenty posted here pro and con.
Frances Pueo is an honest, down-to-earth environmentalist. And she understands that it is a balance of conscious growth for jobs while taking care of the aina. She has negotiating skills in dealing with union contracts and has a broad range of experience which will serve her well if elected.