07-13-2020, 12:28 AM
I've been really struggling with this one. There is a huge list of candidates, but only three of them seem to me to have enough experience and policy savvy to even consider, those being Mitch Roth, Stacy Higa, and Harry Kim. Harry is eliminated immediately because of his TMT policy of appeasement and delay, not to mention several face to face encounters that have left me aghast at the level of patronizing condescension and more recently, lack of mental acuity. Stacy Higa is pro-TMT, but his behavior cost the county a bundle ($250,000?) a few years ago to settle an on the job harassment case. I also remember Higa sponsoring anti-business measures when he was on the council.
So that leaves me with Mitch Roth, a prosecutor who told me (again face to face) that putting criminals in prison wasn't a priority in his version of what his job should have been. "The prisons are full. Every time I put somebody in, they let somebody out." Not too inspiring, eh? Well, Roth does say he supports the TMT, and he does say that he supports a better climate for business development. So unless somebody else jumps out of the field with a blazing and inspiring fit of genius, I guess I will grit my teeth, hold my nose, and vote for Roth.
This isn't the first time I have been totally demoralized with the candidates available. Just look at the last governor's race and the current Neighbor Island U.S. House seat. The inexperienced and pandering Kai Kahele is in a cakewalk to go to Washington, and nobody with any real qualifications is running against him. His father's death literally caused all this to be handed to him. Such is politics in one party Hawaii.
So that leaves me with Mitch Roth, a prosecutor who told me (again face to face) that putting criminals in prison wasn't a priority in his version of what his job should have been. "The prisons are full. Every time I put somebody in, they let somebody out." Not too inspiring, eh? Well, Roth does say he supports the TMT, and he does say that he supports a better climate for business development. So unless somebody else jumps out of the field with a blazing and inspiring fit of genius, I guess I will grit my teeth, hold my nose, and vote for Roth.
This isn't the first time I have been totally demoralized with the candidates available. Just look at the last governor's race and the current Neighbor Island U.S. House seat. The inexperienced and pandering Kai Kahele is in a cakewalk to go to Washington, and nobody with any real qualifications is running against him. His father's death literally caused all this to be handed to him. Such is politics in one party Hawaii.