RJ Hampton files for District 5

[RJHampton]

Mahalo for asking the question about my platform and its planks.

The platform on which I stand will be built solidly on honesty, integrity and transparency.

The new District 5 is vast and is made up of many communities from Opihikau to Mountain View. My platform will be shaped by the priorities and concerns of our new district. I am in the process of canvassing the people of District 5 to get a firm grasp of what is needed and what people want in their county official and government. It is their answers that will shape the planks of the platform on which I will stand. The priorities of the community will always be my priorities as your representative.
Here are a few of the planks, that I have already gathered and put in place on my political platform. One of them is to concentrate on the economy and to increase employment opportunities for the people in District 5.

Another plank is to create a District 5 office that is organized, efficient and supportive, which operates with an open door policy. Giving the citizen access to data and discussion on issues that are important to them makes for open government, and effective government.

Furthermore, one of the concerns that people have shared with me, and I think needs to be addressed is the issue of the building codes. I consider it necessary to review and amend current building codes to reflect more of our island needs and our tropical lifestyle.

We need real solutions for real problems facing our district. This is a very exciting time for we have an opportunity to rethink the shape of our future. I plan to work with the other council members and our state representatives to achieve everyone's mutual goal of making Hawaii County as good as it can be.

[Anxious Messiah]

@ RJ (and any other candidates for that matter) -

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS
What qualifies you as a candidate (other than the basic legal requirements) for the County Council?
What practical experience do you bring that would improve the County Council?
What specific successes in your professional or personal endeavors have you achieved that directly relate to being a Council member?
Who are you willing to accept campaign contributions from?
Who are you not willing to accept campaign contributions from?

GOVERNMENT
Do you think eliminating obsolete laws, regulations and bureaucracies would help reduce wasteful spending in state government? And if so, how would you propose to do it?
Do you think state and local civil service rules make it harder to cut wasteful spending and to efficiently manage public agencies? If so, what would you do about it?

ECONOMY & EMPLOYMENT
What is your specific plan to increase employment for residents of the District and County?
How do you intend to address and/or prepare for the next recession, given that economic growth tends to be cyclical?
What is your plan to bring more transparency to the County Council?

EDUCATION
A direct way to improve public education (without additional cost) is to cut the bureaucracy and red tape that makes it difficult for principals and teachers to do their jobs. How would you propose getting it done?

DEVELOPMENT
What are your plans for more urban development in rural and agricultural areas, particularly in the key areas of food security, infrastructure, public transport and the funding for same?
What is your stance on public housing?
What specific plans do you have to address the increasing homeless/houseless situation?

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
With current technology, what alternative energy sources do you support and why?
Would you support making broadband universally accessible in this area? How?
What would you do regarding the waste/landfill situation?
What is your proposed plan for addressing invasive species?

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Do you have a plan for immediately addressing potential natural threats such as lava flows, hurricanes, earthquakes, rising seas, etc? What is it?




_________________________________________
Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence.

[rainyjim]

Adding to list: not really direct questions like above more just a few of the more prevalent and controversial general issues as I see them.

HOT TOPICS - controversial

-geothermal

-gmo

-subdivisions / county and private road

-permits/laws regarding (essentially causing) all business to remain in Hilo district

[Mendo]

Hmmm, when someone says they value a "civil, information based campaign" after months of slash-and-burn tactics, what is one to believe? The actions or the words?

[OrchidIslander]

quote:

---

Originally posted by pahoated

Kern hasn't pulled papers yet, so maybe Rob is passing on unofficial plans.

---

A fairly knowledgeable and, preferably, anonymous source says that Zendo Kern is, at the moment, undecided about another run.

No elaboration offered about his thought process.

I'm not in his district, but IMHO it would be District 5's loss if he doesn't attempt re-election.

[RJHampton]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Anxious Messiah

@ RJ (and any other candidates for that matter) -

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS
What qualifies you as a candidate (other than the basic legal requirements) for the County Council?
What practical experience do you bring that would improve the County Council?
What specific successes in your professional or personal endeavors have you achieved that directly relate to being a Council member?
Who are you willing to accept campaign contributions from?
Who are you not willing to accept campaign contributions from?

GOVERNMENT
Do you think eliminating obsolete laws, regulations and bureaucracies would help reduce wasteful spending in state government? And if so, how would you propose to do it?
Do you think state and local civil service rules make it harder to cut wasteful spending and to efficiently manage public agencies? If so, what would you do about it?

ECONOMY & EMPLOYMENT
What is your specific plan to increase employment for residents of the District and County?
How do you intend to address and/or prepare for the next recession, given that economic growth tends to be cyclical?
What is your plan to bring more transparency to the County Council?

EDUCATION
A direct way to improve public education (without additional cost) is to cut the bureaucracy and red tape that makes it difficult for principals and teachers to do their jobs. How would you propose getting it done?

DEVELOPMENT
What are your plans for more urban development in rural and agricultural areas, particularly in the key areas of food security, infrastructure, public transport and the funding for same?
What is your stance on public housing?
What specific plans do you have to address the increasing homeless/houseless situation?

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
With current technology, what alternative energy sources do you support and why?
Would you support making broadband universally accessible in this area? How?
What would you do regarding the waste/landfill situation?
What is your proposed plan for addressing invasive species?

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Do you have a plan for immediately addressing potential natural threats such as lava flows, hurricanes, earthquakes, rising seas, etc? What is it?




_________________________________________
Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence.

---

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS for Roxanne “RJ” Hampton

What qualifies you as a candidate (other than the basic legal requirements) for the County Council?
o I have lived in lower Puna for over 20 years.
o I was a legislative assistant for Council woman, Emily Naeole.
o I have been very active in local Pahoa activities by organizing numerous activities, Pahoa parade, Reactivating the Akebono Theater and organizing functions at the theater.
oI organized and developed the past and present farmers markets (Maku’u market and its predecessors).
o I am an environmentalist that fights for conservation and environmental preservation.
o I fought hard to modify the newly adopted Building code to be more user friendly and to recognize local building needs, conditions, and the use of alternative materials.
o As a legislative aid I became proficient in writing, reading, and understanding legislation, codes and standards.
o I am a fiscal conservative that would require all expenditures to be justified and beneficial to my constituents.

What practical experience do you bring that would improve the County Council?

o As a Legislative assistant for two years, I learned and experienced the Council operations and the proper way to conduct County business.
o I am progressive individual that will want the Council to operate in a professional manner and not cater to any special interest groups or individuals.
o I was reviewing Bill 234 which had already been signed by the Mayor and was six days from being implemented. That would have required double walls and double windows and insulation in the ceiling and under lanais. Wrote a bill to stop implementation and wrote an amendment to exempt residential construction.
o I actively lobbied to amend Bill 270, the Building Code adoption so I am experienced and learned in the strategies of constituent lobbying.
o I actively opposed State Bill 2274 (Sustainable living research legislation) because it was not about sustainability and was written to give an unfair advantage to certain groups over others.
o I challenged the illegal passage of Bill 270 and filed a request for an investigation by the State OIP so I have a good understanding of the OIP operations and its rules and regulations.

What specific successes in your professional or personal endeavors have you achieved that directly relate to being a Council member?

o Legislative assistant for 2 years working in all aspects of Council business and operations.
o Past local business woman who understands the needs and wishes of the local residents.
o Organized numerous public activities to serve the local citizens.
o Expert and tenacious researcher that desires to understand all aspects of the subject matter in order to make informative decisions.



Who are you willing to accept campaign contributions from?

Only from the people of the Big Island and local business concerns.

Who are you not willing to accept campaign contributions from?

I do not approve or will not accept contributions from big industries, lobbying groups, or parties interested in special considerations.

GOVERNMENT

Do you think eliminating obsolete laws, regulations and bureaucracies would help reduce wasteful spending in state government? And if so, how would you propose to do it?

Yes, obsolete laws and regulations often conflict with new legislation causing enforcement problems and major conflicts. We need to modernize our government organizations to better address current conditions and problems. This might not totally reduce wasteful spending but would streamline governmental operations so the cost of government would be more representative of the present needs.

Do you think state and local civil service rules make it harder to cut wasteful spending and to efficiently manage public agencies? If so, what would you do about it?

I support unions yet the strong unions situation, and civil service rules hamstrings the ability to cut wasteful spending and creates inefficient operations in all County agencies. I will do a thorough investigation into cleaning up the inefficiencies and propose County legislation to correct these serious problems.

At this time I will stop, for this is a race and I don't want the others to know too much about my stance on district issues. I will be happy to answer when the race officially starts. I do thank you for your insightful questions for they gave me an opportunity to think.

[Anxious Messiah]

Thank you for taking the time to answer!

_________________________________________
Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence.

[Kukaneloko]

quote:

---

Originally posted by OrchidIslander

quote:

---

Originally posted by pahoated

Kern hasn't pulled papers yet, so maybe Rob is passing on unofficial plans.

---

A fairly knowledgeable and, preferably, anonymous source says that Zendo Kern is, at the moment, undecided about another run.

No elaboration offered about his thought process.

I'm not in his district, but IMHO it would be District 5's loss if he doesn't attempt re-election.

---

Hard to consider him since I've called his office three times, no one ever answered nor called me back.

[kjlpahoa]

Well, let's forget about Zendo Kern. He wasn't done a thing in the last 2 years for this district. Roxanne Hampton has made some excellent statements that will do positive things for District 5. She is well experienced in local County politics and will be a dedicated Councilwoman.

[missydog1]

RJ, that was an excellent reply.

I have a three part question that overlaps some of the previous, but has a slightly different focus. This comes from a meeting last night where the Councilwoman from my district was talking about building relationships prior to coming onto the Council, and how that enables her to be effective in serving her district.

Q: Do you feel that you have a good resume of working relationships with people who get things done in your district and in offices that affect your district (such as County services like Building Dept) or State (DOT), and so forth?

Q: Could you elaborate on specific departments and areas where you already have good relationships such that a call from you can help get things that are stuck unstuck for your constituents?

Q: In this forum, there is an understandable emphasis on getting major changes, funding, and improvements for Puna. What do you have to say about the role of a Councilperson in providing individual response for the constituents who need help, feel ignored by public agencies, and so forth?