CANDIDATE FORUMS

[JohnDW]

My wife and I just got home from the District Five forum; it was well attended and civil. I won't comment on all of the candidates I have my opinions, but they're just that. I will comment on one however: Tim Law. My wife and I support Mr. Law because we know him. We don't know Tim or his wife Susan well, but we have been their neighbors for over ten years. We've gotten to know him as a good neighbor -- a real guy who works hard, does the right thing and cares about the neighborhood. Tim is the antithesis of a career politician. He's not altogether comfortable with self-promotion, knowing all the minutia of local politics, or practicing the art of one-upsmanship. My impression of Mr. Law is that he is a practical man with a keen understanding of the big picture. He has a great deal of courage, which helps him retain his composure in adverse circumstances. He seeks out information and is as open-minded an individual as I've ever met. Tim develops relationships with groups and individuals who normally don't attend forums or wave signs on the side of the road. He seeks out opinions and insights from those who inhabit a much larger world than District Five, as he does from those whose world is this district. Tim includes everyone; he respects all the good people of his district and deeply understands the importance of building an alliance with District Four. Of all the candidates I heard this evening, I believe Mr. Law is best qualified to serve all of his constituents and retain his dignity in the process.

[KeaauRich]

I hope history proves me wrong, but after listening to all the candidates, I came away from tonight's forum thinking that the best option was "none of the above." While I admire their devotion to public service, I didn't get the sense that any of them had what it takes to adequately represent the needs of our community or advocate for meaningful change. A couple were slightly better than I expected them to be (Tim Law included), but I would be embarrassed to be represented by most of them. In general there seemed to be lots of pandering to the crowd, and precious few times when candidates offered a realistic assessment of what could actually be accomplished within the scope of responsibility of the Council.

[JohnDW]

At this point it comes down to who will unite the greatest number of people. We must form a voting block with District's Four and Six. Who will bring peace? Who will be divisive? We have to begin where we are.

[DaVinci]

@KeaauRich. Agree. Although I'd lean toward Frances Pueo before Tim Law. I'm fairly certain I heard him say that GMO was good for the farming industry. First off, I don't like it when folks call farming an industry, and second, I just can't believe that's true. GMO is not merely the manipulation of DNA--that's pure science, and pure science is a good thing Period. Full stop. "GMO" however, has become accepted shorthand for profit driven organizations that are willing to irrevocably alter the food landscape but are not willing to subject themselves to rigorous, independent testing. Frances Pueo got that one right.

[peteadams]

At last nights District 5 forum, Rene choose to compose three questions to ask the panel as the motif for the forum. With notable acumen and courage two of the three questions were on the hot topics of GMO and geothermal, all the better to bring out where the candidates stand in controversial areas. The third was a softball about supplying green waste containers to the mauka transfer stations.

Unfortunately, none of the candidates showed any significant understanding or knowledge of either of the two hot topics. Four of the six demonstrated fairly fanatical opposition to both. Several of the four expressed obviously erroneous statements regarding both. For some reason, all of the four at one point or another expressed their anti- sentiments loudly, in a shouting voice. Two, Tim Law and Daniel Paleka, were both more low key in their responses to the questions. Law, describing himself as a farmer, expressed some sympathy for both topics. Paleka, who gave something of a government insider impression, said he knew little about either, and that he was willing to consult and look at all sides. There was definitely a contrast between them and the other four.

All in all, I had some varying degrees of disappointment with the candidates. They ranged from ambassadors from alternate universes, to rambling incoherency, just plain rambling, public speaking inarticulateness, out-of-their-depth cluelessness to articulately expressed misinformation. Law and Paleka seemed the most reasonable candidates. Neither seemed to have bowed to the ideological anti-GMO, anti-geothermal correctness favored by some people, loudly applauded at several points. However, I would like to see much more discussion by both before trying to come to any conclusions.

Makes me think of the Peggy Lee song "Is that all there is?"

[KeaauRich]

@DaVinci - didn't say I was a supporter of Tim Law, just that he was better than I expected him to be. I want to learn more about Paleka - he seemed them most rational of the bunch (which is, I admit, a pretty low bar..). A friend who also attended sent me this recap of the candidates' assessment of their own qualifications and stands on important issues. It's not 100% accurate or complete, but pretty darn close...

Almeida: I'm a nice person. I go through the dumpsters and the recycle bins to find items to sell in my thrift shop. My church does lots of good things for the community
Cunningham: Growing industrial hemp and pot is the answer man. It's all in my ordinance. (Cue waving of a massive document.) I also ran for governor twice and mayor twice - lost both times. I had my chiropractor license revoked. We need to build floating cities from old navy ships and live on the radioactive sewage from Japan.
Hampton: I'm 62 and I was around in 1975.
Hunt: I'm a local journalist. My first job was writing an article about the Matthew Shepard murder. I'm passionate about solid waste and garbage.
Law: I'm a farmer, and the Philipino workers have been eating the destructive Coconut beetles for a year so we didn't know we had an invasive species on Oahu.
Paleka: I'm born here. I have a corporate background, I don't have many firm positions at the moment but I will research all issues before making a decision.
Pueo: Because the county only leases the landfill, the landlord won't allow us to feed the feral cats and chickens there anymore. We need to condemn the property and own it.

[Mendo]

KeaauRich gets a lot of this correct. I would add, tho:
Almeida - sane, good politics, and speaks with heart and soul.
Pueo -sane and by far the best speaker and thinker in the room. Good politics, smart and articulate. I cannot say that about the other 5.
I hope both these women get some supporters.

[missydog1]

Thanks for the descriptions of how the forum went.
KR, ROFL at the one sentence summaries. (Gotta laugh sometimes.)

I appreciate hearing about the issue question approach. Would someone mind telling me how exactly the hot topic questions were framed?

My community group is in process of organizing a candidate forum for District 1 next month (4 of us are working on it), and we are still debating whether to take this approach. Specifically, we have been reluctant to frame the GMO question as a simple for or against, as there are different issues involving GMO.

Anyhow, more description of how it flowed as you thrash out who if anyone appealed to you as voters would be terrific. []

Rene, thank you for setting a terrific example.

[kjlpahoa]

I attended the District 5 forum Thursday night to hear and see the Candidates. It was a very interesting experience and I learned a lot about the candidates and their positions. I personally feel that this group of candidates are more in tuned with our needs than the candidates of District 4 who spoke the Thursday before.

I have been interested, and rather surprised at all the comments being made regarding the Dist. 5 candidates. Yes, some candidates did not come over very well while others performed brilliantly in staying to the point and articulating their positions. The one candidate that seems to be forgotten about with respect to her position statements is Roxanne "RJ" Hampton. She was one of the most poised and straight forward panelists. She showed her ability to research and familiarize herself with the facts and information and presented her position with thought and foresight. These qualities make her a very viable candidate and she would become a Council person with integrity and the ability to research all the facts and vote appropriately.

[Rene Siracusa]

@kathyh: Re how the questions were framed. I tried to keep the wording neutral. Examples:
GMOs to Council 4: Opinions on GMOs run the gamut from one extreme to the other. Where do you place yourself within this range, and how will you advance this agenda if you are elected?

GMOs to Council 5: Hawaii county recently passed an ordinance banning growing of open field GMO crops except for those already established. Where should we go from here? Should we repeal the ordinance, leave it as is or amend it? And if amend it, in what way?

Geothermal to Council 4: Do you support more geothermal development on the Big Island or do you believe that each island and county should provide for their own energy needs?

Geothermal to Council 5: If you were asked to draft a long-term energy plan for the Big Island, what would your most important recommendations be regarding geothermal development?

Next Thursday's forum will feature State House candidates, and the topics will be the same, but the questions will be different. We will ask the audience to submit their questions in writing, and you can do this ahead of time and turn them in to the moderator. Please keep your questions simple, brief and to the point (i.e., no rambling or pontificating). Mahalo and a hui hou.

Rene