District 4 Council

[TomK]

'tis the season.

[kalakoa]

Maybe, just maybe O'Hara is the better choice.

O'Hara refuses to address the "private agricultural subdivision" problem, other than by attempting to redefine "ag zoning" to exclude one species of livestock.

For the most part, our Council and Commissions are a complete waste of time and money. The real power is held by the Shipmans, Bishop, Hara, Kamehameha Schools, DHHL, OHA, the unions, etc -- none of which are accountable, nor are they up for election.

We don't even have local control over the limited industrial real estate, nor of the prime resort shoreline.

Wake me up when County government reflects the will of the people.

[BillyB]

"And BillyB. You’re going to vote for Ashley because ... unions? "

Not for because of Unions. The implication given was that a Union endorsement was somehow dirty. It is not a reason to vote against someone; for me at least.

Actually the only reason I took any interest in Ashley in the first place was the nasty, sexist, and it turns out inaccurate diatribes in the "Ashley 4 Puna" thread.

As for poor Eileen, the old saying applies "with friends like that, you don't need enemies." She is not the first person to be embarrassed by well meaning "friends".

I am unusually conflicted in this race. I have come to appreciate Eileen, but I don't want to reward the nasties in her fan club, or let them think they got her elected.

[punaticbychoice]

kalakoa @ 08:40:07 07/22/2018-

FWIW, Faye Hanohano is on the OHA ballot for Trustee at large.
Given the influence that OHA/DHHL seem to have, more attention
should be paid to the candidates of such organizations.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I have come to appreciate Eileen, but I don't want to reward the nasties in her fan club

Isn’t that a little like saying you’re all for a Jesus Christ and some of the good ideas he had, like loving your neighbor and helping the poor. However, you just can’t support him because of some unpleasant, nasty members in a church congregation you met?

Is the jury still deadlocked? The odds that natural climate variability can account for the magnitude of the temperature changes over the course of the satellite record are roughly five in a million, researchers report. - Science, July 19, 2018.

[punastrong]

"And BillyB. You’re going to vote for Ashley because ... unions? "

I've been listening to Ohara's public comments about unions and she is supportive. She has the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers (IBEW) endorsement and they're the only union that showed up in force, coming over from other counties, to work on the tiny homes village in Pahoa. Good choice by IBEW if you ask me. Some unions here select their endorsed candidates not based on record, but based on how many family members that candidate has in the union political committee. ILWU endorsed Ashley in February before she even pulled papers to run for office!

As for Hawaii Government Employee Association (HGEA), the biggest government union in the state, they supported Ohara in 2016 but aren't endorsing either candidate in 2018. As a member, I made inquiries and came to find out the Ashley campaign tried to stack the vote in the HGEA political action committee but didn't succeed since Ohara is actually supported by the rank and file of the HGEA. She saved them from furloughs by reconsidering the GET bill. The Carpenters Union is also on the fence in this race.

Ohara did get other endorsements according to her mailer and Facebook page - Sierra Club and Pono Hawaii Initiatives. These endorsements don't come with $$ but are extended based on character and accomplishments that prove the candidate is honest, progressive, and truly cares about environment and social issues. In some ways more meaningful than union endorsements. Madie Greene had all but the HGEA union endorsements in 2016 and Ohara creamed her in the general election.

BillyB brought up a concern about the partial public spending match from Ohara saying there were multiple instances of donations from the same household. This happens when you have husband and wife each giving $100 or less. Especially now when multiple generations of families are living together. Her campaign spending report from June 30 shows small qualifying contributions of over $3,300 which is more than needed for the match Billy identified. That's not gaming the system. Those are legitimate small kine donations.

What is really telling is that the June 30 report shows she invested around $5,000 of her own money in her campaign this year which backs up her claim that she refuses to actively fund raise due to conditions in Lower Puna. She still had the highest percentage of small donations of any of the candidates as reported in Nancy Cook Lauer's article a few days ago on campaign spending by candidates. At least we know she isn't backed by big business as is the case with Ashley who has banners all over Shipman land in Keaau and in Hilo. Ashley says in the BIVN coverage of the last forum I just watched that a campaign defines the candidate. She is clearly running for Hilo interests which isn't of much help to Puna.

http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2018/0...y-council/

[DaVinci]

A few parting thoughts...

I was simply trying to highlight flaws in the logic of the arguments being bandied about.

punastrong (above) is clearly and concisely advocating for Eileen with facts and well presented arguments. I didn’t do that.

I’d like to extend thanks to punastrong for doing that. Thanks.

If I could vote for Eileen, I would.

[Wao nahele kane]

Ashley ahead by 10% thus far. Basically 51% to 41%.
Go Ashley! NOhara

[HiloPuna]

Last report at almost 20% spread and 900 votes in favor of AK. Noticeably few blank ballots, shows that the race was a focal point for D-4 voters.
It's very uncommon for an incumbent to lose like this, without a major scandal tarnishing them or rank incompetence undoing them. It points to the quality of the candidate, in winning this way Ashley shows that she is someone to watch.

Youth will be served!

[Chunkster]

Ashley won handily, with over 60% of the vote. That's a pretty big margin, and it surprised me. Was it the rooster legislation that did Ohara in? Was it voting for Harry Kim's tax increases without asking hard questions about the budget? (My reason.) Was it Ashley's Filipino ethnic connections? (Frankie Stapleton mentioned here on Punaweb that Ashley would use those connections, and sort of implied that it was somehow wrong. Oh, and Ashley was seen in public with ***gasp!*** a known conservative. Can't have that.) All of those reasons played a part, but on a totally anecdotal level a lot of people I know said they just didn't like Ohara without mentioning any particular policies. So another Puna council rep bites the political dust.