Mayoral Candidates and the General Election

[1@3_aBc]

From here:
https://www.kwxx.com/2020/06/04/16-candi...nty-mayor/

We've got 16 candidates running for Hawaii County Mayor:

-Neil Azevedo
-Paul Bryant
-Bob Fitzgerald
-Michael (Mikey) Glendon
-Kelly Greenwell
-Stacy Higa
-Wendell Ka’ehu’ae’a
-Yumi Kawano
-Harry Kim
-Ikaika Marzo
-Mitch Roth
-Mike Ruggles
-Ted (Toku San) Shaneyfelt
-Tante Urban
-Lahi (Marlin) Verschur
-James M. (Jiro) Yuda

Throwing Kim, Marzo, and Ruggles out, that still leaves 13 candidates.
If I could find more info about the candidates, I'd probablly end up winnowing it down by tossing more out.

I've voiced this before, but Alaska putout and mailed a voters pamphlet prior to every general election.
It contained a description and statements by/about every candidate and issue on the ballot, giving everyone at least some information on the candidates and issues.
Never seen anything resembling that here.

How is one to become informed about  the contents of general elections in Hawaii?
Or, is this just a ploy by the state to keep the electorate ignorant and uninformed?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Civil Beat sent out a detailed questionnaire to each of the Hawaii County mayoral candidates.  It takes about 10 minutes to read each reply.  Below is the link to Mitch Roth.  Near the top under Editor's Note are links to the other candidates who replied.  As for those who didn't reply I would only ask myself this question, if they didn't answer a few questions for the public about their qualifications, how much effort are they willing to put into the job if elected?

https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/06/candid...itch-roth/

[terracore]

Of the 16 candidates, these are the ones that 1) replied to the survey and 2) support TMT construction on Mauna Kea, and 3) didn't give a non-answer (in no particular order):

Tante Urban
Paul Bryant
Stacy Higa
Ted Shaneyfelt
Mitch Roth

That automatically whittles 11 off of my list based on what we know so far.

[leilanidude]

Here is the link to Ikaika Marzo's responses to the questions on TMT.
He does not answer the questions. He dances around them.
His own campaign website makes no mention of TMT.
https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/06/candid...ika-marzo/
4. State and county residents, government officials and developers have been split over efforts to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. Do you support construction of the TMT? Do you support the protesters? What would you have done differently in the past year to resolve the issue?
I played many roles on the mauna and listened to both sides of the TMT issue. My professional stance is that the county government does not have jurisdiction on Mauna Kea, similar to how the protests had nothing to do with astronomy. But Mauna Kea is also of Hawaii island, part of our community, and all our people have a relationship with that mountain, whether it’s cultural, scientific or usually both.
Hawaii County should still be part of the decision making on the Mauna, because it involves “us.” As mayor, I would have sat at the table only if I was involved in the real decisions being made that affected the mauna. It was poor management of the mauna that brought about the movement to block construction. The lack of transparency and the loss of trust are the biggest issue here. For any construction to restart on the mauna, our government will have to gain the trust back from the community.

[KPHawaii]

From here:
https://www.kwxx.com/2020/06/04/16-candi...nty-mayor/

We've got 16 candidates running for Hawaii County Mayor:

-Neil Azevedo
-Paul Bryant
-Bob Fitzgerald
-Michael (Mikey) Glendon
-Kelly Greenwell
-Stacy Higa
-Wendell Ka’ehu’ae’a
-Yumi Kawano
-Harry Kim
-Ikaika Marzo
-Mitch Roth
-Mike Ruggles
-Ted (Toku San) Shaneyfelt
-Tante Urban
-Lahi (Marlin) Verschur
-James M. (Jiro) Yuda

Throwing Kim, Marzo, and Ruggles out, that still leaves 13 candidates.
If I could find more info about the candidates, I'd probablly end up winnowing it down by tossing more out.

I've voiced this before, but Alaska putout and mailed a voters pamphlet prior to every general election.
It contained a description and statements by/about every candidate and issue on the ballot, giving everyone at least some information on the candidates and issues.
Never seen anything resembling that here.

How is one to become informed about  the contents of general elections in Hawaii?
Or, is this just a ploy by the state to keep the electorate ignorant and uninformed?

You can go to vote411.org, put in your address and you can see who’s on the ballot and info about the candidates. We used to get a pamphlet in California too.

[tokusan]

Aloha.

Someone suggested looking at vote411 for candidate info but my info isn't on vote411 because I declined committing to special interests including seeking their endorsements or answering their questionnaires. You can find info on Civil Beat as well as Big Island Pulse as I have been participating in news interviews and debates when asked. I'm a PHS grad who grew up in Leilani Estates.

Make sure you are properly registered with the right address and everything is correct because they seem to be picky about accepting Puna's voice at the elections office. I sent out two signature sheets for my nomination, one to Puna and Kau and the other to Hilo. All but one signature was accepted from Hilo, but almost none of the signatures from Puna were accepted by the county. You only have a couple more days to get registered to vote, so go to the old county building and do it now if you're not sure you're properly registered or not.

Mahalo
Ted Shaneyfelt

[1@3_aBc]

Thanks folks,
I find all national informational sources to be all but useless as far as what is actually going on in our local elections.
That includes vote411.

The link to Civil Beat was much better when cleaned up:

https://www.civilbeat.org/?q=Candidate+Q%26A&s=gcse

With search term:
Candidate Q&A Hawaii County Mayor 2020

That gives responses from 11 candidates, 3 of which were the toss outs leaving 8 viable candidates.

While questions were asked with answers given by the candidates, there still seems to be some snow being stuffed down the back of out pants by at least some of them.

Any local groups or organizations giving endorsements for any of these candidates?
If so what organizations/groups and which candidates?

[Rob Tucker]

I support Mitch Roth and have worked with him on community issues in Pahoa with success. He was able to get some of our worst people problems banned from Pahoa which was a blessing.

Mitch also came to the aid of Punaweb years ago when one disgruntled member posted 750 topics all titled "F.U. Rob Tucker". Mitch read him the riot act and threatened legal action if he continued. Mitch's help was appreciated.

[ChunksterK]

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.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Well said ChunksterK.
I agree with everything you said, although I cut Mitch Roth some slack.  Even people in positions of power can be faced with choices that are decided pragmatically due to circumstances rather than good policy or prosecutorial preference, if enough jail cells aren’t available.  

In a better world, maybe it would be better to convict the newly charged, and release someone who’s served at least part of their sentence.  Then, everyone who deserves to see the inside of a cell gets an  opportunity.