LIHU‘E — Though they differ on many things including views of the top issues facing Kaua‘i, state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau, and former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka, a Republican, both agree more needs to be done to improve public education. The
LIHU‘E — Though they differ on many things including views of the top issues facing Kaua‘i, state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau, and former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka, a Republican, both agree more needs to be done to improve public education.
The two candidates for a state Senate seat that includes all of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau presented their views on education and other issues at The Garden Island’s candidates forum held at the Kauai Veterans Center Tuesday.
Hooser is co-sponsor of the Senate’s Reinventing Education Act for the Children of Hawai‘i (REACH, Act 51). He said the law puts more money into classrooms, provides funds to reduce class sizes in certain grades, but could have and should have done much more.
“I wish we could have gone further,” to reduce class sizes at least from kindergarten through grade five, Hooser said. “I wish we could have done much more for education. We need to do more.”
“We need to pay our teachers more. We need to build more schools,” said Hooser, who is vice chair of the Senate Education Committee. He plans to remain either as chair or vice chair of that committee should he win election to a second four-year term in the General Election set for Tuesday, Nov. 2.
He was responding to a question on what issue he voted in favor of during the 2004 session that he wishes he could change, and why.
REACH is a good bill, “but we need a great bill,” said Kusaka, after giving her opinion about the number-one issue facing Kaua‘i (she said safe communities is her top priority). Under Act 51, research conducted by Republican Gov. Linda Lingle’s administration shows just 58 percent of educational funding actually reaches the classroom, a percentage too low, Kusaka said.
Every child can learn and succeed given the tools to do so, she added.
Kusaka is a former school teacher who knows what it is like to have 35 students and one teacher in a classroom, with no mechanism available to her to remove disruptive students.
She said after solving the safe-community challenge, education is a close second on the list of her top issues facing the island.
Responding to a question about her lasting accomplishments during her eight years as mayor, Kusaka said, “I am very proud of many things that I accomplished,” listing first the securing of a donation to the county of three miles of shoreline north of Kealia Beach. “This will leave a legacy, and be a feather in Kaua‘i’s cap,” and is a $7 million donation county officials are able to use as part of a requirement to come up with matching funds in order to secure federal funds for the Anahola-to-Kalapaki coastal biking and walking path, she said.
It was not a planning or governmental requirement of developers of Kealia Kai to give that land to the county, she explained. It was an outright gift.
Hooser, a former member of the Kaua‘i County Council, said he is most proud of two charter amendments he helped propose and got passed when asked about accomplishments of his at the council level he considers still viable today.
One such amendment gives the council the ability to audit county departments and programs, much like the state auditor is empowered by the state Legislature to conduct audits of state departments, agencies and programs. Though no such audits have taken place at the county level yet, tracking the performance of county operations is an important ability, he said.
Hooser also commented that a charter amendment setting aside one half of 1 percent of annual county real-property-tax revenues for a fund for public-land acquisition is another significant accomplishment of his during his two terms on the council.
“Public access is a very important issue,” with traditional access points to both the mountains and ocean being blocked by land owners and developers, Hooser said. Fishermen and hunters need access, he added. Protecting the environment, land and water, is a “core value. We need to protect those simple pleasures,” like the ability to go to the beach and mountains, he said.
He added that he is also proud of his work addressing needs of senior citizens, helping with Kusaka to add more lifeguards at county beaches, and providing mechanisms for accountability in county government.
Responding to a final question about her certainty that increased police powers to conduct “walk-and-talk” and “knock-and-talk” anti-drug efforts wouldn’t be abused by Kaua‘i Police Department officers, Kusaka said any state legislation empowering law-enforcement officials to conduct such investigations would include provisions to prevent abuse.
“I feel it is a very big priority of mine to have a safe community,” and the island has enjoyed a safe community until recently, she said. Part of the reason for the erosion of safety is that police don’t have powers necessary to adequately do their jobs, Kusaka added.
“We now have a welcome mat” at Lihu‘e Airport, without police powers to approach inbound passengers who meet criteria as potential drug couriers and conduct “walk-and-talk” investigations, or the ability of police officers to knock on doors of residences where occupants are suspected of dealing drugs, said Kusaka.
“Allowing law enforcement to keep our community safe is our number-one challenge,” she said. When according to survey results 60 percent of the island’s sixth-graders (11 year olds) have had some exposure to drugs, that’s a problem, she said.
An omnibus drug bill that includes enforcement and treatment provisions is good, but needs more teeth, said Kusaka, adding that she would fight to get such laws necessary bite if she is elected.
Hooser said supporting education is the most important thing he can do to help Kaua‘i. Providing opportunities for a good education and other activities will help keep children off drugs, he said, responding to a question about the number-one issue facing the island.
There are thousands of bills introduced in the state Legislature every year, and his “bottom line” in considering each bill is “what’s best for the people of Kaua‘i,” Hooser said.
Paul C. Curtis, associate editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
