It is the season for elections and I shall offer some random thoughts for your consideration. The dominant theme that will likely control the results of our national elections is the economy with its elevated unemployment and persistent resistance to
It is the season for elections and I shall offer some random thoughts for your consideration.
The dominant theme that will likely control the results of our national elections is the economy with its elevated unemployment and persistent resistance to recovery. There is a broad consensus that except for the financial-institution stabilization the massive federal expenditures have accomplished little. Our citizens are concerned about the huge national debt which has been incurred and the burden to meet and repay it that will impact future generations. People are awakening to the awesome consequences of ongoing, multi-trillion-dollar deficits and are reacting adversely to those in both major political parties who are considered responsible for them. 2010 will most probably be the most difficult year ever for congressional incumbents.
For Kaua‘i voters the Hawai‘i state and federal office elections are somewhat removed from the intensity that exists elsewhere. Incumbent candidates for U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives offices and our state representatives are more entrenched and will not be greatly affected by the tides occurring elsewhere and most should easily win their races. Contests for governor, lieutenant governor and our state senator do not include incumbents.
The nonpartisan races for Kaua‘i County offices are more interesting. The incumbent mayor has very substantial financial backing and has massively outspent his sole opponent who has not enunciated effectively her policies and Mr. Carvalho should win convincingly.
It will be in the struggle for the seven seats in the Kaua‘i County Council where the general mood disfavoring incumbents will be measured. Five of the 15 candidates are incumbents. On Kaua‘i the issues will be different. Council members will not be blamed for the broad malaise in the economy. But the last term of the council has been a rather rancorous one with disputes between the chair and some members over procedural issues, a wide citizen dissatisfaction over council treatment of our agricultural lands and transient vacation rentals and a broad feeling that our council is not effectively serving us.
In prior years it has been axiomatic that Kaua‘i voters cast their ballots largely based on name recognition. Only rarely have new candidates prevailed over incumbents whose names and faces are familiar to the electorate.
A likely indicator of the prevailing attitudes of voters is the candidacy of the present Council Chair, Kaipo Asing. Mr. Asing has served in the Council for 24 years. During his early service he was widely acclaimed as a member who fought government waste and was vigorous in serving the public interest. Without actively campaigning he became a leading vote-getter in his candidacy for the council. In 2002 he became the council chair and many council observers have come to the view that 2002 was a major turning point for Mr. Asing. Increasingly since then he has become arrogant, insensitive and abrasive in his function. In this term he has been, in the belief of many observers, irrational in his protecting his control over the agenda of matters that would be considered by the council. In 2008 voters adopted an eight-year limit for consecutive service on the council, and a significant number of citizens believe that such a limit should have been applied to Mr. Asing. I admire the years of public service by Mr. Asing, but I believe it is time he should be retired.
The case for retirement of the other incumbents is weaker. Councilman (Tim) Bynum has deservedly earned plaudits for his positions on transparency, protection of ag lands and reforming the council rules to end the stranglehold the chair has on agenda items. Apart from joining the Asing power bloc council members (Dickie) Chang and (Derek) Kawakami have had rather uneventful and undistinguished first terms. After losing his bid for council chair Jay Furfaro has kept a low profile.
To those who are now serving should be added candidates JoAnn Yukimura and Mel Rapozo who have both previously served on the council and cannot be considered “new faces.” Both are personable and popular. For council-watchers JoAnn has the baggage that she has never met an agenda item that she does not want to discuss. One estimate is that council meeting during her membership were up to 50 percent longer than they otherwise would have been because of her comments.
While the results of the primary election certainly cannot be considered conclusive and as Derek Kawakami the highest vote-getter said “as of today I am starting last,” the results are quite indicative of a couple of points:
1. Any contagion to remove incumbents from office has not occurred on Kaua‘i. Only one candidate who has not previously served in the council was in the top seven. Apparently our voters are still basically giving their votes to candidates with name recognition.
2. A sufficient number of our citizens have followed the proceedings of our County Council meetings and are troubled by the dominant and inflexible control that has been employed by the council chair. In the primary the council chair did not finish in the top seven of the candidates and it appears that he may lose his seat. Name recognition is not everything.
Voting is a precious American right. The percentage of registered voters who cast their ballot in the primary election was far too low. Let us hope that the turnout will sharply rise in the Nov. 2 general election.
• Walter Lewis is a resident of Princeville and writes a biweekly column for The Garden Island.
