LIHUE — Ron Horoshko has done a lot during his time.
Restaurateur, business owner, writer, community volunteer, artist and Alaskan fisherman are among the many life accomplishments he can list on the fly.
And since Horoshko filed his nomination papers to run for a Kauai County Council seat in this year’s election, the semi-retired, 66-year-old Kalaheo resident can add that to his list.
“I’ve been through a lot in my life but I always kept on believing that, if you do good and share with people and listen to people, you’ll be a better person,” Horoshko said. “That’ll be my philosophy if I do get a chance to work on the council. I don’t want to be beholden to anybody. I want to just be that man of reason, the man who wants to be able to speak his mind, but not my mind — the mind of the people who voted me in.”
Horoshko, who owns Birdie’s Cafe and Pub at Kukuiolono Golf Course, said he and his wife, Mona Clark, moved to Kauai from Louisville, Colo., about 13 years ago.
Since then, Horoshko has volunteered at the Regency at Puakea and the Hawaii Children’s Theatre in Puhi.
“I’m really new at this — being a politician — and I really don’t want to be a politician,” Horoshko said. “I just want to be Ron and listen to the people and do what they want and not what Ron wants. I think that’s very, very important.”
As a part of that, Horoshko said he wants to be a voice of reason on the seven-member board, which has tackled some tough issues over the past few years.
“It seems like, over the past two years, there has been a lot of drama coming out of the County Council — there was a lot of drama going on between councilmembers and not getting a lot done,” Horoshko said. “It seems like, if you’re in government, that’s usually what happens, but here on Kauai, I think there was a lot of money spent that didn’t need to be spent and a lot of fingers were being pointed — it was like a soap opera going on between certain parties.”
Horoshko said he will be going against the grain in this year’s election by not taking any campaign contributions and spending money on yard signs. Instead, Horoshko said he wants to meet and talk to residents in person.
Horoshko also wants to focus on stimulating arts on the island, enhancing after-school programs and combat bullying and drug use.
“I want to run with more or less common sense instead of what one person on the council wants to do versus what another voice on the council wants to do,” Horoshko said.
“I feel that we need to have some people on the council who want to pay attention and not always point the finger. It just seems like we need a change.”
• Darin Moriki, county government reporter, can be reached at 245-0428 or dmoriki@thegardenisland.com. Follow him on Twitter at @darinmoriki.
