LIHU‘E — On Monday, the Kaua‘i Charter Review Commission — in a 5-1 vote — tabled a proposal to divide county council seats into different districts. Had it passed, it would have been on the ballot in 2014. Currently, the
LIHU‘E — On Monday, the Kaua‘i Charter Review Commission — in a 5-1 vote — tabled a proposal to divide county council seats into different districts.
Had it passed, it would have been on the ballot in 2014.
Currently, the seven council members are elected at-large and represent the entire island. Under the proposal — which was shelved without action Monday — the council would have been restructured to include four members elected by district and three at-large.
Joel Guy was the lone commissioner to vote against tabling the proposal. Ed Justus chose to abstain from the vote.
Commissioner James Nishida Jr. made the motion to shelf the proposal, which he described as too “narrow.”
“I think people are frustrated and there may be other ways to deal with the frustration of representation … Looking at districting as a solution, (the island is) too small,” he said.
Commission Chair Jan TenBruggencate said he was open to considering additional proposals.
“If anyone wants to bring up another districting issue in the future, give me a call and I’ll put it on the agenda again,” he said. “But right now we’ve got to deal with this.”
The vote came after hearing testimony from both Anthony Aguiar, a Westside resident, and Kaua‘i County Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura.
Aguiar testified that he would like to see the council move to either nine single-member districts.
“I see that people are not being represented,” he said. “We now have a government that is run by corporations, not a government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
In addition to districts, Aguiar said he is in favor of creating neighborhood boards that have review powers, rather than boards “that are an appendage to be ignored.”
“I think community boards would be a great thing … This is a way that we need to get our government back,” he said.
Yukimura testified against partial districting, saying there are many disadvantages.
“At some point, perhaps when the population gets large enough, districting may become necessary,” she said. “But I would advocate staying with an at-large system for as long as possible because representation by district is inherently divisive and often contrary to good decision-making for the whole.”
In a district system, Yukimura said accountability can be more easily obscured and that decisions are often made politically.
“Districting is assumed to be an advantage to the people in the district, but it may not necessarily be so,” she said. “Right now a resident of Waimea can go to all seven council members advocating a certain vote or position and know that if those council members run again next year they will all be campaigning for his vote — that is, the Waimea voter has influence over seven council members, whereas he will have influence on only (four) in the proposed system.”
Yukimura said she believes all people in the county should be represented and talked about a number of projects she personally worked on around the island.
“I believe it is possible for a council member not only to think about the town or neighborhood that he or she lives in.”
Yukimura also discussed ways that she thought would help encourage elected leaders to pay closer attention to the needs of the entire island, including establishing four-year staggered terms for council members with strict ethical guidelines, as well as requiring council members to perform full-time jobs in office.
The next Charter Review Commission meeting is scheduled for April 22 at 4 p.m. in the Mo‘ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/B.
• Chris D’Angelo, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-0441 or lifestyle@thegardenisland.com.
