10 Questions for the City Council Candidates
Four out of the Honolulu City Council‘s nine councillors are vacating their seats for the 2010 midterm election. To help voters get a better understanding of the candidates’ positions and ideas, Civil Beat sent all of them the same letter and questionnaire.
Of the 21 candidates running for council seats, 16 responded to our query. We’ve created topic pages for each of those candidates and reprinted their answers to our questions verbatim.
Here are the candidates who answered the questionaire:
District 2
- John White
- Ben Shafer
- Ernie Martin
District 4
- Stanley Chang
- Jeremy Low
- Rich Turbin
- Frank De Giacomo
District 6
- Larry Fenton
- Tim Garry
- Shawn Hamamoto
- Frank Lavoie
- Sesnita Moepono
- Tulsi Tamayo
- Bob Vieira
- Chris Wong
District 8
The questions are below:
1) What should Oahu do with its trash?
2) How would you address the bed-and-breakfast permitting issue? Is this a viable industry that benefits Oahu?
3) Where do you stand on the city’s planned rail-transit project? Are its funding mechanisms sufficient? Will it really attract riders and ease traffic congestion?
4) How would you deal with the growing problem of homelessness?
5) Should Oahu restrict and enforce the use of fireworks? Why or why not?
6) How can Honolulu best clean up its troubled Liquor Commission?
7) Residents have seen property taxes and fees increase to meet budget shortfalls. What’s your big idea for improving the city’s revenue picture?
8) Where do you stand when it comes to the use of agricultural land on Oahu? Should the council tighten zoning regulations, or loosen them?
9) Relations between the mayor and the Council have usually been contentious. How would you work to improve those relations?
10) Name one or two issues the Council should be giving more attention to, and explain why.
