Honolulu Council District 3 Candidates on the Issues
Ikaika Anderson was first elected more than three years ago to finish the term of the late Barbara Marshall, for whom he’d worked for years. Now, Anderson’s looking for his first full four-year term as a City Council member.
In his way are two lesser-known candidates — Deborah Bossley and . Where do the three hopefuls stand on the key issues facing Honolulu?
The survey asked the candidates to explain their positions on 10 major issues facing the city, including rail, landfills and taxes. You can find links to the candidates’ full responses at the bottom of this article.
Our candidate questionnaire sheds some light on two of the candidates — Anderson and Kaukani.
Bossley provided her email address to Civil Beat, but never acknowledged receipt, never turned in her responses and did not return phone messages. Her filed with the Campaign Spending Commission identifies her as a member of the American Society of Interior Designers and a mother of three.
Regardless, she’s on the ballot, so the race can be decided Aug. 11 if one of the candidates secures more than half of the vote.
Rail
The District 3 seat encompasses much of Windward Oahu — an area that won’t be served by the 20-mile rail line from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center. While the project hasn’t been popular among his constituents, Anderson’s remained a supporter on the condition that the federal funding comes through.
“In conclusion, if the federal funding for the project does not come through as planned I will withdraw my support,” Anderson wrote in his response. “But if that funding is available we’d be foolish to thumb our noses at it.”
Kaukani has positioned himself as a rail skeptic, though he seems resigned to the city’s actions, couching his statements in terms of “if rail can’t be stopped” and “if rail can be stopped.”
“I would propose to look at other technologies for Mass Transit that is ignored today,” Kaukani wrote. “The money allocated for Mass Transit brings up different questions as to what to can that money be used for if Steel on Steel Rail is stopped and I will see to it that those questions are answered and that money funded for this project is not wasted.”
Property Taxes
Anderson says he’s long advocated for overhauling the city’s property tax system to eliminate exemptions and reduce the overall rate. He said that move would result in a lower bill for 80 percent of the island’s homeowners and that he’s been giving thought to reintroducing a proposal to move the city in that direction.
Upon my election to the Council in 2009, I led the fight against a proposed 10 percent residential property tax hike- the rate at the time, $3.29, was proposed to rise to $3.59. I suggested a rate of $3.42, which was adopted by my colleagues on the Council. Considering that our residential property tax rate today is $3.50, it’s likely that we would be paying a rate close to $4.00 had I lost that 10% proposed hike three years ago.
Kaukani was noncommittal.
“If the property tax is lowered I think that a reevaluation of those tax exemptions should be made and looked into and determine from that information gathered.”
Fireworks
Civil Beat did not ask a question specifically about the fireworks ban, but did ask all candidates to identify one city decision made in the last two years that they’d change if they could.
Both Anderson and Kaukani pointed to fireworks.
“I believe that more should have been looked into with this decision-making,” Kaukani said. “One possibility could be control of how many a person could purchase or designating a certain place to utilize those firworks; looking at different alternatives could allow a compromise between the people.”
Anderson said he tried to find a compromise, but couldn’t get enough support from council colleagues.
“A few colleagues and I worked together on allowing for some novelties in addition to firecrackers (such as small spark fountains and limited sparklers) that we grew up with, but we failed to get the necessary votes to pass the measure,” he wrote. “While I understand that our City has grown and become much denser than it was during my childhood thus necessitating some restrictions, it’s my opinion that the compromise mentioned above could have been successful if it were given the chance.”
Read the full candidate responses here:
