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With a month to go before the primary, Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth is facing significant challenges in his bid to retain his job as Hawaii County’s top executive for another four years.

Rather than backing the incumbent, two of Hawaii’s biggest unions representing government white- and blue-collar workers are backing Kimo Alameda, a top challenger in the nonpartisan Aug. 10 election. The unions are generally a force to be reckoned with in local politics with their endorsements highly sought-after by candidates seeking public office in one of the nation’s most unionized states.

“The unions can mobilize large amounts of voters,” said Colin Moore, University of Hawaii associate professor. “I’m sure this is unwelcome news to the mayor.”

The Big Island is no exception to the major longstanding issues facing the rest of Hawaii: a lack of affordable housing and high cost of living that is driving local families to the mainland and making it hard to recruit and retain skilled workers. But there are other issues hurting Roth’s standing in the race, including persistent problems with the county’s troubled wastewater system and his administration’s fight with unions over hazard pay.

Hawaii Government Employees Association’s decision to back Alameda marks a shift from 2020 when it endorsed Roth.

The first-term mayor and former prosecutor also failed to receive an endorsement from his predecessor, Harry Kim, who is backing political newcomer Breeani Kobayashi.

Besides Alameda, a clinical psychologist, and Kobayashi, a hotelier, Roth’s challengers include Seaula “Junior” Tupai, a pastor who served as the Republican Party’s candidate for lieutenant governor in 2022.

Alameda has received endorsements from , the state’s largest union with nearly 37,000 members, and , which represents about 11,000 public workers statewide. He’s also backed by Iron Workers Local 625.

“Those are two endorsements any candidate seeking statewide or county office would want,” said Moore, referring to HGEA and UPW. “This is going to be a competitive race.”

Unions supporting Roth include the Laborers International Union, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142, International Union of Operating Engineers and UA Local 675.

In a recent HGEA said county departments on the Big Island are “facing severe staffing shortages and an overworked and demoralized workforce.”

“The Big Island deserves a leader who respects the rights of public employees and treats them fairly,” the union said in its release.

HGEA Executive Director Randy Perreira did not respond to a request for an interview.  

In an interview Friday, Roth said the HGEA and UPW unions didn’t endorse him because he doesn’t support their demand for hazard pay for having worked during the pandemic.

It would cost the county between $50 million and $70 million and that’s not something Roth said he’s prepared to offer, noting that Hawaii was one of the safest places to work during the pandemic because of its strict Covid protocols.

“At the end of the day, you know, I love these workers. And a lot of them are my friends. But I also have a fiduciary duty to manage the taxpayers’ money to the best of my ability,” Roth said.

The issue of hazard pay has been a sore spot for union workers.

In April, Gov. Josh Green offered HGEA a hazard pay settlement for state workers serving Hawaii’s executive branch, the University of Hawaii, public charter schools, the courts and the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation.

The Legislature approved nearly $450 million to fund the deal, which calls for payouts of either $10,000 or $20,000 to thousands of workers represented by HGEA.

Arbitration proceedings over hazard pay have been playing out across Hawaii. For Hawaii County, the first phase in the arbitration proceedings ended in March. The second phase is scheduled to begin on Aug. 19.

“The county remains optimistic that both parties will be able to negotiate an amicable resolution,” said Cyrus Johnasen, Roth’s spokesperson.

Beyond the hazard pay issue, Roth has come under fire for ongoing problems with the Big Island’s wastewater treatment plants which are largely outdated and prone to discharges that violate the Clean Water Act.

Just last month, the Hilo wastewater treatment plant discharged some 607,000 gallons of effluent that had not undergone chlorine disinfection prior to flowing into Puhi Bay.

Some campers and swimmers said in interviews they were unaware they were exposed to the effluent until Sunday even though the discharge happened Friday morning.

It’s issues like these that make people lose trust in government, said Kobayashi, a hotel manager from Hilo.

Kobayashi has won the endorsement of former Big Island Mayor and Civil Defense Director Harry Kim.

“Breeani is so gifted and most importantly committed to our community as a lifeʻs mission,” said Kim in a news release issued by Kobayashi’s campaign. “Breeani has all the qualities of a good leader and most of all, she is trusted and respected.”

Kobayashi is general manager of SCP Hilo Hotel and co-owner of Keaukaha General Store. She also chairs and is founder and president of the nonprofit . 

Kobayashi said the wastewater incident that happened last month is just the latest example of what she sees as the county government not taking residents’ concerns seriously. The wastewater problems have been raised repeatedly in public forums over the years, she said.

In 2024, the public should receive text messages, Nixel alerts, emails, social media blasts and other forms of communication about a potential public health threat, she said.

Roth has said that the wastewater problems on the Big Island stem from years of deferred maintenance that he inherited when he took office, and that his administration has made big investments toward fixing the outdated plants. The county is actively seeking bids to overhaul the Hilo wastewater plant which he says will be the largest infrastructure project in the county’s history.

In public remarks, Roth often points to how much money he’s directed toward improving and maintaining the county’s parks. From $450,000 at the beginning of his term, the parks and recreation budget grew to over $4 million annually, according to Roth’s campaign website.

He also points to how he’s tackled the island’s persistent housing crisis, noting that the pipeline of affordable housing units has grown from roughly 1,200 to over 8,100 units.

“That’s a huge jump in the last several years,” said Roth, a former prosecutor who won a decisive victory over small business owner Ikaika Marzo, whom UPW endorsed, in the 2020 mayoral election. Kim lost his bid for reelection that year after failing to advance beyond the primary. 

Roth notes that homeless numbers are down 28% on the Big Island, according to the latest Point in Time Count. The count is a federally mandated census that tries to count anyone who slept outdoors, in a car, or in other areas not intended for housing on a given night in January.

The mayor takes credit for shrinking the size of the homeless population. He says increased funding for programs and expanded access to emergency shelters under his administration have made the difference.

In Alameda’s view, Roth has had enough time to fix many of the Big Island’s problems during the three and a half years he’s served. But Hawaii County is still plagued with a housing crisis, exorbitant living costs, a sluggish building permit system and a major problem with fentanyl, among other challenges.

Alameda, former chair of the Hawaii Island Fentanyl Task Force, said with wastewater issues, the county is under a legally binding order from federal regulators to rehabilitate the Hilo plant. But it’ll take several years to complete after a contractor is finally selected.

“He said the prior administration kicked the can down the road. You know, it’s literally going to get kicked again,” Alameda said.

Tupai, who is senior pastor at Overcoming Faith Center in Hilo, is making his second attempt at public office. He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican in 2022 alongside gubernatorial candidate Duke Aiona.

Tackling Hawaii island’s high cost of living by giving tax breaks to kupuna, fixing the island’s dilapidated infrastructure, accelerating the building permit process and improving public safety are among his top concerns.

After attending a public meeting in Ocean View, Tupai said he learned from residents that police response times are often lengthy. Cops have told him they’re overburdened by administrative duties, he said in an interview Tuesday.

In social media comments when he was running for lieutenant governor, Tupai has described himself as a pro-life, pro-gun activist who disagreed with government mandates during the pandemic. But the Big Island’s mayoral race is nonpartisan and Tupai was reluctant to categorize himself as a conservative.

“All those things were at the state level. I’m not running at the state level now. I’m at the county,” Tupai said. “The community deserves as many options as possible.”

Others candidates in the race include Daniel Cunningham, Kavin Kahikina and Yumi Kawano.

The top two candidates in the Aug. 10 primary will advance to the Nov. 5 general election as long as one does not get more than 50% of the total votes cast in the primary.