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Editor’s note: For Hawaii’s Nov. 5 General Election, Civil Beat asked candidates to answer some questions about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following came from Mike Lee, Democratic candidate for state House District 50, which includes Kailua and a portion of Kaneohe Bay. His opponent is Republican Timothy Connelly.

Go to Civil Beat’s Election Guide for general information, and check out other candidates on the General Election Ballot.

1. What is the biggest issue facing your district, and what would you do about it?

The biggest issue facing our district is public health and safety due to aging infrastructure and a lack of community resources. Our way of life on the windward side begins and ends with our natural resources. Both Kailua and Kaneohe bays are adversely affected by an outdated wastewater treatment plant that pumps waste out to the sea. This leads to constant beach closures, coral disease and poor water quality. This impacts our ocean ecology and residents’ ability to safely interact with our waters.

Either the discharge point needs to be closed altogether or we need a complete overhaul of the treatment center. This will require federal, state and city entities working together and cost millions of dollars, but it is necessary for the health of our residents. 

The district also has high risk areas for brush fires. Combined with no emergency shelters in Kailua, this is a potentially lethal issue that needs to be addressed immediately. I will work with the state, city and private landowners to implement fire mitigation measures and put emergency shelters in place for our residents.

2. How do you feel about the massive income tax cut just approved by the Legislature and the governor? Do you have any concerns that it will force reductions in state services in the years to come?

I applaud the efforts of the Legislature to provide tax cuts to local residents. There are many ways to ease the burden of living in an expensive state and this is one of them. When talking to constituents, cost of living always comes up as a concern. Families are being priced out of paradise. While the income tax cut is a good step in the right direction, more needs to be done to bring relief to local families and keep them here in Hawaii. If elected, I will be working toward that goal.

I do have concerns about the consequences of these decisions in the future but it is up to the Legislature to see these promises through. The initial tax cuts are small and grow as time goes on. This should allow the Legislature time to balance the cuts with any emerging issues. The money from tax cuts will also generally stay in our economy, helping local businesses and stimulating economic growth. This is not money being wasted, but rather money being invested back into our economy.

3. Hawaii continues to struggle with pay-to-play politics and corruption in government. What meaningful reforms do you think would change state government for the better?

I believe in a more robust procurement system that takes out any influence elected officials have in the contractor selection process. Changes to the rules will not affect money under the table. We need to take out the reason for that money, which is the undue influence itself. Let’s make sure only the best contractors get hired to do the work, with no influence from the outside. 

4. Candidates often say they will support reform proposals in the Legislature. And yet major reform proposals don’t pass. Will you back good- government proposals even if it means going against leadership? If you are an incumbent, can you point to an example of a reform that you supported?

I will seriously consider all good-government proposals and back all that are reasonable. Leadership is irrelevant to proposals that are good for the state. The voters need to know the candidate they elect will think critically about each bill and the wider effects it may have. I plan to be that candidate for our residents. 

5. Do you support comprehensive public financing of elections for candidates who choose to participate? Why or why not?

I support the concept of public financing for elections but not from any of the recent proposals I’ve seen. There are a few problems that need to be resolved before I would support it. 

First, public financing doesn’t cap an individual’s ability to self-fund their campaign. If we eliminate donations, wealthy candidates can heavily outspend their opponents. This just replaces special interest funding with personal wealth funding and further unbalances the playing field. 

Second, current proposals are fraught with potential to abuse taxpayer dollars by candidates. For example, a candidate for the state House only needs 15 signatures to run. With public financing, that person would receive $10,000-$20,000 in taxpayer money. There’s nothing to stop them from using those funds to “hire” friends to do campaign or design work for them, and creating criteria to stop this abuse would be very difficult. Essentially it could be an easy payday for a group of friends that don’t plan on taking the campaign seriously. I do not believe taxpayer money should be used in a way so open to abuse.

6. Hawaii is the only Western state without a statewide citizens initiative process. Do you support such a process? Why or why not?

I am open to a discussion about how a statewide citizens initiative process could work in Hawaii because I believe that all people should have a voice in their government. At the same time I would be very concerned about the influence of special interests and large-money influencing citizens initiatives.

Special interest lobbying is not exclusive to the government. It is well documented in other states that big money has been used to manipulate public perception in the past and there’s nothing preventing it from happening here. It is also costly to put together a successful statewide citizens initiative, again giving an advantage to special interests and people with money. We should not be further advantaging those with wealth. We are not an oligarchy.

Hawaii has a history of leading the country on many civil rights issues and we may not have been able to make these tough decisions if it was subject to a popular vote.

7. Thanks to their campaign war chests and name familiarity, incumbents are almost always reelected in Hawaii legislative races. Should there be term limits for state legislators, as there are for the governor’s office and county councils? Why or why not?

In the last House election there were 19 new representatives elected out of 51 seats. That’s almost a 40% turnover, which is high in any profession. I think this demonstrates a new era of concerned citizens willing to step up and a public that is seeking change.

Similar to my response on citizens initiatives, I support the concept and intention of term limits because I think it has its merits, but many of the current proposals of four to six years are too short. At any new job there is a learning curve and at the Legislature it takes time. I can’t imagine any office staffed by workers, all of whom have less than six years of experience, especially an office that makes rules that we all have to follow. I also would not want to preclude an effective legislator from serving his or her community and/or seeing multi-year projects they have started to an end.

We need to be very careful when taking away a voter’s right to choose who they support. I support longer term limits than four to six years and would welcome the discussion to decide what a more appropriate length might be.

8. What will you do to ensure accountability at the Legislature? Do you support ideas such as requiring the Sunshine Law to apply to the Legislature or banning campaign contributions during session?

The criminal conduct of former Rep. Cullen and Sen. English is unacceptable. We trust our public officials to conduct themselves with the highest level of integrity and that is how I will serve the communities of Kailua and Kaneohe if elected to the state House.

We need state laws and ethics rules that contain clear standards, enforcement and penalties. I support a thorough review of lobbying and campaign finance laws that will increase compliance and transparency. I support the Legislature’s recent efforts on banning contributions and/or the promise of contributions during session.

I am not sure the Sunshine Law will be effective at the state Legislature, and may lead to unintended results. The City Council is currently beholden to the Sunshine Law, and we still see many issues there. While I like the concept of the Sunshine Law, we can see its current application to a legislative body is not effective and tends to slow down the legislative process. Unless the public supports a full-time Legislature and increased salaries for their representatives, it will be impossible to apply to the current legislative schedule. 

9. How would you make the Legislature more transparent and accessible to the public? Opening conference committees to the public? Stricter disclosure requirements on lobbying and lobbyists? How could the Legislature change its own internal rules to be more open?

I support all efforts to make it easier and more accessible for the public to participate in the legislative process. For example, allowing testifiers to appear via Zoom and recording committee hearings has greatly improved access for private citizens.

Not everyone can afford to take time off from work or fly over from a neighboring island. Such changes have helped create accessibility for the public. If elected to the state House, I will hold regular town hall meetings to hear directly from the community about issues that affect their lives. I’m working hard to make sure that I speak to as many voters as I can to understand their needs and how to best represent them in the state House.

10. Many people have talked about diversifying the local economy for many years now, and yet Hawaii is still heavily reliant on tourism. What, if anything, should be done differently about tourism and the economy?

The district I hope to represent has been heavily affected by overtourism, from illegal vacation rentals to busloads of tourists being dropped off in the middle of Kailua town. I support the efforts of the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s Kuleana Campaign and Malama Hawaii.

I also think we need to offer more regenerative and sustainable tourism opportunities for visitors. I support green taxes and booking systems for some of our more popular tourist attractions that decimate our natural resources.

We need to diversify our economy now. We can do this by investing in clean energy, diversified agriculture and the tech industry. Too many of our talented youth are leaving the state. We should do more to keep them home. These industries can offer them that support through an increased job market, higher salaries and the ability to work from home through increased telework capability. 

11. An estimated 60% of Hawaii residents are struggling to get by, a problem that reaches far beyond low-income and into the middle class, which is disappearing. What ideas do you have to help the middle class and working families who are finding it hard to continue to live here?

ALICE (asset limited, income constrained, employed) families are a large part of our community and we need to find new ways to help them thrive in Hawaii. I supported making the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refundable and permanent; this mirrors the federal tax credit and will help working families to make ends meet.

If elected, I would also work closely with the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to increase the number of affordable units for rent and purchase; particularly in the urban core of Oahu. Housing is the greatest household expense and we need to increase the supply of affordable housing for local residents.

I also support bills like the income tax relief bill the Legislature just passed, which will give relief directly to ALICE families. My opponent voted yes with reservations on this relief bill, and I disagree with the reservations. We need to be in full support of our working families and relief bills for the cost of living.