Housing and crime dominate the Nov. 8 Honolulu City Council District 6 race, with both candidates, Traci Toguchi and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, choosing to focus on those issues.
However, they differ in how to address the issues. Dos Santos-Tam has positioned himself as an advocate for change while Toguchi is sticking to what she’s learned from her boss, current District 6 Council member Carol Fukunaga. District 6, which covers downtown through Nuuanu and Kalihi Valley, is an open seat as Fukunaga reaches her Council term limit and is vying for a state Senate seat.
Toguchi, a legislative analyst for Fukunaga, said she wants to leverage current law and building codes to protect neighborhoods and increase the amount of affordable housing.
“Without compromising the integrity of our laws and our policies, how can we look at trying to deregulate? … Looking at maybe more incentives rather than the mandates, looking at ways that we can help to help the developers, help our citizens … obtain more housing,” she said.
“It’s such a balancing act. … We have to be very careful about making these sweeping changes, and quick changes, because it took us a while to get to where we are in these circumstances. … So I really look at issues and how to resolve them on really almost a case-by-case basis.”
Dos Santos-Tam maintains that Oahu particularly lacks needed workforce housing. He pointed to the district’s Punchbowl area as an example where low- to midrise apartments buildings were constructed decades ago, but the area has not seen significant apartment development in a long time.
“If we’re going to solve our housing crisis, we have to unlock our low- to medium-density apartment districts,” he said. “It’s a matter of unlocking our apartments zones, making sure that is a product type that’s available to people” in workforce housing income brackets.
Dos Santos-Tam said he wants to increase the density allowed in a few apartment zones. Also, he wants to see more housing for those making below 30% of Honolulu’s annual median income as a way to support families and individuals who are coming out of homelessness.
Additionally, Dos Santos-Tam said his background in the construction industry would be helpful, if elected. He has served as executive director of the Hawaii Construction Alliance, representing five union groups, and co-founded HI Good Neighbor, an group of citizens strongly opposed to the proliferation of “monster homes.”
Dos Santos-Tam and Toguchi want to see improvement at the city’s troubled Department of Planning and Permitting, as both cited building permit delays as a major issue.
One of Toguchi’s ideas is to possibly create a threshold for building projects under a certain amount to forgo the full permitting process. She said she would need to check with city attorneys to see whether that would be possible.
Dos Santos Tam said DPP could be headed in the right direction as it tries to streamline its processes with new technology, but warned that the department needs to be proactive to avoid snags such as those that people experience with the current e-plans system. He also advocates for DPP collecting fines levied against properties in violation of the building codes.
When it comes to crime, both candidates are supportive of more police patrols in the district as they contend that more police visibility could help deter crime. However, both acknowledged the large count of vacancies in the Honolulu Police Department. Toguchi added that it is the Council’s role to financially support HPD by appropriating funds to the department.
Dos Santos-Tam maintained that the city prosecutor’s office could be better supported to fully prosecute cases, particularly repeat offenders.
According to the latest campaign finance report, which tallied figures through Oct. 24, Toguchi raised nearly $80,000. Dos Santos-Tam’s campaign spending disclosure form for that period is not yet available, but according to the last disclosure, which ended on Sept. 26, he raised $208,055.
Toguchi’s campaign contributions — until the most recent report — have been almost completely made up of contributions under $1,000, with a few exceptions. However, she has recently received larger donations from several labor unions, including electrical workers, sheet metal workers and ironworkers. She also received larger donations from Castle & Cooke and the General Contractors Association of Hawaii.
Toguchi has spent $68,428.63, mostly on advertising and printing.
Dos Santos-Tam’s larger contributions came from the Kobayashi Group and Black Sand Capital, as well as labor unions such as the painters, public workers and carpenters. He also received $2,000 from current Council Chair Tommy Waters’ campaign fund and $4,000 from former Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s campaign fund.
Dos Santos-Tam spent $162,358 mostly on printing, advertising and events. One of his largest expenses was $12,226 to Salem Media of Hawaii Inc. for social media advertising.
For more voter information, visit elections.hawaii.gov or call 808-453-VOTE (8683).
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