Name on ballot:

Ikaika Kailiawa-Smith

Running for:

Hawaii county council – District 6

Political party:

No answer submitted

Campaign website:

No answer submitted

Current occupation:

Welder/mechanic/rancher

Age:

32

Previous job history:

U.S. Army, construction, ranching

Previous elected office, if any:

No answer submitted

Please describe your qualifications to represent the voters of your county.

Our government has no qualifications to represent the people, that’s the beauty of our democracy. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Democracy is a rule of the people, for the people and by the people”. I am one of the people, I am a husband,father,veteran,business owner and rancher. I am a working class family man, running to represent working class families. For far too long the working class has been represented by the top one percent. We the people have been led to believe that a politician is someone that has a special degree or job title or as you put it “qualifications”. When in actuality our country is founded on the belief that we have a representative government of the people. How can the working class be represented if the people elected to office are not working class? They can’t and that is why I am qualified to run for office.

What is the most pressing issue facing the voters you seek to represent, and how would you address the problem?

In our district there isn’t a single transfer station open 7 days a week, we have the largest district so this is not acceptable. Some of our roads haven’t been repaved in my life time and crime is out of control In towns like ocean view. I will work to hold directors responsible, push for more hiring of employees and officers to staff police stations and transfer stations. I will also work with state representatives and senators like Dru Kanuha to help get the people of our district what they deserve.

Do you support or oppose the development of the Thirty Meter Telescope? Please explain.

No I do not, not for emotional reasons but fact and history based. They have put up multiple telescopes, they then decommission them and leave them on our sky lines. This is un acceptable, if I throw a pice or trash on the ground it is littering but if tons and tons of steel,glass and chemicals are left on Mauna Kea it’s ok? No it is not so they need to first clean up the mess they have made before even considering building another telescope.

What are the best ways for county government to alleviate homelessness on the island and to increase the availability of affordable housing?

Simple, go after non profits and states that are trafficking homeless people to Hawaii. It’s been well documented that most of the homeless here are not from here. When you ask them how they got here they will tell you that a non profit or state program sent them. I believe they should be sent back to the mainland where they can be closer to family and get treatment for the issues they have. Secondly “affordable housing” is a buzz word used by government and developers to build tax payer funding apartments. If someone is a millionaire then a million dollar home is “affordable”. What we need to do is fix the planing and permitting process. There was a study don’t by the university of Hawaii. They found that 62% of the cost to build a condo goes to permits and fees. If we extrapolate that to single family homes it won’t be further off. We have plantation homes that have stood for decades, we should be building to that spec instead of all the other things the government come up with to make the home more expensive.

What can the county do to help island residents cope with the overall high cost of living in Hawaii?

Work with federal representatives to remove the jones act. Give tax exemptions to ranchers and farmers that grow food to help keep the food here instead of shipping it in.

How prepared is the county to deal with a major natural disaster and what would you do to improve preparedness and responsiveness?

Improving preparedness need to start with education and making sure the public knows what types of threats we face. In 2017 my family and I were living in the Houston area when hurricane Harvey hit, the government made sure well in advance that people knew to prepare. I ended up taking my boat out and taking dozens of people off the roofs of their homes and to a central location where they could find shelter because some people couldn’t prepare for what came. My family and I were lucky enough not to have damage to our ranch or home but that week will be with us forever. The government always should keep people informed.

What measures, if any, should county government take to regulate short-term vacation rentals?

The only short term rentals that the county should regulate is non hosted. The government should not be doing the bidding of the hotel lobby. We need to regulate home owners who live in the mainland, take all their money to the mainland but yet rent out vacation homes here. On the other hand we shouldn’t be forcing local people out who are trying to off set the cost of living in one of the highest taxed states in the nation.

What more needs to be done to reduce crime on Hawaii island?

Higher more police.

What will be your top priority if elected?

Fighting the states over reaching laws on cesspools, opening the transfer stations 7 days a week, hiring law enforcement from the community and fixing roads.

Is there anything more that you would like voters to know about you?

I hope that more local people from all walks of life get more involved in politics. I also hope more working class people will run for office to represent the working class.