Experience counts in the races for the Honolulu City Council, as for all elected officials, which is why the two candidates in the active contests with the most significant track records are the ones who voters should choose during the primary election cycle.
That would be Scott Nishimoto, seeking to represent District 5 in the urban core, and Esther Kia‘aina for the sprawling Windward Oahu District 3 seat. Incumbent Kia‘aina currently serves as the Council vice chair.
Nishimoto is seeking to succeed the retiring Councilmember Calvin Say; he would be a new arrival at Honolulu Hale, but one equipped with two decades representing McCully and Moiliili communities in the state House.
Setting their records aside, both candidates are accountable to their constituents in other ways, including the spending of taxpayer dollars. For one issue, the 2023 pay raise authorized by the Honolulu Salary Commission for the Council, from $69,000 to $113,000 annually, figured in a round-table discussion by Nishimoto’s rivals for the job.
The candidates, nonprofit director Brendan Schultz and business veteran William Muneno, appeared recently on the PBS-Hawai‘i “Insights” series; Nishimoto declined to attend. Schultz in particular pledged to cap his own salary well below the new scale, to the average Oahu salary.
To that point, Kia‘aina, along with four other Council members, did accept the commission’s recommended 64% pay raise. That entire disappointing episode should inform better decision-making, going forward.
Nishimoto, at that point still a state representative, was not involved in that decision, but he should be on notice that this kind of self-dealing is a concern to voters.
Further, Nishimoto could provide more detail about what he would do for the district, if elected. In an interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, he did say he would focus on Honolulu’s high cost of living, increasing affordable housing and upgrading infrastructure for traffic and other needs. The voters could use more specifics from the candidate.
Kia‘aina faces three opponents: business owner Christopher J. Curren; music producer and musician David Kauahikaua; and Kelsey Nakanelua, an Olympian and retired U.S. Navy Reserve officer. However, Kia‘aina has a resume that is hard to beat: years of work on staff with Hawaii’s congressional delegation; an appointment in the Obama administration’s Interior Department; and a deputy director for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
She has advocated for controls on short-term rentals and on commercial activities at Waimanalo and Kailua beach parks, and for ohana-unit provisions to address the housing need. She told the Star-Advertiser that building more affordable housing units — and seeking federal funds for this purpose — would be a priority.
For his part, Nishimoto was first elected to the state House in 2003 after working on the staff of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. In those 20 years, he has chaired the Judiciary, higher education and legislative management committees, as well as being vice chair of House Finance and taking charge of subcommittees on grants-in-aid and capital improvement projects.
All of that tenure, and especially the work with CIP funding, will serve his constituents by advancing any infrastructure projects he does pursue.
These two races are the only examples of political engagement for Council seats; incumbents Augie Tulba, Radiant Cordero and Andria Tupola are running unopposed. It is gratifying, however, to see evidence that skills and experience are being brought to bear in Windward and urban Oahu.
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