In an unusual confrontation between established island Democrats, two-term County Councilman Greggor Ilagan from Puna is running for the state Senate seat now held by Russell Ruderman, setting up a potentially fierce primary contest that would be a study in political contrasts.
Ilagan supports continued geothermal development on the Big Island as a source of alternative energy. He was also one of three County Council members to vote in 2013 against a ban on farming of new genetically modified crops on the island; Ilagan said he could find no scientific evidence that GMO crops are unsafe.
Those are hot-button issues in Puna and at the state level, and Ruderman has taken near-opposite positions on both. Ruderman is the operator of a chain of organic food stores on Hawaii island, and strongly supported the GMO ban. He opposes additional geothermal development on the island because he contends other types of renewable energy such as solar power are safer and more desirable than geothermal plants.
Ruderman (D, Puna) and Ilagan represent rural Puna subdivisions with fast-growing, mostly working-class populations. Those neighborhoods have some of the most affordable land and housing in the state but remain affordable in part because many communities lack basic amenities such as paved roads and county water service.
Puna was battered by Tropical Storm Iselle and threatened by a lava flow last year, events that underscored the risk of natural disasters in a district served by just one major transportation corridor, state Highway 130. That highway is clogged daily with commuter traffic, and those regular traffic jams have long been a source of voter unhappiness.
Many residents argue that Puna has never received its fair share of government attention or resources, and some offer up harsh criticism of the county and state political establishments in Hilo and Honolulu.
Ilagan’s very early announcement of his plans to run for the Senate seat representing Puna clearly rankles Ruderman, who said he had been talking about a possible run for Ilagan’s County Council seat.
“I think it’s childish for someone to announce their intentions a year and a half in advance when they don’t know what their opponent is going to do,” Ruderman said. “I think people have been whispering in his ear.”
As for Ruderman’s plans, “I’m considering my options,” he said. Despite a published report that he is weighing a possible run for Big Island mayor, Ruderman said he is simply keeping all options open. “I have no decision made, and I might very well stay where I am.”
As chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Ruderman says his focus this year was on strengthening agriculture and food security, and supporting family farms. However, Ruderman was ousted as chairman of that committee late in the 2015 session during the Senate reorganization.
Committee chairmanships are a primary source of power for state lawmakers, but Ruderman described the loss of his committee as “a very temporary setback.” He said he lost his committee because he dared “to cross people who are currently in power.”
“I stand with the other honest members of the Senate in having been punished for valuing public input, and I’m proud to stand with them,” he said. He refused to elaborate, saying the new Senate leadership should explain the reasons for the reorganization.
Ilagan described the Senate leadership shuffle as a more serious problem because Ruderman has been excluded from the factions that have the power to steer more funding to Puna or Hawaii island.
“I know Russell is trying his best,” Ilagan said, but the Senate reorganization left Ruderman at a disadvantage. “I felt like he could definitely have done it differently. It’s not necessarily me against Russell. It’s more like I’m trying to just do my very best on the state side.”
Ilagan said he has “solid connections” at the Legislature and would support state Sen. Ron Kouchi (D, Kauai-Niihau) in Kouchiʻs new role as Senate president.
“I feel like our island itself is not getting the state money that we need,” Ilagan said, adding that Puna needs investment in its infrastructure such as waterlines and roads.
Ilagan was born in the Philippines, and moved with his mother to Panaewa on Hawaii island when he was 7. He spoke only Visayan and initially struggled in school before graduating from Waiakea High and joining the Hawaii Air National Guard. He served for six years, including three years of active duty on the mainland.
Ilagan first won his seat at 26 to become the youngest member ever elected to the County Council. He received significant support from the United Public Workers union in that election, and was endorsed in 2014 by the carpenters and other construction trade unions as well as the ILWU and the police union.
His tumultuous first term as a councilman included the GMO controversy that featured days of passionate testimony, mostly in favor of a ban. In the end, Ilagan said, he took the political risk of voting against the ban in part because his research showed some of the testimony about harm from GMO crops was untrue.
In 2014 a federal magistrate ruled the county’s GMO ban is invalid because it is pre-empted by state and federal law. The county has appealed that decision.
Days before the 2014 primary when Ilagan was seeking re-election, Puna was struck by Tropical Storm Iselle, which downed trees, knocked out power and blocked roads. Election returns were delayed because many residents could not reach the polls, and public attention shifted almost entirely to the storm recovery effort. Ilagan was re-elected outright in the nonpartisan primary after he garnered more than 50 percent of the vote.
Ilagan said his key accomplishments on the Council include obtaining a bus route through the sprawling Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision and earmarking planning money for a new park in that subdivision. He also obtained matching funds for a coordinator position to help control invasive albizia trees, and established a “Puna Watch” to help coordinate the activities of all of the neighborhood watches.
Ruderman, 61, acknowledges stark differences between him and Ilagan on the GMO issue but says that issue shouldn’t define him because it isn’t the most important concern for most Puna residents. Ruderman said 98 percent of his time is spent dealing with matters other than geothermal or GMO.
Ruderman, a 30-year resident of Puna, is president and founder of the Island Naturals Markets organic food stores. He said his three stores have 200 employees, and Ruderman was named Hawaii Small Businessman of the Year for 2015 by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
He cited his bill approved by the Legislature this year to make it easier for Puna residents to get and maintain insurance coverage in the face of the lava threat as one key accomplishment, along with his success in obtaining an appropriation of $2.3 million for equipment and more laptop computers for the two poorest schools in his district: Pahoa Intermediate and High School and Mountain View Elementary School.
Ruderman obtained planning money for a proposed Puna regional library, and was named Legislator of the Year by the Hawaii Friends of the Library for his advocacy for libraries. He also cited his efforts along with state Rep. Joy San Buenaventura (D, Hawaiian Acres-Pahoa-Kalapana) to help persuade lawmakers to appropriate $15 million for design funding for repair and maintenance of feeder routes and alternate routes for Highway 130.
Next year, Ruderman said, he plans to press the state to do more to control albizia trees and infestations of the little fire ant, and to make more progress on publicly funded campaigns and mail-in balloting.
“I think money in government is a huge problem, and I rail against that,” he said. “I have opposed the influence of big money in politics.”
