Neighborhood board election campaigns begin
By Suzanne Roig, Eloise Aguilar and James Gonser
Advertiser Staff Writers
As ballots for the neighborhood board elections begin arriving in voters' mailboxes, full-color flyers from many candidates championing their candidacy are appearing, too.
Flyers are popping up in mailboxes and direct-mail newspapers in communities where issues have stirred public debate.
And where the debate is heated, more candidates have come forward this election, said Benjamin Kama, executive secretary of the Neighborhood Commission.
Campaigning for these unpaid positions also has reached a new level.
Traditionally, candidates have relied on door-to-door canvassing of the neighborhood or a sign in their yard. But this year, many are taking a team approach, in which a group of candidates share the cost of direct mail flyers or inserts in newspapers and campaign as a group, often with a common stance or strategy.
Group campaigning is allowed by the Neighborhood Commission, which governs neighborhood boards, but it worries some individual board members who fear that the team will cast their vote as a bloc and their actions will change the nonpartisan nature of the boards.
Results of elections for all 32 boards island-wide will be known by May 1.
Using past elections as a guide, the commission expects that about one-third of the 260,000 ballots mailed to registered voters this week will be returned, Kama said.
A total of 600 candidates are vying for 454 seats, compared with the last election two years ago, when there were 520 candidates for the same number of openings. Board members are elected every two years.
Money for mailings
In Hawai'i Kai, four candidates — two incumbents and two newcomers — have formed a team, vying against nine other candidates to fill four at-large seats.
The four men, Charlie Rodgers, David Livingston, Joe Leoni and Michael John Maroney, call themselves the "Common Sense" team in direct mailings and an insert in the direct-mail Midweek publication. Rodgers declined to state how much each member paid for the mailings.
A similar mailing went out in 'Ewa, where nine seats are up for election. There, a group of incumbents — Tesha Malama, Henry Mikini, Pam and Garry Smith — and newcomers — Mark Hubbard, Christopher Lewis, John DeOlivera and Michael Turman — banded together, each spending about $100 each to print a postcard and a flyer.
One was bulk mailed, the other hand -delivered to registered voters in the area.
'Ewa Neighborhood Board member Jeff Alexander said the group is basically a Republican ticket and has made claims in its flyers about how it has brought city vision team money into the community, claims that are not true, Alexander said. He plans to file a complaint with the Neighborhood Commission.
"It is an attempt to take over the board," Alexander said. "I don't mind them campaigning. I just want the information accurate and on the up and up."
'Ewa board member Tesha Malama denied that the slate of candidates has any intention of taking over the board and said they are not all Republicans.
State law is silent on Neighborhood Board candidates advertising, campaigning and soliciting financial support for a seat on the board, Kama said. But a candidate may not accept any in kind contribution or money from an elected official, Kama said. The use of flyers to campaign is becoming more commonplace, he said. But many of those being used now are full-color, more sophisticated, more costly.
Why join a team?
Mary Houghton, a member of the Hawa'i Kai Neighborhood Board for five years, said she was approached by the Common Sense team, but declined to join.
"The team approach means they've aligned themselves," Houghton said. "It is like any affiliation, like Democrat, Republican or Green team. The community is supposed to be represented by individuals rather than a team of people."
Malama said the group she belongs to got together not only to share the cost of advertising, but because they believe these people will be active participants at community meetings.
"We are not a slate based on issues," Malama said. "Not everybody that decided to get together will vote the same. We have some people with distinct opposing views, but we have the common goal to make sure we take action for our community."
Malama said group members are Republicans and Democrats who wanted to ensure that the members attend the meetings and put forward projects in the community.
Rodgers, one of the team of Hawai'i Kai candidates, has served 12 years on the board, many as its chairman, and never once had he campaigned or printed up flyers.
But this year, "I felt I needed the team to help pitch good people who have a vision," Rodgers said. "I've never aligned with another candidate before. I was the largest vote getter last election."
Controversial issues
In Hawai' Kai, there were several controversial issues that helped bring out more candidates. Chief among them was the cemetery for the vacant land behind Mariner's Cove.
Many residents felt that the Neighborhood Board vote in favor of building a cemetery did not reflect their wishes.
Another issue that divided Hawai'i Kai was a rezoning request for the same area that will allow homes to be built on land that had been zoned for agricultural use.
The Neighborhood Board supported the rezoning request, and the City Council ultimately approved the development proposal.
Neighborhood Boards started in 1975 as a way to increase public participation in government, Kama said. The boards are considered an important way to gauge the pulse of a community on proposals and issues before government agencies and elected officials.
While neighborhood boards are advisory in nature, decision-making bodies increasingly look to see whether they have taken a stance on an issue before making their own decisions.
When issues come before the City Council, many ask applicants if they have made a presentation to the Neighborhood Board and whether the board took a position.
Champions of various projects generally spend a great deal of time and money on presentations before neighborhood boards.
At least once or twice a year, Mike Klein, president of the Hawai'i Intergenerational Community Development Association, goes before the Hawai'i Kai and Wai'anae Coast neighborhood boards with affordable housing projects.
While the boards don't have any official say on whether a project gets approved, Klein said, he felt the city looks to the neighborhood board as a barometer of how the community feels.
"They're looked to for the first indication of whether there will be an issue or not, or if a project will be accepted by the community," Klein said. "It's a filtering system. It's a forum for people to voice their consideration before it gets to the City Council or the mayor's desk."
Low-budget campaigns
But not all boards are forming teams and printing flyers.
Many are holding on to traditional low-budget forms of campaigning: walking door-to-door, posting signs in yards, and making telephone calls. That's how the candidates campaign in Kailua.
In Neighborhood Board Subdistrict 4, one area of Kailua, 11 candidates have filed to fill seven seats. In the past as many as 18 to 25 would sign up, said candidate Larry Bartley, who served on the board from 1989 to1995.
Bartley said he resigned having accomplished everything he set out to do, but recent issues such as land-use and park deterioration have brought him back.
"I see the constant pressure for zoning change," he said, adding that the city isn't doing enough to maintain parks, but is spending thousands of dollars on new facilities.
Bartley said he won't spend any money to run for office, instead relying on word of mouth and walking the neighborhood to introduce himself to his constituents.
"I do have friends who will campaign for me via telephone," he said.
Knud Lindgard, an incumbent for about seven years, said he's running because he was asked to.
"They said if I don't go and run again there won't be an honest person on the board," Lindgard said. "I'm straightforward as it is and people seem to like it."
