Neighbor Island legislative districts get new boundaries
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief
New boundaries for the Neighbor Island House and Senate districts were released yesterday by the state Reapportionment Commission, and some onlookers said the new lines are a vast improvement over earlier efforts.
The commission used a complex new formula to eliminate two "canoe" districts that have bothered some voters for years. Those districts require some members of the Legislature to represent portions of more than one island.
Many Neighbor Island residents have said they dislike canoe districts because it is difficult for representatives and senators to shuttle back and forth between the State Capitol in Honolulu and two other islands. Madge Schaefer, a vocal critic of the commission's earlier plans, said she is happy with the new maps.
"I think it was well worth the fight to see that the Neighbor Islands were properly apportioned," she said. "I'm delighted."
The Reapportionment Commission is appointed every 10 years to redraw the boundaries of the 51 House and 25 Senate districts and equalize the populations in each district, using numbers from the latest Census.
To get rid of the canoe districts and still provide for equal representation of each resident in the Legislature, commission members agreed to balance representation in the House against representation in the Senate.
That means some communities will be overrepresented in the House and underrepresented in the Senate. In other communities, the reverse will happen.
Kaua'i, for example, will see its representation in the state Senate decrease while its representation in the House will increase to balance that loss.
The new boundaries give Kaua'i one Senate seat. Today Kaua'i has one Senate seat and a partial or "canoe" Senate seat that combines portions of Kaua'i and Maui.
In the House the new boundaries give Kaua'i three seats, compared with the two House seats and a canoe House seat that combines portions of Kaua'i and Maui.
On Maui, the new boundaries will give that island greater representation in both the House and Senate, a reflection of the population growth there over the last decade. Maui now has four House seats and a "canoe" seat that combines portions of Maui and Kaua'i. The new boundaries will give Maui six House seats of its own.
In the Senate, Maui will have three seats, an increase over the two seats and one canoe district seat it has now. The latest plan would give the Big Island seven House seats — an increase from the six seats the Big Island has today — but would leave the Big Island with three Senate seats.
The new Big Island Senate boundaries may stir some controversy because the commission is proposing a new Senate seat in Kona, which reflects the population growth in that area over the last 10 years. North Kona has a history of electing Republicans, which means the new boundaries offer the GOP a good chance of gaining a new seat in the Senate.
The new maps also adjust the Senate district boundaries in Hilo and Hamakua in ways that place incumbent Sens. Lorraine Inouye, D-1st (Hawi, N. Kona, Waimea) and David Matsuura, D-2nd (S. Hilo, Puna) in the same district. That means unless one of the incumbents moves or steps down, Inouye and Matsuura will have to run against each other next year.
The new boundaries in Maui also combined Democratic Sens. Kalani English, D-5th (Kahului, Upcountry Maui), and Jan Buen, D-4th (W. Maui, Moloka'i, Lana') into the same district, but English said he intends to solve that problem by moving back to the Hana area where he grew up.
The commission is scheduled to release new boundaries for O'ahu next week, but lawmakers said the commission is considering redrawing the East Honolulu districts in a way that would put two of the three Senate Republicans — Sen. Fred Hemmings and Sen. Sam Slom — in the same district.
Hemmings and Slom said some members of the commission have told them Hemmings' Kailua-Waimanalo district may extend into part of Slom's Wai'alae Iki-Hawai'i Kai district.
Hemmings called such redistricting "curious" but said one of them will just have to move.
Sen. Sam Slom, R-8th (Wai'alae Iki, Hawai'i Kai), declined to comment on the possible district plans but said he's not in a position to move into another district.
The Reapportionment Commission is scheduling a series of public hearings on all islands next month to gather comments about the maps, and plans to adopt final versions of the maps Nov. 30.
Advertiser staff writer Lynda Arakawa contributed to this report.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
