2 House veterans vie for seat

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

At least one long-time Democrat will lose his or her seat in the Legislature as two veteran lawmakers face off in the primary election Sept. 21 to represent McCully, Mo'ili'ili and Pawa'a.

Reps. Scott Saiki and Terry Nui Yoshinaga both grew up in the area and are seeking re-election to their fifth terms in the House. Portions of both incumbents' former districts have been combined to create the new District 22 after it was redrawn during reapportionment last year.

District 22 biographies Scott Saiki D-20th (Kapahulu, Mo'ili'ili) Address: 1200 Date St. Occupation: Attorney, Bickerton Saunders & Dang. University of Hawai'i, Richardson School of Law. Family: Single One big idea: Make public education work. "I really believe more than ever that the No. 1 function of government is public education. I think the Legislature in the next two years has to spend a lot of time looking at how we can modernize the public education system. Not just governance — should we have local school boards? — but the nitty-gritty issues, such as the accounting procedures within the department. We have to see if we can bring the system up to a different kind of fuctional level and make it work." Terry Nui Yoshinaga (D) Address: Bingham Street Occupation: Attorney, University of Hawai'i, Richardson School of Law. Family: Divorced with one daughter. One big idea: Continue to fight crime. "For the district, it is still about crime. We are not affluent. People still call saying they are seeing drug deals on the streets. The long-term residents are still concerned that they have to do community watches." Christopher Kelly (R) Address: 1655 Kanunu St. Occupation: Medical doctor and Ala Moana/Kaka'ako Neighborhood Board member Family: Married, two daughters. One big idea: Fix the public schools through decentralization.

"The reapportionment kind of created a district that is a lot better," said Saiki, who is losing areas of Kapahulu from the old District 20. "Their interests are the same. You have residents interested in the quality of life-type issues — health care, commercial development, those kinds of things. It is very diverse, but a cohesive community."

The neighborhood around Yoshinaga's family home on Bingham Street is part of the old District 22 and has been moved into the reshaped District 23 along with Manoa. Yoshinaga was forced to make a critical decision: Move out of her family home into the new district to face a fellow Democrat or stay where she is and seek the Manoa seat left without an incumbent as Rep. Ed Case seeks the governor's office.

She chose the former.

"Mo'ili'ili is where I grew up. I attended the schools in the district," Yoshinaga said. "My whole orientation and identification is as a Mo'ili'ili resident. My neighborhood petitioned to stay with Mo'ili'ili but the commission, in their wisdom, decided for census reasons to put us with Manoa."

Yoshinaga is looking for a new home inside the redrawn district and must find one by the Aug. 22 voter registration deadline or she will not be allowed to vote for herself in the primary election. If she wins the primary, she must move by the general election in order to legally take office.

District 22 makes up a core Honolulu residential area and is bounded by South King Street from Keeaumoku Street to University Avenue, up to Dole Street, over to Wai'alae Avenue, down to Kapi'olani Boulevard and back to Keeaumoku.

Much of the area is single-family homes on small lots, but it also includes many older two-story apartments and some high-rise condominiums along the Kapi'olani corridor. The area's major shopping district centers on the Daiei store on Kaheka Street. The busy Mo'ili'ili Community Center provides programs for the oldest and youngest in the area, and its parking lot has become a haven for the homeless at night.

The many churches, neighborhood shops and shave ice stands built years ago are still around.

But the area is on the brink of new development as University of Hawai'i President Evan Dobelle makes plans for a "college town" to connect the university with the business community of Mo'ili'ili. Kamehameha Schools will also soon have a major impact as the estate plots the future for its properties, which include the land under Puck's Alley and along South Beretania Street, with many leases expired or about to expire.

District 22, once known primarily as the site of the old Honolulu Stadium, is today made up of the second and third generations of the Hawaiian, Chinese and Japanese families who settled in the area decades ago, along with University of Hawai'i students, faculty and others who find the area a convenient and safe in-town neighborhood.

The area has a population of 23,542, but only about 8,000 voters have registered for this election so far, according to the city.

Residents of Japanese ancestry make up the largest single ethnic group with 7,262 people, followed by Caucasian (2,998), Chinese (2,402) Korean (2,030) and Filipino (1,037). Only 757 Native Hawaiians still call the area home.

With perhaps significant development on the horizon, one of the largest issues for the area will concern planning.

Besides the UH "college town" initiative, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands plans a commercial development at the old University Bowl-O-Drome on Isenberg Street, and changing demographics promise to reshape the district's housing needs, said Carl Takamura, executive director of the Hawai'i Business Roundtable and state House representative for the area from 1974 to 1978.

"Some development issues are coming," said Takamura. Among them is the likelihood that more single-family home lots will be sold and the land converted to condominium high-rise projects as the area's population ages. Already 40 percent of the residents are 50 or older.

"A developer would have to put together several of these small properties to come up with a lot size big enough to do anything significant," Takamura said. "In terms of planning it has to be done right so it doesn't become a hodgepodge."

Betty Lou Larson, program director of the housing assistance program at Catholic Charities Elderly Services and a member of the McCully Mo'ili'ili Neighborhood Board, said Mo'ili'ili is a working class area filled with small businesses and affordable housing.

Larson said the community issues include elderly care, traffic congestion, parking problems and the lack of open park space.

"What can be done to make it safe and provide access to the businesses in the area?" Larson asked. "Our area is second-lowest in the amount of park space per population after Waikiki."

Both candidates are looking to improve the quality of life for their constituents.

Yoshinaga enjoys talking and will discuss at length the issues she considers important.

She sits on the House Labor and Public Employment, Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, Transportation, and Consumer Protection and Commerce committees.

She helped create the Discover Mo'ili'ili event and the Invest In A School program. She wants to develop more job opportunities for Hawai'i's youth by allowing tax incentives for high technology and environmental technology businesses.

"I'd like to see the area developed to include middle-income, young professionals with young children as an alternative to moving to Central O'ahu," Yoshinaga said. "Families who like the urban lifestyle with lots of activities with an ethnic focus. I want to hang on to what is best in our community, but move into the future."

Saiki is a quiet man who prefers to let his actions speak for him.

Saiki championed the fight to retain state funding for the senior citizen program at the Mo'ili'ili Community Center and with City Council member Ann Kobayashi worked get a traffic light installed on King Street near Star Market to allow seniors to safely cross the busy street.

"This area is home for many elderly persons who must cross the street daily to shop or catch the bus," Saiki said. "Many of them have been lobbying for years to get a traffic signal installed because while the crosswalk is helpful, they feel a traffic light will give them the safety and peace of mind they want when crossing this congested area. And I fully agree with them."

Saiki was co-chairman of the Legislature's Felix Investigative Committee and is House Majority Whip. He is chairman of the House Labor and Public Employment Committee and sits on the Finance, Public Safety and Military Affairs committees.

"I feel like in the past eight years I have worked on very significant statewide issues as well as significant community issues," Saiki said. "I have also been involved with government reform and environmental legislation. On the community level I've been involved with senior center funding, schools, support for the nonprofits in our community and been pretty effective on that level as well. I think the residents do keep track of our work at the Legislature and I think that will make a difference in the end."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.