Posted on: Tuesday, October 8, 2002

ELECTION 2002
Leeward economy a concern

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Council District 1
MIKE GABBARD ADDRESS: P.O. Box 2217, 'Ewa Beach 96706 OCCUPATION: Entrepreneur running several businesses, with products including music, marriage and lifestyle counseling, political communications and a confection business FAMILY: Married, five children, four grandchildren ONE BIG IDEA: "Public servants need to be instilled with a sense of 'ohana, and that is taking pride and enjoying their service to the larger family — their community."	PAM WITTY-OAKLAND ADDRESS: P.O. Box 700610, Kapolei 96707 OCCUPATION: Legislative aide FAMILY: One son, two stepsons ONE BIG IDEA: "We need to secure the community's fair share of funding to build the infrastructure — i.e., roads, parks and schools — to support our district as the place to live, work, learn and play."

After advancing out of a field that included five other candidates, a pro-family activist and a city budget analyst are battling for the Wai'anae-'Ewa seat vacated by retiring City Council Chairman John DeSoto.

Local businessman Mike Gabbard is the front-runner in this race, after receiving more than twice the number of votes as his opponent, Pamela Witty-Oakland, a legislative aide for DeSoto, in the Sept. 21 primary.

However, while Gabbard received 5,321 votes to Witty-Oakland's 2,604, she still believes it can be a close race in the Nov. 5 general election. Witty-Oakland says she has received endorsements from four of the five other candidates in the primary, who collectively received 3,848 votes. Another 1,264 went to Cynthia Rezentes and another 1,754 were blank or overvotes.

City Council District I, stretching from Ka'ena Point to 'Ewa Beach, includes a mixture of lower-income areas along the Wai'anae Coast and Kalaeloa, and growing suburban neighborhoods in Kapolei and 'Ewa.

Approximately 92,000 residents live in the district, and 34,000 are registered voters. In the primary, 14,791 voters cast ballots in that district.

While they agree that economic development and traffic are the major issues in the district, the two candidates bring different perspectives to the table.

Witty-Oakland, 43, a city budget analyst for City Council Chairman John DeSoto since 1994, also owns a public accounting firm, motor sports promotion corporation, and manages a machine shop and automotive parts outlet.

"As a council budget analyst, I've gone through nine budget cycles. I understand how the city works and how to get things implemented," she said.

Gabbard, 54, said his strength is in bringing the community together. A local entrepreneur and musician, Gabbard became a public figure by spearheading the successful drive to ban same-sex marriage in Hawai'i in 1998.

Often dubbed as an anti-homosexual activist, Gabbard said he does not foresee any issues relating to sexual-orientation coming up before the City Council. "We're dealing with potholes and sewage and parks. That's what the city and county is all about," he said. "I have no hidden agenda as far as social issues."

Gabbard does plan to use his experience as head of the Alliance for Traditional Marriage to try to bring his community together.

The city needs to work to reduce the high cost of living, which would allow parents to work less and spend more time with their families, Gabbard said. "I don't have a specific plan right off hand," he said. "I want to hold monthly meetings in each of the communities and get everybody together to address the problems and figure out ways we can work together."

Witty-Oakland said she would try to publicize the fact that Wai'anae and most of Kapolei fall into an enterprise zone, which encourages new development and businesses in the region with tax incentives and fee waivers. "Along those lines, I'd promote continued legislation to attract business development out there," she said. "There are tools in place that I think are not very well publicized."

The two candidates agreed that raising property taxes is not the best solution for dealing with a lean city budget, but offered different strategies for addressing budgetary issues.

"One of the things I want to look at is the duplication of city and state functions," Witty-Oakland said. "There are a lot of functions that are, in my opinion, state-mandated and state-issued." For example, she cited the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and the city Office of Economic Development.

"I think we need to look at our city budget and remove these redundancies and determine whether we do really have a shortfall or whether we're duplicating, charging taxpayers for the same service twice, out of their income taxes and real property tax," she said.

Said Gabbard: "We should be trying to reduce the cost of government by learning how to do more with less. If there's a sense of 'ohana in government workers, they'll know they're working for the larger family, the community, and not just for a paycheck.

"If that's their consciousness, they'll be happy working for a cause greater than just themselves. If we can increase this sense of 'ohana, this sense of service in those who work for the community, government will be more efficient and productive."

Trash is a major issue in the region, with the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill about eight months away from capacity. Gabbard thinks it provides an opportunity for Hawai'i to become a leader in solid waste management. "I think we should be looking seriously at some of these high-tech solutions," he said, referring specifically to plasma gasification and vitrification, which he said is more environmentally friendly than H-Power.

In addition, he would push for a statewide recycling program. "What we call trash and bury or burn is really just material that we haven't figured out how to reuse," he said.

Witty-Oakland also said she would push to promote recycling and reducing the amount of trash produced.

With commuters to Honolulu sometimes spending more than three hours a day in traffic, transportation is a major issue in the district.

Witty-Oakland said that the traffic problem in the district could be solved by more employment opportunities in Kapolei, Wai'anae and 'Ewa that would reduce the need to commute, but she would also work toward improving roadways.

She plans to seek a seat on the O'ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, which has a policy committee that sets priorities for spending federal and state highway money, which trickles down to the county level. Other transportation priorities in her district include building a second access route from Wai'anae and regional roadways that would connect the Wai'anae and 'Ewa regions — specifically the North-South Road and the Kapolei Parkway. "We need to build those regional roadways to connect it to make it one big region," she said.

Gabbard said traffic problems on the 'Ewa Plain are on track for corrective action, but the city needs to solve the problems on Farrington Highway along the Wai'anae Coast. "The recent horrific traffic jams in that area where families were stranded on the highway for hours is proof that we need to get serious about an alternative route in and out of Wai'anae," he said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.