Five vie for District 4 council seat

With two City Councilmen stepping down due to term limits, the area from Makapu'u to Kaka'ako will see new representation for the first time since the mid-1990s.

When voters of the newly reconfigured District 4 go to the polls in the primary election on Sept. 21, they will choose from a field of five candidates ranging from a state representative who is losing his seat due to reapportionment, to a veteran former city appointee, to a neighborhood board member and two political newcomers.

That leaves the position wide open in this nonpartisan race for an area that now runs from Makapu'u to Kaka'ako and includes portions of Kapahulu, Kaimuki and Makiki, following last year's reapportionment.

Any candidate taking more than 50 percent of the vote will be sworn in to represent District 4 in January, said Glen Takahashi, city elections administrator. However, if no candidate takes the majority of the votes, then the top two vote-getters will face off in the general election on Nov. 5.

"It's an entirely new district; it doesn't look like it did before," Takahashi said. "It used to wrap around Makapu'u and now it ends at Makapu'u and goes to Ala Moana Beach Park."

Candidate Charles Djou is a new resident of the district. The others, Bob Fishman, Terrence Teruya, Cameron Heen and Mike Abe, have lived there for years.

"We're hoping to get a City Council member who will hold our values and keep our residential area residential and be in support of us," said Kathy Takemoto, vice president of the 'Aina Haina Community Association.

Charles Kong Djou • Address: 520 Lunalilo Home Road • Occupation: Attorney • Family: Married, one child • One big idea: Eliminate the duplication of city and state services. The first place to start is by consolidating state and city highway and road transportation services, including the levy of the gasoline tax. Michael Kazuo Abe • Address: 3556 Maunaloa Ave. • Occupation: Attorney • Family: Married, one daughter • One big idea: Post all city contracts, bid and nonbid, on the Internet, including the names of company officers, contract price, change orders and the city staff responsible for overseeing the contract. The goal is to give the public and the City Council the information to maintain checks and balances. Robert Joseph Fishman • Address: 673 Kalanipu'u St. • Occupation: Senior business development professional for ADI Technology Corp. • Family: Married, two sons • One big idea: To launch an affirmative action plan to revitalize town centers, such as Kaimuki. Terrance Teruya • Address: 709 Oceanview Drive • Occupation: Transit electrician, business owner and communications technician. • Family: Wife • One big idea: Slow down the purchase of new technology so that the city can install and use the technology it has already purchased. This will save the city money. Cameron Heen • Address: 6118 Pahukula Place • Occupation: Former director of catering and conference services and now full-time candidate. • Family: Wife, three sons • One big idea: Put Sunset on the Beach at the Natatorium. This way the city could save in the set up and tear down of the event.ÊFill in the saltwater pool and create sand volleyball. Build snack bars and have the vendors pay a fee to the city.

Much of the area is residential, single-family homes in established neighborhoods ranging from some of O'ahu's oldest — Waikiki — to youngest — Hawai'i Kai.

The district is one of O'ahu's richest, including not only Kahala, where the median home sales price is more than $700,000, but also Waikiki with its tony hotels and upscale shops.

Median annual incomes range from a high of $65,901 in Hawai'i Kai to a low $26,980 in Waikiki, where there is a more transient and elderly population, according to U.S. Census data.

Out of a population of 90,000, 64,767 are registered voters, Takahashi said.

The candidates represent a wide cross-section of cultures and backgrounds.

There's 32-year-old Djou, a state representative and the son of an immigrant Chinese family, who grew up in Windward O'ahu and went to Punahou. He's a gregarious speaker whose rapid-fire speech underscores his passion for politics. Part of his ability to grab at facts and figures comes from spending months ahead of the other candidates going out to neighborhood board meetings with his clipboard and pen and listening. What he has heard is that people want a councilman who will be available, will come to meetings and will visit with the community to learn what the issues are.

Djou, R-47th (Kahalu'u, Kane'ohe), said it made sense for him to move to East Honolulu and run for City Council in this district because his strength is fiscal affairs — one of the biggest issues facing the city today. Djou is losing his House seat in Kane'ohe because of reapportionment.

"I think the city needs to move away from the so-called glamour projects and focus on the core city services, like road repaving and law enforcement salaries," Djou said. "Like it or not we have to pave roadways and focus on fiscal spending priorities and only if there's leftover then we can fund the other stuff."

Abe, however, said there's a fine line that City Council members have to walk between micromanaging the city and establishing policy.

Like Djou, Abe believes the council has been passive of late, letting the city administration do pretty much as it wants without much accountability to the public or policy-makers. Abe, a neighborhood board member in Kaimuki, said one way to ensure accountability is to post on the Web all city contract information.

"Information will make the City Council stronger," Abe said. "Once you open the door to information, then you empower everyone."

Abe, an attorney, once worked for the city and the county of Kaua'i reviewing contracts and now sits on the neighborhood board in Kaimuki. Abe, 48, said he has the time to give to the community. While on the community board, he learn-

ed firsthand the difficulty of getting information out of the city and decided to show his 15-year-old daughter that it's important to participate in the democratic process.

Abe grew up in Hilo, Hawai'i, a third-generation Japanese American. He said the city should take advantage of the neighborhood boards and use them as forums for disseminating information and gauging community concerns. He also said the city vision teams should be integrated with the board system, which would attract more people to the process.

Fishman said he has been involved in 23 political campaigns, but this is his first as a candidate. Among his political activities, he supported Hubert Humphrey in his bid for president in 1968 and served as the city managing director under Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris. He also has run businesses, served as Aloha Stadium general manager, Hawai'i Tourism Authority chief executive officer, and vice president of Hawaiian Airlines. He helped raise three sons and has lived in Hawai'i Kai for 28 years.

For Fishman, life has been a series of new challenges that come up about every five years. Running for City Council is just one of those challenges, he said. Born in Chicago and raised in Los Angeles, Fishman came to Hawai'i in the late 1960s to join his younger brother at the University of Hawai'i. Later, he worked on the campaigns of Hawai'i governors.

"The city is a place now that clearly has to change the way it does business," said Fishman, 55. "The fact that I know how the administration works is a good value for the voters. I've always been independent. I've always been labeled the independent voice."

Because Fishman hired some department heads when he was city managing director, there is a mutual respect between him and the administration, which in turn will translate into projects for the district that will boost the quality of life, he said.

"I understand a bit of how to get that mutual respect between the City Council and the government," Fishman said.

Similarly, Heen has been around politics his whole life, but this will be his first bid for public office. His father and grandfather served on the City Council, and his great-grand uncle was among the first to serve on the Board of Supervisors before Hawai'i became a state.

Heen, 43, also has been around East Honolulu his whole life. He was raised on Wilhelmina Rise, proposed to his wife at Ala Moana Beach Park and now lives in Kuli'ou'ou.

Heen said a City Council member should effect change that residents can touch or experience: parks, police, sewer and ensuring beach access.

"It's about the everyday services that people deal with," Heen said. "I knew it was time to run for office when I was spending too much time yelling at the TV. At this point in my life, I'd like to give back to the community."

Aside from doing his part to restore public trust in the City Council, Heen said he would like to see that the city has enough revenue to pay for the maintenance of the skateboard parks, the canoe halau and other facilities that are being built.

He also believes that the city should continue the Sunset on the Beach program, but look at ways to make it a money-maker, not a money-loser. His solution is to put a permanent screen up at the Natatorium War Memorial, which would save money in set-up and tear-down and create a partnership with trolley businesses to shuttle people to and from Waikiki.

Building partnerships is how Teruya plans to build trust. The effective politician needs to meet with residents, hear their concerns and not just attend neighborhood board meetings where only a handful of people show up, he said. Teruya grew up in Hilo and was raised by his mother. He has lived in East Honolulu for most of his adult life.

Teruya's biggest concern and the main reason he's running is that his friends were getting fed up with the system.

"So many people are irate that nothing's being done," said Teruya, 43. "People feel that they don't get help from the government. Everyone is so angry."

Teruya said he's one of those people who knows how to work — each day he works three jobs just to make ends meet.

"I'm a worker," Teruya said. "When you tell me something is wrong, I go out and fix it. The public should know I'm just like them. I'm a worker."

The city could be more fiscally conservative and not buy every piece of technology that comes out, he said. Instead, officials should step back and decide whether new and old technology can communicate with each other, said Teruya.

Also on Teruya's agenda is a desire to find a solution to the city's trash problem.

"Too often problems are pushed to the side to be dealt with in the future," he said. "The future is here now."

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