Advertiser endorses candidates for council

The stakes are unusually high this year in the race for the nine Honolulu City Council seats.

Because of a new term-limit law, none of the candidates is a full holdover incumbent. Three joined the council partway through the current term.

The city faces severe budget problems, compounded by debts for sewer repairs, refuse disposal and security systems that will soon come due.

With about 80 percent of the state's population in their jurisdiction (and no doubt 80 percent of the municipal problems as well), the nine Honolulu council members to be elected this year will have their work cut out.

Some, or all, of the new council members may be elected outright next Saturday if any receives a majority of the votes (50 percent plus one vote or more). If there is no majority winner, the top two vote-getters will proceed to a general election runoff.

With that in mind, The Advertiser makes these endorsements and comments in the upcoming Honolulu City Council races:

• Dist. 1 (Wai'anae-'Ewa): Cynthia Rezentes has a long and substantial record of community service with the neighborhood board and various environmental groups. A former engineer, Rezentes would bring both technical and district background to the council.

We were also impressed with Pamela Witty-Oakland, an aide to incumbent John DeSoto and a strong advocate for traffic improvements in her district.

• Dist. 2 (Wahiawa-North Shore): Ernie Martin, currently chief planner in the city's Department of Community and Social Resources, has more than a decade of experience in various capacities at City Hall. An up-from-the-grassroots leader who is also a lawyer, Martin is active in many community activities, including the Weed & Seed program .

We were also impressed with Donovan Dela Cruz, chairman of the Wahiawa Neighborhood Board and a successful author and marketing specialist.

• Dist. 3 (Windward O'ahu): Donald Bremner, a no-nonsense professional planner and consultant, has decades of knowledge about the workings of the city as the longtime head of the Waikiki Improvement Association. Bremner would bring both historical perspective and a forward-looking planner's perspective to the council.

We were also impressed with Stan Koki, a successful businessman and former state senator who ran for lieutenant governor in 1998. He has a solid understanding of the budget issues facing the city in the coming years.

• Dist. 4 (East Honolulu): Mike Abe, an attorney, has served stints in the corporation counsel's office on Kaua'i and in Honolulu. He has served on the Kaimuki Neighborhood Board, as president of the United Okinawan Association and other groups. Abe is a strong proponent of openness in government and would work to make city contracting activities transparent and posted on the Internet.

We were also impressed by Robert Fishman, a veteran public servant and businessman. Fishman is the former managing director of the City & County and an Army reservist who served in Washington recently on active duty on homeland security in the Pentagon.

• Dist. 5 (Makiki, Kapahulu): Incumbent Ann Kobayashi deserves re-election to a full four-year term. As budget chairwoman on the council, Kobayashi has been vigorous in rooting out both cost overruns and new sources of income for the city.

• Dist. 6 (Nu'uanu-Kaka'ako): John Steelquist, a veteran neighborhood board member and community leader, offers a solid community-based perspective to city business. A retired Air Force officer and professor of business at Chaminade University, Steelquist would push for logical long-range budget and land-use planning.

We were also impressed with Isaac Hokama, a former aide to Councilman Jon Yoshimura and currently a management analyst with the city who has a clear grasp of municipal issues.

• Dist. 7 (Kalihi-Airport): Romy Cachola, a former state legislator who came to the council in 2000, has shown a quick and firm grasp of key city issues and deserves re-election to a full four-year term.

• Dist. 8 (Pearl City, Waipi'o): Incumbent Gary Okino is unopposed.

• Dist. 9 (Central O'ahu): Nestor Garcia, a state representative since 1994 and a former reporter and press secretary to Sen. Dan Inouye, has demonstrated an understanding of city, state and federal issues. He would bring a good work ethic and an ability to coordinate between different levels of government to the council.

We were also impressed with Michael Nakamura, the former Honolulu police chief, whose candidacy offers a fresh breath of integrity to often-tainted City Hall politics.