Kapa'a-Hanalei area's priority issues differ
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
Home: Wailua Houselots Party affiliation: Republican Age: 42 Family: Unmarried One Big Idea: "Traffic. That's probably the deciding factor making me run. We have such a poor infrastructure, and we need to address it immediately."
Home: Hanalei Party affiliation: Democrat Age: 50 Family: Married, two children. One Big Idea: "Energy: moving Hawai'i's fossil fuel economy to a renewable hydrogen economy. I'm working to make it easier for renewables to come on line."
District voters The state's 14th House District is demographically different from the rest of the island. Its population — younger than in either of the other two House districts — is roughly 40 percent Caucasian, higher than the rest of the island. The district's northern end is dominated by tourism. It has a significant Hawaiian population in the central Hawaiian Home Lands community of Anahola.
KAPA'A, Kaua'i — At first glance, the two candidates for the 14th House District comprising north and east Kaua'i are very similar. Both are vibrant, articulate, part-Hawaiian women. Both have business backgrounds: incumbent Rep. Mina Morita as a bookkeeper, challenger Mamo Cummings as a small-business owner and a representative of business interests.
House 14th
Mamo Cummings
Hermina Morita
But when they talk about the issues, they seldom bring up the same topics.
For Morita, a Democrat, energy and the environment are the watchwords. For the Republican Cummings, the focus is on traffic, drugs and supporting business.
Morita was the Legislature's most visible champion of the "bottle bill," which placed a 6-cent redemption fee on the sale of most beverage containers made of aluminum, plastic, glass or other recyclable material. She also pushed for putting ethanol into gas tanks and said one of her goals is to reduce the state's dependence on imported oil and coal.
She wants to create an "energy economy" based on wind, solar and geothermal power, wave energy, ocean thermal energy conversion, and even ethanol, which can be processed using Hawai'i-grown sugar.
Cummings, former president of the Kaua'i Chamber of Commerce, said the recurring complaint she hears is about traffic. "You're basically stuck in traffic all the way from the north shore at certain hours," she said.
She said the Legislature has done a poor job of providing money for more feeder and bypass roads that could relieve the congestion.
Morita said the Legislature's not the problem. "We have funded everything that the state Department of Transportation has asked for," she said.
Cummings said she would support "walk-and-talk" and "knock-and-talk" laws that expand police rights to search individuals and properties for crystal methamphetamine.
"Every neighborhood has at least one drug house and nothing's being done about it. There's a lot of the drug in middle schools — that's very scary — and they're selling it there. The kids are getting it from some adult. In Crimestoppers (a program supported by the chamber of commerce), 80 percent of our awards were drug-related," she said.
Cummings said she would be active on behalf of job development programs and easing the regulatory burden on businesses.
Morita said she has worked for regulatory reform and seeks to keep laws up to date with new technology.
She said one of the key issues of Gov. Linda Lingle and Republicans in the Legislature has been the establishment of local school boards, but Morita does not believe that's the most important educational reform needed. "What we need to address is class size, teacher pay and the qualifications of principals," she said.
Morita said both candidates recognize the distinct differences between them.
"I've been described as a progressive liberal Democrat. She has described herself as a conservative Republican. I think, on ideology, people have a choice," Morita said.
Cummings said she agrees.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
