VOLCANIC ASH
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By David Shapiro
Clarence Nishihara doesn't look like the fresh new face of Hawai'i politics.
After 20 years as a special education teacher in Hawai'i public schools and a decade more as a vice principal in Wai'anae and Waipahu, Nishihara has a face that looks quite lived in.
Except for the satisfied smile he flashes often, the senator-elect from Waipahu and Pearl City bears some resemblance to the man he defeated in the Democratic primary, Sen. Cal Kawamoto, for a seat Republicans aren't contesting in the general election.
Nishihara's convincing victory over Kawamoto against long odds dealt a rare blow to a local political system that has long propped up entrenched incumbents and the special interests they serve.
Nishihara showed that no incumbent is invincible. He took down Kawamoto two years after the well-financed senator looked so formidable that he ran unopposed in 2002.
Nishihara's election, along with Clayton Hee's defeat of Sen. Melodie Aduja in the Democratic primary for a Windward seat, alters the balance of power in the Senate and possibly throws Sen. Robert Bunda's presidency up for grabs.
In the new Senate, Nishihara likely will emerge as a common-sense voice for campaign finance reform and democratizing the legislative process by reducing the power of committee chairs.
At 61, he's a refreshing change from the increasingly typical modern lawmaker who takes up a political career young and inexperienced.
This son of Maui farmers is exactly what we need more of — legislators who come to public office with quality experience from doing tough jobs in the real world.
Nishihara went up against Kawamoto with a campaign fund of barely $11,000, compared to the incumbent's $220,000 in special-interest money.
Nishihara's own unions, the Hawai'i State Teachers Association and the Hawai'i Government Employees Association, endorsed Kawamoto without giving Nishihara the courtesy of an interview to make his case.
The challenger won 55 percent of the votes by using Kawamoto's money against him, pointing out his fines for illegally spending campaign funds and his self-serving attempts to block campaign finance reform and weaken the commission that sanctioned him.
"People who are running for the first time need to have the issues on their side," he says. "They need to have the community wanting a change in who represents them, and then the issue of who's got more money doesn't have that kind of traction."
Not surprisingly, reforming the way political campaigns are financed will be among Nishihara's top legislative priorities.
"Campaigns that cost more than what the office actually pays throw open the door to influence by special interest and big money," he says.
Education will be his other main concern.
He told the Kokua Council this week that he generally approves of Act 51 passed by the Legislature last year to adopt a per-pupil spending formula, give principals more authority and create school-community councils.
He worries that the reforms didn't go far enough to assure accountability, but believes the new law should be given a chance to work before major changes are enacted.
Nishihara says he had "not a very good feeling about working with the school board" as a vice principal and criticizes the Board of Education for operating too "hand in glove" with the school bureaucracy instead of providing independent oversight as intended.
Nishihara opposes Gov. Linda Lingle's proposal to break the statewide school system into seven locally elected school boards, fearing they'll become mini-versions of the current board.
"Seven times zero is zero," he says.
Nishihara says paths to better achievement by the Legislature and the school system are the same.
"Any great organization needs good people doing an honest job."
David Shapiro can be reached by email at dave@volcanicash.net.
