We have closed the polling. Thanks for voting in our on line poll for how candidates values align with the TEA party movement. Please be sure to leave comments below for the candidates that you can help educate others on, either for or against.
GOVERNOR RACE:
PLEASE BE SURE TO LEAVE COMMENTS BELOW ON CANDIDATES
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR:
HAWAII U.S. SENATOR:
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2:
STATE SENATOR DISTRICT 4
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 8:
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 9 KAHULUI MAUI
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 10 LAHAINA MAUI
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 11 KIHEI
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 12 KULA
COUNTY OF MAUI MAYOR :
COUNCIL MEMBER EAST MAUI:
COUNCIL MEMBER WEST MAUI :
COUNCIL MEMBER WAILUKU-WAIHEE-WAIKAPU:
COUNCIL MEMBER SOUTH MAUI:
COUNCIL MEMBER MAKAWAO-HAIKU-PAIA:
COUNCIL MEMBER UPCOUNTRY :
COUNCIL MEMBER LANAI:
I don’t know a few of the candidates at all. We should invite them to come speak to us.
Yes I heard from two of them once these polls opened. Hope this gets them out.
There are a good 20% of the candidates that I do not know,never seen,nothing!
I would like to comment on 2 little known candidates who I know and have spent time w/ and they are Chris Hart and Randy Piltz.
chris is a landscape architect and an honorable man. He has shared many great ideas w/ me about working together w/ all factions here on the 3 islands that we call maui. Most pointedly, on Molokai, Walter Ritte,Jr. is his campaign coordinator there which is the opposition if you remember the 70s here when they sat across the table from each other! So that’s saying something,when you can rein in Ritte! Sounds like a good slogan! Rein in ritte!
Now for Randy who is a family member to my husband-just to get that out of the way. He is a Maui boy and 4 children who live here on Maui, he is a successful businessman and retired now so can commit his time to Maui. Strong connections thru out Maui and can get things done! Very committed to getting the construction business back on their feet. Good person to fight these “envoro”.
both Chris and Randy have been on the front lines with the opposition groups here on Maui. Both have strong family ties here too.
One last thing, when Chris Hart was at one of our Tea Party mtgs. I felt like he was antigonized by a few and some have said to me that he lost his temper but that’s not the whole story. He has some very good ideas for Maui and a solid background and is committed to giving back.
One last note, Bill Medeiros is an incumbent who is not strongly focused and lacks intelligence to process more than one thing at a time. He did get the diabetes ctr. in Hana but at what cost? Moving the only Dr. Hana has out of his residence facility…his motivation for the diabetes ctr. was his aunt CC Park and she was basically the only one to use the ctr. With modern technology dialysis can be done at home now. Is he related to his wife?
It’s great to see how people are already weighing in on many of the candidates. I’m like most others, though. There are quite a few that I have never even heard of before. Sure wish we had been able to find someone to oppose Joe Pontanilla!
What’s most heartening to see is that we have several candidates that probably never dreamed they would ever run for political offices, yet they are willing to step forward in a big way and do what they can to help turn our government – on every level – around. Our shining star is John Willoughby. He is exactly the man we need to represent us in Washington!
On the local level, I was ready to celebrate when Lisa Gapero told me that she was going to run for County Council against Mike Victorino! She is so sharp, and she takes the prospect of holding that position very seriously. We definitely need her!
I want to put my two-cents in for Adrienne King as well. She has been an active participant in our TEA Party from very early on, and she has some impressive background experience – especially in family law. She has demonstrated her eagerness to come to our meetings and classes in order to further educate herself and become even more of the kind of leader that we need in this state. I’d like to see her come out stronger on her Christian principles and be more specific about her stance on social issues. I’ve had opportunity to get to know her, and talk about these things one-on-one. She has my vote!
Though Lynn Finnegan also possesses strong Christian values and some key credentials as well, there is that tight partisan tie that tends to give me pause. I fear that she would be prone to toe that party line over the Constitutional principles that we advocate. When she first declared her candidacy, she seemed very hesitant to affiliate with the TEA Party at all – so I have questions.
I read in the Maui News that Piltz works with UNIONS? What does that mean? For unions, worked with unions…why did he even mention unions? That bugs me.
Although my name will not appear on the primary ballot, I am having weekly signwaving every Friday. Call to join in . I need people to show Maui some fresh perspective.
Will you call me? 760-8336
MUST REPLY TO RHONDA July 20th post. (Better late than never I suppose) re: Bill Medeiros. Bill M. helped get the County approvals needed but the driver was Lehua Cosma AND the Governor’s Advisory Board…of which I am a member. I am disappointed you imply some selfish reason for the Hana Dialysis on Bill’s part. That is without merit and unwarranted. This was a long and complicated effort. Please get more facts before impuning the people involved in this wonderful success for THE PEOPLE OF HANA.
Let me also mention in the same post that you infer Lyn Finnegan is worrisome because of her partisan connection. I have no idea what that is about. If Adrienne King has accomplished anything beyond attending Tea Party meetings, please expand for our benefit. We know that Lyn Finnegan has been in office for 8 years and served honorably. You can check her votes AGAINST TAX increases, HB444, etc. Facts help educate all of us.
Aloha Kay, I will let Rhonda respond to your other comments, but I have to ask you if you saw the report at Grassroots on Lynn’s voting record and legislative score card below. Although she is at the top of the list, I see a few things that make me pause, and a need to take a deeper look from a TEA party perspective. 8 years says career politician to me, and one that looks to be moderate in some ways. Plus her support for other candidates that are weak on social values is a big clue! Especially when the best candidate in the same race is the true conservative. Just thinking….. let me know what you think, I value your opinion.
The scores are based on the following six categories:
Spending—bills that reduce (+) or increase (-) spending.
Taxes—bills that reduce (+) or increase (-) the amount of taxes and fees paid to the State of Hawaii.
Scope of government—bills that reduce (+) or increase (-) the size of government beyond its necessary function.
Business Climate—bills that improve (+) or harm (-) Hawaii’s business climate through regulatory changes.
Individual Liberty—bills that protect (+) or limit (-) individual liberties.
Raids—bills that raid special funds in order to balance the general fund (-), or bills that creates new special funds in order to mask new or increased taxes or fees (-).
House Lynn Finnegan (R)
Taxes 67% Business Climate 57%
Spending 40%
Individual Liberty 100%
Raids 29%
Scope of Govt. 20%
Total 54%
You can find this report at: http://rootedinreason.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/2010-legislative-scorecard-brief.pdf
Kay – Maybe you should check the July 20th posts again…you have mistakenly attributed another person’s comments to me. I certainly don’t mind your challenging my remarks regarding my concerns about Lynn Finnegan (I reiterate that she is a very fine individual in many respects), but I don’t appreciate being accused of things I never commented on at all. It is understood that your own loyalty is to the Republican Party, and I respect that. I have said many times that I am personally fed up with “politics as usual” from BOTH sides – and the Republican Party needs to rise above that now.
As for the debate over Adrienne King and Lynn Finnegan, it appears that the Republican Party had already hand selected Lynn at the outset and will not, under any circumstances, give Adrienne the time of day. I have had the opportunity to talk with her at length, over the past several months. Therein lies the difference. Our founders themselves warned against “professional politicians” – and made provisions for us to prevent this from happening, via frequent elections. Lynn is quite young, yet she has already spent 8 years in an elected position. The Legislative record speaks for itself. I stand by my position.
In response to Lisa Gaperos comments of July 19th (apologies for the late response but I just came across them), I have to take issue with almost everything she said. I have no input on Randy Piltz. As for Chris Hart, I can only say that for a family that spent a lifetime building a monopoly on a service that became required by code, and then gouging folks with outrageous prices for that service, he has built up a lot of bad karma and will get no support from me. He is part of the good old boys network and backroom deals problem and not the fresh blood that we need to fuse our political system with, in my humble opinion.
As for the comments about the Hana Dialysis Center, I cannot even begin to address how stupid, uninformed and unfeeling these comments were. But I will try. The dialysis Center was a ten year process, driven by the community in response to a critical need in our isolated, underserved community. We are very proud of these efforts and our accomplishment in service to our Kupuna.
Although many of the people involved had family members who were personally affected, the entire community was affected because we are so close knit and rely so heavily upon one another. To watch our Kupuna die such a slow and agonizing death was unconscionable by any feeling person’s standards.
Many of our Kupuna are affected by diabetes and its related illnesses; it is prevalent in the Hawaiian lines. The treatments tear them down as much as the disease. Many of our beloved and esteemed Kupuna died due to the rigors of having to go to the other side to get their dialysis treatments. CC Parks for instance, had to get up at 2am, and be driven into town for her nine am appointment. In the back of the truck was a chainsaw for clearing fallen trees, and a shovel for clearing rock slides. You see, if she missed her appointment, she had to wait for the next scheduled treatment. There is no re-scheduling for these patients. She was just one of many in our community, who had to endure this arduous routine. The ride into town was painful, due to the many switchbacks, not to mention the 2 hour drive, one way. The Kupuna were unable to drive themselves and often a family member had to take a day off to drive them, impacting the family economics. I can assure you that Auntie Parks is not the only person to use the facility, nor will she be in the future. Many of our Kupuna are degrading to the point that they will require dialysis treatment. It’s a shame that the other eight affected Kupuna died before the Center could be opened, so that we had treatment stats more to your liking. There are many issues that go along with home dialysis, that affect the people of Hana specifically, and that’s why a centralized facility was necessary and home treatment was not a viable option. You might want to look into these issues before making another stupid statement about this form of home treatment.
This very doctor that you seem so concerned about, along with the director, prevented the dialysis machines from being installed at Hana Health, and ultimately caused her own eviction. I have no sympathy for her. Rest assured however, the new doctor is comfortably installed in a comfy cottage courtesy of Hana Health. They are rolling in dough you see, due to millions of dollars worth of grants and endowments from our senators and local government. Meanwhile their medical services to the community are substandard at best, because they put the bulk of their efforts towards the money making arm of their enterprise, Hana Fresh.
Lastly, there seems to be a generalized belief on “the other side” that those of us who live in Hana are a bunch of inbred hillbillies, without indoor plumbing. I bring this up because of your inference that being a Hana boy, Bill Medeiros “ is an incumbent who is not strongly focused and lacks intelligence to process more than one thing at a time.” I can assure you that the Hana community is a thoughtful and intelligent group; we have the luxury of being somewhat detached, and able to look at things in an unbiased manner. Our community is always the red-haired step child or an afterthought at best. We see how things work and who works them. For that reason, we, more than most folks look at the system that so often fails us, with a very critical eye. We understand the system well enough to see how the folks are hurt by politics and cronyism.
Also, many of the most influential families on several islands have their roots in Hana. You have not just insulted our community, but a vast inter-island network of families. You have a lot of apologies to issue, and you had better get to stepping. You can start with me, I recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Maui News, which I now deeply regret. If I had seen your post beforehand, I surely would not have written it!
CORRECTION DUE Thank you for getting back to me Rhonda. I mistakenly attributed Lisa’s remarks re: Hana Dialysis to you. I apologize for that.
Now, re: Finnegan and King. Let me share some random thoughs about what I interpret from your note.
1) Finnegan has been picked by the Republicans…If this is true, it should be of no concern to the Tea Party since that candidates are being measured by Tea Party values?
2) Finnegan has been in office 8 years… While there is a move to unseat incumbents, Lyn consistently votes along Tea Party values ie. Limiting Government, Fiscal Responsiblity, Free Market and Upholding the Constitution. If the Tea Party elects an ideal candidate, will the goal be to unseat them in the next election or hope they continue to vote and support Tea Party values? I think we all want to keep good “representatives” in office.
3) Finnegan and King are both Republicans so at this point, I’m hoping for a Republican Governor and LG. The LG position is potentially a traing ground
for a future Governor; they will not be making major decision on policy or legislation so key to me is who might work best to support the elected Governor.
Just a passing thought. More people know Finnegan because of her past work with the Republicans but I hope you don’t hold that against her. My first acquaintance with King in any Republican activities was her announcement as an LG candidate. She was not involved in the Lingle elections, first or re-election or other candidate campaigns that I am aware of. Consequently, I know nothing about her. Both candidates must earn my vote.
On the issue of king vs. Finnegan; When doing my research on the candidates I look at background and (if the hold office) voting records. Voting records have a tendency to be absolute and often more truthful than the candidates. I don’t know or have any personal investment in either of these ladies and frankly, neither one of them is really blowing the wind up my skirts.
Examining Finnegan’s voting record. She is pretty consistent with her votes; however those votes are not always consistent with TEA Party values. For example; I’m disappointed that she has voted to expand government and voted for so many spending measures.
1. From the U.S. Census Bureau: Least efficient government structure in the nation. State government employs a per capita of 602 state employees per 10 thousand residents, more than triple the national average.
2. From the Government Product News: Hawaii is in the top 5 states for the highest per capita government spending.
These are two of the major components that IMO have created a great many of our current economic woes.
Additionally although her votes against increasing taxes were good, they could have been better and her support of growing small business was lukewarm. From Tax Foundation of Hawaii: We have the highest income tax rate in the nation. We have the 2nd highest sales/excise tax collection in the nation, and 5th highest state/local tax burden in the nation.
1. From the Pacific Business news: New business startups are down 13%.
2. From the State Department of Labor: We have soaring unemployment statewide, unemployment up 250% since 2006.
3. From the Star Bulletin: Foreclosures, bankruptcies, late rents and mortgage delinquencies are skyrocketing, we have the 2nd worst record of job creation results in the nation, more folks hold down multiple jobs than the national average.
High taxes and small business growth are also big contributing factors in our failing economy.
Further her votes to purchase the Turtle Bay resort from a private company and supporting the depletion of every special fund to make up for the shortfall in the very budget that she was a part of creating, gives me tremendous pause.
Being the incumbent is not a positive or negative in my book, but some of the votes she has cast while being an incumbent, make me question her application of both “Republican and TEA Party values.” I guess it depends on your interpretation of the votes and the values. Each person has to put that through their own filter. To be fair, sever weeks ago I emailed her to address my concerns about her voting record, but to date she and/or her staff has not chosen to respond.
As far as King goes she is certainly lesser known and untested. Without a voting record to reflect upon you only have her life experience, which as a candidate for this position is worth wild and applicable.
As a seasoned attorney she has prosecuted criminal actions, civil actions (the discovery process is a fantastic tool for learning about and understanding the government and governmental practices), private practice, family court experience, zoning board experience should prove useful in that position. Her stances on the issues are consistent with R/TP values as well.
So here you have to ask yourself, how fresh do I want folks to be, is a proven mediocre voting record better than the unknown?
I’m ready for a new start in most all of these races. I will say this when it comes to TEA party values. Limited Government seems to be a great idea everyone states until it comes to their own little slice of the pie or special interest agenda on social government spending. I guess old habits are hard to change. There needs to be some kind of a limit on this type of spending no matter how well intended or needed they might be. We need to have our Government leaders work within the local community to find private funding for these needs.