Senate District 19 incumbent Mike Gabbard answers community questions

KAPOLEI—With two other candidates for State Senate District 19, Sen. Mike Gabbard, the incumbent, answered some questions pertaining to his community as the primaries quickly approach.

District 19 is comprised of Honokai Hale, Makakilo, Kapolei, Kalaeloa, Royal Kunia, Village Park, Waikele, and portions of Ko Olina and Waipahu.

The Hawaii Independent submitted questions to each candidate. Responses will be published in the order in which they are received.

Gabbard is currently the Chair of the Energy and Environment Committee and Vice Chair of the Transportation, International and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. He’s also a member of the Judiciary and Government Operations and Public Safety and Military Affairs committees.

As the incumbant, what can you tell the voters of this election about why you running again for the State Senate?
Working with my colleagues at the State Legislature, we’ve finally resolved some of the broken promises of the last 30 years such as Kualakai Parkway and the new UH West Oahu campus. This is a big step in the right direction, but there’s more work to be done. I’ve tried my best to bring about positive changes in our community and state. It’s been a privilege representing the people of my district and it would be an honor to continue serving them as a State senator.

What is the single most important issue for your constituents? What would you change in the way that issue is being handled presently?
Traffic continues to be the number one issue in my district. We’re making progress with the completion of the Kualakai Parkway, Kapolei Parkway, Kapolei Interchange, and the upcoming afternoon zipper lane and rail transit project. Basically, we need to continue investing federal, State, and County resources to make sure road improvements keep up with all the development in West Oahu.

Who is your largest campaign contributor?
Carpenters and iron workers unions.

Who do you plan on including in your staff?
My office manager, Rock Riggs, and legislative aide, Erika Tsuji, who were with me when I was elected in 2006 will continue as my full-time staffers.

If re-elected what will be your main focus as a senator?
I became the Senate Energy and Environment Chairman in 2008 and I’m committed to doing everything we can to kick our addiction to foreign oil. The sad truth is: We import roughly 40 million barrels of oil each year and end up sending $5-to-7 billion to countries who hate our guts. This is crazy considering we have all the natural resources we need here: sun, wind, wave, ocean thermal, and geothermal. We can and should be the world leader for renewable energy.

Even though Kapolei is designated as Oahu’s “Second City” and is home to many new families, there is still the issue of “homelessness” particularly on the West side. Any strategies on dealing with it?
The State should continue investing resources in transitional and emergency shelters. We should also provide adequate funding appropriated at the State level to preserve our “safety net” services. Finally, the State and City should form more partnerships with the faith communities of churches and encourage them to get involved in helping solve this continuing, complex social problem that affects us all. 

I understand that you’ve been a firm supporter of rail. What is your view on rail today? And can Hawaii afford it?
In March, I spearheaded a letter to Governor Linda Lingle that was signed by a majority of State senators urging her to review and accept the final EIS in a timely manner. It’s critical that we move forward on this important public works project that will give people another transportation option and also create jobs. The rail transit project and transit oriented development will make the surrounding communities more walkable and be an integral part of the development of the City of Kapolei. I’m hopeful that as our economy slowly gets back on the right track, we’ll have the needed local funding from the GET surcharge and federal dollars to make this happen.

Where do you stand on civil unions?
I voted against House Bill 444 in the 2009 and 2010 legislative sessions. HB444 is essentially same-sex marriage by another name and is opposed by the vast majority of Hawaii residents. 77 percent of constituents who contacted my office were opposed to civil unions. The Reciprocal Beneficiary law, which can be expanded, provides many benefits for anyone who can’t get legally married.

Do you support the Akaka Bill?
Yes, I recently wrote the members of our Congressional delegation expressing my support for the Akaka Bill with the changes agreed to by Gov. Lingle and U.S. Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka. Passage of the Akaka Bill will finally give Native Hawaiians the same federal recognition that the many other indigenous people of our country now enjoy. The bill will also help to protect the federal benefits and services that are now provided to Native Hawaiians.

How do we get Hawaii residents active in the elections process?
It was a wise decision by the Legislature to enact a law in 2008 to allow people to be permanently registered as absentee voters. This will make it much easier for older people and those who have health problems to vote. An all mail-in ballot process is something that we should also consider, given its lower costs and the statistics which show it produces a better voter turnout. We should have a strong civic education program starting in elementary school to teach our young people the importance of voting and what it means to be good citizens.

How can we help Hawaii’s small businesses to stay afloat during these hard times?
We need to continue supporting tax credits that are in place which allow small businesses to invest in solar energy systems to reduce their electricity bills, so they can free up those savings for other investments. There was a proposal this past session to raise the GET, but I was happy it failed. I’m opposed to raising the GET because of the hardship it would cause our small businesses and residents during this very difficult economic time.

How do we solve Hawaii’s unemployment problem?
A lot of people are out of work because of the slowdown in our construction industry. In order to improve our quality of life, we need to put people back to work by pushing forward with key projects like UH West Oahu and rail transit.

For more information, visit http://www.mikegabbard.com.