• From WHT: Kilauea Eruption, Management Dominate Gubernatorial Forum in Kona

    June 21, 2018
    By Max Dible West Hawaii Today
     
    KAILUA-KONA — Hawaii’s next governor will face a host of challenges but where the Big Island is concerned, one issue stands a literal mountain above the rest.
     
    At a gubernatorial forum convened Friday night at Kealakehe High School, moderator Sherry Bracken questioned the top two prospective candidates from each party based on recent polling data about reaction to and recovery from the Kilauea volcano eruption.
     
    Nowhere throughout the evening were all four candidates more in-step than on the matter of whether they would support continued construction in high-risk lava areas. Although precise numerical reports from state and county sources vary, there is no disputing that hundreds of homes and other structures in Puna have been lost to invading lava.
     
    “I don’t believe we should allow construction of new facilities in lava zone 1,” said Gov. David Ige. “I really think the risk involved is too great.”
     
    U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, Ige’s staunchest Democratic primary challenger in the 2018 bid for the statehouse, echoed her opponent’s apprehension on the matter.
     
    However, she implied a different sort of apprehension when noting various land rights. In other words, she suggested she would proceed with a halt on building in high-risk lava zones but would do so with caution.
     
    “First of all, we have to be sure the designation is correct,” Hanabusa said. “But I would not support the continuation of building within that district.”
     
    John Carroll, an 88-year-old running as a Republican, said the state Legislature should pass a law prohibiting building in the zones in question. He went on to say if he’d been in office decades ago, such construction never would have happened. He added the developers and politicians responsible for the initial development should face jail time and/or steep fines.
     
    Andria Tupola, a state representative from Oahu and Carroll’s Republican primary counterpart, noted her preference for “county home rule,” or what is essentially the county version of the states’ rights concept.
     
    She added, however, that she would encourage county officials to support safeguards against construction in high-risk lava zones and would support state legislation to that end if it proved to be “the will of the people.”
     
    Bouncing back
     
    All candidates noted the immediate need to protect the health and safety of affected community members. But they offered separate strategies on how to manage long-term economic recovery as the island’s tourism business, by far its most lucrative industry, has suffered mightily in the six weeks since Kilauea’s newest eruption began.
     
    ...
     
    Election Day for gubernatorial primaries is Saturday, August 11. Voters will have the opportunity to cast their ballots from 7 a.m to 6 p.m. at local polling stations.
     
    The initial voter registration deadline is July 12, but Hawaii Island polling places will offer on-site voter registration at polling places this year.

    Read the full article on the West Hawaii Today website here.