County Council District 7: Four candidates campaign to fill vacant Kona seat

No matter who wins, there’s going to be a new face at the dais in the County Council District 7 spot.

That’s because Dru Kanuha, who’s represented the Kailua-Kona district for six years, is vacating the seat to run for state Senate.

The district includes part of Kealakekua, Kona Scenic Subdivision, Kainaliu, Honalo, Keauhou, Kahaluu, Holualoa, Kona Hillcrest, Pualani Estates, Sunset View, Kuakini Heights, Kona Vistas, Alii Heights, Kona Industrial and Lono Kona.

Four candidates have been making the rounds of the forums and trying to get their message out. Homelessness, parks and environmental concerns top the candidates’ priority lists.

To win outright in the Aug. 11 primary, a candidate must take more than 50 percent of the votes cast in the nonpartisan contest. If not, the top two candidates move on to the general election.

Kelly Drysdale, 59, of Kailua-Kona, moved to the area to help her parents manage their restaurants, Don Drysdale’s Club 53 and Drysdale’s Two in the Keauhou Shopping Center. She studied radio and TV communications from San Diego State University and currently works as director of logistics for Kona Coffee & Tea Co.

Drysdale said she’s spent a lot of time talking with community members in the course of her career, learning their concerns and conveying them to government officials.

“Since I’ve been doing some work on all this anyway, I might just as well sit in the chair,” she said.

Homelessness is an issue that needs to be addressed quickly, Drysdale said. But rather than the county’s choice of the Village 9 homeless project off Kealakehe Parkway, she’d seek to locate it in the old Kona industrial area, close to where social services are already located.

Perhaps the county could work out a land swap with the Kona International Market to take over that space, she said. It already has infrastructure in place and the county wouldn’t have to pay for transportation between the Village 9 site and where the services are.

“Right now, everyone is everywhere,” Drysdale said. “Instead of starting from scratch on lava rock, they can be connected with a place that already provides services.”

Bronsten Kossow, 24, of Holualoa, is a graduate of Makua Lani Christian Academy and is currently working toward a political science degree at the University of Hawaii. He works as a flight coordinator for Paradise Helicopters.

After an unsuccessful run in the 2016 Democratic primary against incumbent Rep. Nicole Lowen, Kossow decided to go for the council seat this year.

“I had a lot of great people in the community ask me to run,” he said, adding that support is coming from all sectors, from union endorsements to contractors to many from the more than 100 households he’s visited. Endorsements include the Hawaii Government Employees Association and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Homelessness is the issue Kossow would tackle first. He said the first priority is getting a roof over their heads and then help them get employed.

Village 9 is an important component, Kossow said. He said he’d push for environmental impact statement and an archaeological survey, and once the property is cleared for development, work to get grants to help pay for the project.

“We need to work with our state and federal partners on this,” he said.

Cynthia Nazara, 70, of Kailua-Kona, is a cultural monitor coordinator for the Queen Kaahumanu construction project and president of Kona Hawaiian Civic Club. She attended Rhema Bible Training College and is currently pursuing a degree in anthropology online through Southwestern University.

It’s Nazara’s first run for public office. She decided to run, she said, to help educate the public and bring more community input into government.

“As politicians, we tend to look at the big picture,” Nazara said. “The ideas and the manao of the community is a great asset and nobody seems to pay attention. … Nobody pays attention to the little corners of the community.”

One of Nazara’s first priorities if she wins will be to add a parking lot and other improvements to Kona Scenic Park, a community park near the Hokulia luxury golf course development. Nazara said Hokulia had given land for a parking lot to the county, but the county didn’t accept it. Meanwhile, she said, park-goers must leave their cars on the roadside in order to use the park.

“The county said they don’t have money to build a parking lot, but there are people willing to do it,” she said.

Rebecca Shute Villegas, 44, Kailua-Kona, runs her own event marketing business, after 14 years as Hawaii marketing manager for Kona Brewing Co. She has a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Villegas said her mentors and kupuna encouraged her to run.

“As a lifelong resident of the county of Hawaii, I have seen the County Council evolve as a productive, collaborative and effective group of community leaders,” Villegas said. “I would like to be a part of that continued transformation and perpetuate its focus on solutions aligned with constituent concerns.”

She believes it’s her kuleana to help address a range of issues such as homelessness and infrastructure improvements and social and environmental justice. Her first issue on the council is likely to address environmental issues.

“I’d like to create legislation that would make it easier and more affordable for home owners to utilize water conservation technologies like gray water systems and low flow faucets, showers and toilets,” Villegas said. “Reducing the amount of water we use in our homes and businesses will reduce some of the strain on our water wells, as well as the damage being done by cesspools.”