KAILUA-KONA — Rep. Cindy Evans, who’s represented North Kona, South Kohala and North Kohala since 2002, said it’s her experience that makes her suited to continue representing the district during the next legislative cycle. Her opponent, community organizer Jeffrey Coakley, said it’s time to “bring in a change,” and fight for a less “Oahu-centric” government.
The two candidates are facing off in the House District 7 race this November.
Evans said it’s not just her experience as a lawmaker, but also as a state employee, having worked in the Washington state capitol and government agencies.
“I think those years of working as a state employee really really gave me a perspective on how to interpret what policymakers and the Legislature had passed into law and how it impacts the staff that is trying to provide services and programs to the public” she said.
That, she said, has given her the tools she needs to “be a voice” for her community as well as understand and explain state agencies’ challenges and limitations, working with them to find solutions to the issues that face the community.
Evans cited a variety of accomplishments she said she’s proud of, such as getting more money for area schools, infrastructure and modernization of the Kona International Airport as well as supporting efforts to establish direct flights between Kona and Japan.
Coakley said he’s running on a platform that argues there’s too much of a disconnect between the Big Island and those who represent it on Oahu.
“We’re the ones that suffer for the decisions that benefit Oahu,” he said.
Coakley said policymakers all too often make decisions that might work in Oahu but aren’t exactly feasible elsewhere, such as the rural parts of District 7.
He cited as an example the recent proposal to do away with gas taxes and replace them with a road use charge, which would be dependent on miles driven rather than fuel consumed.
Coakley argued that it doesn’t take into consideration commuters who have to drive long distances such as from North to South Kohala.
“I don’t think their thinking encompasses the reality that we live on the Big Island,” he said.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation has said the road use charge could actually benefit rural drivers, saying rural residents “pay more in gas taxes than they would under a revenue-neutral (road use charge),” according to HDOT’s program application.
His focus, he said, is on “home rule,” those areas where the counties and communities outside of Oahu might be more suited to find solutions.
One of the biggest places Coakley said the state can decentralize is with the Department of Education. Coakley said the state should have school districts for each county rather than just one board that sets curriculum for the entire state.
That, he said, would be a big step for making government more accessible to the people it serves.
“If the board is right there on the Big Island, I can go there and have my voice heard,” he said.
Decentralizing the department, he said, would also allow the islands to make their own decisions for their students and design a curriculum based on the needs and cultures of the communities.
That would include emphasizing areas like sustainable agriculture and vocational education in rural communities as well as alternatives to university for graduates.
Both of the candidates cited what they see as the major issues facing the region in the next few years.
For Evans, she said the focus needs to be on affordability.
“We keep talking about affordable housing but I kinda lean to what does it take to live in West Hawaii,” she said. “And it has to do with the cost of living. It’s the cost of food. It’s the cost of transportation. It’s the cost of housing.”
Her big concern, she said, is a livable wage.
While she said she’s not sure whether the state is ready to raise the minimum wage again, a discussion needs to take place.
“We need to be sensitive to what the cost of living is and we may have to go back –I’m gonna say ‘may,’ — may have to go back and talk about what is the minimum wage and is it keeping people in poverty in Hawaii,” she said. “I think we need to continue to be cognitive of that.”
Another big focus for her is access to health care.
She said she’s been very supportive of health care centers in the areas as well as exploring the idea of allowing certain medical professionals to perform certain procedures, such as immunizations.
“That’s one way to expand access to health care,” she said.
Coakley said the “number-one” issue facing the island in the future is taxes, particularly on food and drugs.
“Why are we paying excise tax for food and medicine?” he said. “That’s crazy. That’s ridiculous. We pay a tax for food that we need to eat, to feed our families?”
He also reiterated his “home rule” point, stressing the need for communities to take control of the issues they can in fact control.
Coakley expressed the need to organize and unify communities into coalitions so they can be heard.
“We have to realize that voters have a lot of power,” he said. “But they’ve given that power away or they’ve accepted that ‘I voted and that’s it.’”