HILO — Two community association leaders are seeking to represent lower Puna on the Hawaii County Council.
Maddie Greene of Nanawale Estates and Eileen Ohara of Hawaiian Shores will face off in the Nov. 8 general election in the District 4 race.
The seat is held by Greggor Ilagan, who unsuccessfully ran for state Senate in the primary.
Greene and Ohara have a long list of work or volunteer experience.
Greene, 78, until recently operated a pawn shop in Pahoa and sits on the boards for the Nanawale Community Association, Pahoa Regional Town Center, Mainstreet Pahoa Association and other groups.
She has lived in Puna for about 20 years but her family ties go back further. Greene said her great-grandfather was the first sheriff of Puna.
“I want to bring in development to create jobs,” she said, mentioning the need for a wastewater treatment plant in Pahoa. “We need medical services and a shelter for the homeless.”
Greene ran for the same council seat in 2014, but came in last during the four-person primary. She said she is campaigning more this time around.
Ohara, 64, teaches economics at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and recently was president of the Hawaiian Shores Community Association.
She previously was the county recycling coordinator, executive director of Recycle Hawaii, county planner and business development specialist for Pacific Biodiesel.
Ohara said she has lived in Puna for 35 years and also operates Dakini Enterprises, which grows organic tomatoes and cut-flower orchids.
She said she wants to build a police station serving Puna mauka, build a Puna makai alternate route at least for emergency vehicles, and also mentioned the need for a wastewater treatment facility for Pahoa. Ohara said the Pahoa police station is stretched to its limit while serving all of Puna.
“We need a full-service police station for mauka and lower Puna,” she said.
Asked what she thinks the election is about, Greene said getting the right people elected who don’t have hidden agendas. But she appeared uncomfortable with some state laws governing how the council operates. Greene said she thinks the state’s Sunshine Law, which applies to public meetings, is too restrictive.
“If you could sit down on a round table and discuss all your problems … then getting things done, it would be so much easier,” she said.
The Sunshine Law generally prohibits council members from discussing council business outside of public meetings.
“I don’t understand that,” Greene said. “I don’t know how we can get rid of that.”
Ohara said she supports the law.
“I support the Sunshine Law and I think we need to be very careful about any perception, even if not an actual conflict of interest, but the perception of a conflict of interest can really create distrust with the public,” she said.
Ohara said she supported the proposed Styrofoam ban that the County Council defeated earlier this year.
Greene said the proposed ban was the wrong approach.
“They should sit down and talk with the producers,” she said.
Regarding the county budget, Greene said she thinks the county might be spending too much and that some jobs should be “reprioritized.”
“I’m for jobs. I hate to see anybody to be let go of their job, but I think in some departments, some should be let go,” she said. “I have to look at every department before I make that decision on where,” Greene added.
Ohara, who served on the county’s Cost of Government Commission in 2010, said she wants to see the county be more aggressive in pursuing grants.
“In 2010, it was more about creating ways to find alternate forms of revenue rather than cutting costs,” she said. “Because cutting costs means cutting services.”
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.