Critics attack proposed
Hana-Puna canoe district

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By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com

HILO >> The proposed creation of new state Senate and House "canoe" districts linking Hana, Maui, to part of Puna on the Big Island appears to be politically motivated, Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim told the state Reapportionment Commission last night.

Kim, a Republican, said he suspects politics because the proposed interisland district cannot be justified on a geographic, socioeconomic or any other basis. It is called a canoe district because a candidate would have to travel by water to reach each end.

Like others, he noted that there are no neighbor islanders on the commission. "The center of the universe is not Oahu," he said.

Republican Party Chairwoman Linda Lingle told the commission there would be no need for a Hana-Puna district if the population of Oahu were not artificially inflated by including military dependents.

The vote to make that inclusion was done by all five Democrats on the commission voting for it and all four Republicans voting against it, she noted.

"Please be fair to the neighbor Islands," she said.

The canoe district is inherently unequal and disenfranchises voters, said state Democratic Rep. Helene Hale, who represents Puna.

Under the proposal to create a Hana-Puna district, a representative would have to drive two hours from Kahului to Hana, where 56 percent of the district's population would live, she said.

A representative meeting with the other 44 percent of the population in Puna would have to regularly buy airline tickets and rent a car, she said.

Barry Taniguchi of the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board urged adding one entire additional House seat to the Big Island, bringing the total to seven. The current number is six. Under the "canoe" proposal, it would be 6.5.

Under Taniguchi's proposal, Maui would gain an additional senator and Kauai an additional representative, but population figures justify that, Taniguchi said.

Gary Safarik, the lower Puna representative on the Hawaii County Council, said of linking Puna to Maui: "We're connecting two totally different communities. Please, please, rethink this."

The commission was holding its first in a series of hearings on proposed legislative district changes based on the 2000 census. Its timetable calls for adopting a final plan by Oct. 25.