AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM
At the office of the city clerk in Honolulu Hale yesterday, election official Rosie Punahele, left, helped Donovan Dela Cruz finish the paperwork needed to run for City Council. Dela Cruz is vying with four other candidates for the District 2 seat.
Eight of the nine seats on the Honolulu City Council will be contested this fall, thanks in large part to the ordinance limiting members to two consecutive terms. Races crowded for Council seats
Familiar names fill the elections in
which only 1 of the 9 seats will be uncontestedBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.comThe exception is in District 8 (Moanalua-Waipio Gentry), where Councilman Gary Okino is running uncontested. He needs only one vote to win a full, four-year term for the first time after winning the 2000 election to fill out the remaining two years of former Councilman Mufi Hannemann's term.
The two other incumbents eligible for re-election will have company. Councilman Romy Cachola in District 7 (Kalihi-Foster Village) will face community advocate Lillian Hong, while Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi in District 5 (Palolo-Makiki) will be challenged by newcomer Kyle Kopitke.
The deadline to file for Council elections was yesterday, and interesting races featuring familiar names and faces are shaping up.
The District 4 (East Honolulu-Ala Moana) seat will feature departing state Rep. Charles Djou, former city Managing Director Bob Fishman and hotel manager Cameron Heen, son of former judge and Council Chairman Walter Heen and grandson of the late Councilman Ernest Heen. Others in the race are Michael Abe and Terrance Teruya.
Another high-profile race is District 3 (Kaneohe-Waimanalo), which includes professional planner Donald Bremner, radio executive Jeff Coelho, community advocate Kimberly Kalama, former state Sen. Stan Koki and veteran TV journalist Barbara Marshall.
The District 9 (Mililani-Makakilo) seat features two elected officials who are seeking greener pastures: state Rep. Nestor Garcia and former police Chief Michael Nakamura, now a state Board of Education member. Others in the race include Oahu Transit Services employee Guillermo Colon, retired Air Force officer and city employee Mike Golojuch, and businessman Cliff Laboy.
In District 6 (Downtown-Kalihi), state Sen. Rod Tam faces off against city executive assistant Isaac Hokama, businessman Brian Kessler, former state Sen. Dennis Nakasato and Makiki Neighborhood Board Chairman John Steelquist.
The far-flung District 2 (Mililani Mauka-Temple Valley) features marketing director and author Donovan Dela Cruz, former state Sen. Gerald Hagino, former Councilman Kekoa Kaapu and city attorney Ernie Martin. Also in the race is unknown Charles Penn Jr.
Perhaps the most wide-open race will be District 1 (Leeward Coast-Ewa), which includes Donna Broome and Pam Witty-Oakland, both aides to Council Chairman John DeSoto; Teamsters official Michael Chambrella; community activist Mike Gabbard; Ironworkers Stabilization Fund official John Kaopua; and neighborhood board members James Manaku and Cynthia Rezentes.
The city staggered the terms of Council seats for this election to ensure the two-term-limit law that went into effect in 1994 will not result in a mass exodus of members -- like the one this year -- in the future. As a result, those in even-numbered districts will have four-year terms while those in odd-numbered districts will have two-year terms.
If no candidate in a district gets 50 percent of the votes plus one vote in the Sept. 21 special, nonpartisan election, the top two candidates will move on to a runoff election Nov. 5.
