Easing the daily traffic woes caused by the mushrooming of communities in and around the Makakilo-Mililani section of the island is priority No. 1 for candidates of the Honolulu City Council 9th District seat. Council District 9
candidates focus on
battling traffic woes
Editor's note: This is the sixth in a series of profiles of political candidates for the Sept. 21 primary election.By Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.comThe race features two candidates who chose to forgo re-election bids to other seats: state Rep. Nestor Garcia and school board member Michael Nakamura.
Also in the race are Cliff Laboy, who previously ran for a Council seat; and Guillermo "Guill" Colon and Mike Golojuch, two men who, while new to politics, are familiar with the inner workings of the city.
"Everybody is worried about traffic congestion," Colon said. "They're worried about more real estate development without regard to transportation congestion."
Colon, 50, should know. The 20-year Mililani resident is a technical equipment coordinator for Oahu Transit Services, the company that runs TheBus.
Colon supports the city's $1 billion Bus Rapid Transit project. Not only can it move people in and out of downtown efficiently, he said, it provides economic activities along the route.
Garcia said he is not certain Bus Rapid Transit is the answer. "I'm not sold on dedicated lanes for buses," he said.
Nonetheless, the 45-year-old Waikele resident agrees that traffic is a top priority for the area. "One of my ideas is to reroute traffic to the second city (Kapolei) by trying to generate job opportunities out there." That can be achieved through enterprise zones, tax incentives or other programs, he said.
Garcia has served as a state representative since 1994 and is a bank vice president. He is also a former television journalist.
Golojuch said he has heard all the concerns raised about the BRT project but feels there is little choice but to support it since no other traffic mitigation alternatives are currently on the table.
"It's not going to cure all our problems, but it will at least help," Golojuch said. Like Garcia, he also advocates initiatives that will help push jobs and other activity toward Kapolei as part of a plan to ease the traffic problem.
Golojuch, 58, has lived in Makakilo since 1981. He is administrative services officer for the city Department of Budget & Fiscal Services. He has been a city employee since 1996 and, prior to that, spent six years with the state. He is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel.
Laboy, a 17-year resident of Mililani, said he supports the ideas offered by other District 9 candidates. He further wants to see the city working more closely with the state and larger private employers to better stagger work schedules to help ease traffic.
Laboy, 49, said he remains noncommittal on the BRT project. He has some serious concerns about its viability, but said he wants to explore the pros and cons more carefully.
The executive director of the nonprofit Hoolana Educational Support Services, Laboy is also a Unity House lobbyist and small businessman. He finished second to former Councilwoman Rene Mansho in a 1998 challenge.
Nakamura also wants to push development into Kapolei. Like Laboy, he supports the first segment of the BRT in-town line, which calls for a tram to run from Aala Park to Waikiki, but is not committed to the overall BRT project.
He agrees, however, with the BRT's concept of encouraging motorists to get out of their individual cars in favor of mass transit or carpooling.
"People don't realize how much of a pleasure it is to just ride instead of drive, and once they get a taste of sitting back and letting somebody else do the driving, maybe we can change their habit of getting into a car and just driving with one person per vehicle," said the loyal Handi-Van rider.
The former Honolulu police chief, 55, has been a Mililani resident the last 26 years. He was elected to fill out a term on the Board of Education two years ago, and he is a lecturer at Kapiolani Community College.
