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Councilwoman considers
retiring from political life

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City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi said she might be ready for a break from politics.

"I have thought about retiring," the Council's Budget Committee chairwoman said.

Kobayashi is up for re-election next year, and there is also talk that she may run for mayor, which she is not ruling out.

"I guess you can't rule anything out when you're an elected official."

After four years in the state House and 12 years in the state Senate, Kobayashi ran for mayor in 1994 but lost in a 12-way winner-take-all race won by Jeremy Harris.

During her hiatus from elected office, Kobayashi worked for Harris as an executive assistant and was a former Harris campaign committee chairwoman. She was also a special assistant to former Gov. Ben Cayetano and co-chairwoman of Cayetano's 1998 gubernatorial campaign.

Last year, Kobayashi returned to the campaign trail and won the special election to fill out the remainder of former Councilman Andy Mirikitani's seat after he was sentenced to jail. In September she won a two-year term and will be up again before voters next year.

She said the condition of the city's budget could motivate her to seek another term. "I worry about our taxpayers."

Kobayashi had a rough time this past budget session: She publicly clashed with Council Chairman Gary Okino over the budget, and she took barbs from her former boss, the mayor, who accused her of not knowing what she was doing with the budget.

But while the former chairwoman of the state Senate Ways and Means Committee describes the past city budget season as "challenging," she said there are other reasons for her contemplating retirement.

"There are things I missed out doing because I've been doing a lot of community service, and I'd like to continue community service but it may be less community service," said Kobayashi, who also works with nonprofit organizations.

Spending time with grandchildren, reading and gardening are among the activities she listed.

While she would not call herself an avid gardener, she chuckled, "I have a yard, but I've never ever had a chance to go out there. So maybe now's the time to go out there."

Helmets for moped riders

Longtime state Rep. Barbara Marumoto (R, Waialae Iki) said she intends to introduce legislation next session to raise discussion about mandatory helmets for moped riders.

Citing the recent moped accident involving Tony Ching, a former University of Hawaii volleyball player, Marumoto said state laws are inadequate, especially when it comes to mopeds.

She said a state Transportation Department study that found moped helmet use statewide is only 15.6 percent and that motorcycle helmet use is 26.4 percent. Marumoto said helmets can reduce fatal head injuries by 40 percent, while motorcyclists without helmets are three times as likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries in a crash than those wearing one.

Attempts to make motorcycle helmets mandatory have failed in past years at the Legislature.

"I see helmets, as unpopular as they may be, as safety precaution," she said.

"Even veteran cyclists can get into accidents. Twenty states already require that all riders wear helmets. Only three states have no helmet laws at all. The time has definitely come for Hawaii to re-examine its helmet laws," she said.

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Star-Bulletin staff

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