Retiring city clerk
boosted absentee voting
Before Genny Wong became city clerk, absentee voters on Oahu had two choices: either mail in their ballots or go to City Hall.
Wong changed that by opening up absentee voting places at shopping centers around the island.
"I think we definitely enhanced services to the voter," Wong said. "The absentee walk-in sites, people love it."
Wong, 59, will be hanging up her city clerk hat as she readies to retire July 1.
"Genny's going to be a pretty tough act to follow," said Hawaii County Clerk Al Konishi.
"There's a great deal of turmoil that we are often in the midst of, and as you know, Genny is always calm," Konishi said.
"She's very poised -- that's the epitome of professionalism. I don't think I've ever seen any situation that got her either bent out of shape or that she couldn't handle."
Honolulu City Council Chairman Gary Okino said Wong will be missed.
"She has such a nice personality, but she gets things done. She's very effective. It's going to be a big loss for us," Okino said.
Looking back on her nearly 40-year career at the city -- eight as city clerk -- Wong said she is proud of the work she and her "wonderful" staff did to help make voting more accessible to the public.
"Lifestyles of people have changed. Voting is not really appealing to some people, or they just don't have the time. They're busy with soccer games and they work," she said.
Absentee walk-in voting -- where voters can cast ballots at designated polling places during a 10-day period before each election -- was only available at Honolulu Hale when Wong became clerk in 1995. By the 2002 election, absentee voting sites had opened at Pearlridge, Windward Mall and Koko Marina.
According to the state Office of Elections reports, the total number of Oahu absentee voters -- both walk-in and mail-in -- more than doubled from the 1996 to 2002 elections. The percentage of registered voters who have voted absentee in the general election also climbed by almost 7 percent during that period, to 16.1 percent in 2002 from 9.5 percent in 1996.
During her tenure, she also ran a special election to find a successor to former City Councilman Andy Mirikitani, who went to jail on federal charges.
She is proudest of her ability to remain independent.
The city clerk serves at the discretion of the City Council chairman and is the chief election officer for the county.
It is a position that is ripe for politics, but for the past 20 years, the city clerk has managed to steer clear of the political wrangling of the Council -- first under former City Clerk Ray Pua, who served for 12 years in that post, and then under Wong for the past eight years.
"I'm apolitical. I have no ties to anyone, and neither did he. He kind of set the tone," Wong said of Pua, whom she considers a mentor.
"They're doing what they must do politically, and we do whatever we must do to keep the work going, whoever's there (at the Council)."
Konishi said Wong and Pua have set the standard when it comes to keeping politics out of the county clerk's office.
"I think that it's a real challenge because we're appointed by politicians, but trying to keep it nonpolitical is a real challenge and Ray and Genny are really the role models for us," Konishi said.
Okino said that to help keep politics out of the position, the Council is going to form a search committee of two councilmembers and two outsiders to help find the next city clerk, a move that is being praised by Wong and her peers.
Okino said they are looking for a good manager who knows the election process. The clerk provides support to the Council, drafts bills and disseminates information.
Konishi said a good sense of humor and a sense of perspective also help. "You have to stay grounded. You have to roll with the punches."
Wong's husband, Tommy, retired eight years go as a Fire Department captain, and she said it's about time she joined him. She plans to travel, see a new grandchild who is on the way on the East Coast and maybe take a cruise with her family.
