Chris Lee

Democrat

Age: 27

Job: Office manager

Past: Director, Ala Wai Water-shed Association; Breakthroughs for Youth at Risk

What is the most important issue facing your district, and what would you do about it?
A looming issue for Kailua and Waimanalo is the potential closure of schools in the near future. Enrollment has dropped by 11,000 students in the last decade, and to save money, there has been a push to identify schools to be closed or consolidated by 2011. Continuing drops in enrollment place our district schools on the chopping block. Our schools are at the center of our communities. They house senior programs, local services and sports. Instead of closing schools, I will fight to use a reduction in students as an opportunity to shrink class size ...

What qualifies you to be a state representative?
I was born and raised on the Windward side, and for three years I’ve been working inside the Legislature where I’ve earned a unique understanding of the legislative process. I began working in government and volunteering with local nonprofits to help make Hawaii an easier place to live, but like most of us I struggle with bills and living here keeps getting harder. I’m approaching 30, and it will be my generation that inherits Hawaii’s challenges. It’s important we get young people with fresh ideas and new perspective involved in government to help overcome the problems our veteran politicians have been unable to solve.

What is one thing you would do in office to improve the local economy?
To improve the local economy we need to create stable jobs that can provide for our local families, especially in the volatile service sector hit hard by the recent decline in tourism. We have the farmland and resources to build a productive local agriculture industry on the windward side that will provide stable jobs in hard times like these. I will push for new agricultural training programs in our community colleges to help create opportunities for careers in small farming and agriculture, and I will work for incentives to make it financially feasible and easy to get these small businesses off the ground.

Do you support convening a Constitutional Convention? Please explain.
I believe we should be extremely cautious about tampering with the framework of our society. Special interests both left and right have been eager to use such opportunities to their benefit, and we need to be sure that we can protect the rights written into the Constitution by our forefathers. Hawaii has serious challenges that need to be overcome, but I’m not sure we need to unravel the Constitution to address them.

Do you support Oahu’s planned rail-transit system? Please explain.
I believe that Oahu residents who are paying for rail should be able to vote on it. Rail is the largest and most expensive public works project in the state’s history, and with so many unanswered questions and billions at stake, everyone deserves to have a say.

What can the Legislature do to improve Hawaii’s public education?
A quality education is the most important thing the state can provide to our next generation. The Legislature needs to ensure that every school receives adequate resources and funding. We need to give our students individual attention by reducing class sizes and giving teachers the flexibility to teach each student, rather than each class. Every student learns differently, and the best thing the Legislature can do for our keiki is allow them to be taught differently. Trying to meet “one-size-fits-all” standards teaches students how to take a test, but it doesn’t teach them how to learn.

Quentin Kawananakoa

Republican

Age: 46

Job: Attorney

Past: Raising my two sons in Kailua, just like I was

What is the most important issue facing your district, and what would you do about it?
The most important issue facing my district is the quality of life. I want to work with the Lingle administration to keep Kailua a small, vibrant community, preserving the rural lifestyle while ensuring that my constituents have the opportunity to grow their businesses with less government regulations while giving their children the best education possible.

What qualifies you to be a state representative?
I was first elected to the state House in 1994 and served for four years. Since then I have been involved in the business community while raising a family. My political, business and life experiences make me qualified to return to the state House.

What is one thing you would do in office to improve the local economy?
In my district there are many businesses in the agricultural industry. I would work with these businesses to support their efforts and help them to make it easier for them to provide whole fresh foods four our children and families.

Do you support convening a Constitutional Convention? Please explain.
If majority of the people vote for a convention, as I will, I would like to work in developing a convention that will put the people’s need, not the special interests’ need, first.

Do you support Oahu’s planned rail-transit system ? Please explain.
Ten years ago while serving in the Legislature I advocated for a toll system and had we voted for it then, we would have paid for the system by now. In fact, the private sector would have paid for most of it. I support a mass transit system and would like the people to decide what form it should take.

What can the Legislature do to improve Hawaii’s public education?
Give principals the decision-making on 90 percent of their budget. True decision-making with no interference from the BOE or DOE. Put principals on a performance-based system and pay them for their successes.