Sunday, October 27, 1996

Honolulu Star-Bulletin
General Election Guide

State Senate

We asked candidates in this race to address the following subject areas. Their responses are below.

1) How can Hawaii provide more jobs for its citizens?

2) What is your opinion of legalizing same-sex marriage?

3) How can you make state government more accessible to the public?

District 8

Donna R. Ikeda (D)
Age: 56
Occupation: Assistant vice president, Grand Pacific Life Insurance Co.

1. In addition to sustaining tourism, we need to nurture other activities that can be "piggy-backed" onto it, thus broadening the industry's strength (convention business, sports, health, and environmental tourism are some examples). At the same time we need to diversify our economy. A strong university is crucial to this endeavor.

2. I voted to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot and let the public decide.

3. I tried to do this by taking the Ways and Means Committee across the state prior to the opening of the legislature. We explained the budget process, gave a status report and then listened to the public's concerns.


Sam Slom (R)
Age: 54
Occupation: Consulting economist; small business owner

1. By CUTTING TAXES, improving the business climate, eliminating special interests and rewarding individual incentives, based on what a person knows rather than who he or she knows.

2. I am opposed to legalization and wasting another legislative day on this non-issue when real issues go unresolved.

3. Decentralize public hearings; add more "sunshine," retire special interest politicians.


District 9

Matt Matsunaga (D)
Age: 37
Occupation: State senator/attorney

1. By creating an environment friendly to small businesses (streamlining regulations and minimizing cost of doing business), supporting our largest industry, tourism (keeping Hawaii beautiful, safe and accessible), and encouraging the growth of new industries (high-tech, health care, telecommunications, ocean industries, and renewable energy).

2. We have an obligation to protect everyone's civil rights. No citizen should suffer discrimination or deprivation of rights on the basis of gender or sexual orientation. I believe our Supreme Court should decide the issue of whether it is unconstitutional to deprive same-gender couples marriage rights.

3. By assuring that ample public notice is given of committee hearings, committee hearings are televised, legislators have e-mail addresses, bills are also available on computers and hearings are as "public friendly" as possible. I also believe any "new" provisions of bills should have public hearings before being passed.


Ron Neff (R)
Age: 48
Occupation: Sales and marketing

1. Get government out of the way of business.

2. I am against legalizing it.

3. No "closed-door" meetings; more information on-line; possibly telecasting.


District 11

John James (R)
Age: 57
Occupation: Graduate student, University of Hawaii; part-time teacher

1. By providing a better atmosphere and attitude toward new ideas and business opportunities; by offering state-owned land free of charge to qualified new industry; by restructuring the state's system of higher education to include major financial investment in our university that would in turn increase enrollment.

2. The concept of "marriage" is both a civil and religious/philosophical matter, therefore as to the latter, I feel it should be left to individual freedom of choice without state interference and as to the first, any good partnership agreement should satisfy legal requirements.

3. Government is already easily accessible, but by making it more attractive and real to the public, by structuring classes in schools to motivate students to learn more and care more for their government, laws and political processes - then we would begin to see better voter participation and more public involvement.


Brian T. Taniguchi (D)
Age: 44
Occupation: State senator; legal counsel for International Savings and Loan

1. Hawaii generally needs to continue to diversify its economy and look to Asia for opportunities. We also need to look seriously at re-establishing agriculture in the areas where sugar has left. This will take investment by the private sector and some assistance from government in the short-term.

2. This is a constitutional issue being decided by the courts. While most people do not support same sex marriage, I believe that most people also feel that homosexuals are human beings entitled to equal rights under the law.

3. We need to make a better effort at "entry points" to make those who feel that government is inaccessible more welcome. This would mean service-orientation and a customer-friendly attitude ... by government workers dealing with the public. We also need to make the public aware of how accessible government already is.


District 12

Carol Fukunaga (D)
Age: 48
Occupation: attorney

1. Eliminate unnecessary government regulation in areas like telecommunications and insurance. Expand public educational programs, especially those involving Internet access and distance learning, to help Hawaii residents learn skills enabling them to deal with global competitors.

2. I support providing equal benefits to domestic partnerships, by any name.

3. We should expand access to information by increasing Internet access, and providing more services (i.e.: permits or tax filings, etc.) via electronic means. State legislators could communicate more rapidly and cost-effectively with their constituents by using Internet "home pages," e-mail and faxes.


Tracy Ryan (L)
Age: 40
Occupation: Tax accounting; real estate

1. We need to cut state spending to allow more resources to the private sector. The free enterprise system will create all the jobs we need. Government spending and interference creates unemployment.

2. Same sex marriages are legal under existing contract law. The State has no business meddling in anyone's marriage rights. The Attorney General should drop his appeal and allow the same sex marriage lobby to have what they want.

3. The community doesn't take advantage of the level of accessibility they already have. One could fault the press, but since business decisions guide the press to presenting the news people want to hear, that merely takes us back to the beginning of the circle.


District 14

Suzanne Chun Oakland (D)
Age: 35
Occupation: Full-time legislator

1 .By creating a positive economic environment to attract more business to Hawaii. I am particularly committed to building partnerships between the private and public sectors to realize new and expanded business for the state.

2. I uphold the sanctity of marriage and reaffirm my personal commitment to marriage daily with my husband and two children. I am also committed to protecting and upholding the civil rights of all citizens.

3. As a full-time legislator, I routinely meet with my community to discuss and help solve their concerns and needs. Government can effectively utilize technology to open the doors of state government to the community and encourage positive dialogue to exchange information and ideas.


Jonathan Low (R)
Age: 37
Occupation: Arms merchant, CERN Inc.; telephone operator, AT&T

1. We can create more jobs by cutting taxes and repealing government regulations that strangle small business by making the cost of doing business exorbitant. Doing business is a right, not a privilege.

2. Marriage is a sacred heterosexual monogamous relationship. Homosexuality is wrong. I oppose legalization of homosexual marriage. I oppose any state-condoned homosexual relationship.

3. I will make government more accessible to the public by answering all phone calls and letters and by making time to talk to anyone who wishes to make an appointment to see me.


District 20

Kioni Dudley (R)
Age: 57
Occupation: Educator; publisher

1. Robust, successful, small businesses hire more employees. Help small business with lower taxes, further worker's comp reform, less paperwork, etc. Eco-tourism offers a broad spectrum of new jobs. Diversified agriculture, with farm-to-market activities such as trucking, processing, packaging, distributing, and delivering can be a whole new industry.

2. My opinion should not matter. As a responsive legislator, I will vote the expressed wish of the majority of my constituents. Given recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions this summer, gay marriage seems already court-mandated, however, and I expect the hands of the legislature to be completely tied.

3. I plan to hold quarterly town meetings where constituents bring their concerns to me. I will attend neighborhood board meetings regularly to keep in touch with concerns expressed there. And I will author bills to greatly enhance public access capabilities.


Brian Kanno (D)
Age: 34
Occupation: Youth worker, Ewa Beach Unit, Boys and Girls Club of Honolulu

1. First, millions of dollars in construction projects are already funded and not being built. The bottlenecks in the bureaucracy must be eliminated and the release of these project funds must be expedited. Second, diversify our economy. Developing new industries such as educational services, health care and diversified agriculture.

2. I agree with the Democratic Party of Hawaii on this issue; supporting a court resolution of this issue and opposing further delay or interference by the state Legislature or a constitutional amendment.

3. I support reform of the legislative process to provide more openness and fairness. Reforms are also needed to our campaign spending law and ethics laws. I support the elimination of legislators' high-three pension benefit.


District 24

Marshall K. Ige (D)
Age: 41
Occupation: Self-employed in agriculture - taro

1. We need to diversify our economic base while protecting our most precious natural resource, our environment. Agriculture promises the greatest potential for providing jobs from Waimanalo to Kahuku. We must have the courage to make agriculture a high priority item for Windward Oahu.

2. Against.

3. Government access begins with the elected officials. They must make themselves available first. Only then will satellite state offices continue to be supported.


Michael Liu (R)
Age: 42
Occupation: Banker/lawyer

1. Cuts in taxes, insurance, and government fees are necessary to give business more confidence in the future which will lead to investment in more jobs.

2. I oppose same-sex marriage and believe that the people should have been given a chance to vote on the issue.

3. Accessibility is a combination of confidence in government and a change in the budgeting process. Eliminating the "high three" would help to restore confidence. Reform of the budget process starts with making budget work papers public during the session.


District 25

Whitney T. Anderson (R)
Age: 65
Occupation: Master distributor, Wholesale Janitoral Supplies and Equipment

1. By reducing administrative rules, taxes and fees oppressive to small business, which employs most of the people in our state, and promoting small business development with tax breaks. Furthermore, we need to do more than provide more jobs - the state should try to attract businesses that will provide better jobs. And we need to provide good education to our children so that they can fill these jobs.

2. I think the Honolulu Star-Bulletin is aware of my stand against same-sex marriage, and that I voted to allow the people of this state to decide the question.

3. By supporting legislation to open up the people's legislature to the people, such as: a) putting the Legislature on-line, with voting results accessible in real time; b) not reducing government in a piecemeal fashion, which weakens customer service, but by eliminating whole, wasteful programs that duplicate; c) reducing bureaucratic miscommunication or conflicting rules.


Jackie Young (D)
Age: 62
Occupation: Educator, Hawaii Pacific University; TV producer

1. Build on our strength as a recreational paradise. Seriously develop our marine science, knowledge and health care industry so that we attract visitors who come here to learn and to be healed.

2. The time has come to separate the religious and civil issues relating to marriage. I support domestic partnership. Leave marriage to the individual religious groups.

3. A combination of "high tech and high touch" accessibility would help to decentralize government services. Business 24 hours a day through the Internet, then on Aloha Friday, a cadre of government workers can go into the communities to do their work, setting up office stations in major shopping centers.



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