Lots of people are running for lots of offices locally. This is due, in part, to mandated redistricting which occurs every ten years after a national census has taken place. Every state senate seat here is up for grabs this year, whereas normally only half of those seats come up for election every couple of years, since local senators serve four-year terms and terms are traditionally staggered.
With so many choices and yet so many issues to confront, what’s a conscientious citizen to do? Well, #1 is vote! Since you have a couple of weeks before you’ll receive your ballot in the mail or opt to go to a voting site, now is the time to ask questions, dig deeper, probe. Because everyone running will happily and boldly tell you WHAT he or she wants to do and WHAT needs to get done, but the devil, as they say, is always in the details. The vital question to possibly ask to help you make your selection process simpler is to find out just HOW she or he will do what they say they plan or want to do.
Growing our economic base beyond tourism, increasing affordable housing, “the keiki are our future”, getting rail costs under control, decreasing homelessness and making sure others in need don’t fall through the cracks, improving our education system, dealing with an aging population, keeping younger generations from moving away, securing a greener future, indigenous rights, mitigating coastal erosion, encouraging entrepreneurship, finding one more use for duct tape… the list goes on and on. Just like two years ago, and two years before that.
Pandemic be damned. Many issues have been tossed around like an overdone 4th of July burger on the grill for years, or decades. If you’re happy with your voting choices, then your job is done. If you believe that change is good, OK… but just remember, change is good only if it’s good change. Change for change’s sake is an iffy proposition, at best.
So that brings us back to you, the voter, and your current opportunity to ask for or research details from candidates (or their websites) on how they, in 2022 and beyond, are going to make those hard, but necessary, decisions that will help to resolve issues which seem to have stacked up like rush hour traffic on H-1 heading leeward at 5p… every day.
Think about it…