Political newcomer challenges Ing in race for the 11th District
DECISION 2016 EDITOR’S NOTE: This is another in a series of feature stories on contested races in the Nov. 8 general election. Stories will appear most days through Nov. 6. A complete look at all Maui County Council and state House contests was published as a special section in Sunday’s newspaper.
After a hard-fought campaign that resulted in a victory in the Democratic primary, South Maui Rep. Kaniela Ing will face off against Republican Daniel Pekus on Nov. 8.
“I thought about running in 2014, but I wasn’t ready,” Pekus explained. “But then a lot of people, both independents and Republicans, were telling me to run — and how often does someone ask you to do that? I figured it was time.”
Pekus decided to enter the race for the 11th District seat (Kihei-Wailea-Makena) in mid-May. This is his first foray into politics. “The No. 1 reason why I’m doing this is because of the lack of transparency in government,” he said. “Transparency equals trust.”
Pekus, 58, has taught special education for the past six years and teaches special education math at Baldwin High School. He said that his job experience has given him a clear-eyed perspective of Hawaii’s public education system, as well as issues affecting people with disabilities.
Before he became a teacher, Pekus owned and operated several businesses on the Mainland. With a background in marketing, management and government contracts, he said he’s used tried-and-true negotiation skills to generate favorable outcomes for multiple parties, both in the boardroom and the classroom.
Pekus said that he hopes voters will focus on the issues — not party affiliation. “Don’t pay attention to the ‘D’ and ‘R’ next to a candidate’s name,” he said. “Pay attention to the issues.”
In 2012, at the age of 23, Kaniela Ing became the youngest elected official in Maui’s political history. Now eyeing a fourth term in office, Ing, 27, said he wants to keep his momentum going.
“I’m the hardest-working, most accessible legislator South Maui has had,” he said.
Ing, who’s been called “Hawaii’s most progressive legislator,” is a crusader for fair and responsive government and an outspoken advocate of getting big money out of politics.
Ing said that one of his greatest accomplishments as a legislator was introducing House Bill 2590, which gave Hawaii voters the opportunity to register to vote at early-voting sites and polling places. In addition, he said, one of his proudest moments was working to establish the Hawaii Future Caucus, a bipartisan coalition of legislators under 40 who focus on key issues facing Hawaii’s millennial generation while working toward a post-partisan future.
If re-elected, Ing said he would continue to listen and respond to his constituents’ concerns.
“An efficient government needs to represent what the people want,” he said. “We’ve held more than 24 town halls and coffee hours, and I’ve responded to more than 12,000 emails on my phone. I’m always here to listen.”
Here’s where both candidates stand on a few of the issues affecting District 11 residents.
Affordable housing and homelessness
Both candidates agree that immediate action must be taken to meet the housing needs of Hawaii’s lowest-income residents. While it is largely a county issue, the housing crisis can be alleviated through more construction of affordable homes and better enforcement of inclusionary zoning laws, Ing said.
“Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet solution — that’s the reality of it,” he said. “It’s a very complex issue.”
If re-elected, Ing pledged to explore more-compassionate solutions — not efforts like “sit-lie” bans — to homelessness. Among other things, Ing said that the state can step up its Housing First program and take a closer look at the Work for a Day program, which connects homeless individuals to per-diem jobs.
“These are proven models that have led to positive outcomes in other states,” he said.
Pekus noted that affordable housing solutions have been achieved in other states, and Hawaii can replicate those models. One practical solution, Pekus said, is buying or leasing land — for example, 9,000 acres of nonag Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. land — and building affordable units there.
Most importantly, though, is getting people into these homes, he said.
Pekus suggested an under-$60,000 combined income to qualify for an affordable unit. In addition, he said, the state can create more affordable homeownership opportunities with a zero-down mortgage program (which, he pointed out, is working well in Utah) and by guaranteeing a low-interest rate.
“One of the requirements would be not being able to sell or refinance the house for 15 years,” he said. “That would also help create a sense of community.”
Legalization of marijuana
As for how to fund programs like Housing First and Work for a Day, Ing said that the state could move toward legalizing and regulating marijuana.
Some may see this as a bold move, but it’s also a sensible one: Bringing marijuana under the rule of law would raise revenue for the state and create other economic opportunities, Ing said.
“It’s worked for Colorado, and it can work for us, too,” he said.
Ing’s industrial hemp bill, which allows private farmers to grow and sell industrial hemp through permits from the state Department of Agriculture, passed the state House earlier this year. Now he plans to take the first steps toward legalizing marijuana.
As for whether marijuana is a “gateway drug,” Ing said that correlation is not causation, and regulation would inhibit the gateway drug phenomenon.
Pekus opposes the legalization of marijuana.
“Legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes to generate tax revenue is putting the cart before the horse,” he said. “Other states are having issues that cost money to the state and taxpayers, but the industry does not deduct these expenses from the revenues when it hits the media.”
In addition to the destructive effects of marijuana use, Pekus said, there is no accurate way to determine if someone is impaired by marijuana.
“If a police officer pulled over someone smoking in their car but had no way of determining if they were impaired and told them, ‘Drive home slowly,’ and they drove home and killed your mother, father, sibling, auntie, uncle or your child, what would you say?” he asked.
Kihei high school
Both candidates agree that there’s no time like the present to get the ball rolling on building the long-awaited Kihei high school.
Ing has been a key player in the funding and initial construction phases of the school, which broke ground in January. He said he’s eager to see construction move forward on the 77-acre parcel of land.
“All the support is there to do it,” he said. ‘We put in the money, so now it’s up to the executive branch to spend it.”
The project is on track to be fully funded, but what’s already been approved needs to be spent now, Ing said. “I will continue to keep pressing,” he said. “And I’ll do whatever I can to help it move along.”
If elected, Pekus said that one of his first orders of business would be taking a long, hard look at all of the construction contracts for the new campus.
In addition, Pekus said, the $130 million price tag for the school’s design and construction is “way out of line” in terms of cost, so he would scrutinize existing and future funding and prioritize accordingly.
“There are too many regulations and too many delays,” he said. “We need to stub out what we can’t do now and get started right away on what we can do now; people feel that their tax dollars are not being used, and we need to show them that we are doing it.”
Protecting the environment
Environmental stewardship is something that Ing said he takes very seriously.
“When it comes to environmental issues, I stand with the people,” he said. “My record speaks for itself.”
Evidently, his environmental record impressed the Sierra Club of Hawaii, which issued an early endorsement of Ing’s candidacy in June. “Yes, it’s rare to receive an early endorsement,” he said. “It was an honor.”
Ing has served on the House’s Energy & Environmental Protection and Water & Land committees and chairs the Ocean, Marine Resources & Hawaiian Affairs committee. He has introduced bills to tackle pesticides, disposable food containers, invasive species and shark and manta ray protection, in addition to other environmental and conservation-related issues.
If re-elected, Ing said that he would continue to support smart growth and environmental protection efforts; he also plans to work on creating more walkable and bikeable communities.
“We need to step away from the car-centric model and look at ways to make our communities more people-centric and community-driven,” he said.
Protecting the environment is also a major concern for Pekus.
“Our No. 1 industry is tourism and will always be,” he said. “If we do not take care of our environment — lands, oceans, development of the HC&S’ 36,000 acres of ag land, invasive species, etc. — then all of the other industries will decline.”
A top priority is creating a plan for the HC&S land, he said.
“We need to plan what to grow and how to break the land developments agriculturally into manageable segments,” Pekus said. “This needs to be planned out so that the entire community can benefit economically.”
Pekus said that everyone should be concerned about the natural environment, particularly water run-off, water quality, waste management, a better recycling program and protecting the delicate marine ecosystem.
“We must preserve a pristine quality of life here,” he said.