MIN CHC 1989-09-16 PH - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION TESTIMONY FROM KRISTI VAN PERNIS BOX 607 KAILUA-KONA, HI . 96745 My testimony will focus on two items , a single member distric system and iniative and referendum. As you know, our present system dictates that each council candidate must be elected at large or island wide, whether they are running for a distric seat or actually running at large. Speaking from past experience as a council candidate, I must state that the current system places undue burden both financially and physically upon a potential council candidate; it also disallows true representation for our island residents . An island wide race is very costly, and extremely time consuming when travel time is considered. Our current system limits our choice of candidates to those who are able to take the time off from work to campaign and to those who can afford it. Conse- quently, we are limiting our selection to those who are finan- cially well off or have the capacity to raise the money. I be- lieve there are many well-qualified people, truely interested in public service, who simply can' t afford the "race" . As for the travel time required to go from one fundraiser to another in a different town (usually scheduled the same day) , or to at- tend any public engagement during a campaign, can become so de- manding and extensive, it actually diffuses the candidates time and makes it much more difficult for the residents to know or clearly understand who the candidate is and what their platform or views represent.. My campaign workers raised over $20 ,000 for my campaign and I logged over 12 , 000 miles in 5 months of campaigning. During one weekend, I can recall public speaking engagements in Hilo on Friday, Pahoa on Sat . morning, Kona in the afternoon, & Hilo again in the evening, and back to Kona on Sunday. Sometimes one sends a representative , but during cam- paign time, this does not really take the place of the candi- date presence. Consider how physically exhausting this is on 609 the candidate, the time required and the expense. My campaign by most standards was really rather meager, EXHIBIT C (4 pages) with only $20 , 000 in funds , but the time required also meant