MIN CHC 1989-09-16 PH - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

an additional loss of five months income as well. A single member distric system would actually allow for a larger pool campaign of qualified candidates because theAexpense would be less , al- lowing more potential candidates to "race" . It would also al- low the candidate to really get to know the constituents in their distric, and allow the constituents to become much bet- ter acquainted with the candidates , their abilities , and what they truely represent. In our present system, we currently allow Hilo to vote in our council person because of their large population. Let' s face it, if a Kona candidate is not well known in Hilo, they have very little chance of winning the election. We also know of examples where candidates may loose in their own distric, yet still be elected by other districs . If a candidate who has residencey in one distric, can' t even win in that dis- tric, there' s probably a very good reason why his distric does not want he or she representing them. Additionally, many areas such as Hamakua, Kau and certain parts of Hilo and Kohala are still in this day and age, Union controlled. They vote the way the Union tells them to vote. . .for whichever candidate the Union has endorsed. Unfortunately, this does not neccessarily mean the Union Boss has given the candidate much thought or that they or endorsing the candidate which might be the best for a distric. . .no, they are endorsing the candidate that will vote the way the Union dictates when he or she is sitting on that council . Although the Unions have been responsible for some very important social and economic changes in this State, we don' t neccessarily want to have a situtation where a Union endorsed candidate can 'win Island-wide, yet cannot even win in his or her own distric. Single member districs will allow us to have distric represntation that is truely cognizant of the problems and pitfalls a distric faces and the views of how it ' s 610 constituents want these matter address . Single member districs offer true distric representation for the over-all good of the entire Island. -P. 2 . -