Kern elected to County Council

By PETER SUR and JOHN BURNETT

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Voters on Saturday elected Zendo Kern and Karen Eoff to the County Council and re-elected J Yoshimoto, but left four other seats up for grabs in the Nov. 6 general election runoff.

Candidates in those four council races did not get the required majority of validly cast votes to win their elections outright. Incumbents Fred Blas and Brenda Ford are among those candidates who will face runoffs.

Council 1

Neither Valerie Poindexter nor Chelsea Yagong had sewn up a majority of the vote and are headed for a runoff. Candidates Jo Kim, Larry Gering and Eric Paul D’Almeida were unable to advance.

“We, all the five people (running in the race), we all have something to offer,” Poindexter said. “The difference from me and the other candidates is we have been doing a lot of grass-roots organizing.” Poindexter said many people remember her from her work at the Office of Social Ministry during the closure of the sugar plantations.

In a runoff, Poindexter said, she’d campaign by “basically just getting out there and getting my connections with the community.”

Yagong said she’s “just going to continue doing what we’re doing.” She was pleased that the district had a real choice of “five average individuals that are working to make a difference.”

The district runs along the Hamakua and rural Hilo coasts from Waipio Valley to Wainaku.

Council 2

Councilman J Yoshimoto won his fourth consecutive term on the County Council, defeating three other candidates to represent Hilo. The attorney was in good spirits at his home.

“We worked a really hard campaign,” Yoshimoto said, crediting his supporters and the “people of the district” for helping him into another term.

“I’m a little surprised, disappointed,” Goodenow said after the initial returns showed the former clerk trailing Yoshimoto. “It’s not over yet.”

But the party was over for him, as well as Rachel Thompson and Steve Wilhelm.

“The voters have spoken (about) who they wanted,” Wilhelm said. Although he had hoped to do better, he said that “it’s a very good experience. A little eye-opening.”

“I’m just happy that I got a lot of votes,” Thompson said. She planned to run for office again (Yoshimoto is prevented by term limits from seeking re-election in 2014) and will likely try to qualify again for public campaign funds. Her effort to qualify for the funds fell short against two other well-known candidates.

“I’m just leaving it up to the voters and what happens happens,” Thompson said.

Council 4

Councilman Fred Blas led all challengers, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a runoff in the Puna makai district, which includes Hawaiian Paradise Park, Pahoa, Leilani Estates and Kapoho.

“I got to work harder for the community,” he said, acknowledging that his votes on geothermal issues may have hurt his standing with his constituents.

Greggor Ilagan was feeling good about trailing Blas, and possibly facing the first-term councilman in a runoff.

“We’re in second place,” Ilagan said, speaking by phone from Hawaiian Paradise Park.

His vote tallies changed throughout the evening, but by 11 p.m. he had gathered enough votes to prevent Blas from winning outright.

“We aimed for 62 percent, and we got half of it,” Ilagan said. “It wasn’t what we expected,” but they’ll take it.

“We’re going to be working hard for the next three months,” he said.

Council 5

Kern, 32, chairman of the Windward Planning Commission, won the District 5 council seat outright with around 70 percent of the votes, and will represent Kurtistown, Eden Roc, Hawaiian Acres, Fern Acres, Ainaloa and part of Keaau.

“I’m grateful for those who’ve voted for me and the support I’ve received,” he said.

Kern by far outraised and outspent both his opponents combined, raising $37,256.84 and spending $30,646.04 at the end of the reporting period.

“I think it’s a factor that helped,” he said. “Whatever I spent in money I’ve doubled that in effort. I’ve been out by the roadside sign waving for nearly six months now. I went door to door. … I went to many meetings. I’ve just worked hard in every area that I could.”

Steven Araujo trailed far behind in votes along with Ceredon Liscencio.

Kern said his first priority is to “spend the next four months learning all I can to educate myself further.” He said he would like to work on the Building Code and Bill 270, which he said needs some “serious amendments.”

Council 6

Councilwoman Brenda Ford failed to get a majority of the valid votes against against Maile David to avoid a runoff in the Ka‘u, Volcano and South Kona district. Bradley Westervelt and Lee McIntosh were unable to make the runoff, but they siphoned enough votes from Ford’s overall total to keep her race in the dark until late in the evening.

Ford carried 48 percent of all valid votes cast, next to David’s 35 percent.

Council 8

Karen Eoff handily dispatched challenger Chuck Guccione to win North Kona’s 8th District council seat, which is being vacated because Councilman Angel Pilago is not seeking re-election. In the two-candidate race, Eoff earned more than 70 percent of the valid votes cast.

Council 9

Margaret Wille and Oliver “Sonny” Shimaoka are headed for a November run-off to represent Kohala.

The 64-year-old Wille, a lawyer who has become involved in community and land-use issues, had 38 percent of the vote to Oliver “Sonny” Shimaoka’s 28 percent.

J. William “Bill” Sanborn and Robert “Bob” Green trailed behind. “If it’s a runoff, it’s a run off,” said Wille, who said she was asked to run by Councilman Pete Hoffmann, who was term-limited from seeking re-election.

Wille, a frequent testifier before the council, said she’d like to bring in more money “so that we can bicker on how we can spend it.” Shimaoka said that local ranchers have asked him to run for the open council seat. He said “the economy” will be a main issue.

Two candidates were running unopposed: Dennis Onishi of the newly redrawn 3rd District and political newcomer Dru Kanuha of Kona’s 7th District. Both will be sworn in with the new council in December.

Email Peter Sur at psur@hawaiitribune-herald.com. Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.