Yoshimoto, Goodenow to battle for council seat

By PETER SUR

Tribune-Herald staff writer

A former County Council chairman and his former clerk are headed for an election-day showdown to represent the vacant 2nd council district.

Councilman J Yoshimoto, who represents East Hawaii’s 3rd district, and former clerk Ken Goodenow both pulled nomination papers Tuesday in Hilo. Along with Finance Department employee Steve K. Wilhelm, they want to represent the redrawn district whose incumbent, Donald Ikeda, is prevented by term limits from running again for the nonpartisan seat.

Yoshimoto, a lawyer, is a 45-year-old Democrat in his third consecutive term on the council.

Goodenow, also a lawyer, is a 44-year-old Democrat who has served in the state House of Representatives. He spent Tuesday evening gathering signatures for his nomination and plans to turn them in “first thing” this morning.

Ikeda’s legislative aide, Amy Miwa, is serving as Goodenow’s campaign manager.

“I’ve known Amy and I’m excited to be working with her,” Goodenow said.

As for why Goodenow is running, he said, “I really feel that I can be a good representative for this district and work with the community. And I’ve always thought that Councilman Ikeda was the best council member when it comes to working with his constituents at community meetings …and that’s something I want to continue.”

Yoshimoto, for his part, also alluded to working on unfinished business that Ikeda has started.

“We’ve been working on some flooding issues in the Waiakea Uka area,” he said.

“We want to finish what we started.”

Yoshimoto is being pushed out of his 3rd District because the county Redistricting Commission has redrawn the council boundary lines in response to Puna’s rapid growth, compared to Hilo.

If Yoshimoto prevails in this year’s election, he will be ineligible to seek re-election for a fifth consecutive term in 2014.

Yoshimoto, when asked, couldn’t say whether he had any significant political differences with Goodenow. But the two differ in their approaches to public campaign financing.

“I really like the idea of publicly financed campaigns,” Goodenow said, “but the amount of money available for the race is $13,000.”

Two mailings to constituents would likely cost $10,000, he said, leaving little money elsewhere to run the campaign.

Yoshimoto said he would “most likely” have a publicly financed campaign.

“I think $13,000 is a lot,” he said.

Goodenow served as deputy clerk until 2008, when he was promoted to clerk under then-Council Chairman Yoshimoto. In 2010, Yoshimoto lost his chairmanship and Goodenow was replaced by Jamae Kawauchi as clerk.

Goodenow went into private practice for Carlsmith Ball. He has served notice to his employers that he is resigning from the firm, effective March 30, to focus on the council campaign.

The newly redrawn second district begins on the south bank of the Wailuku River and includes all of Kaumana, downtown Hilo and part of lower Waiakea Uka. Yoshimoto lives in the Waiakea Uka portion of the district and Goodenow lives in Country Club Estates.

“I think there’s a lot of pressing issues that haven’t been addressed,” Goodenow said.

The former clerk says that he can work well with whoever wins the mayor’s race.

“Whether it’s Billy (Kenoi) or Dominic (Yagong), I could work with ’em,” he said. “I’m looking to work with whoever is elected.”

Twelve years after leaving the state House, Goodenow does not have a campaign website, but he said he would start one up soon.

Yoshimoto wouldn’t speculate on why Goodenow was getting into the election.

“We’re just going to work hard, focus on our race and stay positive,” he said.

Not to be forgotten is Wilhelm, for 16 years an employee of the county Finance Department. A procurement specialist, he’s running for the council because he sees a lot of things in the budget that are bothersome.

“What I represent is more of the working people,” he said.

“There’s a lot of instances there things are left on the table, and I also feel I have a good relationships with all the different departments through my position,” he said. The seat is nonpartisan; Wilhelm says he leans Democrat.

Residents seeking office in this year’s election have until June 5 to declare their candidacy.

Email Peter Sur at psur@hawaiitribune-herald.com.