Replys for West Hawaii- Bob Herkes

Mrs. McGeachy. I have received your e-mail concerning a "West Hawaii"
county. I lived and worked in Kona for a number of years and represented the district on the Hawaii County Council when we had single member districts. In single member districts you had to reside in the district but ran island-wide. I opposed changing that system to the system that we have today where you vote only for your district candidate. This sounds good in theory but it has drawbacks for West Hawaii. In the old method every County Council candidate had to campaign in West Hawaii even if they were running from Hilo. As West Hawaii has increased its voter base, under the old system, every candidate would have to listen to West Hawaii's concerns. Now if you are from East Hawaii you do not need to listen to West Hawaii. The change was pushed by the West Hawaii republicans who wanted "their own candidate". I was a republican then and argued against the change because I felt it would hurt West Hawaii in the long run, and I was right. As for a West Hawaii County. I need to caution you because you need to consider the downside. You do not get to draw the line, the legislature draws the line.
I fear that we could end up with a North Hawaii County and a South Hawaii County. The North Hawaii County would be from Hilo to South Kohala and the rich tax base. The South Hawaii county would run from Puna to Kona and have the larger land area with all of those problems and a smaller tax base.
Under this scenario the district that I now represent in the State House would have all of the problems with no tax base. Bob Herkes