LIHU‘E — Education reform, empowering law-enforcement officers and removing laws that hold back businesses will be her top priorities if elected Kaua‘i’s next senator, former Kaua‘i Mayor Maryanne Kusaka told 50 supporters yesterday. Kusaka presented her campaign platform to date
LIHU‘E — Education reform, empowering law-enforcement officers and removing laws that hold back businesses will be her top priorities if elected Kaua‘i’s next senator, former Kaua‘i Mayor Maryanne Kusaka told 50 supporters yesterday.
Kusaka presented her campaign platform to date during the opening of her campaign headquarters, which is located near the Garden Island Barbecue & Chinese Restaurant on Rice Street.
Kusaka, who served as mayor from 1994 to 2002, will be running against incumbent Democrat State Sen. Gary Hooser.
Kusaka plans to file her nomination paper with the Kaua‘i County Elections Division at the historic County Building late this afternoon. If elected, Kusaka said she wants to give more power to law-enforcement officers to “make the community safe.
“I want to give them tools to do their jobs more effectively, laws that will allow them to do their jobs,” she said. Some existing laws “dis-empower” law-enforcement officers, and seemingly favor criminals, she said.
She said she will support a constitutional amendment that will allow for the passage of “walk-and-talk” legislation.
On the subject of school reform, Kusaka, a retired educator, said she favors “doing the best we can to see that our schools can provide the best education possible for our children.
“The school system is too large and cumbersome,” she said. Kusaka said she supports the idea of allowing individual school districts to “control their own decision-making.” Kusaka also said she would like to see school community councils empowered to help schools become the best they can be.
Serving as her campaign cochairpersons are Charlie King, owner of King Auto Center; Allan A. Smith, one of the vice presidents with Grove Farm Co.; and Ted Daligdig III, chairman of the Kaua‘i County Planning Commission. Sam Lee, a retired official with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources office on Kaua‘i, will serve as vice chairman. Carol Furtado, a member of the Kaua‘i Police Commission, will serve as secretary.
Eugene Jimenez, retired deputy finance director and housing executive for Kaua‘i County, will serve as co-chairman of procurement.
