LIHUE — The county is asking for input on how to elect councilmembers through a four-question survey available online. It’s not a new issue. In fact, the question was on the ballot in 1982, 1996 and 2006: “Do we elect
LIHUE — The county is asking for input on how to elect councilmembers through a four-question survey available online.
It’s not a new issue. In fact, the question was on the ballot in 1982, 1996 and 2006: “Do we elect members of our County Council with the current at-large system where the entire island votes for all seven members, or switch to a districting system?”
The Charter Review Commission is taking up the question again. Commission member Allan Parachini said the drafting committee has “no preconceptions” about what is proposed.
There are dozens of ways it could shake out — that’s why the commission is seeking public opinion on what type of election system would work best for Kauai.
Currently, Kauai’s seven councilmembers are elected by residents on the entire island, and they represent the entire island — no matter where they live.
Commission Vice Chairman Joel Guy said the advantage of having all councilmembers represent all residents is that there are more options when a resident needs to touch base with an elected official.
“If I just don’t want to go to one guy because he’s a jerk, then I can go to others,” Guy said. “They each represent the whole island.”
The problem that at-large voting poses, Guy said, is that people are naturally more connected to the areas in which they live, and Kauai’s elected officials are clustered between the Wailua Homesteads and Lihue. Guy said that means parts of the rest of the island tend to get overlooked.
“It’s not that living there will make sure that you know everything that’s going on in an area, but it makes you more responsible,” Guy said.
That’s where a district-style of voting comes in. The simplest model would be splitting Kauai into seven voting districts. Each district would elect its own councilmember and that person would represent that district. The person elected would have to be a resident of that district.
“You can really get to know the issues and dive into what’s going on in your district,” Guy said. “You don’t have to worry about the Westside as much because the Westside guy is doing that over there and he’s bringing those issues to the table.”
Another option is to combine at-large and district style voting — and there are myriad ways to do that.
Maui County is represented by districts. Those district representatives are required to live within their district, but are chosen with at-large voting. Hawaii and Honolulu counties elect their councilmembers by district only.
Other possibilities include electing three councilmembers to represent the entire island, and four who would represent specific districts — or the other way around.
Another option would be to divide Kauai into three voter districts and elect two councilmembers for each district. The Council Chair would be elected with an at-large vote and would represent the entire island.
The first time districting was on the ballot, it lost by around 3,000 votes. In 1996, it was defeated by 1,000 votes. In 2006, districting was defeated by 260 votes.
“The pendulum is swinging,” Guy said. “I think district voting, with keeping the residential (requirement), and the voters have to come from there as well, I’d have a hard time not supporting that.”
To weigh in on the question, visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/KauaiCharterCommission. There is a series of four, multiple-choice questions that will help the commission in future discussions on voter districting.
