Ka‘ū News Briefs, Wednesday, November 3, 2020

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JOY SAN BUENAVENTURA ASSUMED THE EAST KAʻŪ STATE SENATE seat yesterday. She represents District 2, east Kaʻū and Volcano, into Puna and Hilo. Incumbent Russell Ruderman retired from public office yesterday – see story in the May 20 Kaʻū News Briefs. San Buenaventura ran against Aloha ʻĀnia party member Ron Ka-Ipo. She won 67.8 percent of the votes, he received 22.4 percent. There were 9.8 percent of voters who chose neither candidate. She retired from her District 4 state House of Representatives seat, representing Keaʻau and lower Puna, for this office. Greggor Ilagan takes that seat.
    A 30-year resident of East Hawaiʻi and resident of Keaʻau, San Buenaventura holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, she worked at the Environmental Protection Agency as a computer programmer and with Reynolds Electrical Engineering as a law clerk. Joy went on to receive her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Joy San Buenaventura represents east Kaʻū and Volcano in the state Senate.

    San Buenaventura was a lecturer of business law at University of Hawaiʻi Hilo. In 1991, she was appointed Per Diem District Court Judge, making her the youngest judge in Hawaiʻi at the age of 32. In one of her early court-appointed cases, she represented the first geothermal protesters opposing the proposed geothermal well at Wao Kele O Puna. In 1992 she was the first attorney to prosecute/settle a breast implant case in the State of Hawaiʻi. In 2013-2014 she took two of her clients' cases to the highest court in the state, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court.
    San Buenaventura volunteers her time by helping the public access the courts through the Self-Help Center, and helping the public resolve their disputes amicably through Kuʻikahi Mediation Center.
She resides in a photo-voltaic powered home in Hawaiian Paradise Park with her husband, "Weldin" Sheldon Lehman.
    San Buenaventura told The Kaʻū Calendar she intended to run for re-election when she received a call from Ruderman, of his intent to not seek re-election. She says she believes that, in this tough economic time, "experienced, proven leadership is needed."
    Her first run for office unseated Faye Hanohano, "whose many publicized remarks in 2013-2014 divided Puna needlessly among racial lines." San Buenaventura says Hanohano's "divisiveness prevented Puna from getting the attention and funding it needed. In order for funding or bills to pass, the majority of both the House and Senate need to vote to pass these bills. Someone who is unable to work with the majority of the 51 members in the house and the 25 members of the Senate cannot get anything done."
    San Buenaventura says she believed that her strength as a trial attorney for 30 years would help Puna get the attention it needed. She lists some of her accomplishments as helping alleviate stand-still traffic during the afternoon rush-hour on Highway 130; advocating for funding, receiving over $50 million, for construction, including a Pāhoa roundabout "that transformed the deadliest intersection in the State highway system into the safest, with no fatalities since its creation" and helping get rid of standstill traffic in front of Keaʻau High School. She says she wants to focus on Highway 11 and alternates to Highway 11.
    When the 2018 lava crisis occurred, her campaign information says San Buenaventura "was a constant presence at non-profit meetings, volunteering at the county then FEMA disaster centers and pleading with the Governor and federal housing authorities to provide immediate housing for the displaced residents." She says her efforts led to opening senior housing placements in Pāhala and renovating abandoned Keaʻau public housing units. She brought House leadership to see the damage being done and brought House, Senate, and County leadership to a conference at her law office that August to hash out the needs of the County; and continued negotiations which led to her acquiring $60 million in state funds in the 2019 session for the county to use and to grow by using it as matching funds for federal aid.

Russell Ruderman retired from public service. San Buenaventura took his seat yesterday.

    Her campaign information cites her "ability to bring people together" leading House Speaker Scott Saiki to appoint her in 2019-2020 as Chair of Human Services and Homelessness. In that capacity, she says she found that, to fix chronic homelessness, "public behavioral health treatment centers are needed because the only state public mental hospital was admitting only those who are criminally insane."
    During her one term as Chair, she introduced, advocated for, and passed a series of bills "that reform our criminal justice system to immediately examine and treat those who are mentally ill" and passed funding procedures to reuse the vacant buildings on Oʻahu, at the old Kona Courthouse, and the old Hilo Hospital as behavioral treatment centers.
    San Buenaventura says she hopes to work with Aunty Jessie, Executive Director of Kaʻū Rural Health, "in supporting and extending the kūpuna telehealth project with Department of Labor; and work toward an infrastructure plan to bring a dialysis center to Kaʻū and Puna."
    San Buenaventura says she ran for senate because, with a longer term, "she can do more and be able to represent east Kaʻū and Puna mauka – some issues are intertwined with the needs of Puna makai, whom she represented." She says her experience in the legislature, especially in a leadership position of Majority Whip and House Chair, has given her the stature to deal with other department heads in speaking to them of Puna and Kaʻū issues.
    She also says, "COVID-19 will require a new look as to how Hawaiʻi can be self-sustaining. The 2020 legislative session recently passed a bill legalizing hemp which may help bring Kaʻū and Puna out of economic distress because of the worldwide demand for hemp in the creation of CBD and hemp oil. That is just one example of a new industry that the state should consider in moving forward. In the meantime, while we have Federal monies, infrastructure like fixing/expanding roads needs to be done so that people can still pay bills and the roads will be ready when full commuter traffic comes back.
    "With Young Brothers in economic distress, the issue of whether the state will subsidize or deregulate interisland shipment of goods will need to be addressed soon by experienced legislators – because no matter how many crops we grow or products we make for worldwide consumption, high shipment costs will prevent economic recovery."
    She says she hopes "to be the voice of all of Puna and east Kaʻū in the legislature as the State navigates a path forward beyond this economic crisis."

    In mid-July, he and the Kaʻū Farm Bureau helped to organize a gift of Kaʻū's Aikane Plantation Coffee to first responders. Onishi has been a speaker at Farm Bureau meetings and has been honored by the organization for his work for the agricultural community. 

Incumbent Richard Onishi continues to represent Kaʻū in the state House of Representatives.

    During the 2020 session, despite the interruptions from the pandemic, he was a primary sponsor of 24 bills, including developing a plan to "recognize, honor, and memorialize" the legacy of Kaʻū-born Mary Kawena Pukuʻi in perpetuating Hawaiian culture.
    He has supported the Miss Kaʻū Coffee competition with donations of scholarships. His efforts to help build a larger kitchen for Volcano School of Arts & Sciences and his continuing support helped lead to the VSAS Keakealani Campus that broke ground this summer.
    Onishi was born and raised in Hilo. He and his wife, Joni, have three children. He served in the United States Army from 1973 to 1977. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from University of Hawaiʻi-Hilo in 1986.
    Before his election on Nov. 6, 2012, to the state House of Representatives, he worked for over 20 years for the County of Hawaiʻi as an Information System Analyst. He also worked as a lecturer at UH, a sales manager and travel consultant at Puainako Travel Service, and an operations supervisor and computer programmer for KTA.
    Onishi belongs to the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association and American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees. His past affiliations include Big Island Computer Users Group and Hawaiʻi System 38 Computer Users Group. His community organizations include the Democratic Party, Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin, Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaiʻi Board, Hawaiʻi Island Adult Care Board, Hawaiʻi County Employees Federal Credit Union Board, Hilo High School Foundation Board, Hilo High School Class of '72 Reunion Committee.
    Onishi's campaign information says he pledges to "address issues and concerns and find solutions to better our communities and our future generations." His website says he promises to listen to, stay in touch, work tirelessly, and work together with constituents. His campaign information says his vision "is for our communities to be safe, healthy, economically viable, and sustainable. I will ensure our communities are a safe place to live, play, work and do business; our children receive high-quality education; our seniors (kūpuna) are cared for; our economy supports local businesses and products; our individual rights are protected; our environment is preserved; and our people have access to first-rate medical services."

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PETFIX FREE SPAY AND NEUTER CLINIC FOR DOGS will be held Saturday, Nov. 7 in Ocean View. For information and to register, call 808-990-3548 or email petfixbigisland@gmail.com.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our Fresh Food on The Kaʻū Calendar and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.

Onset of COVID-19 cases in the last 28 days, by zip code. Gray areas have populations less than 1,000. White is zero cases. Yellow is one to 10 cases. Light orange is 11-50 cases. Dark orange is 51-200 cases. Department of Health map

HAWAIʻI ISLAND REPORTS TWENTY-ONE NEW COVID-19 CASES today. There are at least eight people hospitalized on Hawaiʻi Island with the virus.
    New cases reported statewide today total 156, with 125 on Oʻahu, four on Maui, one on Lanaʻi, and five residents diagnosed out-of-state.
    Since the pandemic began, 48 deaths have been reported by Hawaiʻi Civil Defense. At least 219 people have died in the state, according to state records, none new today.
    There have been 15,473 total COVID cases in the state. Department of Health reports 11,958 people of those infected have completed isolation. There are about 3,300 active cases in isolation.
    Since the pandemic began, Oʻahu has reported 13,445 cases, Maui 414, Lanaʻi 104, Molokaʻi 17, and Kauaʻi 67. Ninety-four victims are residents diagnosed while out-of-state. Statewide, 1,125 people have been hospitalized since the pandemic began.
    No new cases have been reported in the last 28 days for Volcano zip codes 96785 and 96718, and Kaʻū zip code 96772. In the last 28 days, less than ten active cases have been reported in Kaʻū zip code 96777, and 96704, which includes Miloliʻi.
    In the last 28 days, 14 active cases have been reported in Kaʻū zip code 96737. In Hilo zip code 96720, 27 cases have been reported in the last 30 days. In Kona zip code 96740, 115 cases have been reported in the last 28 days. In Puako/Waikoloa zip code 96738, 22 cases have been reported in the last 28 days. In zip code 96743 – which includes Waikoloa, Kawaihae, Waimea, Puako, Waikui, and Akona – 11 cases have been reported in the last 28 days. In Pepeʻekeo zip code 96783, 27 cases have been reported in the last 28 days.
    See the Hawaiʻi County COVID-19 webpage. Report violators of COVID-19 safety protocols or quarantine to non-emergency at 935-3311. Hawaiʻi Island police continue enforcement of preventative policies.
    COVID-19 case count in the U.S. is more than 9,480,242 – about 20 percent of worldwide cases. The U.S. now averages about 500,000 new cases per week, up from about 300,000 a week at the beginning of October. The death toll is more than 233,663 – about 19.5 percent of worldwide deaths. Worldwide, there are more than 48 million COVID-19 cases. The death toll is more than 1,224,415.