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Both parties woo growing bloc of Filipino voters

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 15:40:16 -0400

THE GROUP is young and growing. It is having babies, raising stablefamilies. It is interested in the community and in getting ahead.

And most important, Hawaii's Filipino-American voters no longer can be counted on to take a Democratic ballot.

This year Gov. Linda Lingle, who notes that she is serving as thehonorary chairwoman of the Filipino Centennial Commission, wants tolure more Filipino voters to cast ballots for her.

Republicans have two strong Filipino-American state representatives inRep. Lynn Finnegan (R, Mapunapuna-Foster Village) and Rep. Kym Pine (R,Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point). And, Lingle added, her labor director isattorney Nelson Befitel, the son of Felix and Crescencia Befitel, whorented Lingle a room when she was a fledgling newspaper publisher onMolokai 25 years ago.

The personal connections are important, but more important is puttingFilipinos in positions of trust, says Amy Agbayani, University ofHawaii faculty member and director of Student Equity, Excellence andDiversity.

"To pay attention to Filipino voters, a major candidate must haveFilipino leadership within that candidate's own inner circle," saysAgbayani.

Although she is a Democrat, Agbayani says that while Filipinosimmigrating to Hawaii are considered part of Hawaii's working class andfit within the Democrats' demographic profile, the group is changing.

"All ethnic groups now are becoming more independent," Agbayani said.

NOTING THAT no statewide candidate can win without the backing of atleast two ethnic groups, Agbayani says the Filipino voters can play animportant part in any campaign.

"Yes, they are likely to be Democratic voters, there is a historicalconnection and a union connection, but that doesn't mean the Democratshave a corner on the market," Agbayani warns.

Just to make sure, Sen. Dan Akaka's first big rally in Honolulu was atFarrington High School in a heavily Filipino area. Akaka emphasizedFilipino voter registration at the rally.

For her part, Lingle has put out a special campaign brochure aimed at Filipino voters.

In the flier Lingle stresses that she headed a trade mission to thePhilippines in January, met with the nation's leaders, educators andentertainers, and memorialized the contributions of the sakadas, orFilipino immigrants to Hawaii.

"As time goes on, the community is becoming more accustomed to fullyparticipating and the Filipino voting population is becoming morerelevant," Agbayani says.

Does all that help win votes? For any immigrant from another country, having attention paid is bound to pay off.

Richard Borreca writes on politics every Sunday in the Star-Bulletin. He can be reached at 525-8630 or by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com.

This article was originally posted at http://starbulletin.com/2006/08/20/editorial/borreca.html.

Ewa Beach Receives Funding for Traffic Relief and Schools Over $265 Million

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 06:35:58 -0400

Rep. Pine was proud to secure funds for Ewa Beach listed below in her first term. Ewa Beach residents should see $265 million in construction projects benefiting our neighborhood. This is an incredible amount of money. The bulk of the funds will go to traffic relief and fixing up our schools. Older schools often neglected in the past received needed funds for repair, maintenance and classroom renovation. This is in tune with Rep. Pine�s philosophy that old schools should be given the same priority as newer schools.

Traffic Relief
	Construction of North South Road
	2005/2006		$38,500,000
	2006/2007		$86,000,000
		Total	$124,500,000

	Bringing Family Court House to Kapolei (4,000 drivers will now be going west instead of to town)
	2005/2006		$95,000,000
	2006/2007		$6,000,000

	New Zipper Lane Extension Estimated to Save Drivers 20 minutes
	Ewabound 2006/2007		$1,000,000

	Leeward Bikeway Land Acquisition		$2,800,000
	Bike Path from Waipio Pt to Lualualei Naval Rd.
				$229,300,000

Improving Our Schools

	Campbell High School
	Classroom Renovation 2006/2007		$4,743,454
	New Classroom Building Design 2006/2007		$575,000
	New Classroom Bldg Construction 2006/2007		$6,694,000
	Repair & Maintenance 2006/2007		$849,000

	Ewa Beach Elementary 2006/2007
	Repair & Maintenance		$476,000
	New Ewa Makai Intermediate School
	Middle School Design 2006/2007		$3,787,000

	Holomua Elementary School
	Repair & Maintenance 2005/2006		$68,000
	Repair & Maintenance 2006/2007		$54,000

	Ilima Intermediate
	Electrical Upgrades 2005/2006		$1,300,000
	Classroom Renovation 2005/2006		$530,000
	Repair & Maintenance 2006/2007		$587,000

	Iroquois Point Elementary School
	Classroom Renovation 2005/2006		$546,000
	Repair & Maintenance 2005/2006		$105,000

	Kaimiloa Elementary School
	Fire Alarm & Concrete Walkway 2005/2006		$207,000
	Classroom Renovation 2006/2007		$1,843,343.00

	Ocean Pointe Elementary 2006/2007		$1,000,000.00

	Pohakea Elementary School
	Telecom. Upgrades 2005/2006		$285,000

	UH West Oahu		$5,299,442
				$28,949,239

Improving Our Local Harbor and Airport

	Kalaeloa Harbor		$2,592,000
	Kalaeloa Airport		$4,370,000
				$6,962,000

Total
				$265,211,239

Rep. Pine�s Efforts Fast Tracks North South Road for Ewa Residents

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 06:27:21 -0400

The long awaited North South Road is slated for completion in 2008thanks to legislators who agreed with Rep. Pine, that the Ewa area isin desperate need of traffic relief. The residents of Ewa Beach havebeen promised this road, another exit to the freeway, for 20 years. With traffic on Fort Weaver Road at it worst, Rep. Pine pressed the Governor and the Legislature to fully fund the $124 million needed to fast track the road, and they did. Most projects of this magnitude have traditionally taken up to ten years to complete.

Residents will be able to take Geiger Road to Kapolei Parkway to get to the North South Road, which upon completion will cut Fort Weaver Road travel time in half.

The Road will be four lanes and connect to the H-1 Freeway. One lane will be used as a contra flow lane north or south. That means residents will be able to use three lanes during peak traffic times. The road will be six lanes in the last phase.