Age: 68
Job: Kona coffee farmer
Background: Kona Sunrise Rotary Club past president; Hawaii Coffee Association board; Kona Coffee Council board
Do you support the constitutional amendment to allow public money to be spent on private preschool? Why?
SB 1084, placing this issue on the 2014 ballot, presents a dilemma for me. I favor early childhood education but am troubled with using public funding for private preschools because it would reduce resources that could be used elsewhere. Private preschools should be privately funded. I don’t support the amendment.
What is your one big idea?
Develop more agricultural opportunities on the Big Island. We import 85 percent of our food at an annual cost of about $3 billion. We have the ability to grow all this food in the Kona and Kau regions. I favor expanding the state Department of Agriculture ag loan program for qualified farmers.
