IN THE GATES

IN THE GATES: A fourth Mayoral candidate filed papers to run yesterday but we’ll be damned if anyone knows who he is.

Rolf H Bieber of Malie Rd in Kapa`a pulled and submitted his papers yesterday to run in the special election to fill the shoes of the late Mayor Bryan Baptiste but despite a cursory search and a few phone calls we’ve come up blank on anything about him other than that there is a Rolf and a son Rolf II and they have a long mainland genealogy.

But the surprise is that sometime between Saturday afternoon and Monday Darryl Kaneshiro changed his mind about running for council... maybe.

He took out his papers Monday but didn’t file them, leaving us to ponder for a few more hours what his presence in the race would do to the chances of others.

And it’s now official- Scott Mijares of Kilauea is in the council race after filing him papers on Monday.

And saving the best news for last, community activist and advocate Linda Saloka-Pasadava also of Kilauea is thinking of throwing her hat into the ring.

As President of the Kilauea Neighborhood Association Pasadava, as she goes by, was an instrumental party to the suit that brought a multi million dollar judgment against alleged murderer Jimmy Pflueger (come on- sue us Jimmy... pretty please?) in the Ka Loko dam break and is active in other public interest matters such as fighting to insure and secure public access during expansion plans for Kilauea Point Wildlife refuge.

She also ran for a seat on the KIUC Board in 2006 but didn’t finish in the money.

Based on nothing but speculation, one wonders whether the DLNR’s recent imposition of fees for ministers performing beach weddings has spurred Pasadava to seek office since it appears she “is a state licensed non denominational minister who has been uniting couples for over 12 years (and) she offers non-denominational and Christian ceremonies” at beaches around the island according to her web site “Just a Minister on Kaua`i”, http://www.justaministeronkauai.com/ which for some reason has a block on being able to copy information.

Hopefully that doesn’t signal a willingness to keep information from public view if she takes office.

Linda is just the kind of candidate Kaua`i needs- someone who has been active in the community and knows the issues and works for the public interest.

Her experience as KNA President shows that she’s the kind of person not just dedicated to community well-being and interests but someone who can bring people together- and get elected to arguably the most active and successful neighborhood association on Kaua`i.

We certainly hope she gets their papers in today, adding another name to the apparent good public interest governance slate.

Same goes for Darryl Kaneshiro whom we have supported in the past due to his penchant for honest and open discussion of the issues and his rare ability – in a politician at least- to be “convincible” when the facts warrant it.

And Mel Rapozo still hasn’t filed for mayor.

Today at 4:30 is the filing deadline but we’re not sure how quickly the final filings will be reported. If it’s not timely we’ll surely have a wrap on the beginning of what promises to be one of the most lively campaign seasons on Kaua`i in a long time.