RSPW 2009 Awards

The RSPW Awards are the Internet’s Oldest Awards (now in it’s 20th Year) commemorating the Best and Worse in Professional Wrestling each year.  Each year I post my picks as submitted on the official RSPW Awards Ballot.  You can check out my picks last year here.

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Best Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the athlete who was the best overall wrestler of the year.  This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability,  interviews, charisma, value to his/her promotion, etc. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.

1st:  CM Punk
2nd:  AJ Styles
3rd:  Chris Jericho

Throughout 2009 CM Punk, AJ and Jericho stood head and shoulders above everyone else.  I give the best wrestler of the year nod to Punk as it was a break through year of sorts for him.  He delivered in the ring as well as on the mic with a solid feud with Jeff Hardy and transitioned into a great heel.  In TNA AJ Styles had a banner year finally being pushed back to his rightful place at the top of the promotion.  As for Jericho, he’s Jericho and is always gold.  More on him later.

 

Best Tag Team

Award Description:

To be given to the tag team who were the best overall team of the year.  This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability, interviews, charisma, hot team moves, value to their promotion, etc. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.

1st:  Chris Jericho and Big Show
2nd:  Beer Money — James Storm and Robert Roode
3rd:   Beautiful People – Angelina Love & Velvet Sky

JeriShow take top nods for best tag team.  When you talk “Division Killers” these two of the definition as they maintained a dominant stranglehold as WWE’s Unified Tag Champs.  Beer Money, TNA’s top team and the Beautiful People round things out.

Best Heel

Award Description:

To be given to the person who was the best villain this past year. This person should bring out the fans’ wrath. Match quality is not paramount here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in the past year.

1st:  Chris Jericho
3. 2nd:  Randy Orton
3. 3rd:  Miz

For the second year in a row I give Jericho the nod for Best Heel.  While he wasn’t the “dominant” heel that Randy Orton was booked as, NO ONE was more versatile as a heel than Jericho.  From punking out aged Legends to dominating the tag ranks as the cowardly heel hiding behind Big Show to delivering top notch singles matches with just about every face on the roster, NO ONE played the bad guy better than Jericho.  Orton (by default) and the coming on strong Miz round out the Top 3.

 

Best Babyface

Award Description:

To be given to the person who best portrayed the hero this past year. This person should get lots of fan support. Match quality is not paramount here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in
the past year.

1st:  AJ Styles
2nd:  John Cena
3rd:  Rey Mysterio

My top nod for Best Babyface goes to AJ Styles who was allowed to reclaim his spot as the leader of TNA.  Cena (by default) and Mysterio (always the great sympathetic babyface) round things out.

 

Best Worker

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler with, on average, the best workrate. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall.  In 1998, it was recombined into one.

1st: AJ Styles
2nd: Chris Jericho
3rd:  Matt Hardy

Styles, Jericho and Matt Hardy.  No one consistently had better matches with a wider range of opponents than these two.  Too bad Matt Hardy doesn’t get to do his thing at a higher spot on the card…

 

Best Flyer

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who did the most and the best high-flying maneuvers throughout the year. In 1994, this award was split into two:  North American and Non-North American.  In 1998, it was recombined.

1st: Kofi Kingston
2nd: AJ Styles
3rd: Evan Bourne

Kofi, AJ and Evan.  Nuff said.

 

Best Technical Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who has the most technical ability. The number of holds and moves you see this person do and the crispness with which the moves are executed makes his/her matches a pleasure to watch. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.

1st:  Chris Jericho
2nd:  Kurt Angle
3rd:  William Regal

Jericho, Angle and Regal.  These three names are self explanatory.  My pick of Jericho for the top spot is based on the fact that Jericho had solid matches with just about everyone he got in the ring with over the year from guys like Cena to Mysterio to aged vets like Snuka, Piper and Steamboat.  Now that’s talent!

 

Best Brawler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who brawled his/her way through the year most convincingly. This award would go to Frank “Bruiser Brody” Goodish if he were still around. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American and Non-North American.  In 1998, it was recombined.

1st:  Samoa Joe
2nd:  Undertaker
3rd:  HHH

 

Most Favourite Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler you like the most, regardless of the reason.

1st:  Matt Hardy
2nd:  Chris Jericho
3rd:  CM Punk

I’m “Team Matt Hardy,” “Team Jericho” and “Team Punk.”  4 Life!

 

Most Improved Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who most improved himself/herself in all facets of the sport in the past year.

1st:  Miz
2nd:  Kofi Kingston
3rd:  Eric Young

Without a doubt, Miz is the most improved wrestler over the year.  He’s always had great mic skills and in 2009 his in-ring skills shot up considerably.  He’s most deserving of the push he’s getting and is definitely on his way to being, “Awesome!”  Kofi and Eric Young, two other guys who came on strong in 2009, round out the list.

 

Most Overrated Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who really has little talent, but has a large place in the spotlight nonetheless. This is a measure of how undeserved a wrestler’s push is.

1st:  Batista

I loved Big Dave just as much as everyone else did several years back when he made it to the top, but the recurrent injuries and what not just totally took his shine away.  The new push with Rey looks promising but it seems the ‘E’ wasn’t feeling him too much when they brought in Flair as his mouthpiece during the brief feud he had with Orton.

 

Best Wrestling Gimmick

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who had the best character gimmick in the past year.

1st:  Santino Marella as arrogant Italian
2nd:  Zach Ryder

Santino’s hilarious and Zach Ryder just cracks me up.  “Woo, woo, woo!!”

 

Best Wrestling Move

Award Description:

To be given to the move that is just the damn best thing you’ve seen this past year. This should probably be a “finishing” move or something really spectacular.

1st: Hernandez’s Border Toss crucifix powerbomb
2nd: Jay Lethal’s Lethal Combination

Big Toss (brutal) and Lethal Combination (sweet!).  Nuff said.

 

Best Feud

Award Description:

To be given to the feud that gave us the most heated and best wrestling match(es) of the year. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American and Non-North American.  In 1996, due to lack of participation on the non-NA side, it was recombined.

1st:  Main Event Mafia vs. TNA Frontline
2nd:  CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy
3rd:  John Cena vs. Randy Orton

The Main Event Mafia and Frontline feud set the tone for TNA for it’s year.  It wasn’t booked as perfectly as it could have been, but it was innovative and different and gets my top nod for Feud of the Year.  Punk vs. Hardy and Cena vs. Orton round it out for me.

 

Worst Tag Team

Award Description:

To be given to the name tag team who were the worst overall wrestlers in the past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent workrate, the charisma of a rock, and lousy team moves should describe this pair.

1st:   Legacy – Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
2nd:  Bella Twins – Brie & Nikki

Legacy may have owned DX for a good portion of their feud, but those two guys are still Orton’s lackeys.  As a team they sucked.  I’d say the Hart Dynasty would have fulfilled the role of “Legacy” with more credibility than these two.

 

Worst Heel

Award Description:

To be given to the person whose casting as a bad guy just didn’t work well. Maybe there was just no heel heat drawn or maybe the fans actually cheered this person, but for whatever reason the heel image just didn’t get over.

1st: Dolph Ziggler
2nd:  Chris Masters

Dolph Ziggler’s too cool to be a convincing heel.  Chris Masters is booked too funny or to generically to draw any heat, face or heel.

 

Worst Babyface

Award Description:

To be given to the person whose casting as a good guy just didn’t work well. Maybe there was just no face heat drawn or maybe the fans actually booed this person, but for whatever reason the face image just didn’t get over.

1st:  Bobby Lashley

 

Most Deteriorated Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the person whose skill has deteriorated the most over the past year. This person should be a shadow of his/her former self.

1st: Scott Steiner

 

Most Underrated Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the person whose ability merits a far greater push than the person receives. There may be many such people, but the winner of this award should have the most ability with least push.

1st:  Matt Hardy
2nd:  Christopher Daniels
3rd:  Christian

Year in and year out I lament the lack of push of Matt Hardy.  I don’t know what the deal is.  He’s got the workrate, he’s got the fan support.  Last year he got the ECW belt.  His unreliable brother comes back (albeitly cleaned up) and is shot straight to the top.  Within months he flakes out, quits and winds up in trouble with the law.  Where’s Matt?  Back to jerking the curtain.  Yo, Vince!!!  PUSH “THE OTHER” HARDY.  Daniels is in a similar spot in TNA.  He was buried for a few years as Curry Man but made it back as himself and got a big initial push before being shuffled back to the undercard.  It looks like things are changing currently with the AJ feud but we’ll see what the next year holds.  Christian, being stuck in ECW Purgatory (albeit the top spot there), rounds out the list.

 

Worst Wrestling Gimmick

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who had the worst character gimmick in the past year.

1st: Manu as yet another Samoan barbarian
2nd:  Jesse as “Slam Master J”

Blink and you may have missed him, but poor Manu.  His push was so short and so generic.  Way to develop new stars!  Jesse as Slam Master J?  Funny in spots but there MUST be a better way to use this guy.

 

Worst Wrestling Move

Award Description:

To be given to the move that is the worst thing you’ve seen this year. This shouldn’t be given to a move that was flubbed by a wrestler – the move was performed correctly, but was just too stupid for words. This move should probably be a “finishing” move or something that was meant to be spectacular.

1st: Santino Marella’s theatrics & thrust to the throat

Santino’s super throat thrust is hilarious!  It would never work in a real fight, but it is entertaining!

 

Worst Match

Award Description:

To be given to the worst wrestling match you’ve seen this year, either live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past year, it is eligible.

1st:  04/05/09 25 Diva Battle Royal

Diva Battle Royal at Wrestlemania.  Honestly, it looked like a bunch of blondes (so many couldn’t even tell who was who) fighting over stuff at a Black Friday sale.  Good for you Trish Stratus for declining the invite!

 

Most Disappointing News item

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestling news item that most disappointed you when heard of it. When you first learned of this news story, you couldn’t believe that it was true, and when you learned that it was, you were bummed out for a while.

1st:   TNA hires Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Ed Ferrara, lays off Jim Cornette
2nd:  Shane McMahon resigns from WWE
3rd:   Edge injured again

I like to keep an open mind and see the benefits of TNA signing Hogan, but seriously.  It DOES look like history repeating itself with Hogan, Bischoff, Russo and Ferrera coming in and someone well respected like Cornette going out.  Shane McMahon leaving WWE is pretty shocking!

 

Most Obnoxious Personality

Award Description:

To be given to the person who just rubs you the wrong way. This could be anybody involved in the wrestling biz.

1st:   Abraham Washington

Abraham Washington along with Tony “Ed McMahon” Atlas?  Oh boy!  Atlas’ McMahon bit gets quite trying after about 20 seconds…

 

Best Second

Award Description:

To be given to the manager who outperformed their peers at ringside and behind the microphone in interviews.  This award was discontinued after the 2001 awards and reinstated in 2006.

1st:   Natalya

Natalya’s a nice second.  She’d make an even better “first.”

 

Best Announcer

Award Description:

To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the most insightful and entertaining comments while pushing his product.  “Ring announcers” don’t qualify here.  As of 1992, the difference between this and colour commentator will be enforced.

1st:   Jim Ross
2nd:  Matt Stryker

 

Best Colour Commentator

Award Description:

To be given to the colour commentator who provides the most insightful and entertaining comments.

1st:   Matt Striker
2nd:   Taz

Matt Striker’s totally awesome on commentary.  Much like Tazz or JBL, no one does it better than a guy who’s actually been in the ring.  He brings tons of credibility to the broadcast table.

 

Best Interviewee

Award Description:

To be given to the person who gives the best interview in the biz. This could be a wrestler or a manager.

1st:   Chris Jericho
2nd:   John Cena
3rd:   CM Punk

 

Best Angle

Award Description:

To be given to the best angle you’ve seen in the sport this year.

1st:   Sting wins TNA title, forms the Main Event Mafia
2nd:   CM Punk wants to rescue us from Jeff Hardy

The MEM angle in TNA set it’s stage for the whole year.  Sting gathering the veterans to “teach respect” to the young talent was a great concept as was Punk’s preaching to the audience about the evils of living Jeff Hardy’s lifestyle.  Both worked as there is grounding in truth to both premises.  Great angles.

 

Best Organization

Award Description:

To be given to the organization/promotion that has the best product. This is the organization whose TV and house shows you just can’t miss.

1st:  WWE
2nd:  TNA
3rd:  ROH

 

Best TV Show

Award Description:

To be given to what is on average the best wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories.

1st:  WWE Smackdown
2nd:  WWE Raw
3rd:  TNA Impact!

 

Best Major Show

Award Description:

To be given to the best major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories.

1st:   04/05/09 WWE WrestleMania 25

 

Best Promotional Move

Award Description:

To be given to the best move made by a promotion this past year. This could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature.

1st:   TNA puts World title back on AJ Styles
2nd:  WWE makes CM Punk World Heavyweight Champ
3rd:   WWE uses Chris Jericho on all 3 brands

At a time when new talent needs to be developed I’m glad both WWE and TNA decided to push “newer” and reliable guys like AJ Styles and CM Punk back to the top.  AJ’s the guy TNA was built around at the outset before the import of “old talent” came.  With that ship having run it’s time to put him back on top.  Same deal with Punk.  Charismatic stars like Hardy are good, but it’s old (and clean) reliable talent like Punk (as was Bret Hart back in the day) who are the foundation of a company.  Rounding out the list is the E’s recognition of Jericho’s talent and featuring him on all brands as the Unified Tag Champ.

 

Worst Angle

Award Description:

To be given to the worst angle you’ve seen in the sport this year. It may be the worst because of taste or because of execution.

1st:   The Beautiful People as Sarah Palin groupies
2nd:  R-Truth wanders around arenas as Delicious Pretty Ricky

TNA’s Beautiful People as Sarah Palin groupies was just too horrible and insulting for words.  The skits were ridiculously long and totally unbelievable.  The Beautiful People are dumb blondes?  Ok, we get that.  There’s no need to subject as to 10 minute skits about it.  R-Truth as Delicious Pretty Ricky was just horrible and a bit offensive.

 

Worst Promotional Move

Award Description:

To be given to the worst move made by a promotion this past year. This could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature.

1st:    TNA hires the players that brought about the demise of WCW
2nd:   WWE books weekly guest hosts for Raw
3rd:   WWE fails to push Christian to the top on his return

These “worst promotional” moves can go either way.  My top two picks, like most people, are the hiring of Hogan and crew by TNA (#1) and the WWE’s “Raw guest host” bit.  Hogan does bring great name recognition and will boost attention to TNA.  As a strategy it’s a good move to get more mainstream attention, no doubt.  Given that, hiring the same crew that put a multimillion dollar company out of business just looks as a no brainer recipe for disaster.  For TNA’s sake I hope history does NOT repeat itself.  Over on the ‘E’s side:  the guest host concept looks good on paper.  Again, you bring significant mainstream attention to the E and can create crossover appeal.  As a strategy it works.  In execution?  You get tons of flubbed lines, horrendously horrible skits, etc.  For every great host (ie — Shaq or Bob Barker) you get an equally horrible host (the NASCAR guys, Al Sharpton, etc, etc).  It’s hit or miss and as John Morrison puts it, “Raw’s become wrestling’s version of Saturday Night Live.”  Not what you’re really going for, or is it?

 

Other Awards:

BEST THEME MUSIC
1.  “Get Ready to Fly” — AJ Styles
2.  “Oh Radio” — Zach Ryder
3.  “Crank the Walls Down” — JeriShow
4.  “Just Close Your Eyes” — Christian

Blessed

For my regular readers who’ve followed me over the years you’ll know I do an annual, “What I’m Thankful” post each and every year and typically I always begin by saying just how crazy it is that another year has come by and gone so quickly and this year is no exception! It literally feels like I just composed last year’s Thanksgiving post yesterday (you’ll need to refer to my MySpace blog to see last year’s post).

With another year come and gone so quickly I cannot begin to recount the countless blessings I’ve received this year (which is great as 2K7 pretty much sucked for me) but I’ll do my best to recount all the things I’m grateful for and am truly blessed to have in my life at this time, the year of our Lord, 2K8. Your soundtrack for this year’s Thanksgiving post is “Blessed” by Rachael Lampa

My Family

First and foremost, I want to give thanks for the health of my family, the people who mean the most to me (but who I am still guilty of neglecting the most). I am very, very, very, very thankful that my parents and my childhood doggies have all survived yet another year on the planet to a ripe old age. We had a bit of a scare with my mom back in April for those of you who may remember but here we are, about to sit down to the Thanksgiving dnner table together still here, still one

I’m thankful for my brother and sister-in-law who finally received their most heartfelt wish this year – starting a family. I have two awesome nephews to help raise over the next 20 some odd years and I’m sure that’ll be a great experience for all of us.

I’m thankful for my wife and Rocky and Sasha who make all the struggles day in and day out worth it. Having their unconditional love and support day in and day out is the stuff dreams are made of.

My New Peeps

2K8 will go down for me as the year the world opened its doors to me. I can’t begin to discuss all the awesome people I got a chance to meet and reconnect with this year.

Probably the biggest life changer for me this year was delving deep into the local tech community via Twitter, Bytemarks and Manoa Geeks. Getting to meet and know all the awesome geeks in our local community has been probably the most defining of experiences for me this year as prior to getting hooked in I must confess I felt very much alone and in my own bubble with very little support. To all my awesome Tweeps (@hawaii @jeffmcneill @xynetha @maryhattori @dlassner @neenz @bytemarks @ikitajima @lkitajima @JPhillipson @angelakeen @lauriecicotello @spldrttngrl @diecasthawaii @keoladonaghy @lavasusan @Kalei @kanahina and everyone else I may have missed) thank you for making my day each and every day.

The second biggest life changer for me this year was immersing myself into and joining the awesome local Improv community. I feel so blessed and privileged to have met and played along side the most talented group of people I know and to be able to live out a dream of mine. Compounding the fact that I got to do so alongside people from my past whose own lifes paths lead them to Improv is just one of those freakishly karmic things I can’t even begin to describe how cool it is. Much love and props go out to Shannon and Kim for founding our LTC ‘ohana and giving us all a home. Lots of love and props to R. and Sharon for their friendship and hooking me into the community. Big ups to Fern, Jen, John and Kehau for rockin’ it each night at practice. Big hugs and love to B.K., Brenda and Carla — we miss you guys! Much love and respect to the larger LTC, FISW, Improv Hawai’i ‘ohana (James, Steph, Makana, Jim, Chris, Shawn, Stu, Scott, Larissa, and everyone else). Exploring my creative sides definitely helped me grow as a person and has definitely helped balance me out and let’s face it, we all enjoy a good laugh and good company

Career Achievements

2K8 for me will go down as the year that I “arrived” or came into my own and took the first step toward fulfilling my potential and destiny. To me, it is my first step toward greatness. I co-staged a successful and well-received WILD event and fulfilled my requirements as a WoLC to the nines. I successfully applied for and earned admission into the prestigious President’s Emerging Leaders Program. I successfully wrote and was awarded my first major grant. I successfully restored and revitalized our dormant Staff Senate and I was one vote away from seizing the Chairship of our campus’ most powerful governance body (I voted against myself). Probably a crowning achievement to this year is the unique opportunity I’ve had in being Apprenticed to a person considered to be a God of sorts in our field through PELP which is just a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Most importantly though for me, beyond all the successful projects and achievements, it comes back to the people I work with. I’ve had the opportunity to work with the best group of students and the best group of professionals on the planet who really help to make my job easy. Much love to all my great co-workers and soldiers on the front lines of higher education: Keala, Leon, Ka’iu, Mel, Mary, Cheryll, Eric, Jim, Hal, Zane, Ka’iulani, Kyle, Elton, Philip, Emily, Silvan, Grace, etc. Big ups to my staff who do the awesome work that makes everything work so smoothly day in and day out: Nam, Xi, Lin, Rod, Alex, Tyler, Amanda, Ahloy, John, Ron, Joey, Erin, and Theresa. It’s my honor and privilege to ride into battle with you daily and fight the good fight.

Academic Achievements
2K8 saw me step back into the classroom as a student after a year off following my MBA adventures. I successfully enrolled into the Masters of Educational Technology program and have had the distinct pleasure of meeting more cool peeps. The ETEC ‘Ohana is one I’ve followed for several years now and I can’t begin to express how great it is to finally be an official “card carrying member” of the ETEC ‘Ohana. Big ups to the 2K8 cohort: Michael, Rashmi, Evelyn, Nicki, Natalie, Rayna, Lynda, Hong, Michelle, Christine, Andrew, and Masa as well as all the awesome advanced students I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with.
Personal Achievements
2K8 was a year of accomplishment in my personal realm as well as professional. After 3 years of dedicated work I finally earned my Kung Fu completion certificate (equivalent of a black belt) in Hung Gar and Choy Li Fut kung fu.

I had the unique opportunity to have a small private dinner with a United States Congressman (Neil Abercrombie) on two occasions due to my relationships off of Twitter

I had the unique opportunity to be a featured guest on a radio show (Bytemarks Cafe) in my area of specialty!

I completed training as an Improvisational actor/comic.

I traveled to Vegas and San Diego Comic Con with my friend and two oldest/longest friends on the planet.

I’ve taken in more arts and culture events and enjoyed Honolulu’s Nightlife more than any other point in my life prior to now.

My Old Peeps

Through the awesome power of the Internet and Social Networking, 2K8’s been a year of reconnection for me as well as I’ve had a chance to reconnect with tons of old friends from high school and college I otherwise wouldn’t have. Over the past year I’ve enjoyed re-establishing and maintaining my connections with all the awesome folks of KSBE, School of Comm and Shidler College of Business. In particular I do want to send out love and a ton of props to Pam, Shane, Mel P, Kanno, Lyell, Jen H., Ola, Tino, Randy, Erica, Monica, Jen B for keeping in touch. You guys rock :

Needless to say, I have a ton to be thankful for.

On this day, Thanksgiving 2008 (11/27/08) I can say that I am truly blessed. I have my family, my health, a successful career and the most awesome group of friends, colleagues and acquaintances anyone could ever ask for. For that, I am truly thankful to the Lord for.

I Am Blessed…

General Election 2K8: Hawaii Edition

Author’s Note: Today I cast my absentee ballot in the 2008 General Election. I’ll briefly go down the ballot and explain my choices as appropriate. I won’t discuss all of my votes at this time as I am currently hosting candidate forums for my students and it’d be inappropriate to the candidates for me to chime in at this time but perhaps in a follow-up post I will do so.

1. President and Vice President

(C) BALDWIN, Chuck for President
CASTLE, Darrell L for Vice President

(L) BARR, Bob for President
ROOT, Wayne A for Vice President

(R) MCCAIN, John for President
PALIN, Sarah for Vice President

(G) McKINNEY, Cynthia for President
CLEMENTE, Rosa for Vice President

(I) NADER, Ralph for President
GONZALEZ, Matt for Vice President

(D) OBAMA, Barack for President
BIDEN, Joe for Vice President

My Vote: Obama, duh!!! Although I do like Ralph Nader. Personally, I agree with Obama’s views and his plans for office. He may not be as experienced as a McCain but I believe in Obama’s vision for America’s future and seriously speaking — is McCain all that different from fucking Bush? (I am still VERY disappointed in the masses for putting that idiot back in 4 years ago – don’t get me started).

2. US Representative, Dist I

(D) ABERCROMBIE, Neil
(R) TATAII, Steve
(L) ZHAO, Li

My Vote: Abercrombie. He’s been a great Congressman and represented us and our needs well. There is no compelling reason to put him out. That and I’m thoroughly impressed at how he’s utilized modern technology to reach out to the constituency (Having dinner with the guy a few months back in an intimate setting doesn’t hurt either).

3. Board of Education – Honolulu District (Vote Not More Than One))

LEE, Carol Mon
MATSUMOTO, Denise

My Vote: I’ll comment at a later time as I’ve done a candidate forum for this race.

4. Board of Education – No Departmental (Vote Not More Than Three (3))

AHU ISA, Lei
AIONA, Darrow Kanakanui
AKUNA, Janis
TOGUCHI, Garrett
TOM, Terrence
YEE, Randall

My Vote: I’ll comment at a later time as I’ve done a candidate forum for this race.

5. Office of Hawaiian Affairs At-Large Trustee (Vote Not More Than One (1))

APOLIONA, Haunani
HONDA, Helene
KIPPEN, Colin
NALUA’I, Sol

My Vote: I’ll comment at a later time as I’ve done a candidate forum for this race.

6. Honolulu Mayor

HANNEMANN, Mufi
KOBAYASHI, Ann

My Vote: Kobayashi. Don’t get me wrong. Mufi did an excellent job as Mayor. I do agree he managed the city well and expanded and made its services more efficient. So why Kobayashi? Two reasons: 1 – Word is the guy is gearing up for a run for Governor in 2 years. I personally would like to see a guy who is 100% committed to the job and intends to stick with the job. 2 – The entire rail issue is just too fishy. I am NOT a rail expert but I am inclined to believe the Steel on Steel opponents who say the system is too costly. Honolulu definitely needs a better mass transit system but Steel on Steel, from the sound of things, is not the best route to go.

7. CON CON: Constitutional Convention Question: “Shall there be a convention to propose a revision of or amendments to the Constitution.”

YES
NO

My Vote: “No.” In concept, I agree with the idea of holding a Constitutional Convention. It is always good to reassess where we are as a State. Times have changed since the last Con Con. I believe we have different needs which does necessitate a change in our Constitution. However, I at this point in time I agree with the opponents to a Con-Con. The cost for the process is prohibitive, in my opinion, given our current economic situation. Many opponents also cite how it will open up the flood gates to have many current entitlements taken away (mostly Hawaiian related). While I tend to not like to think from a defensive “look out for my own interests” mentality as I tend to like to think of what benefits everyone as a whole, I do think given our current situation it is probably best to maintain the status quo. The time for a Con Con will come again for sure — at a later time.

8. CON Amend: Age Qualification for Governor: “Shall the age qualification for the office of governor and office of lieutenant governor be reduced from thirty years of age to twenty-five years of age?“

YES
NO

My Vote: “No.” With all due respect to the brilliant minds under 30 (I considered myself one), I feel that at the age of 25 the average person just doesn’t have enough perspective, life experience and skill to handle the responsibilities of running a State. Most people at 25 barely have the skills to take care of themselves much less several million – in my opinion.

9. City Charter Amend: “Shall the Prosecuting Attorney be allowed to initiate programs, projects and activities, as determined by the prosecuting attorney, on the subject of crime, including but not limited to crime research, prevention and education?“

YES
NO

My Vote: “Yes.” Overall, I don’t see anything overly wrong with this. I do believe more resources do need to be devoted to crime research, prevention and education. Is the Prosecutor’s Office the best place for that? Probably not as I would think the Prosecutor’s Office should focus on prosecuting. I believe the crime research, prevention and education work should probably be done by a joint task force of the police department and prosecutor’s office or some permutation thereof but that’s more of a city org chart and delineation of roles and responsibilities thing. The bottom line is someone needs to do that job and at this point in time the Prosecutor’s Office is probably as good a place as any to start off.

10. City Charter Amend: “Shall the Revised City Charter be amended to authorize the city Ethics Commission to impose civil fines established by ordinance for violations of the standards of conduct committed by appointed officers and employees of the city who have significant discretionary or fiscal power?“

YES
NO

My Vote: “Yes.” Hey, it’s all about accountability. People who wield great power should definitely be held to that higher standard. We need those checks and balances to ensure there’s no abuse of power. I would like to say though that I hope the violations they’ll be penalized for are things of substance that border on criminal as opposed to pettier things like sending porn or inappropriate jokes via e-mail which to me is just a very trivial issue to waste time and resources managing.  As long as it has no bearing on a person’s ability to effectively do the job why worry?

11. City Charter Amend: “Shall the Revised Charter of the City and County of Honolulu 1973 be amended to conform to state law by specifying that the circuit courts of the state have jurisdiction of impeachment proceedings against elected county officers?“

YES
NO

My Vote: “Yes.” I don’t see why not. I guess my question is, what jurisdiction does this fall under currently? Federal? State District court? I don’t believe there is a “county” court or anything like that so I don’t overly see a major problem with the state circuit court handling this.

12. City Charter Amend: “Shall the powers, duties, and functions of the city, through its director of transportation services, include establishment of a steel wheel on steel rail transit system?“

My Vote: “No.” This question is specifically asking if we should implement steel on steel rail. It is NOT asking if we should implement a rail system in general. As the debates have shown there are multiple options for a rail transit solution. I think most people will agree that a rail transit solution is something we need (or at least a BETTER mass transit solution than what we have now). However, as opponents have shown (and have convinced me) steel on steel is not the best solution due to its cost (which WE will be paying for for years upon years in taxes). If we can implement a mass/rail transit solution at a lower cost that offers comparable performance than I say go for that. Unless you enjoy paying more taxes than you need to. I am all for rail transit — but it needs to be implemented at reasonable cost and I’m not convinced steel on steel is the best solution for our needs and situation at this time.