Michael J. Konowicz (Hawaii County Council District 9, Hawaii, candidate 2024)

Michael J. Konowicz

Nonpartisan

Candidate, Hawaii County Council District 9

Elections and appointments

Last election

August 10, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Mississippi State University

Personal

Religion

Roman Catholic

Profession

Scientist

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Michael J. Konowicz ran for election to the Hawaii County Council District 9. He was on the ballot in the primary on August 10, 2024.^[source]

Konowicz completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Michael J. Konowicz provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on July 19, 2024:

• High school: Monroe Township High School
• Bachelor's: Mississippi State University
• Gender: Male
• Religion: Roman Catholic
• Profession: Scientist
• Prior offices held:
  • Board Director, Waikoloa Village Association (2022-Prsnt)
• Incumbent officeholder: No
• Campaign slogan: Future Proof Hawaii
• Campaign website
• Campaign Facebook
• Campaign Instagram

Elections

General election

General election for Hawaii County Council District 9

Cynthia F.W. Evans and James E. Hustace ran in the general election for Hawaii County Council District 9 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Cynthia F.W. Evans (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	James E. Hustace (Nonpartisan)

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	Incumbency information for this election was not available.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Hawaii County Council District 9

Cynthia F.W. Evans, James E. Hustace, and Michael J. Konowicz ran in the primary for Hawaii County Council District 9 on August 10, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Cynthia F.W. Evans (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	James E. Hustace (Nonpartisan)
		Michael J. Konowicz (Nonpartisan)

---

	Incumbency information for this election was not available.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Konowicz in this election.

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Michael J. Konowicz completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Konowicz's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Michael Konowicz, an earth scientist and journalist, wants to help fix the problems of the past and focus on a brighter tomorrow. He’s eager to tackle challenges like our affordable and low income housing crisis and focus on infrastructure like our roads and waste water issues. And he wants to serve the community in an engaging way, making government as transparent and as communicative as possible. Michael has been an involved, collaborative, active volunteer in our district for years trying to make it and Hawaii better and hopes to have the honor to serve you as our next councilperson.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We must future-proof the island and tackle affordable & low income housing; making housing affordable will help bring down other expenses and help repair our overall affordability crisis.
• We must future-proof the island and tackle infrastructure: we must solve our waste water problems while also building, repairing, and maintaining roads throughout our community.
• Local government needs to be more open and honest. No more secret meetings or deals. The public needs to be better informed and involved. We need the County website to be easy to access and serve both current content and useful utility to our residents. We need to use technology to better connect our people with our government. We should employ surveys and polls to better understand what our resident. Ultimately, we need an honest, open, communicative, transparent government.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Affordable Housing, Infrastructure Investment, Open/Accessible Government

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

As the legislative branch, it serves as a needed check/balance on the executive brand of the Mayor and his/her administration.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

If you read local newspapers, you'll see why I'm outraged at the lack of progress made on-island as it relates to affordable housing concerns and much needed infrastructure improvements. The government is more reactive than proactive and it angers me, by reading local press, how inactive our government is with pressing issues.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

An elected official must be actively involved in the community with a track record of proven results, must act on data moreso than emotion, must be empathetic, and must be communicative and transparent.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibility of this office is to make sure government is delivering core services to the community in an efficient and effective way.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want to future-proof the island. 20 years from now, I want people to be thankful of the decisions I made today. I don't want to be in the situation today where we are angered by bad decisions made by our past leaders.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The 2018 Lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kilauea was a memorable, impactful event. While I saw a natural disaster unfold before my eyes and destroy so many homes and livelihoods, I also saw the island rally together to help each other. And I saw good local/state/federal coordination of resources for help.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

This office approves or rejects the budget for the County and big-picture plans like the General Plan.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes. It's odd that some candidates for County Council don't go to council meetings, and in some cases, have never been to one. If you were never interested in the process in the past, it's an unrealistic leap of faith for voters to think you're vested in the process moving forward.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

I think out of the box and communicate well.

I am a broadcast meteorologist and an environmental news reporter; it’s my job to analyze data, images, and observations and tell people what to expect from the weather in the hours and days ahead. And when I’m not forecasting or reporting on the weather, I’m busy reporting on other issues impacting the Earth around the world. That could be flying to Sydney, Australia to cover kids walking out of schools for a Climate Change Protest, going to northern Europe to chat with scientists who are linking solar storms to activity on Earth, or simply going to our backyard to meet with USGS to discuss ongoing earthquake and volcanic activity here on the Big Island. In my job, I take complex subjects, challenging problems, or a lot of data and communicate it in an easy-to-understand way for people to know about and take action on the important things that are around them, whether it be on television, on the radio, online, or in print. And I think such an approach would work well for local government too.

I am a scientist and not a politician. I haven’t worked in party politics nor do I owe their special interest groups any favors. I haven’t spent years in office earning a salary at the expense of tax payers. Instead, I’ve been an involved, educated, active volunteer in our community trying to make our island better.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

I was the President of the Big Island Press Club and fought for freedom of speech, freedom of press, and an open and accountable government. I would continue to fight for those causes as the next County Councilperson.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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