HILO, Hawai'i — It sometimes seems as if new homes are going up in the rural subdivisions of Puna's House District 4 almost as fast as the rumbling bulldozers can knock down the 'ohi'a trees to clear the lots.

The fast-growing district that includes Lower Puna has historically elected Democrats, and Rep. Helene Hale's announcement this year that she would retire prompted four Democrats to join in the race to replace her.

The candidates in the Democratic primary include a retired university instructor and small business owner; a retired county worker turned farmer; a "professional volunteer;" and a union activist who works at Kulani Correctional Facility.

Here is a look at each candidate.

SARAH BURGESS

Hawaiian Beaches resident Sarah Burgess is retired from teaching communications at University of Hawai'i, Washington State University, San Francisco State University and other colleges.

She now owns a business called The Question Mark, which imports crafts and furniture from Southeast Asia, and more recently has been importing plants and doing landscaping.

A 20-year Hawai'i resident, Burgess moved to Puna 10 years ago. She is concerned with global warming, and wants the state to focus more on reforesting projects and alternative energy such as wind power and water power.

"The idea that Hawai'i become as self-supporting as possible I think is a very good one, because we don't know what's going to definitely happen with global warming, but it looks like a terrible problem, and we've become very dependent on imports of all sorts," she said.

Burgess said she is also concerned about unplanned development in Puna.

"There has been huge growth in Puna, and we're not set up for it," she said. "I think it has to be very carefully planned, and I'm supporting community involvement in planning."

Burgess said she also wants to preserve the coastline by increasing building setbacks from the coastline, and favors a U.S. pullout from Iraq.

FAYE HANOHANO

Faye Hanohano is a lieutenant on the staff at Kulani Correctional Facility, and is a vice president of the Hawai'i State AFL-CIO, and state secretary-treasurer of the United Public Workers union.

Hanohano has the backing of a number of unions, including the Hawai'i Government Employees Association and the Big Island division of the ILWU Local 142.

Hanohano wants a civic center built in Pahoa to provide state and county services, adult educational services and services for senior citizens.

"Agencies need to do outreach programs; they have to come into the community," she said. "We have a lot of disadvantaged people out here, and they are underserved because they cannot get to Hilo."

Hanohano said improvements in police and urgent-care medical services also are needed in Puna.

In addition, she wants to increase state funding for drug treatment programs, and wants to create a network of "safe houses" where drug offenders can seek treatment and help before they "go off the deep end and go back into prison."

Gas prices are also a major issue in Puna, an area where residents routinely commute more than 40 miles roundtrip each day. Hanohano said she favors cutting fuel taxes.

If the state continues the existing fuel tax, she said the state must do a better job of maintaining the network of roads in Puna.

She said she also wants the state to begin spending money to install water lines for areas of Puna without water service.

GERARD SILVA

Gerard Silva, a 1972 graduate of St. Joseph School in Hilo, said he is running for the Puna state House seat for the third time because "for the last six years, everything has been stagnant."

"I can see that they really need somebody in the Legislature to push to get these things done," he said.

Silva is retired from a job with the county Department of Public Works, and has farmed for 20 years, raising livestock as well as tangerines, avocados and noni.

Lower Puna needs a 24-hour medical facility, more emergency medical technicians to cope with a growing population and alternative routes out of Puna in case of emergencies, he said.

Today the only road serving the area is the Kea'au-to-Pahoa Highway, and "if anything happens on that highway, everybody's blocked in."

Puna now has a population of more than 30,000 people, and the area needs a 24-hour healthcare facility, he said. "There are so many stories about people not being able to make it to the Hilo hospital and dying on the way because it's too far away," Silva said.

Silva worked on the Puna Regional Circulation Plan, an effort to plan roads and future development for the area. "The population is exploding; it's tremendous what's happened in the last four years," he said.

Silva wants to "somehow revitalize" coastal areas to replenish depleted fishing stocks, but also wants harbor improvements to the heavily used Pohoiki area to accommodate local fishermen.

He believes the harbor needs man-made protection such as a reef to shelter the boat ramp so vessels can more easily enter and exit the water there.

LUANA JONES

Democrat Luana Jones is also concerned with Pohoiki area, which she said is the most popular gathering place for youth in Puna. Jones said people are often drinking alcohol openly in the area, and "it's really not healthy for the young people to go down and be exposed to ... but, unfortunately, that seems to be the trend."

"We need facilities for our youth to have positive activities," said Jones, who described herself as a "professional volunteer." She has lived in Puna for 24 years, and raised her four children there.

Jones wants a new beach park built at Pohoiki to separate the swimmers from the activity at the boat ramp, and wants permanent bathrooms installed at Pohoiki, a project that has long been in the planning stages.

Jones has worked to put on community concerts and dances, and worked with Hale to seek money for a new gym for Pahoa School. The Pahoa schools now share an old county gym, and Jones said she will follow up to lobby for the release of the $7 million lawmakers have appropriated for the project.

The existing facility "is really ancient, and we really need a high school gym," she said.

"When you give them the facilities that they need, you're telling them that you value them, that they are important," she said.

Jones said she has worked with government officials on a variety of issues, but concluded the Puna area isn't a high priority for lawmakers.

"To this day we still don't have a lot of our needs met," she said. That includes water lines for large subdivisions where homeowners rely on water-catchment systems.

Puna is already one of the fastest-growing districts in the state, "and yet we have the most vacant land, so we're going to be growing a lot more," she said.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Brian Jordan and Libertarian Aaron Anderson in the general election.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.