William Aila Jr. is proud of his years of activism, so much so that he points out he is the only candidate for governor who has been held in contempt of court by a federal judge.

Aila, 48, said his environmentalism and his Hawaiian cultural beliefs are intertwined and inseparable, and those beliefs first led him into political action two decades ago. This year, he is venturing into elective politics by seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.

Raised on the Wai'anae Coast, Aila lives on an agricultural lot on Hawaiian Home Lands at Lualualei, where he grows mango, mountain apple and other fruit. He presents himself as the working-class candidate with common-sense solutions to Hawai'i's nagging, reoccurring problems.

"I get involved," he said. "I see problems that need to be fixed, and we jump in and we try to fix it."

Aila was active in the late 1980s in efforts to regulate longline fishing, and lobbied against shark finning and a proposal to privatize the state's small boat harbors.

He opposes basing the Stryker Brigade in Hawai'i because he contends the environmental reviews weren't done properly. He questions the impacts of military activities at Makua as a member of Hui Malama 'O Makua, a group that believes the valley is sacred, and is dedicated to protecting it.

The federal contempt ruling was late last year in connection with yet another issue. Aila is one of four board members of Hui Malama I Na Kupuna 'O Hawai'i Nei who were held in contempt on the same day that Judge David Ezra jailed Edward Halealoha Ayau, executive director of Hui Malama.

Ezra's rule came in a dispute over 83 priceless cultural artifacts that Hui Malama borrowed from Bishop Museum and never returned.

Hui Malama officials have said the items were buried in caves on the Kohala side of the Big Island and refused a court order to return the objects. They maintain that providing specifics would violate their Native Hawaiian religious beliefs.

Aila's campaign for governor is a long shot in a race that seems to be almost an election-year afterthought.

The U.S. Senate race between Daniel Akaka and Ed Case has captured most of the public attention, while a cluster of other well-known politicians gravitated to the high-profile race for the 2nd Congressional District seat being vacated by Case.

That has left Aila in an almost invisible Democratic gubernatorial primary with former state Sen. Randall Iwase and Democrat Van Tanabe. The race has barely registered with the public, mostly because the candidates don't have nearly enough money for sustained advertising campaigns.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, who had an intimidating $3.3 million on hand at the end of June to finance her re-election bid. Aila had less than $6,800, and Iwase had less than $17,000.

Early polling by The Advertiser shows Lingle with a commanding lead.

Aila said his strategy will be to pursue a campaign fueled by grassroots organizing. His career as Wai'anae's harbor agent for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources kept him close to home over the years, and Aila says he has maintained his close connection with ordinary folks.

MARRIED 30 YEARS

Aila's parents divorced when he was 6, and he spent part of his childhood with his great-grandmother. When he was 14 he moved in with his father, William Aila Sr., a city worker who was also running a ranch on 230 acres of leased land at the Lualualei Naval Magazine.

William Aila Jr. learned to work cattle and raise other livestock on that ranch, growing up in a Wai'anae where everyone knew one another. He grew accustomed to being known as "Aila's boy."

He met his wife, Melva Napua Kailikea, at the Wai'anae High School bus stop after Aila finished football practice one day. In August they marked their 30th wedding anniversary, and sometimes when he is fishing for the right words to explain himself, he looks to his wife. She is ready, volunteering possibilities to get their message across.

Melva said she nudged Aila to run after watching him lobby at the Legislature year after year, and decided the lobbying was taking too long. She encouraged him to run for governor to try to reshape policy from the inside.

Aila has been active in the effort to cope with homelessness in Wai'anae, and he emphasizes his plans to provide affordable rentals.

He said government should partner with church groups and major landowners to make land available for affordable projects, and should pressure the military to build housing for military and government workers. Government also needs to come to grips with illegal vacation rentals, which Aila said remove housing inventory.

Government should facilitate construction of affordable units, and if necessary should outright build the units because "the market is not doing it," he said.

"The Republican philosophy is to let the marketplace take care of the problem. The marketplace is not going to build affordable rentals. It just isn't, because they can make more money building $500,000 and $600,000 homes."

URBAN SPRAWL CRITIC

Aila considers himself to be a "smart growth" candidate, and is critical of the "urban sprawl" he sees on each of the islands. Part of the problem is the counties allow development that is not in keeping with the state general plan, which leads to overdevelopment in neighborhoods that do not have the roads or other infrastructure to support the added population, he said.

He also opposes development of new resorts that are isolated from existing tourism hubs.

"To me, Hawai'i is doing this wrong. Basic economics says demand is exceeding supply right now; we should raise price rather than build more units."

Instead, Hawai'i hotels are taking inventory out for timeshares and condominium conversions for the "ultra-rich," he said. "That's why you have to have the creation of additional rooms to make up for that. If demand exceeds supply, raise price, and then you can afford to pay the hotel workers an adequate wage, so they don't have to work three jobs."

Aila draws a sharp contrast between himself and Iwase. Aila said Iwase is benefiting from higher name recognition in the polls, but said analysis of Iwase's record will raise concerns, particularly among Native Hawaiians and environmentalists. To those groups "his record is cause for concern," Aila said.

"He's very intellectual, very polished. Again, I'm a country boy, I'm going to use short words, common sense applications. I have a greater feel for what the average common person in Hawai'i is experiencing, the apprehensions, the worries. We face it ourselves."

As for Lingle, "she's got millions, she's got name recognition, but when I travel the state, I meet a lot of people who are not happy with her performance. I meet a lot of people who want something other than a politician. They want somebody from the outside to come in and take a look at the problems that her administration really has not been able to solve."

"Never mind about who gets the credit, just get it done," he said.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.