Election to the Honolulu City Council means becoming one of only nine people who hold quite a bit of power over this city. And in the next several years, its members will influence tax policy in a time of economic malaise and recovery, as well as oversee much of the initial development of the city’s rail system, the largest public-works project in state history.
So filling an open seat at that table of nine is important — far more important than the current voter turnout tally in the District 5 special election would suggest.

Ballots must be received at Honolulu Hale one week from today. So far, only about 13,000 ballots had been returned in the first two weeks of the mailout. That’s about 26 percent of the registered voter tally: 49,851.
That count’s running at about the same pace as the previous vote-by-mail balloting. Earlier this year, the special election to fill a Windward council vacancy drew about half its ballots in the early days, a voting pattern that the District 5 is, so far, repeating.
But just as good is not good enough. Even with a final rush in the Windward race, the ultimate voter turnout was 45 percent, a distressingly low figure.
Hawaiçi’s recent voter-turnout record has been abysmal, and it’s time to change that. The excitement over the election of a Hawaiçi-born president last fall wasn’t enough to reverse the downward trend. It drew only 63.1 percent of registered voters, down almost four points from the previous election.
This may be a relatively small election, but in very real terms it should be even more important to District 5 voters.
This is a district that needs continued upgrades to its sewer and storm drainage systems to prevent repeats of past floods and sewage disasters. Striking a balance between the need for residential elder care and the concerns of neighbors also will demand a leader with a grasp of district issues.
The only way to ensure that government truly reflects the public is to have an electorate that speaks with a loud voice.
Voters should want to choose a leader on the council who will advocate for their interests. There’s no time like the present to do just that.