October 29, 2008

Mr. Andy Smith
District:  6

Dear Mr. Smith:

The General Contractors Association (GCA), an organization comprised of over five hundred and forty (540) general contractors, subcontractors, and construction related firms, is pleased to inform you that the Board of Directors voted to endorse your candidacy.

Best wishes for a successful race.

Sincerely,

Lance M. Inouye, Chair                                                                                             
Legislative Committee

Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Endorses Andy Smith

 October 26, 2008 - State House District 6:

"Andy Smith is about as well prepared to enter the Legislature as anyone we’ve seen.  He has gained a lot of experience as a liaison to Gov. Lingle on both sides of the island.  He is an easy choice over his opponent, Denny Coffman.  The Tribune-Herald endorses Smith."

Honolulu Advertiser
Endorses Andy Smith

On Tuesday October 14th, the Honolulu Advertiser endorsed Andy Smith for the State House Representative in District 6 – Kailua-Kona, Keauhou.  The endorsement has recognized his sensible ideas and his government experience would serve the district well.  “I am honored to have the endorsement of the Honolulu Advertiser,” said Smith.  “We must have a great legislative session and propose sensible solutions facing our economy, health care, education, and the way we approach renewable energy.  We cannot take the business-as-usual approach in this coming legislative session, it’s time to take a positive approach and actually accomplish our goals."

In District 6 (Kailua, Keauhou) Republican Andy Smith faces Democrat Denny Coffman in an open seat.  The Advertiser endorses Smith, who is Gov. Linda Lingle's liaison for West Hawai'i.  He rightly favors reasonable tort reform, higher medical reimbursement rates and direct payments of reimbursements to physicians.  He also favors expansion of renewable energy and proactive efforts by the state to encourage airlines to increase flights to Hawai'i.  His sensible ideas and his government experience would serve the district well.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081014/OPINION01/810140302/1105

Stimulating our Economy

We can not stand by and simply wait for things to get better

In this tough economic time, we need to look at our wants vs. our needs.  Our residents need a better school system that includes locally based options, charter schools and more access to higher education. 

Fixing our health care crisis and keeping our doctors on island is crucial to the future of our local communities.

Our primary economic engine – tourism – will rest on 2 basic principles. (1) New visitors – the state can help by increasing domestic, international and inter-island flights as well as our cruise ship port call increase. (2) Return visitors – in order to make it so visitors come back to our islands, we need to keep our public infrastructure contemporary, i.e. airports, harbors, roads, beaches and state parks. 

Hawaii can diversify its economic base to ensure quality jobs in the future by investing in higher education.  Here in Kailua-Kona, our new UH West Hawaii campus will help provide that economic diversification. 

Also, our Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) is also located in Kailua-Kona.  This is another example of high tech, renewable energy and alternative job creation that we can model for the rest of the state.

I’m running for State House Representative to challenge the status quo of our state legislature.  Now is the time when positive change is needed and positive leadership needs to step up and challenge the “old boy” system of government.   They have gone on far too long with nothing to show for our state and no accountability; just empty promises and another year gone by.

I want to bring that change to the people of Kona.  Change that makes us proud to say, “We fixed our health care crisis, we made our schools and college better, our traffic patterns have improved and our state is more energy efficient.”

I am offering to serve as your next State Representative.  With my experience in state government along with being a proactive member of this community, I’m committed to working with anyone who wants to make our state a better place to live, work, learn, and play.  I ask you to join with me and support my campaign for State House. 

Kailua-Kona – The Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Small Businesses have endorsed Andy Smith for State House Representative.  Both community organizations are small business orientated and support Andy Smith and his experience in state government.

“I’m very pleased to have both of their endorsements and they know that they can count on my experience and knowledge of state government to help small businesses,” said Smith.  “Having almost 6 years experience under my belt is important in helping our business community during tough economic times.  We need to work together and be creative and innovative to keep our small businesses going in a positive direction."

Andy Smith has been a small business manager and owner on the Big Island for over 6 years.  He also has been serving as the Governor’s Liaison for West Hawaii bringing state government closer to the people.  With his experience and knowledge of real-life island issues, its easy to see why he received the business communities support.