As early voting begins, Tupola, Ige point out distinct differences in opinions

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Successes and highlights of the Ige administration were often overshadowed by controversy -- the missile alert mistake, homelessness and the battle over TMT.

"What we see right now is a failure to lead. There are people in the current administration that are very good followers," said Rep. Andria Tupola, republican candidate for Governor.

"I have not heard her express the experience that I think needs to be effective as Governor," said Ige.

Ige says lessons were learned from mistakes and his administration is being more responsive to change with needs of the community -- a directive for all public workers.

The state dealt with a slew of disasters from lava to flooding to hurricanes.

Ige and Tupola disagree on how prepared the state really is for disaster.

"We actually have no emergency supplies after whatever we have in our stores. However much Costco has, how much Foodland has, that's how much we have on the island. We don't have additional storage spaces where we have flour or rice, there's nothing," said Tupola.

"We hold quite significant commodity stores, food water emergency generators and a number of support equipment that would be available for any disaster in the Pacific area," said Ige.

Ige says Hawaii has been preparing for a disaster that impacts every island, but no community can be fully prepared for a catastrophic disaster. Tupola believes Hawaii isn’t prepared and lacks resources in an emergency.

Copyright 2018 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.