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'''Stephen Kei Yamashiro''' (July 15, 1941 – May 24, 2011) was an [[United States|American]] [[politician]] and [[lawyer]] who served as the former [[Mayor of Hawaii|Mayor]] of [[Hawaii County, Hawaii|Hawaii County]] from 1992 to 2000.<ref name=hsa> {{cite news|first=Gordon Y.K.|last=Pang|title=Leader reshaped Big Island as council member, mayor
|url=http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20110526_Leader_reshaped_Big_Island_as_council_member_mayor.html |work=[[Honolulu Star Advertiser]] |publisher= |date=2011-05-26|accessdate=2011-07-08}}</ref><ref name=hawaii24> {{cite news|first=|last=|title=Former Mayor Stephen K. Yamashiro (1941-2011) |url=http://www.hawaii247.com/2011/05/25/former-mayor-steve-yamashiro-1941-2011/ |work=[[Hawaii 24/7]] |publisher= |date=2011-05-25|accessdate=2011-07-10}}</ref> Yamashiro served on the Hawaii County council from 1976 to 1990, including eleven years as the council's chairman.<ref name=hsa/> He then served as the [[Mayor of Hawaii]] for two consecutive, four-year terms from 1992 until 2000.<ref name=hsa/>
The ''[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]]'' has referred to Yamashiro as "among the most influential political leaders" in the history of the [[Big Island of Hawaii]].<ref name=hsa/> More specifically, ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' reporter Hugh Clark has called Yamashiro, "probably … the most significant newsmaker on the [[Big Island]]" during the final thirty years of the [[20th Century]].<ref name=hsa/>
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Two years later, Yamashiro was successfully elected Mayor of Hawaii County in 1992 in a rematch against incumbent Mayor Lorraine Inouye.<ref name=hsa/> He also defeated [[Russell Kokubun]], who had also served on the county council, in the 1992 mayoral election.<ref name=hsa/> Though rivals in the election, Kokuban became deputy planning director for several years during Yamashiro's tenure as mayor.<ref name=hsa/>
He was inaugurated into office on December 7, 1992.<ref name=hawaii24/> Yamashiro was re-elected to a second, four-year term in 1996, defeating challenger [[Keiko Bonk]] of the [[Green Party]] by a slimmer than expected margin of 3,148 votes.<ref name=hsa> {{cite news|first=Ira|last=Rohter|title=Fruits of Resistance:
Hawaiÿi Islanders Stop Oji Paper Ltd.|url=http://www2.hawaii.edu/~aoude/pdf/RohterSocProc40_2001_pp.121-40.pdf |work=Ira Rohter|publisher=[[University of Hawaii]] |date=2011-05-26|accessdate=2011-07-08}}</ref>
Yamashiro came into office facing major economic challenges for the [[Big Island of Hawaii]]. The island's once thriving [[Sugar plantations in Hawaii|sugar industry]] had declined, causing the loss of agricultural jobs.<ref name=hsa/> The last major [[sugar plantation]] closed on the island closed during the 1990s.<ref name=hsa/> Yamashiro, a strong proponent of development, pushed for the rapid development of [[resorts]] and other tourism [[infrastructure]] in [[South Kohala]] and [[North Kona]] to replace jobs lost in the sugar industry.<ref name=hsa/>
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