So now, according to reporter Peter Boylan, a trickle of challengers has begun to emerge in the upcoming elections for Honolulu City Council and Mayor.

But the numbers are few and the folks picking up papers to run are generally unknown.

The liklihood that most, if not all, of the faces running Honolulu City Hall will still be there in November once the elections are over.

Is that a bad thing? It’s easy to dismiss the lack of challengers as apathy or fear of the power of incumbents. But it is just as easy to assume the lack of interest in the races reflects a general level of comfort, it not excitement, over the people now holding office.

Yes, we like a vibrant and thoughtful contest for public office. In time, many will come to recognize that the everlasting campaign between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton gave voters an unparalled look at the candidates, their thinking and their reactions toward each other.

But that was pretty much an aberration. Even presidential contests often devolve into a race between the consensus expected winner and a challenger or two.

The folks pushing the “clean elections” agenda argue that publicly financed elections will take the corrupting and distorting impact of big money out of politics. But the program might have another effect as well: If it wasn’t so expensive, maybe more people would take the time to test and challenge the people currently holding office.

No matter how well they are doing, they would be swell-served by a strong challenge and an opportunity to explain themselves in a public political context.