Position Running For

Kauai County Council

What is your vision for a thriving agricultural sector on Kauai and how can the County support that vision?

Agriculture on our tiny island plays such a critical part in the overall well-being of our economy! As a county, we must do everything we can to support and protect all sectors of what we define as agriculture!

Here are some ways I believe the county council can contribute and assist in promoting and sustaining a healthy agriculture industry.

1. Continue providing preferential tax rates to legitimate agricultural ventures.
2. Collaborate with our state officials and legislators to support the provision of reliable irrigation systems, processing facilities, and smaller specialty crops like Cocoa, taro, and exotic fruits to establish markets for their products.
3. Support corporate farming, which provides large scale employment opportunities for our residents.
4. Provide safe, convenient, and economical shipping options to get their goods to our neighboring islands and out of state.
5. The State, through its collegiate educational system continues promoting the benefits of agricultural as a profession.

If elected, how would you engage with the business community prior to your decision-making?

There is such a diversity of businesses on Kauai that have their own organizations as well as neighborhood business associations. My preference would be to schedule meetings with these groups that would be impacted by this issue. If the group does not have an organized membership, The Kauai Chamber of Commerce would be the most logical choice to seek feedback from. I feel it’s important to hear & listen to our community, which is our 4^th level of government. Federal…State…County…Community.

How would you help ensure that working middle class residents can afford to buy or rent a home on Kauaʻi?

Unfortunately, government cannot assure any employee’s earnings will be or are sufficient to purchase or rent a home here on Kauai. Government, or specifically the county council, can help by supporting our County Housing Office by funding housing development on county and state properties. By providing subdivided lots with infrastructure to housing developers, a tremendous financial burden for housing developers is lifted. It would result in a huge cost savings for the purchaser. Laws are already in place to further this goal of building affordable housing such as expediting the building permit process, reduced water facilities reserve charge and elimination of other county fees.

How would you effectively manage budget and operations compared to the past?

Since this is my very first attempt at public office, I have not been exposed to the county budgeting process of the past so I don’t have any basis to compare a budget that I will be exposed to, if elected. The principles of preparing budgets are fairly straight forward. The devil, however, is in the details.

In the county, the mayor submits his budget for the upcoming fiscal period. The basic revenue source for the county is our real property taxes. My goal would be to effectively maintain the level of service the agencies provide without the need to raise the real property taxes. To do this, the council must look at ways to reduce spending and/or find ways to enhance our revenue base by looking at user fees and other sources.

What specific ideas do you have about economic diversification and how would you develop these areas?

Diversity and stability are vital to Kauai’s long term economic sustainability! As a county we must welcome and support all efforts for new clean industries who want to establish here on our island. Tourism and agriculture are clean industries although more recently there are rumblings about how these two industries are impacting our safety and lifestyle. We must find ways to effectively balance these concerns, as these are our two most prolific economic engines.

It is difficult to specifically pin point any one new industry, but perhaps some high-tech company or companies that manufacture electronic and digital components who are willing to establish here on Kauai would be an example. The challenges for new industries to develop here are many! Our high cost of living, onerous tax structure, shortage of qualified labor, and lack of necessary infrastructure. It should be the county’s responsibility to find ways to incentivize and support such new ventures and to lend legislative support whenever and wherever necessary!

What are your priorities for infrastructure investment? How would you ensure that planned infrastructure projects (roads, wastewater, facilities, bridges, etc.) on Kauai move forward in a timely manner?

Of course, the function of maintaining our vital infrastructure needs rest with the county administration. They know best and have a Capital Improvements coordinator and a plan to address the priority needs of the county. The dilemma is that no matter how great the plan is priorities can change and often do. We must rely on the mayor and his staff to decide which fire needs attention most and support it. Sometimes, not often, priorities may shift depending on who, what, and where the project is. Politics. perhaps, but it happens. We must always guard against this from happening.

The council must ensure that the administration performs per their approved operations budgets as outlined in their CIP and that changes do not include unnecessary increases in cost. The council also must hold the administration accountable for the scheduling and timely completion of projects. However, oftentimes projects are delayed through no fault of the contractor, but procurement deficiencies, contractual disputes and material shortage and delivery.

What is your vision for effective management of the visitor industry so that economic goals are met while ensuring community and environmental concerns are addressed?

Tourism is our primary economic driver, and we must do everything within our power to protect, preserve and maintain it. I understand the hue and cry now for perhaps curtailing and placing restrictions on how it operates. I get it!! Residents are concerned about the environmental degradation and erosion to our once peaceful and country lifestyles. Visitors crowd our roadways, occupy our favorite beaches and recreational sites and are disrespectful to our culture and lifestyle. Even people who work in the industry recognize this trend.

We must not forget what this industry provides in terms of economic stability and sustenance for our friends and families. It may involve rethinking how our visitors and our residents can peacefully co-exist. The state and county can work on educating our visitors on respecting our recreational amenities and lifestyle through marketing paraphernalia and videos upon arrival.

I would present to all constituents this, would you rather be driving in uncrowded streets and unemployed or be sitting in traffic and going to work? It’s a choice!!

What is your solution to best manage solid waste on Kauaʻi? Please include your views on recycling, landfill site, source reduction, and other strategies.

This can have been kicked down the road for too long. It isn’t new and has been tossed around for decades! There has to be a remedy to resolving this matter now. The permit to extend the landfill cell at Kekaha hopefully will hopefully gain an additional 10 years. It is incumbent on our new mayor to pick up the ball and initiate immediately a long-term solution to this critical dilemma.

Recycling, diversion, source reduction are all intermediate solutions and should help in prolonging the life of our landfill. I believe the best solution is to incinerate our waste and create energy as a by-product. However, the task of finding a site and negotiating with a landowner and ensuring there is enough trash to sustain such a plant plus the design and permitting is daunting. As such, a second landfill is the most viable solution. The site at Maalo Rd, in Lihue is back on the table for consideration and it will be up to the council to assist and support the effort.

As an elected official, what steps would you take to mitigate the impacts of climate change on Kauaʻi?

When people talk about climate change, I believe they primarily are concerned about green house gases and the effects it has on sea-level rise. This phenomenon has created scientific models to show how high the sea rise will impact lands everywhere in the US in about 50 years. Let’s face it, the climate is changing!! It seems our planet is getting hotter, which perhaps lends itself to wildfires. Heavy rainfall and blizzards are occurring in different parts of our country at unusual times. I don’t believe with all of the scientific data available that anyone knows why these events are occurring and what we can do about it. So, the answer to this climate change question, I must declare that I don’t really know what we as a council can do to mitigate something we are not sure about. We can and already are starting to address sea-level rise through our County General Plan. We should definitely keep monitoring this phenomenon to ensure properties are safe and that our coastal properties and government assets are protected!

What else would you like to share with the business community?

Having been involved in the banking business for 25 years, I am very grateful to the Kauai Chamber of Commerce for what it does for all businesses here on our beautiful island. Without businesses how are we supposed to survive? Small businesses truly are the little engine that could and truly are the lifeline of our economy. They provide the means for our residents to sustain their families and lifestyles. More people are employed in small businesses than corporate entities. These employees in turn support other businesses and services in our community.

Thank you, Kauai Chamber of Commerce!!!