Derek S.K. Kawakami
Lt. Governor
Position Running For
Lt. Governor
What area(s) of the Island do you call home?
Lihue
What is your vision for a thriving agricultural sector on Kauai and how can the State support that vision?
A thriving agricultural sector is one that marries existing infrastructure with modern technology. Our agricultural infrastructure, although aging, cannot be replicated. It makes the maintenance and upkeep more important now than ever before. Agriculture in Hawaii encompasses diversified food crops, ranching, aquaculture, floriculture, and specialty tropical crops like coffee and cacao. A cooperative model supported by the State and County could help leverage public resources to help farmers process, package, and store their crops and meat products. Our visitors and residents will be well educated to understand the value both to the economy, environment, and well-being by consuming and supporting locally grown and raised products. State and County policy would incentivize farming and fishing while protecting productive agricultural lands. Farms are a mix of small and larger farms that are supported by a network of local nonprofit organizations to assist farmers in marketing, distribution, resource management and utilizing modern technology like smart irrigation systems, drone technology, and tools and equipment to help farmers get their products to market.
If elected, how would you engage with the business community prior to your decision-making?
As Mayor, we have had the benefit of a very active and engaged Chamber of Commerce. Participating in the many events including Chamber After Hour events, Hawaii on the Hill, Mayor’s Chamber Roundtable discussions, as well as one-on-one meetings with Chamber leadership and members are all great vehicles that we have utilized to keep the business community informed. We also have prioritized building a communications team to help keep our people and business community informed on county-related events and initiatives. I have spent a majority of my life in the grocery retail sector. My last job with the family business was in operations and management where I oversaw five Menehune Food Mart convenience stores, two Shell gas stations, four Subway Sandwich quick service restaurants, and three Happy Kauaian gift shops. My business background has helped with some of the toughest decisions that I have had to make and makes me truly appreciate the challenges that face our business community.
How would you help ensure that working middle class residents can afford to buy or rent a home on Kauaʻi?
Our administration took a different approach to housing. We can’t legislate our way out of a housing crisis, so we approached the building industry with two simple questions. Why are houses so expensive and how can we lower costs? The big cost drivers are cost of land, infrastructure, and time – which includes zoning, permitting, and community outreach. When developers shoulder these costs, we get houses that are out of reach for most people to afford. We aimed to drive the cost of construction down, lessen the risk of developing housing for local people, and we wanted houses for local people to be a profitable sector in the construction industry. We identified underutilized State and County land near existing infrastructure, public transportation hubs, job centers and recreational spaces. We took care of infrastructure, the time-consuming process of acquiring entitlements and we let the builders do what they do best: build. This model has developed Haupu View, Kealaula at Pua Loke and Lima Ola, and built upon the work and vision of the Baptiste and Carvalho administrations. We just sold our first 3-bedroom 2 bath single family homes in the range of $480-520,000.
How would you effectively manage budget and operations compared to the past?
I think we have improved our county budget and operations, and we have certainly improved transparency. We engage our Council early on to get their feedback on budget priorities. We have also abandoned top-down budgeting decisions by getting out into the field alongside our workers to ensure their input is reflected in the budget, so that we can provide them the tools and equipment needed to deliver excellent service. We wanted to create a culture in which our associates understood that the administration is there to support the ground operation and not the other way around, and that small shift led to major improvements in our operations and our ability to serve our island.
What specific ideas do you have about economic diversification and how would you develop these areas?
We have a lot of potential in health and wellness, arts and culture, agriculture, renewable energy and sustainable practices, science and technology, destination management in the visitor industry, and the building and construction industries. By staying focused and creating a variety of incentives to help encourage the growth of these sectors, we can improve the quality of life, create jobs that offer a good wage and benefits package, we can diversify our economy while still supporting our largest economic engine. The biggest and most immediate support that we can give our business sector is to address the cost of housing to ensure that we have a highly skilled workforce that can support these industries and fill the jobs that these industries require.
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?
Our top priority has always been infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure. With the General Excise tax surcharge, we set forth with an aggressive road resurfacing program. We have built a project management team to ensure that projects are properly supervised so projects stay on budget and on time. These infrastructure projects not only improve our roadways and bridges, but they also play a huge role in our local economy and creating building industry jobs. Our team at wastewater does its best to keep the system operational while making improvements concurrently. A common complaint that we get is the length of time that these projects take to get completed. Many of the delays are out of our hands due to supply chain slowdowns, resource and materials scarcity. However, we do our best to control variables that are within our span of control to complete projects on time. We are constantly improving our building permit process. We are now utilizing artificial intelligence to assist our workers and help to streamline permit approvals.
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?
The visitor industry is the largest contributor to our affordable housing development fund. I believe that the collaboration between the State, County, and community nonprofit organizations has transformed the Haena/Ke`e area, creating the gold standard of destination management. The reservation system limits the number of vehicles in that area and utilizes a shuttle to transport visitors to Ke`e beach. This model effectively controls capacity, deters illegal parking, and empowers community to be a part of the solution and creates good local jobs. We have also partnered with the Hanalei Initiative to manage the Coconut Marketplace Mobility Hub project that our Office of Economic Development initiated. This project seeks to educate visitors, residents, and businesses on transportation options along the East Kauai corridor. By decentralizing transportation options, we hope to provide relief off of our highway system and redefine the way that visitors travel around our island, lessen the number of vehicles on our roads and highways, support local businesses, empower communities to partner with government to solving complex issues, and create local jobs for people in that area.
What is your solution to best manage solid waste on Kauaʻi? Please include your views on recycling, landfill site, source reduction, and other strategies.
Tackling the siting, design, and construction of a new landfill has been a monumental challenge. One main hurdle is the proximity of the new landfill site to the airport. While we are moving forward with developing the new landfill, we are expanding capacity in Kekaha so there is no disruption in trash service. Our administration supports reduction, diversion, and recycling and we are proud of our island’s high participation in our current recycling programs. This is a good example of our people doing the right thing and saving the county millions of dollars in setting up new programs, hiring more people, and growing government unnecessarily. We are working on seeking proposals for waste-to-energy, construction demolition waste recovery, and other programs as well. We recently completed Kauai’s largest recycling project ever by repurposing the old Superferry ramp and utilizing it as temporary bridges that can be utilized islandwide while working toward permanent bridge repairs.
As an elected official, what steps would you take to mitigate the impacts of climate change on Kauaʻi?
I will continue to support the work we’ve already begun with the Kauai Climate Adaptation and Action Plan (KCAAP). Adopted in January, it provides a strategic framework for adapting County infrastructure, services, and facilities to climate impacts such as sea level rise, drought, and flooding, while also reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet County climate targets. In the recent fiscal year, staff finalized over 70 overarching strategies and developed over 15 detailed work plans for County departments and agencies and I’m excited to support this group’s momentum to build climate resilience, while also continuing to support county initiatives such as Bill 2879. This bill amends construction design standards to incorporate sea level rise impacts – making Kaua‘i one of the first counties in the nation to enact regulation based on sea level rise modeling projections.
What else would you like to share with the business community?
I am deeply grateful to the Kauai Chamber of Commerce and our business community for the last 7+ years during my time as Mayor. The Mayor’s Chamber Lunch, Hawaii on the Hill, and numerous events that we have been a part of are experiences that my wife Monica and I will hold close to our hearts. We have navigated through some challenging times with the Chamber by our side, providing guidance, support, and oftentimes bringing to our attention potential unintended consequences that were avoided thanks to the Chamber being engaged and active. Thank you so much for the many memories and support during my time as Mayor.