Having spoken with Hawaii DOT Airports division, my understanding is there has been a change of understanding regarding the sentiment of the community and they are willing to propose far more modest improvements and am waiting for such confirmation in a press release. For example, the State DOT received in the range of $16M for electric vehicle charging infrastructure statewide from the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Executive authority is vested in the Mayor of Kauai, elected by the voters on a nonpartisan basis to a four-year term. The top two objectives that I work on daily are the focus on creating positive contributions to the quality of life for Kauai residents and supporting the maintenance, enhancement, and protection of Kauais natural resources. We need to improve our port security and get drugs off our streets while we work to address the issue holistically with counseling programs, on island detox and treatment centers and housing first solutions. It will show a land swap option to move our most vulnerable coastal homes in West Kauai onto the Countys Waimea 400 lands more mauka; allowing new County beaches to form. Chapter 8.2 of the General Plan states that All TVRs should pay. I have personally seen the effects of doing this. 177 . This site was listed as a viable site through a comprehensive study that was done on potential landfill locations on our Island. The bubble concept emerged initially on Kauai in August when an ad hoc community group of doctors and community leaders released a plan to reopen tourism by which visitors would be tested before they arrived on Kauai, then five or six days after arrival. $3.5m) of real property tax revenues to our Housing Development Fund. Thats partially because its so time consuming and expensive to develop within our town cores, so were pushing our development into our agricultural areas. Our Kauai community has much to be proud of and continue to strive for. This is an essential step to assist TVRs to return to a homestead tax class in the event of a sale. This comments section is a public community forum for the purpose of free expression. The various departments have done a rather impressive job at successfully procuring Federal monies. I will also support efforts to restore our native ecosystems and indigenous land management practices that will give us more resilience to the predicted impacts of climate change. Support good ideas from the county level that makes logical sense. Provide more opportunities to discuss items on the council agenda prior to legislation being proposed. What qualifies me most is the genuine concern I have for Kaua`i and Ni`ihau and my commitment to making a difference! The Kauai County Council is accepting applications from individuals to render services as County Auditor to conduct or cause to be conducted audits of all county funds, programs, and operations of any agency or operation of the county to include performance audits of funds and programs or operations as requested by Council by resolution, and to I would refer to and continue to support the Kauai Comprehensive Economic Development Plan which provides a variety of strategies including affordable housing, providing better broadband access and the possibility of Kauai Innovation Center. While we advocate for healing ourselves, we must also demand healing for our environment. Kiewit and Mcubbins (2014) refer to this as the fiscal ice age. Its necessary for our quality of life and for getting us to a place of thriving and not just surviving. The tax collected could become discounts available for local families. When asked why there were so many entering this class, the Finance Department said in a memo that we are seeing more Long-Term Rentals and Homeowners sell and or replace with Vacation Rental use. Similarly, in a report on the vacation rental industry in Hawaii, Hawaii Appleseed Foundation writes that Vacation rental units (VRUs) provide another significant pressure, leading to the reduction of available housing for Hawaii residents and driving up rents. This is because, Renting out a unit as a VRU is more profitable than renting it long-term, making VRUs particularly appealing for nonresident investors. As Appleseed writes, part of the attraction is that Hawaii has the lowest property tax rates in the nation. QUESTION #4How would you effectively manage the County Budget and operations for the short term and long-term sustainability? I would first have to hear what is required on our part if we receive this funding and I would make it known to the public what these infrastructure changes include and ask the people if we want what they are offering. The candidates for the Kaua'i County Council include, at top from left, the Rev. A thriving agriculture sector includes small diversified farms, neighborhood food production, livestock, loi kalo, and export crops in which Kauai continues to be the Garden Island. 2) Not build any new roads. how to get a legendary blook in blooket; 5 minute presentation about yourself No, the various forms of Transient Vacation Rentals and Resorts should be evaluated for Real Property Tax rates separately on their own merits and impacts. QUESTION #12As a member of the County Council, what steps would you take to mitigate the impacts of climate change on Kaua`i? Also working with DHHL to revitalize their Ag lands in Anahola is on my agenda. Making sure our County Planners engage with Dept. Ive also demonstrated my dedication to public service, my legislative policy experience, my strength with budgeting, my understanding of the issues and my commitment to always doing my homework, listening carefully and working collaboratively. Maintain and improve visitor satisfaction of their experience on Kauai. With my experience as a small business owner and experience in managing budgets with several local nonprofits, my focus will be ensuring our taxpayer dollars are used effectively and efficiently. So I know that this is a hard decision for all of us. I believe that the aim of regenerative tourism as outlined in the DMAP, if harnessed properly, can assist with economic diversification and an expansion of eco-tourism, true cultural experiences and more revenue staying on Kauai. Josh Green appointed to represent House District 16 in the state House of Representatives earlier this month. My concern is with the proposed forecast increase over the next few years. Harris debated alongside John D. Waihee III, future governor of Hawaii, as well as future legislative leaders Carol Fukunaga, Helene Hale, Les Ihara, Jr., Barbara Marumoto and Joseph M. Souki . I will also work on efforts to reduce waste production, working with local businesses and importers to figure out where there are ways we can reduce our waste generation in other ways, particularly relating to plastic. QUESTION #9What would you do as an elected council member to ensure that Kauai receives significant funding from the federal bipartisan infrastructure bill? The coalition for years has advocated to protect the bay. I will be creating a 90 day 180 day plan to suggest we implement immediately. Kauai County Council. Monitor these projects on a regular basis on our council agenda. For example, the nonprofit I lead, Rice Street Business Association, works directly with Zero Waste Kauai and every event that happens in Downtown Lhue diverts waste and appropriately allocates materials towards composting and recycling. Aside from the simple math of an aging demographic, we also are facing an infrastructure crisis. We need more charging stations. My lifelong experiences as a community organizer for economic and social justice has taught me how to work effectively with many different organizations and people. Ive been a school teacher and I can teach students in all kind of subjects in school which they can use to go to college or find a job right out of high school. I will be following this issue diligently and am interested in public opinion. I know they paid their shade of taxes during COVID when none of them had any revenue coming in, but I would like to ensure those local families who had their family vacation rentals not get priced out. Make the rentals of bikes affordable to our visitors weekly rates. Again, this would be investing into our local future workforce & creatives while being able to make money from out of state student enrollment. We must continue to assist local businesses and community organizations as they pivot away from importing raw materials to sourcing local materials. Meaning that you can own a lucrative TVR on Kauai and pay far less in property taxes than even for a resident occupied home on the mainland. The larger property of pools, fountains, lobbies, landscaped grounds, restaurants, etc. We must continue programs like Go Farm Hawaii, Future Farmers of America, and Iwi Kua. Lihue Airport was built as an inter-island facility rather a trans-Pacific airport, so I accept that changes are needed for our aging airport to better manage even the volume we currently experience. The name was changed in 1954 to Kaumakani Police update County Council on fentanyl situation, ask for assistance in battle By The Citizen on February 26, 2023 We must support our County Planners engaging with Dept. Regular updates from the Administration at Council meetings is one way to provide the public with an opportunity to be engaged in government operations. As we successfully provide this item locally we could move toward exporting it and accomplish two goals with one project which is moving toward food sustainability and create income via an export. I also helped spearhead sending a Council charter amendment proposal to the voters to approve dedicating 2% (est. It may be appropriate to have some sort of sliding scale or tiered criteria for this. Kauai County Council. There is no avoiding the disastrous impacts of climate change, but we can do our part to avoid the worst possible scenarios by reducing our carbon emissions to zero as quickly as possible. Ross Kagawa. Encouraging recycling and reuse of construction and demolition waste, which makes up and estimated 24% of landfill waste. I am a neighborhood food producer at my home in Kilauea and a host of talk radio on KKCR. As part of the Kauai Food Hub, and hosting the Ai Pono Eat Local Challenge these last few years, I have had an opportunity to better understand the issues that are holding up expanding local food production on Kauai. My vision includes a mix of diversified agriculture along with indigenous foods and agriculture practices. Partnership with organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Kauai Board of Realtors, Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, Carpenters Union, Lihue Business Association, Hawaii Farm Bureau and so forth is invaluable. In 1979, Harris was elected to the Kauai County Council where he served a single two-year term. I appreciate the goal to rebuild, redefine and reset the direction of tourism over a three-year period. I was born and raised on Kauai. The following came from KipuKai Kualii, candidate for Kauai County Council. of Water Planners updating the County Water Plan to guide system expansion, improvement, rehabilitation, and rate structures that support growth consistent with housing development plans; and, Making sure our County encourages, steers and incentivizes residential developments in Lihu`e in order to take advantage of that treatment plants significant excess capacity. An effective tax rate for these homes can incentivize them to convert to resident housing and help fund the construction of affordable housing. My individual choice is to honor the will of the voters and support the next person in line according to the vote totals from our election just three months ago, said Council Vice Chair KipuKai Kualii, voicing a sentiment shared by the five councilmembers who voted in favor of Ross Kagawa. The statewide funding of $600B for DHHL housing development for our Hawaiian Beneficiaries and $60M for Ohana Zone developments to assist our houseless population are more solution potential in the pipeline that I will support wherever needed. Homestead small farms with an allowance for small farm worker housing has been the evident need for decades. Again, whats most important to me here as well, is to learn from our partners like the Chamber, Kaua`i Visitors Bureau, the Hawai`i Lodging & Tourism Association (HLTA) and all the many stakeholders in our tourism economy who are working on diversifying our economy and rebuilding a new Regenerative Tourism industry, taking the best ideas from the collective and doing what I can to support moving them forward. We are clearly over capacity for tourism and our General Plan contains bold language on the need to keep visitor arrivals at reasonable levels. Addison Bulosan (Nonpartisan) Bernard Carvalho (Nonpartisan) Felicia Cowden (Nonpartisan) Billy Decosta (Nonpartisan) Luke A. Evslin (Nonpartisan) Fern Anuenue Holland (Nonpartisan) Bold action must be taken to better manage tourism to protect the environment and residents quality of life. The plan states that 1 in 8 homes on Kauai is a vacation rental, compared to 1 in 24 homes statewide. I believe in accountability and transparency. In the short term I would start with adjusting the county pay scale as the core and work outward. continue supporting bills that make all our buildings more efficient, and support all extensive waste diversion efforts to reduce our solid waste hauling. Kauai Community College could be a valuable partner in this effort. Our County should also work in partnership with private entities wherever possible to create additional wastewater treatment facilities. Second, we must utilize innovative agricultural practices by empowering local businesses and community organizations. I would revitalize buildings that could be used as shelters and homes for the low income and homeless. First order of business is to site a new landfill location soon. Vacation rentals were grandfather in long before I became a council member and will be part of our taxable economy. Off the top of my head, I see the Council as able to potentially assist through incentives for farmers, working with partners to fill gaps in infrastructure needs, assisting with education around local sourcing, and access to local options for restaurants, while working to support and partner with those that are developing the next generation of farmers. can be prohibitively costly to maintain. what states require consummation of marriage; new milford ct police scanner; reply to opposition to motion to compel california; environmental opportunities and threats in business; From the 2008 report available online there are a handful of other suggestions and I need access to the assessments done to make a final decision. Another example is ina Hookupu o Klauea, Waip foundation, and Hui Makainana o Makana and the work they are doing on the north shore of the island. I absolutely support what the people are calling for and that is a stop to unmanageable expansion that will likely only worsen the overtourism were already face. The County can help by providing incentives to the agriculture industries. Councilmember Carvalho has been my partner in this effort. Addison Bulosan Luke Evslin Lila Balmores Metzger Bernard Carvalho Fern Anuenue Holland Nelson Mukai Felicia Cowden Ross Kagawa Mel Rapozo Billy DeCosta Kipukai L.P. Kualii Rachel Secretario Search by Questions Search by Candidate Of those, 123 converted from residential or homestead use to TVR Thats 123 less homes available on Kauai last year alone and resulted in a net decline overall in the number of resident occupied homes on Kauai. Our landfill is almost full and recycling needs to be made a number one priority. We must do everything we can to focus on waste reduction and diversion tactics. But, rather than trying to micromanage the Administration, I spend the bulk of my time thinking about and working on policy that I do have discretion over. The County needs to streamline the permitting for affordable housing. Theres a lot of great aspirational policies in the DMAP that require strong private, non-profit, and state partnerships. And so the plan states clearly that dealing with excessive tourism also means dealing with the supply of visitor units. And it cites the General Plan for ways to reduce the number of transient vacation rentals. But, like a game of hot potato, as soon as the music ends (or the population stops growing), its the current tax payers who are stuck footing the bill. If elected, Ill work with community organizations and our county administration to get this process started. I understand that this is a complicated issue that has to be addressed from many different directions. It also includes working with our Office of Economic Development, as well as State, business and community partners including our eight economic KauaI Economic Recovery Strategy Teams (KERST) to implement recovery strategy recommendations, our Kauai Destination Management Action Plan (DMAP) 2021-2023 and our Kauai Comprehensive Economic Development Strategic (CEDS) Plan for 2022-2026. Districts work closely with county, state and federal governments and both public and private organizations in a non-regulatory capacity. Lastly, we need to modify the agricultural dedication process, especially for small farms, to ensure that bonafide farmers are paying minimal taxes and that wealthy land owners arent using the system simply as a tax haven. voting record of Arryl Kaneshiro. My leadership as Housing Chair is bringing about vital improvements to our Housing Policy, legislation to support more Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs) & Additional Rental Units (ARUs); and, legislative action to significantly increase the available funding in our Housing Development Fund. In addition to working with the administration and the department of finance on budget options to build towards a structured balanced budget, as part of the Countys Long Term Financial plan, I would continue to support our countys reserve fund policy that was guided through the assistance of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and continue to seek similar opportunities for financial sustainability is all areas. I went to Kapaa Elementary, Kapaa Middle and Kapaa High School. Providing land and sharing the cost of infrastructure is one way to lower costs. YouTube I am currently well engage in our business community and will continue to interact to ensure their interests are heard and acted upon. This also makes us more resilient to climate disasters elsewhere. And lastly, I dont take any donations from anyone, so I can assure all of my voters, no one business, special interest group and or individuals control my decisions, Billy DeCosta, works for the people and all you need to donate to his campaign is your VOTE ! For the decades after World War II, both the US and Hawaiis population were exploding and along with it, so were our economies. Administration and Council will then need to secure funding through the budgeting process to qualify for additional funding to start and complete the proposed infrastructure projects. Preserving our open space, Forest areas to create a carbon to oxygen footprint. As we push development into our agricultural areas, were forcing residents into longer and longer commutes. In line with these five general principles, Ive introduced or co-introduced the following legislation over the last two years: Eliminate all fees for affordable accessory residential units (ARUs); Provide Kauai homeowners with free septic systems; Prohibit community covenants from restricting against additional units and long-term rentals; Allow the construction of ARUs in the Lihue town core; Reduce the building code requirements for tiny houses; Eliminate minimum lot size restrictions for multi-family homes; Allocate 2% of real property tax revenue annually toward affordable housing (still in process); Incentivize residential space on top of commercial space through tax exemptions; Create a tiered tax structure to allow us to increase tax rates on high-value vacant houses and vacation rentals to fund affordable housing and incentivize those units to convert to long-term rentals (still in process); Increase the vacation rental property tax rate to disincentivize vacation rentals and apply nearly all of the money raised to affordable housing (measure failed). Out-smarting inflation is a big ask, especially when the main developer is the government through tax-payer funding. I look forward to supporting more discussions in all the above areas. High land costs require most owners to have employment or some other primary source of income. Housing development was booming (over 600 homes built per year on Kauai) and every new residential development landed a small windfall into government coffers which could fund increasing expansion. Acompanhe-nos: bonsall oaks development Facebook. As they describe, the surge in retiring baby boomers at a time of slowing population growth means that the ratio of retirees to active workers continues to skew towards increasing numbers of retirees relative to active workers. Affordable housing is the, or one of the, most urgent issues we must tackle. 0 of 16 precincts reporting. 4. QUESTION #8What elements of the Lihue Airport Master Plan to do you support? I was the recipient of the congress Bundestag scholarship and lived in Germany for a year. I do not support any tax rate increases or changes at this time as I do not believe increases are necessary to balance the countys budget. The following came from Ross Kagawa, candidate for Kauai County Council. If elected it would be important to make sure that there is ample opportunity for the business community to give their input and by providing early evenings and Saturday meeting times. I am impressed by the action plan and agree with the objectives. To do this I will support efforts to expand local food production, processing facilities and infrastructure and work with community organizations to address needs to assist with marketing and distribution of local food while we also work to support current and next generation farmers. A small Dairy to produce milk and cheese for our Hawaii population of people and local restaurants and Hotels would be another viable industry if position in the right geographical area, up Mauka. Increases to the affordable housing inventory are desperately needed. I do not agree with discussions that occur off-line. After the second presentation on May 17, I appreciate the 4 different alternatives for solutions to improving our Lhue Airport.

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kauai county council members