Stance on Issues
Here is an overview of my thoughts on some of the important issues facing Kauaʻi back in 2014. I'm proud to say I have worked on each of these and made an impact on these issues during my last term. If you would like my views on an issue not listed here, please feel free to contact me so that we can talk about it.
Cost of Living Issues
Being one of the most expensive places to live in the world, it’s critical that we protect our residents from being pushed out of our community due to expenses. Property taxes need to be fair for everyone. Each tax class should be adjusted annually according to the market and comparable rates across the state. We need to do a better job in communicating changes and do everything possible to allow our taxpayers to take advantage of available exemptions. While I was not on the council in removing the cap and I voted to not increase homestead rates this past budget, I am in a unique position to take corrective action on the situation.
With housing being one of our major expenses, I am supportive of helping some of the 350 local families assist their family members in finding affordable homes through Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs). While I am against developers taking advantage of the intent of this bill, I believe that ADUs will provide some relief to our current shortfall in affordable housing. In the long term, affordable housing will only be accomplished with proper planning and administration.
Another issue affecting cost and quality of living is traffic and transportation issues. We will need to work closely with the state to see that our plan for expanding our bus routes and roads are done efficiently and timely. The expansion of the bus system is important for our current ridership, specifically in high use areas. Equally important is the need to create incentives for choosing the bus as an alternative means of transit, especially within our tourism economy. Our plans for complete streets and Form Based Code Planning will also ensure walkable/bikable communities in the future.
Government Spending & Budgeting
When it comes to the budget, we need a plan that will direct us to a sustainable budget while achieving our strategic plan for Kaua`i. We will need to consider each position, its role in reaching our goals, the true cost of delivering services and prioritize needs. It will take better union negotiations and potential cuts in each department budget. Our residents should be paying the true cost of service and not more.
We will also need to work closely with our state agencies to come up with aligned solutions so that we are maximizing our resources without duplicating services and processes. We need a standard process that will allow shared accounting practices and accountability measures. As policy makers we should be holding shared sessions and meetings to address collective needs to save on wasteful duplication and move us towards the proper appropriation of services. I have already begun working with our public safety departments in identifying services that we incur on behalf of the state that could be financially supported or discontinued.
What we lack in money we will need to make up in human capital. This higher excellence in public service will only be achieved through strong, shared values, proper motivation, and leadership by all County servants. We can transition from monetary motivations to true intentions of service, so that our County employees will go the extra mile to meet the needs of our community.
Jobs & Education
Economic workforce development is critical to a future where all residents thrive. 90% of our businesses on Kaua`i have less than 4 employees, and I would like to further capitalize upon and promote entrepreneurship opportunities. We are the gateway to the west and east and should do more to leverage our location as the global port of influence. This includes increasing access to, and production of food on, important agricultural lands. We need to work closely with the State to establish proper maintenance and development of infrastructure that offers true diversification for small farms to thrive and compete globally.
For the last 15 years I have been dedicated to developing our youth to be self-directed, resilient and thriving young leaders who choose to serve the needs of our community. I have increased leadership development on Kaua`i from a few hundred students per year to up to 1200 students per year and I intend in continue to increase my outreach in fostering 21st century educational opportunities for our youth until every child is equipped to usher us into the new millennium.
Citizen Involvement
I believe our island will only prosper with the community’s collective effort, which includes de-regulating government. Government should get out of the way of the community by supporting and empowering our community associations to take action in their planning processes and development.
Every community holds a different character and history that should be honored and we should be looking towards our kupuna from these areas to drive its future. One of the ways we can do better is to find opportunities to loosen up our complicated and bureaucratic procurement process and allow local vendors and contractors to contribute. Let’s ensure ways to allow funding to flow through the county and on to local companies that can do the job at less cost. One good example is the Kilauea Ag Park. For 20 years the county has been the stumbling block for the initiative to take off. The stewardship agreement, which I supported, enabled the community to take the lead in the process where the county faltered. We need Ag Parks developed in each region on our mokupuni and I will be assisting our small farmers in receiving support and helping to establish a stronger infrastructure for our future in agriculture.
Our island will continue to grow by a third of its current population within the next twenty years and we need to consider how to provide jobs and housing for our next generations to come. We are currently on a track to encourage our children to leave Hawaii and live elsewhere. Each of our communities will need to seriously consider what businesses to support, how to deal with the housing needs of the future, how to best utilize our agriculture lands, as well as how we plan our future towns. The use of Form Based Code planning will be instrumental in the success of our communities to best utilize our current infrastructure while preserving its rural character. This will require an overhaul of the current uses and transition to mixed use areas where we can best utilize space and reduce sprawl on our island.
Infrastructure Needs
Our infrastructure needs involve the maintenance of our roads, proper regional drainage, traffic mitigation, transition of cesspools to septic, sewer wastewater installation and reuse, affordable housing, landfill and materials recovery facility and the cost of water service. These are all needs that I have been working on and will continue to build upon.
First, the GET fund that was passed by the mayor and council will help get our roads maintenance on track. Regional drainage plans have been written into the General Plan based on an amendment I introduced. Traffic mitigation is mainly a state issue because we are experiencing this issue on our state highway, however, I have supported identifying county feeder roads to bypass the traffic. An example we have advocated for at council is a road from the Kapaa bypass into Wailua Houselots that would eliminate some traffic needing to re-enter the traffic log on Kuhio Hwy. In addition, we will need to aggressively implement the short range transit plan to get shuttles for our visitors up and running and take rental cars off the road. Cesspools need to be funded through grant and bond funds so we can get the most exposed areas transitioned. Affordable housing is currently being invested in by our council and we need to continue to support our housing agency's efforts. We need to also update the affordable housing ordinance to make it easier and smarter to develop housing. With the passing of the Additional Rental Bill I introduced, subsequent action as been taken to incentivize housing by lowering the water department's FRC water meter charge bringing it down from approximately $16,000 to $9,000 for a new water meter. The landfill is currently undergoing its environmental process and along with the citing of this much needed facility is the erection of the MRF of which I fully support and want to see established ASAP. Lastly, we need access to maintain our waterways, rivers, streams and irrigation to protect and safeguard our homes, livelihood and people. This can only be achieved if access to water is supported by the state and federal entities. I have always been an advocate of taking care of our watershed and believe a streamlined permitting process to maintain and clear our infrastructure is key so that community groups can steward these areas.
Stewardship of our Resources & Sacred Places
Other than the health of our people, nothing is more important than the health of our water and our much of this kuleana falls within the jurisdiction of the state, the County can continue to advocate preservation of wahipana through such projects like Kaneiolouma, and Malama Huleia; and the good work of our open space commission.
We need to ensure that our watersheds are being cared for and protected from pollution and misuse. I would like to see the establishment of watershed councils that will take into consideration the viability and distribution of its resource for future capacity needs. I also believe we should institute the most protective shoreline setback law as possible. I am not for allowing the bright line exemptions to take precedence over our rocky shoreline. We need to have better studies done before we allow a blanket approach to this change.
We have a progressive solid waste plan, which includes waste diversion and zero waste practices where recycling becomes a priority in our lives. With the right leadership this plan can be a reality, but it will take sacrifice and a realization that in order to handle our waste, we will need to invest in the infrastructure to deal with it.
Cost of Living Issues
Being one of the most expensive places to live in the world, it’s critical that we protect our residents from being pushed out of our community due to expenses. Property taxes need to be fair for everyone. Each tax class should be adjusted annually according to the market and comparable rates across the state. We need to do a better job in communicating changes and do everything possible to allow our taxpayers to take advantage of available exemptions. While I was not on the council in removing the cap and I voted to not increase homestead rates this past budget, I am in a unique position to take corrective action on the situation.
With housing being one of our major expenses, I am supportive of helping some of the 350 local families assist their family members in finding affordable homes through Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs). While I am against developers taking advantage of the intent of this bill, I believe that ADUs will provide some relief to our current shortfall in affordable housing. In the long term, affordable housing will only be accomplished with proper planning and administration.
Another issue affecting cost and quality of living is traffic and transportation issues. We will need to work closely with the state to see that our plan for expanding our bus routes and roads are done efficiently and timely. The expansion of the bus system is important for our current ridership, specifically in high use areas. Equally important is the need to create incentives for choosing the bus as an alternative means of transit, especially within our tourism economy. Our plans for complete streets and Form Based Code Planning will also ensure walkable/bikable communities in the future.
Government Spending & Budgeting
When it comes to the budget, we need a plan that will direct us to a sustainable budget while achieving our strategic plan for Kaua`i. We will need to consider each position, its role in reaching our goals, the true cost of delivering services and prioritize needs. It will take better union negotiations and potential cuts in each department budget. Our residents should be paying the true cost of service and not more.
We will also need to work closely with our state agencies to come up with aligned solutions so that we are maximizing our resources without duplicating services and processes. We need a standard process that will allow shared accounting practices and accountability measures. As policy makers we should be holding shared sessions and meetings to address collective needs to save on wasteful duplication and move us towards the proper appropriation of services. I have already begun working with our public safety departments in identifying services that we incur on behalf of the state that could be financially supported or discontinued.
What we lack in money we will need to make up in human capital. This higher excellence in public service will only be achieved through strong, shared values, proper motivation, and leadership by all County servants. We can transition from monetary motivations to true intentions of service, so that our County employees will go the extra mile to meet the needs of our community.
Jobs & Education
Economic workforce development is critical to a future where all residents thrive. 90% of our businesses on Kaua`i have less than 4 employees, and I would like to further capitalize upon and promote entrepreneurship opportunities. We are the gateway to the west and east and should do more to leverage our location as the global port of influence. This includes increasing access to, and production of food on, important agricultural lands. We need to work closely with the State to establish proper maintenance and development of infrastructure that offers true diversification for small farms to thrive and compete globally.
For the last 15 years I have been dedicated to developing our youth to be self-directed, resilient and thriving young leaders who choose to serve the needs of our community. I have increased leadership development on Kaua`i from a few hundred students per year to up to 1200 students per year and I intend in continue to increase my outreach in fostering 21st century educational opportunities for our youth until every child is equipped to usher us into the new millennium.
Citizen Involvement
I believe our island will only prosper with the community’s collective effort, which includes de-regulating government. Government should get out of the way of the community by supporting and empowering our community associations to take action in their planning processes and development.
Every community holds a different character and history that should be honored and we should be looking towards our kupuna from these areas to drive its future. One of the ways we can do better is to find opportunities to loosen up our complicated and bureaucratic procurement process and allow local vendors and contractors to contribute. Let’s ensure ways to allow funding to flow through the county and on to local companies that can do the job at less cost. One good example is the Kilauea Ag Park. For 20 years the county has been the stumbling block for the initiative to take off. The stewardship agreement, which I supported, enabled the community to take the lead in the process where the county faltered. We need Ag Parks developed in each region on our mokupuni and I will be assisting our small farmers in receiving support and helping to establish a stronger infrastructure for our future in agriculture.
Our island will continue to grow by a third of its current population within the next twenty years and we need to consider how to provide jobs and housing for our next generations to come. We are currently on a track to encourage our children to leave Hawaii and live elsewhere. Each of our communities will need to seriously consider what businesses to support, how to deal with the housing needs of the future, how to best utilize our agriculture lands, as well as how we plan our future towns. The use of Form Based Code planning will be instrumental in the success of our communities to best utilize our current infrastructure while preserving its rural character. This will require an overhaul of the current uses and transition to mixed use areas where we can best utilize space and reduce sprawl on our island.
Infrastructure Needs
Our infrastructure needs involve the maintenance of our roads, proper regional drainage, traffic mitigation, transition of cesspools to septic, sewer wastewater installation and reuse, affordable housing, landfill and materials recovery facility and the cost of water service. These are all needs that I have been working on and will continue to build upon.
First, the GET fund that was passed by the mayor and council will help get our roads maintenance on track. Regional drainage plans have been written into the General Plan based on an amendment I introduced. Traffic mitigation is mainly a state issue because we are experiencing this issue on our state highway, however, I have supported identifying county feeder roads to bypass the traffic. An example we have advocated for at council is a road from the Kapaa bypass into Wailua Houselots that would eliminate some traffic needing to re-enter the traffic log on Kuhio Hwy. In addition, we will need to aggressively implement the short range transit plan to get shuttles for our visitors up and running and take rental cars off the road. Cesspools need to be funded through grant and bond funds so we can get the most exposed areas transitioned. Affordable housing is currently being invested in by our council and we need to continue to support our housing agency's efforts. We need to also update the affordable housing ordinance to make it easier and smarter to develop housing. With the passing of the Additional Rental Bill I introduced, subsequent action as been taken to incentivize housing by lowering the water department's FRC water meter charge bringing it down from approximately $16,000 to $9,000 for a new water meter. The landfill is currently undergoing its environmental process and along with the citing of this much needed facility is the erection of the MRF of which I fully support and want to see established ASAP. Lastly, we need access to maintain our waterways, rivers, streams and irrigation to protect and safeguard our homes, livelihood and people. This can only be achieved if access to water is supported by the state and federal entities. I have always been an advocate of taking care of our watershed and believe a streamlined permitting process to maintain and clear our infrastructure is key so that community groups can steward these areas.
Stewardship of our Resources & Sacred Places
Other than the health of our people, nothing is more important than the health of our water and our much of this kuleana falls within the jurisdiction of the state, the County can continue to advocate preservation of wahipana through such projects like Kaneiolouma, and Malama Huleia; and the good work of our open space commission.
We need to ensure that our watersheds are being cared for and protected from pollution and misuse. I would like to see the establishment of watershed councils that will take into consideration the viability and distribution of its resource for future capacity needs. I also believe we should institute the most protective shoreline setback law as possible. I am not for allowing the bright line exemptions to take precedence over our rocky shoreline. We need to have better studies done before we allow a blanket approach to this change.
We have a progressive solid waste plan, which includes waste diversion and zero waste practices where recycling becomes a priority in our lives. With the right leadership this plan can be a reality, but it will take sacrifice and a realization that in order to handle our waste, we will need to invest in the infrastructure to deal with it.