More County Funding In order to build our Housing Development Fund, Councilmembers Chock, Evslin & I recently voted to increase the Vacation Rental tax rate to the same level as Resort. 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. Traffic, poor maintenance of public infrastructure, and abuse of natural resources are just a few consequences of overtourism. Kauai lost its most popular County Council member on Wednesday when Luke Evslin resigned to accept Gov. The county also needs to immediately stop spraying weed killer chemicals in the areas they maintain. My late Grandma Suero would always say to me, Just anos, which means, just take care. Taking care is where well start and where well end, just as the generations that came before us on Kauai can be proud of. Last but not least, we must create equity within our property tax system that protects our local families. EVSLIN, Luke A. The average property tax rate in the US for resident occupied homes is $12.40 per $1k assessed value. Thank you. The mayors administration is responsible for applying for these typically competitive Federal grants. QUESTION #1What is your vision for a thriving agricultural sector on Kauai and how can the County Council support that vision?. Thats a 38% increase in nightly rates since before the pandemic. I humbly ask for your vote, as an opportunity to give back to what has been given to me. We have pressing infrastructure needs, bridges and roads and wastewater to list just a few, and I believe these are priorities before we increase our visitor counts and flights. The 2016-2018 Kauai Tourism Strategic Plan (KTSP) was unique among government sponsored reports in its clear-headed recognition that we are over capacity for tourism, that we need bold change, and that we should strive to keep our visitor count within 23,000-25,000. There are many ways that we can do this. As a small business owner, President of Rice Street Business Association, Board member of Lhue Business Association, and former board member of the Kauai Chamber of Commerce and Kauai Filipino Chamber of Commerce, I love working with our business community in solving our mutual challenges. We can move unspent CIP funds to other projects during the budget process and we can ask for status updates at any time and I have done both. And, by pursuing these, we can also save taxpayers money and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. In a memo to the Hawaii Tax Review Commission, the Commission Chair Beth Giesting writes that: Hawaiis low RPT rates result in low annual expenses, and that also makes local real estate a relative bargain for investors and affluent second home purchasersto the extent that units are purchased for vacation rentals or second homes, there is less housing available for people who live here., #3 If youre taking a home off the housing market, then you should help with the construction of an affordable home. Kauai doesnt even need the climate to change to benefit by the Kauai Climate Adaptation Plans the county currently has underway. The more we legitimately recycle the less will go into the landfill. I will work with our community organizations such as Kumano I Ke Ala, Waip Foundation, Mlama Hulia, Kauai Farm Bureau, Kekaha Agricultural Association, Kauai Cattlemens Association, Mlama Kauai and all other organizations to work on legislation that enables our farmers to meet the demand for local ingredients. However, its partly our job to help set the Administration up for success on this front. We have had four years of additional emergency funding for either our 2018 flood event or the COVID pandemic. Allowing rapid development of new visitor and investment luxury housing currently underway is in direct conflict with our priorities. If elected I hope to spend the time as a council member moving the island toward economic sustainability, revitalizing the county parks and the county sponsored sport leagues and work on solutions that will help local people find housing. I have the time to attend boards and commission meetings, community events, and have on-site visits with constituents, neighborhoods and businesses for stronger understanding of their specific needs. I will be transparent, clear and thoughtful in the things I support and dont, with an explanation and an open door. I envision reversing our current status quo to where 80% of our food comes from Kauai rather than imported. As a Council we dropped the investor class assessment category in order to hold secondary owners accountable and to encourage them to rent their homes to our local families. C OUNTY C OUNCIL (7) (12-01-24) 808 -241 4188 Councils job is to approve their efforts and help to fine-tune project strategies through listening to constituents and asking relevant questions. And, every year they come down in price. Our keiki, sustainability and housing are where I plan to spend my time and climate change is not at the top of my list for a two year term. I hear theres a big surplus. If were collecting too much tax money, then lets lower the tax rates and give the public back money that we dont need, Kagawa said. Having a working relationship with the Engineer and Deputy Engineer ensures we are working very cohesively together. Mahalo for taking the time to send out this questionnaire and Mahalo for all that you do to help Kauai County. Our landfill is almost full and recycling needs to be made a number one priority. In the meantime, I will continue to push for and help develop systems of managed parking in our county parks. 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. Delays in permitting only adds cost to projects. Aside from the simple math of an aging demographic, we also are facing an infrastructure crisis. State of Hawaii DLNR SHPD Kauai/Niihau Burial Council . 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. By increasing rates closer to US continental rates, we make it less attractive for offshore buyers to buy property in Hawaii and run TVRs. Meaning that state and local governments have to allocate increasing shares of their budgets on retirement benefits that they have promised to their past and current employees. This leaves less money for all other essential services like transportation, parks, and public safety. More County Housing Projects- We must push for more housing for local residents by supporting replicating successful projects like our 30-unit Kealaula transitional housing, our 53-unit Pua Loke affordable rentals and our multi-phase, multi-unit Lima Ola project in Ele`ele that includes senior, single family and affordable housing. Although such projects alone will never fill the housing gap, they are essential to providing a safety net and serving those most at need. COUNTY OF KAUAI https://kauai.gov . We are facing critical moments for our economy and environment and I hope that my time, energy, and aloha can be contributed to the work at the Kauai County Council level. Strengthen the economic contribution of Kauais visitor industry. My commitment is to helping bring folks together to make our economic recovery our top priority! If all community events adopted a Zero Waste effort, we can reduce our trash significantly. This problem needed to be addressed a decade ago. Councilmember Carvalho has been my partner in this effort. I went to Kapaa Elementary, Kapaa Middle and Kapaa High School. We need to literally start planting seeds now for a thriving agricultural sector tomorrow. I am a neighborhood food producer at my home in Kilauea and a host of talk radio on KKCR. Questions included, but were not limited . Instagram. He also previously served for 8 years on the Kauai County Council and was Director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control for the State of Hawaii (2011/2012). Our landfill is depleting and we need to have a program established. Rice Camp Senior Housing, Lihue, Kauai. I continue to support reduce, reuse, and recycling programs and the need for a Resource Recovery Park where we can create a solid recycling program for our island. We are only a few years away from our landfill life cycle. We can do this by continuing to support our government institutions, schools, hospitals, catering companies, and hotels to use more local ingredients. Regenerative tourism focuses on the supply-side, host communities and ecosystems, rather than just the visitors needs and wants of the market-demand approach. I believe we must find ways to discourage off shore vacation rental home buying, which is playing a part in pushing local families out of the market. Every time I go to these recycling locations I see trash bags and random items in the bins and my gut feeling is that no one is separating this at the main station so therefore it must be going to the landfill. While we have to blaze forward on solutions to our pressing problems, I remain committed to working with stakeholders to the greatest extent possible before introducing legislation that could impact them. The candidates for the Kaua'i County Council include, at top from left, the Rev. We accomplish these objectives through the small businesses and nonprofits Im a part of. Working with the State to ensure irrigation water is available to all prime and potential agricultural lands. Executive authority is vested in the Mayor of Kauai, elected by the voters on a nonpartisan basis to a four-year term. Sounds a lot like our Native Hawaiian values of aloha `aina, kuleana, the kapu system and malama `aina. The following candidates ran in the primary for Kauai County Council on August 13, 2022. Budgeting Responsibly & Limiting Taxes Budgeting Responsibly, Managing Costs and Limiting Taxes (Being Accountable Always). Scroll for more Candidate Bernard Carvalho (Nonpartisan) Felicia Cowden (Nonpartisan) Billy Decosta (Nonpartisan) Luke A. Evslin (Nonpartisan) KipuKai L.P. Kuali'I (Nonpartisan) Addison Bulosan (Nonpartisan) Fern Anuenue Holland (Nonpartisan) If elected I will dive into the research that has been done on things that have worked in other areas and connect with the groups working on this issue to address the gaps. I will be proactive with efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change and reduce our contribution to it. If elected, I think education would help economic diversification. To be a candidate for the Kaua'i County Council you must be a resident and a "qualified voter" for two years preceding the election. Expanding & Maximizing Existing Infrastructure Besides additional funding, we must support expanding and maximizing our existing infrastructure. It may not be appropriate across the board and I need to learn more. For many, the barrier to converting to an EV is access to charging stations. One important goal is to build, attract and retain a 21st century workforce with strategies of 1) providing our workforce with the skills they need to be gainfully employed, 2) assisting our schools in meeting college and career expectations; and 3) addressing talent gaps and brain drain by positioning Kauai as a desirable place for people to live and work. To be clear, I am absolutely a strong supporter of recycling, the critical siting of our next landfill, source reduction and taking advantage of any innovations or new technologies that can help us find a sustainable and resilient way to address our solid waste challenges. Evolving environmental regulations have eliminated any new location to be an appropriate site for our next landfill. That includes providing direct assistance to businesses & community non-profits such as the the federal bipartisan infrastructure bill. I believe that the first step in dealing with transient accommodations on Kauai is to enforce existing laws and eliminating all illegal transient vacation and short term rentals. In little and big ways, we all need to be doing whatever we can to reduce our carbon footprint; and, as institutions and industries, like our county, our business community and our visitor industry, we need to be leading the way. Diversification is a buzz word that to many political candidates toss around with no plan to back it up. So must we! Which elements of the DMAP would you move to implement in the next two years? euclid city council election results. While I think that the State and Federal governments can play an important role in helping support both agriculture and domestic manufacturing for the County, I see our primary role in stimulating the economy as reducing the cost of housing, investing in vibrant and walkable town cores, and ensuring that real farmers are paying very minimal property taxes. I need more information about the Phase 2 and 3 land acquisitions and what the purpose and proposed use of that area is. She had 1,176 votes less than Kagawa. Areas like our land fill operations, work force housing, transitional housing to assist our houseless community, our Kupuna services, our unions and its members are fairly negotiated, the responsibility goes on and on.
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