Aloha,

From Haena to Kekaha, over 21,000 registered voters on Kauai were recently sent out a comprehensive “Important Kauai Issues Survey” and the results are fascinating.

Every registered voter on Kauai had an equal opportunity to weigh in with their thoughts and feelings with regards to important issues and concerns.

Because there are so many issues and so many diverse people and opinion in our community I decided to reach out in a comprehensive effort to determine what the average Kauai resident actually feels and thinks about some of the important issues of the day.

I wanted to offer all Kauai registered voters from all parts of the community an equal opportunity to offer their thoughts and concerns.  The survey allowed anonymity providing all with the opportunity to speak freely and frankly about issues important to them.

So during the month of May I mailed a single page of questions directly to over 21,000 registered voter households on Kauai, representing every single voting household in our community.  Due to the scale of the effort a very small number of households reported not receiving a survey.  A limited on-line version was also offered for a very short period.

Nearly 1,000 registered voters responded to the direct mail effort yielding a 4.5% response rate.  Respondents were required to pay their own return postage and were allowed to be anonymous.  Responses came in from every single community from the far west to the far north.

The survey questions include topics dealing with growth, climate change, food sustainability, park maintenance, pesticide regulation, the dairy proposed on Kauai’s south shore, B&B regulations, farm tours, taxes, drug treatment and affordable housing.

Some of the key “takeaways”:

91% of Kauai residents favor limitations on growth tied to infrastructure.

58% favor allowing B&B’s on all parts of the island.

74% believe the visitor industry is not paying its fair share.

91% favor allowing small farms to conduct “farm tours” to supplement their income.

81% of respondents support the increased regulation of pesticides.

75% are opposed to the dairy proposed for Kauai’s south side.

Other questions involving parks maintenance, climate change, food self sufficiency and traffic are also included.

Complete survey detail and a tabulation of the results is available at http://garyhooser.com/kauai-issue-survey/ and the raw data is available for review by any student group or community organization that would like to conduct further analysis.  The survey was paid for by my campaign organization Friends of Gary Hooser. I am available and would love to speak with any group who wish to delve deeper into the issues raised and/or develop policy initiatives reflecting the community consensus expressed by the survey.

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NOTE: DATA BELOW IS A COMPARISON BETWEEN THOSE RESULTS THAT WERE SUBMITTED ANONYMOUSLY AND THOSE THAT CONTAINED BOTH ANONYMOUS RESPONSES AND THOSE THAT INCLUDE THE RESPONDENTS NAME

Comparison between surveys tabulations that were sent only anonymously (260 total received) only and the total that includes both anonymous and names (993 total received).

Question:                Anonymous only          Included both anonymous and named

Count Tax Fair?               No 53%                             No 47%

Visitors Pay Fair Share? No 72%                           No 74%

Traffic #1 priority             Yes 69%                          Yes 71%

Potholes #1 priority          Yes 31%                          Yes 29%

Food Self Sufficiency        Yes 66%                          Yes 76%

Pesticide Regulation         Yes 68%                           Yes 81%

Climate Change                  Yes 61%                           Yes 68%

Farm Tours                          Yes 83%                             Yes 91%

B&B Regulation

Allowed Everywhere             45%                                 58%

VDA only                                   38%                                  32%

None anywhere                        17%                                 11%

Growth Tied Infrastructure    Yes 88%                       Yes 91%

Southshore Dairy                       No 64%                         No 75%

Parks Condition

Excellent                                       4%                                   3%

Good                                              25%                                 24%

Fair                                                 40%                                 44%

Poor                                                 16%                                 19%

Very Poor                                        15%                                 10%

Drug Facility                              Yes 84%                        Yes 88%

Time on Kauai

Born                                                 29%                                   13%

Over 20 years                                 39%                                  39%

11 – 20 years                                    16%                                   22%

6 – 10 years                                       8%                                    15%

less than 5 years                               8%                                    10%

Male                                                      45%                                   49%

Female                                                  55%                                   51%