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%
Aloha Gary Good survey. Given that poor usage of our tax dollars and County resident tax payers subsidizing the visitor industry profit margins (poor use of our money) were so popular, how do we proceed?
I wish you had asked one more question – “Do you believe the Council’s many public statements that they are powerless to end the waste, fraud, and abuse of our tax dollars by various managers and other employees?”
Yes, we all know what the issues are. The question is what can the voters and Council do to fundamentally change how we conduct wasteful County operations?
Mahalo
Lonnie Sykos
GARY YOUR LINK TO THE “COMPLETE SURVEY” DOES NOT WORK…??
http://garyhooser.com/kauai-issue-survey/ and
The survey results are not shown and we have closed the survey from new entries. Our goal was to limit it to registered voters and not open it up to the entire internet as the results then would be skewed. Best, gh
Aloha Gary,
My family bought a home and business in Kauai in 1973. My father was a Seattle architect and designed some of the finest homes here. I am a city planner and while studying in California I wrote a paper in 1996, The Solar City: 2010. I sent the paper to sever architects and one in England, Sir Norman Foster, sold the concept to the Arabs and it is currently being built.
I recently returned from 8 years in Bali and presented the paper to the Indonesian Council of Governments. Currently I am applying to the Kauai Planning Department.
You can see my paper at Kai Laursen solar satellite cities online.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Kai
Good luck with your application. Sounds like you have an interesting and exciting background in planning and am sure the county could benefit. As a councilmember, I play no role in the hiring which is totally up to the Mayor and the Planning Director and the Civil Service process. Happy to talk anytime…