Congratulations to former Councilmember Arryl Kaneshiro and our brand new Councilmember Fern Anuenue Holland, both of whom recently won election to the Kaua`i County Council.

They will be joining the reelected incumbent Councilmembers Mel Rapozo (Chair), Kipukai Kualii (Vice Chair), Bernard Carvalho, Addison Bulosan, and Felicia Cowden.

Outgoing Councilmember’s Ross Kagawa and Bill DeCosta should be thanked for their service. Losing an election is hard but Kaua`i voters have chosen – been there, done that.

There’re many paths to service and no doubt both gentleman will continue to help and assist our community during these challenging times.

Of course I’m thrilled to see Councilmember-elect Holland win a seat at the table. This was her third attempt at running for public office and her win is a testament to the value of perseverance.

We all know the adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

I call it the Rocky Balboa school of success. You get knocked down, you get back up, you get back in the ring, and eventually you win.

Now the hard work of actually serving in office begins.

There’s no shortage of challenges facing our County, and my hope is that both individuals will seek to be the change-makers we need.

We have a perennial crisis in the area of solid waste disposal. Our landfill’s at capacity and a County curb-side recycling program is long overdue. The Council should audit our existing County recycling programs to determine if items are actually being recycled, fix any gaps or inadequacies…and then expand to a true and robust curbside recycling program.

Supporting local farmers producing food for local consumption must become a top County priority. We’re living in increasingly uncertain times. Disaster preparedness starts with food self-sufficiency.

Affordable housing is non-existent yet we have thousands of additional dwelling units (ADU’s) waiting in the wings with nothing to stop their construction except the lack of adequate sewer facilities.

The County must take the initiative to expand sewer capacity in existing urban areas. Build it and the ADU’s will come – constructed in existing urban areas, near job centers, schools, shopping, and public facilities.

Waste, fraud, and abuse, is present in every large organization – public and private.

In a political environment, investigating County operations to root out such activity is challenging at best. Some would say in a small town where everyone knows everyone, or literally related to everyone, it’s impossible.

The answer is a politically independent office of the auditor that conducts regular “performance audits” in addition to financial audits.

Our County Charter says, “There is established within the legislative branch an office of the county auditor…appointed by the county council…to conduct or cause to be conducted…performance and financial audits of the funds, programs, and operations of any agency or operation of the county, as determined by the county auditor…”

Yet the Council has not complied with the Charter. Yes, they order and conduct occasional audits, but they’ve not complied with the Charter by establishing a permanent and politically independent, office of the auditor.

The Charter is the foundational law of County government. Whatever roadblocks stand in the way, be it salary or other recruiting challenges, must be addressed by the Council and the Charter followed.

Our community deserves and needs a Council that’s pro-active. Maintaining the status quo, avoiding tough decisions, and simply holding space at the table – will only result in our existing challenges getting worse.

The 7 members recently elected have the skills, experience, and talent to do the job – they just need the political will.

I’m thinking, wishing, and hoping, the voices of Kaneshiro and Holland will add a new dynamic and new energy – and the result will be action.

If you agree, please reach out to all of 7 Kaua`i Councilmembers and encourage them to move forward in 2025 to establish curbside recycling (with audit), increase support for local food production, aggressively expand our sewer capacity, and to yes – follow the County Charter.

By Gary Hooser, first published on 11/20/24 in The Garden Island newspaper