Kaua'i council faces big change

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

But it is not clear what direction that change will take. Several of the candidates have cited a need to spend more county effort and money on fighting drugs — particularly the use of crystal methamphetamine, which several say is at epidemic levels.

Several have also cited the need to protect open space, preserve agriculture and do a good job of planning for the island's future. Some say the county just needs good management and oversight, and they promise to provide it.

A list of 29 candidates was winnowed down to 14 in the primary election. That's two candidates for each of the seven at-large seats. There have been proposals to the voters in the past to divide the island's council representation into districts, but it has always been defeated.

The seven winners in the council race will represent a county with nearly 60,000 residents on two islands, though only about 200 people — all of them primarily of Hawaiian ancestry — live on the privately owned island of Ni'ihau.

Kaua'i has suffered two severe weather impacts during the past quarter-century. Hurricane Iwa hit in 1982 and Hurricane 'Iniki in 1992. Each devastated the island's economy for years, although 'Iniki was the more severe, and its impacts are only dissipating during the past few years.

Two of the island's hotels, the Po'ipu Beach and the Coco Palms, remain closed since the hurricane. But developers are re-emerging, having gained approval for a 300-acre luxury agricultural subdivision at Kealia and a 250-room cottage resort at Kapalawai. Those, plus a large proposed golf community near Hanama'ulu has generated concern among a number of candidates that controls are needed on growth.

Here's a look at the Kaua'i County Council candidates.

• William "Kaipo" Asing, 72, is the most senior member of the County Council running for re-election. He hopes to establish a carrying capacity for tourism on the island, but his major concern is integrity in government.

"Honesty, integrity, credibility. Those are the kinds of things that are important to me," he said.

• John F. Barretto Jr., 68, is a former council member and retired operator of a towing and salvage company. He said runaway growth and inadequate infrastructure are the island's most serious problems.

"There is only one issue on Kaua'i. That's the quality of life of our 'ohana," he said.

• Raymond L. Chuan, 78, a North Shore resident who regularly appears before the council, said increases in home prices are driving up property taxes for long-time residents.

"Rapidly rising real estate value (is) driving locals out and changing cultural and physical landscapes," he said.

• Jay Furfaro, 53, a hotel manager and consultant, is concerned about planning and cites his long service on the county planning commission.

"Stewardship, quality planning, economic diversification and strengthening community is important," he said.

• Daryl W. Kaneshiro, 54, is a two-term council member and former county economic development director who sometimes campaigns aboard his horse.

His goal, he said, is "revitalizing our economy while preserving Kaua'i's lifestyle and environment."

• Rhoda L. Libre, 41, is active in community affairs and specializes in entertainment and media productions.

If elected, she would work for senior citizen programs and "enhance enforceability to the sex and violent offender registry and other crime prevention strategies in order to increase public safety standards for everyone."

• George M. Menor, 63, who has a background in engineering and business management, said he is concerned about drug abuse and would work with schools, the community and the legal system to address it.

He would also work for "tax incentive legislation to encourage small business entrepreneurial activity."

• Ernest Moniz Jr., 53, a career firefighter, said he would use his years of experience in training and management on the council.

"Illegal drugs is the biggest quality-of-life issue facing Kaua'i County," he said. He would address it with support of police anti-drug programs.

• Erick T.S. Moon, 59, is an attorney concerned about individual rights and protecting Kaua'i's rural qualities.

"I feel that Kaua'i needs to slow down its growth. Developers want to build without first making sure the infrastructure is in place," such as systems for handling traffic, he said.

• Maurice "Joe" Munechika, 65, is a former councilman who said his experience means he will be able to begin work immediately.

He would provide incentives for small business development and economic development, while also "keeping Kaua'i Kaua' i... I will find that balance," he said.

• Raymond W. Paler, 47, a communications professional, wants to specialize in programs for the young and for the elderly.

"The biggest quality-of-life issue Kaua'i faces now is the growing number of senior citizens. I would actively pursue the funding for senior programs," he said.

• Melvin Rapozo, 38, a private investigator and former police officer, said he is concerned about accountability in government. He would promote a charter amendment to have the county attorney elected.

Development and zoning issues are crucial, he said: "Public access rights need to be protected. Violators of grading and grubbing laws need to be prosecuted."

• James Kunane Tokioka, 41, a restaurant owner and member of the County Council, said he tries to represent the people who are not comfortable appearing at public meetings.

Two major issues are protecting agricultural lands and drugs. He said he would work to "increase funding for drug prevention and drug enforcement."

• JoAnn Yukimura, 52, is an attorney, former mayor and former council member who said she would bring to the panel her experience and her vision.

"Kaua'i, an extraordinary place/community, is changing rapidly. With so much at stake, we need visionary, principled and experienced leadership," she said.

The 2000 U.S. Census reported that 29.5 percent of Kaua'i residents said they are white, 23.8 percent of mixed ancestry, 19.5 percent Filipino, 12.8 percent Japanese and 8.4 percent Native Hawaiian. The remainder reported being of other ethnic backgrounds. Census data show that one in five residents speaks a language other than English at home. On little Ni'ihau, Hawaiian is the dominant language.

The percentage of high school graduates in the county is about at the statewide average, but the number of college graduates is considerably lower—19.4 percent compared with a statewide 26.2 percent. Per capita and household income are both slightly less than the statewide average, but the percentage below the poverty level is about the same as statewide. The home ownership rate in 2000 was 64.1 percent, well ahead of the statewide figure of 56.5 percent.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.

Fourteen candidates running for Kaua'i County Council
William "Kaipo" Asing • Address: 4113 Palau Mahu, Lihu'e • Occupation: Retired telephone company supervisor • Family: Married, five children • One big idea: Our lifestyle is the No. 1 issue. It's the biggest issue. How do we want to live? There's got to be a carrying capacity for the tourist industry. We need to find out what that capacity is.		John Barretto Jr. • Address: 5405A Kawaihau Road, Kapa'a. • Occupation: Retired. • Family: Married, four children. • One big idea: Work on the development plans to ensure access to the mountains and the beaches — all the traditional areas used for gathering and other uses.
Raymond Chuan • Address: 4438 Aku Road, Hanalei • Occupation: Retired atmospheric scientist • Family: Married, one child • One big idea: I'd like to make the government operate responsibly and efficiently.		Jay Furfaro • Address: 4030 Pauahi Place, Princeville • Occupation: Resident general manager, Radisson Kaua'i Resort • Family: Married, three children • One big idea: Make sure we fund for planning. Good plans make for a good community.
Daryl Kaneshiro • Address: 4135A Noho Road, Koloa • Occupation: Kaua'i Petroleum account executive, rancher • Family: Divorced, two children • One big idea: I want to continue to find ways to keep our land in agriculture and to preserve open space. I want to work on finding an industry that can replace sugar.		Rhoda Libre • Address: P.O. Box 246, Kaumakani • Occupation: Entrepreneur • Family: Single • One big idea: Safety and security for Kaua'i ... for our laws, for our people, for our natural resources. Our environment is our economy.
George Menor • Address: 2615 Apapane St., Lihu'e • Occupation: Owner, Euromotors Kaua'i, dba Kaua'i Foreign Cars • Family: Married, three children • One big idea: I'd like to get involved in this mounting problem of solid waste. For example, we are shipping a lot of junk cars off the island that still have good parts. We could recycle them and compress the remaining metal into a cube and ship it to the Mainland.		Ernest Moniz Jr. • Address: 4585 Kehau Drive, Kalaheo • Occupation: Fire Department battalion chief • Family: Married, two children One big idea: I have 32 years of experience working for government that I want to continue. I have an understanding of budgets, county operations and emergency response.
Erick Moon • Address: 5313 Makaloa St., Kapa'a • Occupation: Attorney • Family: Married, four children • One big idea: The county should do more to build affordable housing and to make low-interest mortgages available for the people.		Maurice "Joe" Munechika • Address: 2627 Alaekea St., Lihu'e • Occupation: Retired • Family: Married, two children • One big idea: I have the qualifications and experience, and I want to try to keep existing businesses in business through relaxing regulations and incentives, like tax incentives.
Raymond Paler • Address: 3233 Palai St., Lihu'e • Occupation: President, Kaua'i Paging and Communications • Family: Married, three children • One big idea: A lot of people say they want to take care of the youth and the elderly, but we need to fund those things. The funding drops along the wayside. Our people need to be taken care of.		Melvin Rapozo • Address: 292 Makani Road, Kapa'a • Occupation: Private investigator • Family: Married, two children • One big idea: We need to work on this (crystal methamphetamine) problem. It's going to be expensive. A multi-jurisdictional undercover operation is the only way that I think we can do it.
James Tokioka • Address: 2506 Kanio Road, Lihu'e • Occupation: Co-owner, The Terrace Restaurant • Family: Divorced, two children • One big idea: I want to make a difference this term in the drug situation — to bring people together to discuss the situation and make people recognize how big the problem is.		JoAnn Yukimura • Address: 2911 Kalihiwai Valley Road, Kalihiwai • Occupation: Attorney, vice president, Trenchless Engineering • Family: Married, one child • One big idea: To change our land use laws to facilitate real agriculture on agricultural lands, and to stop the epidemic of crystal meth on the island.