policy focus

Just like you, I’m fed up with the disparities we experience on Kauai. From cost of living, affordable housing, and lifestyle challenges. They are all real to me and just like you, I’m looking to be part of the solution. 

I’m campaigning for a seat on our Kauai County council in hopes of continuing our legacy of overcoming insurmountable challenges and creating a brighter future for all. 

Our council plays a vital role in our ability to tackle the challenges ahead by affecting the local laws that govern both our social and financial framework in which we operate. 

My focus is on policies that can help increase home price affordability, increase economic prosperity, develop safer communities, restore healthier systems with nature, and develop a more equitable life here on Kauai.

The guiding documents that I reference are the Kaua’i General Plan and our Community Plans.

 

economy

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Policy focuses:

  • Direct improvements towards county technologies that enable businesses and communities to be more efficient and connected

  • Help focus county procurement to support locally owned businesses

  • Leverage multi-modal legislation to increase lower cost transit ability and reduce transportation costs

  • Enable agriculture innovation and collaboration through supportive policies

  • Support entrepreneurial endeavors and small business development through supportive county policies

We hit the bottom of the barrel as regards to our economic and health challenges during this pandemic. We need to shed our preconceived notion of our old economy and evolve our systems to better serve our current and future needs.

homes

Policy focuses:

  • Streamline policies for home development processes in county systems

  • Support existing neighborhoods for additional dwelling units, tiny homes, multi-family homes

  • Modify current policies that restrict new construction or redevelopment in town core centers that focus on residential/commercial combinations

The island challenges always stem on whether or not a local family can find a home. Re-imagining existing spaces with existing infrastructure is our immediate and long-term solution. This not only allows for smart growth with reduced environmental impacts, it keeps costs down allowing for affordability to be a priority. 

environment

Policy focuses:

  • Continue to support energy efficient systems and policies that enable businesses and homes to be self sustainable

  • Encourage home and business development in town core centers

  • Execute the Climate Action Plan

My focus is in continuing the efforts in zero waste efforts, renewable energy, town core centers, and multi-modal traveling. We must become the first fully sustainable community in order to take care of our earth properly.

my responses to questionnaires

See below my response to several questionnaires I have received over time. If you have any particular questions or ideas you would like to discuss, please don’t hesitate to reach me at [email protected], or at 808-652-1442.

 

Q&A

over the course of time i have received many questions, here are my responses.

civil beat questionnaire - june 14, 2020

1. Hawaii's economy has been hard hit with the outbreak of the coronavirus and measures to prevent its spread, mainly because of the collapse of the tourism industry. Should we continue to rely largely on the visitor industry for economic vitality? What concrete steps would you take to bring tourism back? What else would you do to diversify the island's economy?

Tourism is an integral part of our economy but it's apparent that it can not be the only major industry. The County of Kauai, Kauai Visitors Bureau, and Hawaii Tourism and Lodging Association developed a strategic plan for 2019-2021 and our highest priority is executing this plan at a rapid pace. The first step is to establish better health protocols to ensure the safety of our community. When we are able to protect our workforce, we will be able to safely welcome of tourists back.

In regards to diversifying the island's economy, my focus is two fold. First, we need to establish stable and fast broadband connection for the entire island of Kauai. This will strengthen the movement towards work-at-home opportunities across different industries and fortify other industries that rely on this technology such as e-commerce, education, and telehealth. This will provide more opportunities to the workforce who are mainly in tourism to utilize their customer skills in different industries. Secondly, my focus will be on the island's food system and supporting our local farmers by connecting their produce to consumers. A project that the state is working on that I'd love to collaborate with is bringing local produce into our institutions such as hospitals and schools.

2. As the economy struggles, the county may have to cut expenses and seek new revenue sources. What would you cut? And what is an area where you see potential new revenue?

My focus will be to increase efficiency and improve county services in hopes of avoiding cutting public services. Innovation will be key in this process and with lessons learned from the pandemic I believe our economy will be able to adapt if key peices are improved. The main improvement will be broadband infrastructure and food security. If we do get to a point that we have to cut expenses, I would focus on nonessential services such as our golf facility. Our county budget would be affected by the potential loss of revenue in the T.A.T., and G.E.T. that we get from the state. Our county budget for 2022 may be affected by our property tax depending on what the market does on homes. With that said, other potential revenue sources that I'm open to are county road tolls for visitors, county parking fees for visitors, and county park usage fee for visitors.

3. What would you have done differently to handle the coronavirus crisis on Kauai?

From our Kauai state legislators, Kauai mayor, and Kauai health care team, I believe our leadership on Kauai did an amazing job. One of the most difficult challenges during the pandemic that we did well on was commuticating information out to everyone and giving people time to adjust. A big part of why Kauai was so successful is that our community has been through many different challenges together and we are a resilient and collaborative community. As a healthcare professional, there are two things I would have added to the recovery: One, I would have continuously encouraged our community to strengthen their immune systems by getting regular exercise, eating healthy, thinking positively, and getting great rest. Sometimes the best defense against challenges like these is an offense towards healthy living. It's no surprise that those who we were most afraid for were people who had chronic health issues that when coupled with the pandemic could have lead to potential danger. Secondly, by implementing these healthy protocols, I would have felt confident in transitioning to opening businesses sooner and allowing our community to get back on their feet.

4. Homelessness remains a problem statewide, including on Kauai. What would you do to come to grips on this persistent problem?

Houselessness is a multi-faceted challenge that requires several layers of solutions. One cause of houselessness is due to our high cost of living. I'm committed to helping drive down that cost by focusing on developing town core centers with multi-use buildings that provide more affordable homes, more cost-effective lifestyles, and walkable communities. Another cause of houselessness is due to unfortunate circumstainces. A solution I'd love to work on would be setting up transitional homes for people who are in economic crisis and need temporary support to get their feet back on the ground. Lastly, another major cause to houselessness is the healthcare challenge of drug addiction. The solution is multi-layered as well but I believe it starts with prevention.

5. Recent deaths of citizens at the hands of police are igniting protests and calls for reform across the country, primarily aimed at preventing discrimination against people of color. Do you see this issue as a problem in Kauai County? What should be done to improve policing and police accountability on Kauai? Should oversight of the police department be strengthened or reformed?

No community is immune to this global challenge of racism--that is why it is resounding worldwide as we speak. I believe this movement is another global elevation in our understanding as a human race and our work towards enabling others to succeed in life. It's a tragedy that it took many years of suffering for the world to come together but the shift is happening and I am excited to be part of the solution. Kauai held several rallies and our chief of police has been transparent with our community. The dialogue has begun and movement towards change is happening. Developing policies that continue to be inclusive and protects all people is something I'm working on and look forward to bring to the table.

6. Hawaii’s public records law mandates that public records be made available whenever possible. Gov. David Ige suspended the open government laws under an emergency order during the pandemic. Do you agree or disagree with his action? What would you do to ensure the public has access to open meetings and public records in a timely fashion?

I heavily lean towards keeping lines of communication open, especially in times of need. If put into a similar position, I believe I can learn how to navigate through challenges and ensure the organizational structure allows for clear communication and procedures that everyone can follow. The type of procedure Governor Ige utilized during emergencies is a common practice in most governments and is designed to streamline decision-making to execute ideas that may save or protect lives. It's a social conondrum that history has shown that it can go either way. I agree that it was the appropriate action in an emergency and I believe the emergency is now under control and that access to information should become available.

7. What more should Kauai County be doing to prepare for the effects of climate change, including sea level rise and threats to the reefs?

I believe the efforts we are focusing on is exactly what we should be doing. Reducing carbon emissions by working towards 100% renewable energy. Converting county vehicles to electric vehicles. A big component that we can work towards is continuing to develop our town core centers. This will help reduce transportation emissions by creating multi-modal transportation, localize lifestyle, and create more efficient multi-use buildings. Every little effort we put towards taking care of our environment will continue to make a difference in our global challenge and will inspire others as well. My hope is that we can continue these efforts until new innovation in technologies can assist us helping our environment heal.

8. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed numerous flaws in Hawaii's structure and systems, from outdated technology to economic disparity. If you could take this moment to reinvent Hawaii, to build on what we've learned and create a better state, a better way of doing things, what would you do? Please share One Big Idea you have for Hawaii. Be innovative, but be specific.

I have two ideas, first would be to setup complete agricultural systems for all islands to produce complete food sustainability by utilizing traditional Hawaiian farming techniques. A quick shout out to my dear friend Dr. Natalie Kurashima and the work she is doing with Kamehameha schools--I believe that this is part of the future for food sustainability and security. Second, a complete overhaul and upgrade to our broadband system to enable the highest speed internet available across all islands. I believe by solving our food dependency, we will effectively reduce a piece of our cost of living and by improving internet access for all, we will effectively upgrade every single industry to be able to innovate and create a more prosperous community.

9. What do you see as the most pressing issue facing your district? What will you do about it?

Our most pressing issue we are facing on Kauai is that in order to thrive, we rely heavily on external resources, such as importing food to eat and visitors to support our economy. My efforts on county council will be focused on adapting, removing, or adding policies that strengthen our Kauai industries to be more self-sustainable and to develop economies of scale that can contribute to our global economy. It starts with our broadband connection and through a series of specific action steps that includes working on town core developments and education. In the midst of all these challenges I have a clear vision of prosperity for our community and I'm excited to get to work and collaborate with our community.

Kauai Chamber of commerce questionnaire - 7.11.2020

1. WHAT SHOULD BE THE COUNTY COUNCIL’S PRIORITIES IN ADDRESSING THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF COVID-19?

There are several opportunities for the county council in the next few years that can continue our growth out of COVID-19 beginning 2021 with the new compilation of county council members. Each of my recommendations are going to be my focus and will be worked on simultaneously if elected. First, we learned that telework is a huge part of our workforce and kept many businesses and workers going throughout these difficult times. This includes many county workers across all departments and is creating more efficiency in our systems. So we must continue this momentum and continue to create or modify policies to enable both our county government and our local businesses to be able to innovate and utilize technology (telework, software systems, etc.) to be able to continue doing business. Part of this includes a collaboration with state, county, federal, and private interests in securing our broadband capabilities for Kauai so that we have consistent and high speed broadband internet. It is apparent that our local families that had to move away for high tech jobs learned that they can telework from home as well and that potentially would love to move back home if their work was secure. Secondly, we must continue to focus on executing the Tourism Strategic plan created by KVB and other partners at a rapid pace. In this plan the focus is on quality guests and systems in place that allow for guests to interact with our environment in a way that doesn’t over extend our resources. There are several initiatives and policies within the strategic plan I’d like to work on such as helping local businesses utilize sustainable practices, develop shuttle systems in high visitor areas, including visitor fees for county resources, and support the short range transit plan. Thirdly, my priority would be to look at policies that can enable our community to become food sustainable from agriculture to consumer. We learned in this pandemic how quickly we adapted the agriculture and food market by introducing CSA boxes, local ingredient utilization in businesses, and business systems that enable online ordering. We’ll need to continue to drive this innovation and collaboration at a rapid pace that will allow our conversion of local business in agriculture and food to continue to keep the local dollar circulating and empowering local businesses and consumers to buy and choose local products.

2. WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR A THRIVING AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC SECTOR ON KAUAI?

My vision is that our island becomes food independent by utilizing up to 80% local agricultural products in our institutions and restaurants by 2022. My vision for the agricultural sector is all about looking at the whole system from farmer to consumer and making sure we continue to adapt the system to be more efficient and streamlined at all levels. As the owner of Tasting Kauai, Kauai’s only food tour company that solely promotes local chefs and restaurants that use local ingredients, we work on creating the demand for local products produced by our agriculture businesses. I’m looking at adopting, creating, or removing policies that helps this whole process so that we can reach this vision for agriculture to be thriving. With all that said, we have existing movements that I’m excited to continue to support, such as Waipa foundation, Kilauea Ag Park, Go Farm Hawaii, Malama Kauai and several more agricultural movements that are finding success. I’d love to support and grow what Waipa Foundation’s collaboration with Kamehameha schools where they are utilizing traditional Hawaiian agricutlural systems to create more efficient food production. I’d love to support and grow what Kilauea Ag park is doing, which is enabling the community and connecting people back with their role in agriculture. I want to continue to support Go Farm Hawaii program that teaches real life lessons for future farmers from soil to business. Last but not least, I want to continue support the efforts of Malama Kauai and the programs they have in helping farmers and consumers bridge the gap for local food. There are more organizations to mention and peices to work on and my hope is that we continue to collaborate and look at policies that develop the sustainable growth of local food production that are community needs.

3. WHAT ROLE DO YOU FEEL THE VISITOR INDUSTRY SHOULD PLAY IN KAUAI’S ECONOMY?

The visitor industry is our economic powerhouse. I feel that our relationship with the visitor industry is changing and our efforts are focused on becoming more efficient and profitable at the same time. The visitor industry is a well integrated experience here on Kauai and has provided so much for families and businesses to thrive and survive. COVID-19 experience has provided a window for us as local businesses, government systems, and everyday people, to re-evaluate and innovate our visitor industry systems. It is apparent that we want it to be more efficient, more sustainable, and more respectful to our environment. We know clearly, that even at the height of our visitor industry prowess, people were still suffering financially and our environment was being pushed beyond its limits. I believe we are currently on the right track in adapting our visitor industry systems and executing the strategic plan developed by KVB and the best foot forward is implementing changes as quickly as possible. It will require collaboration at all levels and we’ll need everyone to engage in the process and be part of the solution.

4. IF ELECTED TO THE COUNCIL, HOW WOULD YOU ENGAGE WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY PRIOR TO YOUR DECISION-MAKING?

I’m an advocate for open communication and collaboration. If elected, I’d love to facilitate developing a dedicated system for businesses to engage the county council in addition to the current programming that the Kauai Chamber coordinates. We need a better feedback system that allows for collaborative dialgoue to occur which can spur innovation and effective problem solving. I currently hold a weekly zoom every Wednesday evening to collaborate with our community and I can imagine that we can look into if elected. I currently am connected to the businesses as the President of the Rice Street Business Association, Vice President of Lihue Business Association, board member of Kauai Chamber of Commerce, past board member of Kauai Filipino Chamber of commerce, and as an owner of three local businesses on Kauai and Hawaii. Through these organizations I hope to continue the relationships that have been created and continue to work together on creating a more prosperous Kauai amidst these economic challenges.

5. HOW WOULD YOU HELP ENSURE THAT WORKING MIDDLE CLASS RESIDENTS CAN AFFORD TO BUY OR RENT A HOME IN KAUA’I?

The best thing we can do right now for our working middle class is to continue to grow our town core centers. The working middle class is looking for a lifestyle that allows them to live, work, and play relatively close to each other so we can reduce our cost of living and enjoy life more fully. My focus will be on helping town core centers develop multi-use buildings with residential and commercial spaces that allow for affordable homes and rentable units to be developed in areas where we can live our life without the heavy burden of cost of living. Alongside a build up in town core centers is continuing current residential areas to develop more affordable spaces through ARUs and ADUs which allows us to increase the housing market and counter the continued rising cost of home rentals.

6. HOW WOULD YOU EFFECTIVELY MANAGE BUDGET AND OPERATIONS COMPARED TO THE PAST?

I believe the current and past administrations have done a lot of good work at managing our budget with a few exceptions that I believe they are working to address. We are heading towards a massive downturn in revenues for the County due to the affects of COVID-19 on GET, TAT, fuel tax, and a few other taxes in 2021 and on. My focus will be on working together with our county team to become more efficient in our systems and services so that we will be able to financially withstand the loss of revenues without sacrificing services. There are county operational inefficiencies, technology upgrades, and duplicate services already identified internally that we can work on. I look forward to working with the county council team and helping our government become more efficient in helping our community.

7. HOW CAN KAUA’I MAINTAIN ITS RURAL CHARACTER WHILE CONTINUING TO ACCOMMODATE A GROWING POPULATION AND VISITOR COUNTS? HOW DO YOUR IDEAS FIT WITH THE CURRENT GENERAL PLAN?

The best way to maintain our “Kauai look and feel” is to stop urban sprawl and focus on developing in town core centers. This will allow us to focus on utilizing current infrastructure, reduce transportation costs, keep homes affordable, take care of our environment, and be financially cost effective for our community. This is part of the general plan and I’m focused on executing the general plan in a speedy fashion due to the challenges we are facing due to COVID-19. Everyone has their version of “rural character” which may be no high rises or no highways. The reality is that we need to balance what that feels like and also adapt to the times so we don’t constantly have a brain drain and inability to sustain a lifestyle for our keiki and kama’aina. Our community is constantly adapting and as we move together through these unprecedented times, my hope is that we will continue to focus on creating a brighter future for Kauai.

8. WILL YOU SUPPORT EFFORTS TO ENSURE THAT ALL VACATION RENTALS, HOME STAY UNITS, BED AND BREAKFAST, AND ALL TRANSIENT VACATION UNITS ARE CHARGED RESORT PROPERTY TAX RATES?

Yes, I support policies that accurately reflect the tax structure for the services that is being provided.

9. WHAT TWO IDEAS DO YOU HAVE ABOUT ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION AND HOW WOULD YOU DEVELOP THESE TWO AREAS?

Our two biggest opportunities that are clearly apparent during this pandemic is our work-from-home jobs and local agriculture. The world learned in a few months that millions of jobs can be done from home. From the private sector to government, we adapted instantly. Our biggest opportunity is in investing in our broadband capabilities as a county and enabling businesses to convert to an online platform. This also allows for businesses to access a global market and to increase our economic reach. This opportunity also opens the door for our kama’aina around the world who have been wanting to come home and now may be able to get the best of both worlds, a successful job that allows them to work from home, and living on their island home, Kauai. We have the potential of reversing our brain drain and we have a short window in capturing this market that could build a stronger working class for the future and contribute to a more diversified economy. Our second biggest opportunity is fast tracking our ability to increase our usage of locally produced foods. The entire food system from agriculture to end user has been disrupted and our local farmers and users are adapting to the times. A serious increase in local CSA boxes, home gardens, and small community farmers markets have popped up and we must invest into this movement to continue our food industry growth. This opportunity allows for local dollars to continue to flow within the island and empower both our supply and demand for local products. Both of these economic industries will not replace the powerhouse of tourism because tourism is our economic engine but what it will do is create a more sustainable economy and allow us to reduce our cost of living at the same time.

10. WHAT IS YOUR SOLUTION TO BEST MANAGE SOLID WASTE ON KAUAI?

The solution for our solid waste challenge is multi-faceted and includes leaders in every level. From federal, state, county, and every person in our community. None of the solutions are easy but let’s start with the first and most important solution, waste management is everyone’s kuleana. Every single member in our community plays a role from the products we buy to how we manage these items after use. There is no way around this responsibility. Recycling, diversion, and choosing products that are easier to manage is everyone’s job. We must incrementally take on this responsibility and reduce the current rate of waste heading towards our landfill and begin to work on affordable solutions to manage our waste as collective. I’m currently talking with state officials, county partners, and reaching out to other community leaders to look at all of our options and determining what immediate actions we can put in place now and what other actions we can take to address the long term challenge ahead. As technology continues to improve the cost of alternative solutions my hope is that we will be able to implement a long term strategy in the near future.

11. AS A MEMBER OF THE COUNTY COUNCIL, WHAT STEPS WOULD YOU TAKE TO MITIGATE THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON KAUAI?

I believe the efforts we are focusing on is exactly what we should be doing which is tackling the big factors. Reducing carbon emissions by working towards 100% renewable energy. Converting county vehicles to electric vehicles. A big component that we can work towards is continuing to develop our town core centers. This will help reduce transportation emissions by creating multi-modal transportation, localize lifestyle, and create more efficient multi-use buildings in places with infrastructure. Every little effort we put towards taking care of our environment will continue to make a difference in our global challenge and will inspire others as well. My hope is that we can continue these efforts until new innovation in technologies can assist us helping our environment heal.

12. DO YOU SUPPORT THE CONTINUED USE OF THE G.E.T. SURCHARGE AND HOW WOULD YOU PRIORITIZE ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION SPENDING?

Yes, I support the GET surcharge and will work with our department of public works to become more efficient in addressing our road systems. As our budget begins to be squeezed due to COVID-19, we will need to be innovative and effective in our roadwork and management. We have high priority areas that have high traffic regardless of tourism and after consulting with our team our goal will be to address these challenges and communicate that with our community so we are all working cohesively.

13. WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY?

For the last 6 years I’ve had the honor and privilege to work with many of you as a fellow small business owner with The Specific Chiropractic Centers and Tasting Kauai. In addition I’ve been able to focus on the community through my service as a President of the Rice Street Business Association, Vice President of Lihue Business Association, board member of Kauai Chamber of commerce, past board member of Workforce Development, and past board member of Kauai Filipino Chamber of Commerce. It has been truly inspiring to be able to collaborate and work with all of you in addressing the community issues we face together. But we are not done. In fact, we are just getting started. Although the challenges ahead look daunting, we are going to be alright. In fact, we are going to be more than alright. I know this because we’ve got a great team of people to work with and I know we will collectively rise up to the challenge and create a better place for those who follow us. So with that said, thank you. I appreciate all that you are doing and continue to do for our community. Let’s go to work.