HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/22/2023 Special Council minutes (Council vacancy) SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING
FEBRUARY 22, 2023
The Special Council Meeting of the Council of the County of Kaua`i was called
to order by Council Chair Mel Rapozo at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street,
Suite 201, Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on Wednesday, February 22, 2023, at 11:48 a.m., after
which the following Members answered the call of the roll:
Honorable Addison Bulosan
Honorable Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr.
Honorable Felicia Cowden
Honorable Bill DeCosta
Honorable KipuKai Kuali`i
Honorable Mel Rapozo
APPROVAL OF AGENDA.
Councilmember Kuali`i moved for approval of the agenda, as circulated,
seconded by Councilmember Carvalho.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion or public testimony?
Hearing none.
There being no one present to provide testimony, the meeting proceeded as
follows:
The motion for approval of the agenda, as circulated, was then put, and
unanimously carried.
FORMATION OF THE COUNCIL'S CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE.
Council Chair Rapozo: As you know, today's Special Council Meeting
is to appoint the replacement for former Councilmember Evslin's seat. With that, I
need to appoint a Credentials Committee. I am going to hereby appoint
Councilmember Carvalho, Council Vice Chair Kuali`i, and myself. That will be to
verify the credentials of any nominees that are put forth today.
Council Chair Mel Rapozo, Council Vice Chair KipuKai Kuali`i, and
Councilmember Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr., were unanimously selected to form
the Council's Credentials Committee.
Council Chair Rapozo: Before I suspend the rules, I am going to make
a comment, a statement, will suspend the rules to take public testimony, and then
we will get into the meeting. The reason why I wanted to do this is because we
previously received a lot of testimony. A lot of the testimony came from an email that
was sent out by Gary Hooser. It was in the paper today, and I will be honest, I took
offense, because as he normally does, he makes these statements to incite people, and
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 2 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
that is cool, that is his right. I want to correct the record on some of the things he
stated, before you all come up and testify, because I know your testimonies, as I have
read, has been based on what was stated by Mr. Hooser. You saw it in the paper, I
am not going to read it, I am sure you all got the email, because I did, it is on his blog,
but I am going to cite a few paragraphs. "Apparently Council Chair Mel Rapozo wants
to do this Wednesday, February 22, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., seven (7) days after the public
was made aware of the vacancy." The public was made aware of Mr. Evslin's potential
seat vacancy on January 20th. That is when the media reported that Mr. Evslin's
name had been submitted to the Governor. January 20th, and the 22nd, the 23rd, and
it was constantly. I cannot speak for my colleagues here, but from that point, I started
receiving interest from people that wanted to be considered. It was not just
seven (7) days ago. I want people to understand that. He stated, "Similarly, I am
thinking about the thoughtful evaluation of the current strengthens and weaknesses
on the existing Council"...this Council is three (3) months old. Not even three (3)
months, two (2) months old, and he has already identified some strengthens and
weaknesses of the existing Council. "In attempting to find a candidate that could
compliment and/or fill in the gaps, this idea has apparently been disregarded"—Wow,
Gary, I wish you were here today, but again, he typically does not show up to these
things. Seriously, Gary, "and do we disregard the voters in the 2022 Election,"
seriously? "I am guessing the Council Chair and the majority of the Council are
thinking that former Councilmember Ross Kagawa has already got the votes locked
up, so why bother with the process." What process? The process is unfolding today.
It is a public process. It is a process where Councilmembers have an opportunity to
nominate anyone they feel that they want to be considered, that is the process. There
is no written process. He talks about the timing, and I have received several
testimonies about the precedent. The precedent in the 2013 Election when the
Council at the time, of which I sat on, went outside of the ballot and appointed Mason
Chock. That was the precedent. I do not blame you folks for putting that in your
email, because that is what you were told by people that should know better. You
can put the slide up. I will show you the precedent, because I was here for all these
appointments, because that is how old I am.
Back in 2008, July 17, 2008, Council Chair Asing resigned from the County
Council, and on, guess what, the same day, Darryl Kaneshiro was appointed as a
Councilmember. That was the original precedent. That is what we did. Same day. I
did not hear Gary flying off the handle because we are rushing—that was the same
day. Next slide.
On April 5, 2011, Councilmember Kawakami resigned and on April 11th, six (6)
days later, KipuKai Kuali`i was appointed as a Councilmember—six (6) days. That
is a precedent. Next slide.
Gary forgot about those two (2), but he wanted to bring up this one (1). On
October 31, 2013, of course, I was still here, Councilmember Nakamura resigned and
on November 15, 2013...by the way the first two (2) precedents the Council appointed
the number eighth in the Election. That was the precedent. I know all of you who
testified, I am not talking to you here, but those out there watching that submitted
testimony that said, "Follow your own precedent." That was the precedent. On
October 31st, Councilmember Nakamura resigned and Mason Chock was appointed
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 3 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
on November 15th, about fifteen (15) days later. This one, they went with what they
call the process. In fact, Gary says in his blog and to all his emails to you, "That
selection was at the time accompanied by its own controversy coming in the days
immediately preceding the veto override of Bill No. 2491." Understand this, we were
in a hearing, a process debating a bill of whether or not the Council should attack a
veto that the Mayor had done on Bill No. 2491, to overturn the veto. There were only
six (6) Councilmembers, it was deadlock. At the time, Chair Furfaro knew that if it
remained deadlocked, then the veto would be overridden and the veto would stand.
So, what that Council did is it went out and solicited people that would support the
override, and they nominated Mason Chock, and I nominated number 8, as I always
did from the first times, second time, and third time. I nominated number 8. I came
to Council that day thinking that KipuKai was going to be nominated and appointed,
because that is what we had always done. Sometimes it is good to be old, you have
that much more experience, but that did not happen. I will be honest, they did not
know where KipuKai stood on Bill No. 2491, but they knew where Mason stood, and
the Council voted to appoint Mason. Now, I have no problems with Mason. I worked
with him. He is a great man. I love him like a brother. My point is, the precedent
that Gary seems to think we are getting away from is not the precedent, it is the
change that he made, that Chair Furfaro made to accommodate the agenda that they
had—that is the truth people. That is how this works. As Gary talks about politics
as usual, I show you the evidence. The first, the second, the precedent was very clear,
we are going with number 8 because that is the people's choice. When you look at the
ballots, that is the next person up, because that is what the voters said, not what
anyone else said. This is the precedent, but in this case the precedent could not work
because they were not sure how Councilmember Kuali`i would vote, so we had to play
this one safe. Check me. I tell you right now, I was sitting right here when that
happened. There should be an open and fair public process that invites all who are
interested in filling the open Council position to apply and be honestly evaluated.
Mr. Hooser, there is an open, fair public process, and it is called the General Election.
That is just my opinion. I just wanted to clarify that, because it is not fair when you
get to submit something to the Garden Island Newspaper, they will not print my
letter, so I took this opportunity to share, and at least defend myself. He paints the
picture that I rushed this, "Mel Rapozo did this. Mel Rapozo did not think we did a
fair process. Mel Rapozo, blah, blah, blah." Mel Rapozo is the only one that is relying
on precedent. As far as I am concerned, relying on the voice and vote of the people.
Fern, trust me, I love you like a sister, you know this. You called me, and I told you
"straight-up," that is how I do it, I pick number eight 8. If you were number 8, I would
be lending you my support today. Any one of us could be number 8. I would hope
that the people's choice in the voting process, called the General Election, would be
honored when something like this comes up. With that, I will suspend the rules, and
take public testimony.
JADE K. FOUNTAIN-TANIGAWA, County Clerk: Chair, the first registered
speaker is Sandy Herndon, followed by Nikki Cristobal.
There being no objections, the rules were suspended to take public testimony.
SANDY HERNDON: Good morning, Chair Rapozo and Council. It
has been a long time since I sat in this chair.
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 4 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Welcome back.
Ms. Herndon: Thank you. Thank you for this opportunity. I
know I sent you an email, and that described a lot of how I am feeling, so I am not
going to repeat myself. But I am going to say, I think given the fact that we are a
community, this is a community—the Council is a community. In that community
when you work closely together, you are going to form bonds, and you are going to
have respect and appreciation for each other—that is important. It is essential to a
well-working Council. However, friendship cannot be the basis for the structure of a
well-working Council. What I want to say is balance, so everyone has a voice. I
acknowledge Chair Rapozo's comment that number 8 was the people's choice, and
that is obviously true. I also feel there are people in the community that have
excellent strengths that may be a little bit more highly defined in certain areas. Plus,
the fact that our island is probably at least half women, and I would like to see, first
of all, another female voice. Not that Councilmember Cowden does not do a great job,
she does, but we need balance. We need to also have a way that we can reach out to
the youth. I think that there is an opportunity for us to combine those key things
with one (1) nomination, and that would be Fern Holland. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Next speaker.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Next speaker is Nikki Cristobal, followed by
Lila Metzger.
NIKKI CRISTOBAL: Aloha. Mahalo for having me speak to you all.
I want to say, I respect everyone on this Council. Everyone on this Council is here
because you got the majority vote from the voters, so it is well-deserved. With this
position, I think comes great power and great responsibility, so when presented with
the opportunity to do things differently than how they have been done historically,
defaulting to the eighth position, even though that is a very logical route to take—I
cannot really fault you for that, I think you are being given an important and critical
opportunity to tell the community representation matters. You have the opportunity
to appoint someone who reflects the interests of people who do not typically vote, so
on our island we know that a lot of kanaka oiwi do not vote. We know that a lot of
younger women and a lot of younger people in general do not vote. We know that a
lot of people who are actually for aloha `aina—these people are not voting, right?
They are not voting because they do not see themselves reflected in the system, so
this is an opportunity to put someone like Fern on Council to show other people that
representation matters, and that they should be able to feel like they can put their
name in the ring and be given a fair consideration, and to serve as a voice for the
people who are left out of voting. Mahalo.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: The last registered speaker is Lila Metzger.
LILA METZGER: Good morning.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Good morning.
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 5 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Ms. Metzger: Thank you for this opportunity.
Council Chair Rapozo: Please state your name for the captioner.
Ms. Metzger: Sure. My name is Lila Metzger, number 10
on the General Election ballot. I am just representing, again, myself, as a potential
nominee. I feel that I agree with the first testimony about having female
representation being very important, and our Council has not really held that, so I
am here to offer myself, once again, as an option. From my memory, when we were
all on a panel for the YWCA, I was on a panel with a bunch of male feminists, so I am
hoping that you agree with me, and will not just pick number 8, but will have at least
one (1) of two (2) of us. Although, I do agree that number 8 is the way to go, but if
there is a choice, and there is an option between the Council, I would like to ask that
you consider either/or. If I am one (1) of the two (2) to be chosen from the public, I
feel that you know enough about me at this point to make that selection. My passion
is the youth, future, and public safety. I am currently teaching a women's self-defense
seminar on my own, which is what I would want to do anyways if I was on
Council just getting involved in the public safety aspect. That is really what I am
going for, is to be on Council for just the "nitty gritty" like "feet on the ground," "boots
running around" this island, the kind of work that serves our community. You folks
are very much qualified and way more experienced, but just know that I am a hard
worker physically, and I really plan to serve this community physically, and looking
out for the future of this island is utmost important. I will say, the most qualification
I have is crying over our island and the future, and shedding tears over what is going
on in the world—it is crazy, but right now at home, we can make a difference. I will
focus on our schools. I will focus on the children. You folks can handle the real work,
and I will be happy to say, I will be the one to go and look at the homeless camp. I
will go and walk in there; I do not care. I will look at everyone. I will tell them that
they can make a change, and they could be our future. No one is going to these people,
and I am telling you right now, that is all I have to say, is I will go and be your"grunt"
worker on the ground getting dirty. I will train little children to learn how to defend
themselves, and I will go in the library and rip out pages in the books, and you folks
can blame all of those things that you might not want to carry on your personal
reputation—I will go do that. You can look at that. These two (2) years of"lamb to
the slaughter," because I have nothing to lose. I have nothing to lose to do that kind
of things for our keiki. I do not need a job. I have a great family. I am born and
raised here. I am willing to work with you folks. If you just need the combat lady on
the ground. I am not even joking right now. I am not. This is what I have to offer
you—are tears for our island, because I really believe that we can redeem what we
have left, and we can set our children up for making a good world for the future. I
am serious, you folks can handle whatever big development is happening. I am not
here to stand in your way. I am here to make sure we can use our island as much as
we can, and we are looking out for our keiki, that is all I really honestly care about. I
am willing to do that for you folks if you would give me a chance. I guess, I will just
leave it at that, but that is where my heart is in this job and in this position, is to be
on the ground with the people, and you can just blame it all on me. You saw me at
the YWCA, I am not trying to be the person that everyone wants. I want to see our
island heal, and if it means not being very well liked by the majority, but our kids are
good, it is a willing task for me to take. So, I humbly ask for your consideration.
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 6 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you, Lila.
Ms. Metzger: Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: I am sorry, Lila. Councilmember DeCosta has
a clarifying question.
Councilmember DeCosta: I have a clarifying question. Did you look at
our county programs for our youth and our keiki to see if we have a program that
one of the Councilmembers can get involved? I am looking at Councilmember Cowden
and myself, we are both educators, you probably have more experience than I do, I
have twenty-three (23) years, but if there is something that we can do, tell us. I am
thinking about what you are saying, you can do that even without being a
Councilmember.
Ms. Metzger: I totally...yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: There is so much impact that you could do just
as a citizen of Kaua`i, but if you can find a program in the County that we can actually
jump in, dive in, "boots on the ground," we will do it.
Ms. Metzger: Yes, and I can. Like I said, I am doing what I
feel is powerful to empower our children. There are county programs, but I would
like a place to be able to restructure, because there are so many opportunities, venues,
locations, and funding available, but it is not being used correctly. I do not feel that
you folks have the right people running it that could make it successful. Like
everything, there is always room for improvement. If no one can show up and teach
a class until this program gets going, I can show up and teach a class until we find a
young adult to fill that. I do not know that you could do that physically for yourself.
There needs to be someone like a "fire starter." I could be the manager of that, to
move in and do that until a real...these are job opportunities for people on the island
to fill to make money to do it. I can do that in the meantime kind of deal, but there
are a lot of good programs. Honestly, I have been serving in the nonprofit sector for
over ten (10) years through Kaua`i Underground Artists, and other than the Mayor
and previous Mayor Carvalho, as well, have been very supportive in loaning facilities,
but there is no one within the county to do what I have been doing. What the island
needs is not really a county program per se, we can use county facilities and resources,
but the way the program looks is not going to be a county program. Those things do
not work the way that I have seen Kaua`i Underground Artists work and thrive.
Thank you.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: We have no further registered speakers.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Yes, please.
FERN ANUENUE HOLLAND: Aloha everyone.
Council Chair Rapozo: Aloha.
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 7 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Councilmember Kuali`i: Aloha.
Ms. Holland: Nice to see you folks. Appreciate you all
considering me at all. I just want to...
Councilmember DeCosta: Name.
Councilmember Cowden: State your name.
Ms. Holland: Sorry, my name for the record, Fern Anuenue
Holland. I am honored to be...I was really moved to be the nineth vote-getter. I have
to say it is the first time I ever ran for County Council and I was moved by the amount
of support that I have had in the community. I feel like it is a duty to be here today
and to put my name forward as part of this position. I am not disrespectful to any of
your folks' decisions. I want to be clear, I actually was not going to speak, because I
have already written to you folks, and I have asked for your consideration in this
process. I want to be very clear that I am not Gary Hooser, because you came off
pretty hard.
Council Chair Rapozo: He came off hard first.
Ms. Holland: I get it. I try not to get into that with you
two. I am my own individual person, and I am running for my own individual
reasons, and I believe that you know that as well. I am not going anywhere. I am
not concerned. I am not going to hate on any of you folks today on your decision. I
respect your choices. I think there is a reason that the Governor is entrusted with
the power to appoint a person, and that person does not necessarily come from who
was next on the ballot. I think that there is also the opportunity here for you as the
top six (6) remaining vote-getters that are appointed as the Council to make the
decision to choose someone that really adds to the quality of the Council and how you
all work together, function, and the skills that you feel are needed. While I respect
that it is easy, and it is definitely a default to go to the eighth person, it really does
say, "Well, that is the next person that would have been in line." That is not how the
Charter is really written. It does give you folks the opportunity to consider anyone,
and while I respect that, especially in small town politics can often be the easiest
default to go to, you do have the opportunity to choose anyone. It is my responsibility
to be here and be one of those people to be considered, because I do love and respect
all of you very greatly. I believe that I would work very well with you folks and
despite even those challenging times when I first moved home from college, for some
of us, do not necessarily totally agree on everything, I feel like we have always worked
well to be able to have those conversations with respect, and I would bring that to the
table. I am a very hard worker like many of you know. For the last ten (10) years, I
have showed up for community even though I have never been in an official role or
capacity to do so. So, I humbly put my name forward, I do not expect you folks to do
any kind of major or radical "chess moves" to appoint me rather than someone else,
but I constantly show up, and I am here today to be that voice and person that is
saying, "I am committed to this." I will be back in 2024 running for office, and I am
going to work with you folks one way or the other from that side or this side of the
bench. Yes, I am happy to be here, and I just want you folks to understand that it is
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 8 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
with the utmost respect and love that I come to you. I was born and raised in Kapahi
on the eastside. I am a passionate local girl that just wants to serve the community,
so it is my responsibility to be here today to put my name forward for service. I do
not do that with any resentment or angry editorials, or anything outside of wanting
to serve. I want to be clear with that, and ask to be considered. I appreciate you all
very much.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you, Fern. The reference to Gary had
nothing to do with you.
Ms. Holland: Okay.
Council Chair Rapozo: It was to clarify that the picture he was trying
to paint is not actually the picture that is happening. That was my only purpose for
doing that. Thank you.
Councilmember DeCosta: Clarifying question.
Ms. Holland: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: Hi, Fern. I am not going to go into the detail
of how fond I am of you, because I will do it in my discussion. You did state, and this
is our opportunity to clarify, "I do not expect you folks," meaning us, "to do a radical
`chess move'to put me in that spot," are you thinking that we already had some "chess
moves" made? I know personally, I have never contributed to any "chess move" yet,
so tell me. I am thinking this is the same "chess moves" that Gary Hooser and Jay
Furfaro did back when they did their selection. Explain to me, what do you mean by
radical "chess moves?"
Ms. Holland: I think that every move that we make in an
elected position, such as yours, has some play of "chess." It feels like politics in
Hawai`i, whether I am in the State Legislature, or whether I am right here, seems to
constantly be these "chess moves" trying to hold power, not be hated on by some, not
be sidelined by someone else—it is just a natural. I do not mean that in a negative
way necessarily, it is just part of the political game to some extent. People have
repercussions for certain actions that they make, or they feel that they could, and I
am not trying to put anyone in that situation. You know that I am also very fond of
you. I think of you as an uncle and a friend, and I would not want to do anything to
you that would make your situation harder in this body, or in any other work. I
genuinely care about you. I am not expecting you to step outside of whatever you feel
comfortable. I do not want you to put your neck out for me, is probably a better way
to say it. I think that you folks have the opportunity to really do what you feel is
right. If you feel that going the way that some of you have with the eighth person is
the right and automatic way to go, then I respect that—that is what I am trying to
say. But I also respect those that may think this is the opportunity to bring another
voice to the table that has not necessarily been involved officially, or represent a
different category of our community, or for whatever reason there are. The
opportunity for you to select someone outside of the eighth person, or else the Charter
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 9 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
would say, it is the eighth person. I do not expect if you folks are uncomfortable to
move outside of that, is probably what I mean to say.
Councilmember DeCosta: Thank you for the clarification.
Ms. Holland: Yes.
Councilmember DeCosta: I understand what you meant by the eighth
vote-getter. Now, I understand.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to
testify? I am sorry.
Councilmember Cowden: She has ferns on her head.
Council Chair Rapozo: Okay. Zoom, I am sorry, Teresa.
TERESA TICO (via remote technology): Thank you, Council Chair
Rapozo. I really appreciate it. I did submit written testimony regarding my
preference for Fern Holland to be selected to fill Luke A. Evslin's seat. I submitted it
late. I did get late notice about this meeting. Thank you, Chair Rapozo, for explaining
the process to me in an email that you took the time to write, so thank you very much.
I want to thank Councilmember Kuali`i and Councilmember Bulosan for responding
to me this morning, acknowledging that they had read my written testimony. I hope
that you also read the transcript of Ross Kagawa's testimony when he voted against
the one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in funding for the Climate Action Plan
for the County of Kaua`i. That brings me to the point that I wanted to make. I think
it is very important in this time and age, there are climate impacts, especially to all
islands, where we are experiencing unprecedented rising sea levels, coastal erosion,
and I know this because I live on the beach, the beach is disappearing. We are
experiencing extreme rainstorms. We have landslides. Our Hanalei Bridge is closed
more frequently. I think it is extremely important that we have people on this
Council who acknowledge the climate crisis that we are facing. I remember back in
2017 when you had this opportunity, or not you, but the Councilmembers at that time
who included Ross Kagawa. I remember that he voted against it, because he said
that he did not trust our local government. I know that others of you voted against
it, but the fact that he said he did not trust our local government, and I believe he
was referring to the Department of Economic Development—that really struck me,
and he lost my confidence when he made that statement. He said that we should
leave this problem to the Federal Government. Since when should we leave our
problems to the Federal Government? Now, you are sitting on this Council to accept
responsibility for our community problems and will take it from there. In my letter,
I pointed out that if not for our local community, we would not have our community
base assistant fishing area in Ha`ena. That was all local community. We worked on
that for years and years before we got that implemented. We would not have a
management plan for Ha`ena State Park. We worked on that for decades. We would
not have the Kamalani Playground at Lydgate. We would not have the bike path.
There is so much in our community that serves all of that—we would not have. For
our community-based management of our island, and that is the issue that I have
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 10 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
with Mr. Kagawa to just pass off this problem, and say it is someone else's problem,
is not right. I remember, I listened to...I was unable to go, but I listened to his
interview with the Chamber of Commerce just last year when he was running for
Council, and the topic of recycling came up, and it sounded to me, you can listen to it,
it is on YouTube, as though he is against recycling, because he said he did not know
where the recyclables are going to end up. Well, is that not your job to encourage
recycling, and then to figure out where they are going to go? You do not just say it is
someone else's problem, so we are not going to do it. I know Fern Holland very well.
Fern is highly educated. She has three (3) degrees. She has degrees in marine
biology, environmental sciences, she understands climate change better than any of
us will ever understand it, and she knows the solutions. We need someone like her.
Not only as a science-minded, science educated person, but a woman who represents
the demographics of women and youth. We do not have a balanced representation on
this Council, and now is your opportunity to provide that by selecting Fern. In
closing, I just want to read the end of my written testimony for those of you who did
not have a chance to read it. Rejecting a one hundred thousand dollar ($100,000)
fund for a Climate Action Plan is like telling the Fire Department, you do not want
them to help you fire proof your house when your house is ready to burn down. At
the very least, it shows that you are out of touch with the realities impacting our daily
lives. Now, it shows that you want someone else to solve our problem. If we are to
protect Kaua`i for our future generations, we need to do everything possible to solve
the climate crisis. We are fortunate to live in such a beautiful place, our island home.
It is up to each of us to take care of our home. Please select Fern Holland to take
Luke Evslin's seat, she is doing everything she can to take care of Kaua`i. We need
her, and we need more young people, and women leaders on the County Council if we
want our children and grandchildren to inherit this beautiful place we call home.
Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you.
Councilmember DeCosta: I have a clarifying question for you. I am
really interested in knowing, because we had a meeting last Council with Solid Waste
on the recyclables, and I believe, we did not know what country takes recyclables
today. We know China no longer takes it, and I think the one (1) country that takes
it, uses child labor to deal with the recyclables. Can you please tell me, do you know
of a place we can look that will take our recyclables if we were to come up with a
Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and start this recycling on Kaua`i?
Ms. Tico: Thank you. I appreciate that question. I love
the way you are thinking, because you are thinking in a proactive way. You are
solution-oriented, and that is how we all should be. Perhaps, we should all work
together, and find those solutions. We can put our minds together and find the
solutions for that issue.
Councilmember DeCosta: If you come across a country that is taking
recyclables, please send an email to our Council Services, so they can circulate with
us, because we would like to know that. Thank you.
Ms. Tico: I certainly will. Thank you for the question.
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 11 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else?
BRUCE HART: For the record, Bruce Hart. What I would like
to do, I was not sure if I was going to do, is just thank you. I would like to say, for
members of the public who do not really understand what it is that happened, is that
we have six (6) Councilmembers, and they are having to make, what it amounts to, a
very difficult decision. I appreciate Council Chair. He has been chosen over the years
to be consistent. He chooses the eighth vote winner. Okay. I want to thank you,
because people do not understand that nothing in this world is perfect, and trying to
legislate laws that affect everyone in a fair and equitable manner is a very difficult
job, and you all do very well. The concern that I see in all of you every time I show
up here on a Wednesday is what I come for. I come for the personal relationships. I
come for being able to meet people in the audience I never would have met any other
way. I encourage the public, do what I am doing. You can make a difference. You
form a personal relationship with each Councilmember—they listen. That is making
a difference. We live in a wonderful form of government. A wonderful nation where
we get to participate. People need to understand that all over this world, this would
not even be happening. There would be people behind the scenes choosing, and we,
the public, would not get any say so at all. We would not even get a vote, a fair and
honest vote. Our form of government is not for spectators, it is for participants. We
the people. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to
testify? If not, I will call the meeting back to order, and I will open up the floor for
nominations. Councilmember DeCosta.
There being no objections, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded
as follows:
APPOINTMENT OF COUNCILMEMBER:
Pursuant to Section 3.05 of the Kaua`i County Charter, the purpose of this
Special Council Meeting is to appoint a successor for a vacant unexpired term
on the Kaua`i County Council to serve until December 1, 2024.
Councilmember DeCosta moved to nominate Ross Kagawa for a vacant
unexpired term on the Kaua`i County Council to serve until December 1, 2024,
seconded by Councilmember Carvalho.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there any discussion?
Councilmember DeCosta: I am going to lead. Bruce, thank you for that.
When I first became a Councilmember, I would make a "shaka" to you, and you would
give me a nod, and now, we talk story. You have a friend in me. Bruce, I appreciate
you. When you have a friend in me, if I can ever help you with anything, I will help
you. I will help anyone. Opening up for discussion. I have pages here written down.
First of all, I want to say, Ross Kagawa, we have solid waste at the forefront, we have
a landfill that is three (3) years outdated. We are going to have to possibly think of
shipping trash on Young Brothers or Matson to O`ahu to burn. How absurd is that
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 12 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
to put your trash on a barge and have our taxpayers pay for that? We are in a crisis.
I am sorry. We have a two hundred sixty million dollar ($260,000,000)budget, is that
close enough, Chair? We also have fire engines that we need to buy. We need to cut
from different programs. The point I am trying to make, and the advocation I am
making right now is, when I first started it took me a year to get my "boots on the
ground," and I have two (2) degrees, Economics and Business. I am a smart man. I
have connections in this County, because half of my classmates work in Department
Head positions. I could not get anything started. It is so much knowledge and so
much to learn. Basically, by your second term you start full-steam ahead. If you do
not believe me, you can ask Councilmember Bulosan, he is overwhelmed sometimes,
I can see it. The point I am trying to make, I nominated Ross Kagawa, because he
comes with eight (8) years of experience. Now, whether it is all positive or some
negative, it does not matter, because I know Ross from high school, and if Ross can
learn a little bit of the negative, he will be an even better Councilmember. I heard
Council Chair Rapozo tell me many times, "Man, I would not have voted that way a
long time ago if I knew the outcome would have been this." Council Chair Rapozo
has learned who he is. We have budget in less than a month. I nominated Ross
Kagawa. He has an accounting degree. He is the eighth vote-getter. I was the nineth
vote-getter. Councilmember Kuali`i was the eighth vote-getter. We were overlooked
by Mason K. Chock who was not involved in politics. He received that lucky roll of
the dice. Lila, I was you. I was nineth place. I felt that I should have received the
job. I am sure Councilmember Kuali`i felt he should have received the job, and we
both did not. There is a process. It was a process that Jay and Gary chose, and this
is the process that Council Chair Rapozo has chosen to put the voters at the forefront.
I am going to disclose something. We talked about radical "chess moves" with Fern.
I am not afraid to tell you folks this. I did not text Ross Kagawa, I did not even talk
to him, but I did text with Fern. Her and I did text. She is my personal friend, and
I feel really bad when I look in your eyes and tell you that I need to support Ross
Kagawa, because I think in a time like this "boots on the ground" in a crisis situation,
we need a Councilmember that can jump in that seat and make experienced decisions.
That is the reason why I went with Ross Kagawa. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Councilmember
Carvalho.
Councilmember Carvalho: I just wanted to say, Fern, I have known you
all these years, Kapahi girl, and you bring a lot of knowledge and experience in your
own way. To me, the process, number 8, whoever is in that number eighth position,
the people spoke, that is where I am at. I have been in here a long time, so that is
where I stand, and if it was you, then it was you, but Ross Kagawa is at the forefront
now, and he brings a lot of experience to the table. I know we are all not perfect, we
all have our differences, we all have our flaws, but we can work together to help each
other out to say, "Do not do that. Move here. Let us talk about this. Let us work
here." That is what it is about. Whoever comes in next, then we will continue to
work. We do not know if we will be here the next time, but I am very thankful for the
opportunity to serve. I just wanted to say that the process is in place, the people have
spoken, whoever is in number 8, Mr. Kagawa brings a lot of knowledge to the table,
but he also...we are not perfect like I said, but we can work together to help each
other's flaws get better, and help certain people. Again, it is not about...like I said, I
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 13 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
have known you for a long time, Fern, I love you, too, but overall, the process...we
have a great opportunity to do good things for the people of Kaua`i and Ni`ihau. I
appreciate the discussion and the hearts and souls that are here today, but that is
where I stand. I support Ross Kagawa as the number 8 vote-getter for the people of
Kaua`i and Ni`ihau. Mahalo for the chance to speak.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Councilmember Cowden.
Councilmember Cowden: This is all difficult for me. Sandy Herndon
made a comment about, "Friendship cannot be the structure of a well-working
Council." I will own it. Fern and I are good friends. Fern and I have been on the tip
of the spear of a handful of fights. We have worked on so many things. I deeply
respect your commitment to understanding the Code, understanding the law, and
understanding what is constitutionally correct. We have gone to Honolulu together
to fight many things, so here is my good friend who I have a lot of respect for, that I
would really like to have on my team. Here is a situation where, I know you folks
think it is nothing to be the one (1) female. I will tell you, even though I love you all
and I enjoy working with you, and I think you are good, it would be nice to have
another person there. What I also have to say, what makes it hard, it might surprise
people, but I really grew to enjoy working with Ross well. Ross, I felt like you had my
back even if we did not agree with things, I felt you always treated me respectfully,
it took a little time to get there, but we got there, and I appreciate that. What I have
also appreciated when you think about experience on pieces, I will not go into details,
but there has been a handful of things that Ross has brought up on the floor, and I
have thought, "Well, I do not agree with that." But in the end, I learned that he was
right even after he was gone. Sometimes we can look at what people put forward as
an ordinance, and I know that there are those out there that are on that side of the
bench not on this side that measure productivity in terms of how many bills get
passed or introduced, but what rarely ever gets looked at is were they affected, did
they make the right change, and was there collateral damage? So, sometimes it is
better to just simply give the pushback to slow down what is needed there. What I
am saying with that is, I am looking at two (2) people that I really like, and you might
seem to be from different points of the perspectives, but you are actually really bright.
I have to say, Fern, it is really evident that you are really bright. Sometimes Ross
can be understated on that, but he will end up making the right call, and more so
than myself or maybe some of the rest of us. Lila, I want to say something to you.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for what you are doing. I appreciate your
passion. I appreciate what you are talking about. There is still a place for you to be
participating. In fact, I do go put my nose right in there with the people who are on
the side of the road, I do go to the hospital room, I do that, so you are speaking to my
heart. When I want someone by my side or helping lift that load, absolutely, we all
do it to a certain extent, but I think they do it excessively, so I get what you are saying.
I am thanking all of you for the effort that you put in there. I appreciate what a tough
decision this is.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Councilmember
Bulosan.
Councilmember Bulosan: I have a few points.
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 14 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Council Chair Rapozo: Absolutely.
Councilmember Bulosan: Maybe three (3), four (4), or maybe five (5).
Who is counting? Anyways. First of all, this is...we have Ross on the floor and since
Ross is in the room, I just want to say, with qualifications alone, you have my vote.
If we are just looking at qualifications alone, this is the right choice, the eighth
vote-getter, that is a no-brainer for me in that sense. Ross, if you get elected, I no
doubt can work with you, and doing everything possible to help our community. First,
appointments are never easy, let us be real. We just went through an appointment
for our District 16 that took almost a month or awhile, and it left District 16 empty,
which is not fair, because the process is never fair, appointments are not fair. It
bypassed Elections, and it does not allow the community to get involved, so that is
the unfortunate truth about appointments. Let me be clear, my second point is that,
I am very mad at Luke for putting us into this position, especially me, because I feel
like Luke was a counterpart of a young millennial doing all that he can like all the
young millennials doing all they can to try to stay home. That is the number one
thing we are trying to figure out right now—trying to figure out a way to still call
Kaua`i home, and hopefully, call back some people home, and then ultimately, never
have our future question if they can call home, home still. So, when we are talking
about replacing Luke, he was the top vote-getter, he was the number 1 vote-getter,
got votes across the board, so when we are thinking about replacing him, it is really
hard to consider only qualifications. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Luke was a one-
trick pony, we all know he was all about building housing for local people, so that is
the kind of expertise that I am looking for, but I am not here only to look just
qualifications. About an hour ago in here, we had over eighteen (18) young ladies
here celebrating a never before celebration. First time ever State Champions Lady
Warriors from Kapa'a High School. When we were celebrating them and talking
about all the accomplishments they had done, everything in me was talking about,
"Well, that was a dream for all of us." It was a dream to see happen. We dream this
for our kids. We dream this for everyone that call this place home to have these kind
of achievements. Oftentimes, dreams are far from obtainable, it is not something we
can get to, it is usually going to take several generations to even achieve, so when I
get to this moment here, I never thought that it would be a dream, and it is an
unfortunate dream that we need to fight for the underserved and the
underrepresented. We need to dream for that representation. We need to dream for
those people to be represented. We are in this scenario, because there are so many
dreams that we have not yet accomplished. That is what my vote will be reflecting
today—it is just a dream. It is beyond qualifications. It is a hope that in the future,
and maybe it is the future right now, like I hope this is the future right now, that the
underserved, the underrepresented is represented, is served, that we do not have
to...the problems that we are faced with is not the problems at-hand anymore. I
dream where housing is not the problem, that Native Hawaiians are represented,
that women are on this floor, I dream of all that already exists, and the only thing we
are focused on is celebrating people like our Lady Warriors, celebrating these
accomplishments. So, today is tough. I want to acknowledge the hundreds of emails
that we received testimony, discussion points. Once Luke put his name into the
appointment, I personally reached out to the last four (4) people. I reached out to
Ross, Fern, Rachel, and Lila. I said, "Hey, consider there might be a possibility that
we might need to find someone to replace Luke." I did that because I felt like that
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 15 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
was the responsibility of a Councilmember, because we would be voting on it, and I
wanted to make sure that the underserved, the underrepresented, and the qualified
have a fair chance to this process, and I believe we are doing that right now. With all
that said, when it gets down to this vote today, just in this portion, I know where I
am with it, and I hope that I can encourage other people to look at this process, and
then get "fired up" for the next Election, because we need more people stepping up.
It is not that we do not, we always get over twenty (20) people "throwing their hats
in," and that is awesome. I just feel like the more people get involved in every part
of this process, not just in the Election, the better our community becomes as a whole.
I will just close with this, and I will follow-up if there is any other discussion. The
Lady Warriors that were in here from Kapa'a High School, the first thing that came
to my mind is about that dream that they were looking at, and it makes me super
happy that I even have an opportunity to even vote for that dream, because most
people are not in that situation in this world. I honor the privilege that I have right
now, and I respect all of my colleagues decisions, and the discussion that we have,
and I look forward to continue working with our community to make everything
possible for our community, so that we do not have to keep dreaming, we can just live
the dream.
Council Chair Rapozo: Councilmember Kuali`i.
Councilmember Kuali`i: Let me start by saying that I have answered
about seventy (70) or so emails, so far, there may be some waiting for me that came
in recently. In my response to all of the folks, I thank them for participating, it is
always one (1)of the testifiers, as Mr. Hart was saying, participation is key, we cannot
do our job without staff and community participation. We are here to represent you.
I made it clear, and I will make it clear now that, although the Council has the right
as a body to pick anyone we so choose, for me, in my individual choice is to honor the
will of the voters and support the next person in line according to the vote totals from
our Election just three (3) months ago. It, for me, is the only right, fair, and just
choice. Had Fern received one thousand one hundred sixty (1,160) more votes, that
would have put her one (1) vote ahead of Ross, and I would be happy to support her
today. I know Fern, we have been on the campaign trail together, and enjoyed those
times together. I believe that if Fern sticks with it and persists as I did, because it
took me three (3) times running before I was first selected. It is only your first time
and you are right there on the cusp, so if you persist, I see you on this Council very
soon, in the next race or two (2). I do feel strongly that I have to honor the voters
choice, and I cannot do anything differently. It would be hypocritical for me to do
anything differently based on my own personal history. In 2001, as the Chair pointed
out, I was the eighth place vote-getter and I was unanimously appointed by the
Council to fill the vacancy left by now Mayor Kawakami who went to the Legislature
just like Councilmember Evslin did, now Representative Evslin. In 2013, when I was
again the eighth place vote-getter, I had the support of only two (2) Councilmembers
to fill the vacancy left by Councilmember Nadine Nakamura at that time who went
to become our Managing Director. The four (4) other sitting Councilmembers put
their support behind someone who did not even run, bypassing everyone who did run.
So the voters, in the very next Election, voted out two (2) of those four (4) who were
trying to get re-elected for their fourth and final term before they were termed out,
so they got termed out early by the voters, and the other two (2) came in fifth and
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 16 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
seventh, one of them being in a former Mayor and the other one being a former Senate
President, I mean serving the Legislature. Long time politicians with big names, me
nobody, from a poor Hawaiian family, I came in fourth in that Election. It was not
because of me, it was because of the voters saying, "We spoke and you did not listen
to us." It is always my belief and mantra that there are many different ways to serve
the public, so I tell anyone out there, do not give up, persist, do not worry about what
role it is, whether you are on the Council or not. If community service is in your heart,
just go out and do it, and keep doing it, before you know it, you will be up here as
well, because it all ties together. Ross, I have worked with him. I have been on the
Council with Ross. I have been off the Council watching Ross in action, and I have
been back on the Council with Ross. He has worked on eight (8) different budgets. I
think the budget is the biggest job of the Council. He has an accounting background.
He has done a good job. The voters selected him, why would we deny him that? Chair
talked about the precedents. The precedents is that more than not, the eighth place
vote-getter, the voters choice is who was appointed. The one time that the outlier
was when that happened to me. I tell you, I do not take it personally because I love
the community and I serve them however I can, but it was really not fair and not
right to my family. My mom and dad were sitting in the audience because we
expected...everything is a secret, right? The Sunshine Law, so no one knows what is
really going to happen, just like we do not know today, we still have to vote. Well,
my mom and dad were sitting in the audience, kupuna, pure Hawaiian, pure
Portuguese, here for a proud day, and when that happened to me, and that is bad
politics. That is nasty, bad politics, not honoring the votes of the people. I did not
take it personally, because I was ready to go again just like Fern. Fern says, "I am
running in the next Election." I was running in the next Election, because I had
something to prove. I had to prove to all the young people, up and coming, people of
color, from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ)
community, never done on Kaua`i, I had to prove that it could be done, and if I could
do that, my job was done. I am here to serve community, enjoying it, but I persisted,
and I have proven that. The last thing that I want to say is that, I am a proud, Lila,
male feminist, I love the fact that the YWCA did that forum, it has not been done
before, because it brought a whole new perspective, and it gave us a chance to talk
about issues that normally does not get talked about in the Council. Just this
morning, he was talking about the young ladies from the Warriors, our State
Champions. We also had three (3) young women brought forward by Ellen Ching
from Boards & Commissions, first-timers, all of them, for our commissions. I was so
impressed by all of them, and I just wanted them to know, because for me, I see myself
coming to the end now, and now I see young women stepping forward, so I told each
of those three (3) women, "Thank you for stepping forward and being willing to serve
on our commission. I hope you will do what you can on the commission, you will come
back, and run for Council." I told them, too, I will help them. I enjoy working on
other people's campaigns more than I do my own. I see myself helping young people
in the future. I am proud today to support Ross Kagawa.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else?
Councilmember DeCosta: May I say something, Chair?
Council Chair Rapozo: Does he still have time?
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 17 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Councilmember DeCosta: Okay. Two (2)things; one, for the record, Ross
Kagawa is my friend, I am not hiding behind anything. You said, "Fern is your
friend." I played high school football with Ross. We won two (2) Kaua`i
Interscholastic Federation (KIF) Championships. We did things together that
"besties" do. Ross is my "bestie." I am not voting for Ross because he is the eighth
vote-getter. I am voting for Ross because I have confidence in him, because I have
seen what he can do, and if Ross cannot do it, I am going to help him do it the right
way. I want to tell you what I am not, and I am not going to have you folks hide
behind it. Lila, I think you know this better than anyone. In that meeting all of these
men said they were feminist, and the one who said he was not, was me. I do not
believe I am a feminist. Do you know why? I think women who ask for recognition
and want to be in power are not true women of being in power. The strong women do
not need to be recognized. My wife, Kamehameha School graduate runs the show at
home. Ross' wife runs the show at home, but they are so strong that they allow Ross
and I to look like we run the show in public. I am telling you right now, there are a
lot of powerful women in this room that do not need the recognition. Know that we
do not always have to say that "We need more women." If the voters wanted more
women, they would have put women on this Council, so there we go. I wanted to say
that, and I did. Thank you.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else?
Councilmember Cowden: I have to say a few nice things about Ross.
Council Chair Rapozo: Go ahead.
Councilmember Cowden: I like that Ross asks authentic questions. He
is straightforward, and he calls it out. Usually, when he calls it out, maybe sometimes
a little bit animated, he is really coming from his truth for what I think is a really
important check and balance—I appreciate that. I actually appreciate not being the
strongest opinion sitting on the floor sometimes. I want to also acknowledge, because
there was something that was written in a number of the emails about him teaching
school. You are not doing that anymore, right? So, I appreciate that we are going to
have, it is really obvious from the math, a full-time person in here doing it, and I
actually did not know that you had an accounting background, but I have always
noticed that Ross asks meaningful economic questions, and that is a very big lever
and big part of what is the Legislative branch, is handling the money. As
Councilmember DeCosta pointed out, we have the budget next month, and it is not
like any other private sector accounting, it is difficult to understand, and it is really
important to be able to recognize on all financial pieces that we get in a year, when
to pull a break, or when to be able to ask a hard question, so I want to throw those
positives out there.
Council Chair Rapozo: Is there anyone else? Go ahead.
Councilmember Bulosan: I can see where we are leading, and I am just
going to explain my vote, as what my vote is going to be. On the floor, I understand
the process, what we need to do is deliberate and figure out what is the best choice,
so if Ross is the person that we choose today, Ross, I am looking forward to working
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 18 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
with you. Obviously, you have been tracking all the issues we have been facing. In
past, we have worked together on issues in Lihu`e, it has been about four (4) years
with all this work we have done together, so I am looking forward to that. At the
same time, I have a personal bias. I was raised by some strong women. I lived in the
same house as my grandma, born and raised there with my mom, then when both of
them went to work, I was raised by my aunty Lita. So, I have a tendency to be a
strong feminist. Everything about me is about supporting women, supporting
underserved, and the underrepresented, so that is what my vote is going to reflect.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. Is there anyone else? If not, I
have said my peace early on. I wanted to clarify the record, I think sometimes I get
more credit than I deserve, like I am this all empowered Chair that can have these
Councilmembers do what I want—highly untrue. I will say this, I do not mean any
offense to any of the prior colleagues I have worked with on the Council over all the
years, so far, it is still young, but this Council is probably the most independent
thinking Council I have ever worked with. For this issue, again, like I said, when I
came here that morning, I guess it was in 2011, I am sorry, in 2013, I was under the
impression that Councilmember Kuali`i was going to be selected because he was
number 8. We have not had the discussions of"who are you going to vote for?" We
have not had that discussion. I think people knew my position just because I have
said it from early on, but that simply is not the case. It sounds like the direction we
are going in, I think I know where it is going, but until we take the vote anything is
possible. I want to say, I respect and love Ms. Tico a lot, she has been a long time
friend, Teresa Tico, and she mentioned the one hundred thousand dollar ($100,000)
Climate Action Plan, I did not support it either, and the reason I did not support it,
and no offense previous Mayor, Councilmember Carvalho, I do not want you to hit
me.
Councilmember Carvalho: It is open.
Council Chair Rapozo: I will say, generally speaking,
Administrations have this tendency of going after grant money even if there is no
plan. Mr. Kagawa, myself, and many others, we do not like that. If you do not have
a plan to use the money, do not ask for the money. I did not support the one hundred
thousand dollars ($100,000), that does not mean I do not support our efforts in climate
change on this Climate Action Plan, but the fact of the matter, again, Councilmember
Cowden, when you said, "Authentic." Sometimes we are. Sometimes we are painfully
authentic or painfully real, and it comes across wrong, because I did not support a
specific issue, they say I do not support it all. The bike path is a good example. I was
concerned about exactly what we are suffering today. I brought it up, and I was
pegged as an anti-bike path. No, I just wanted you folks to make sure we can
maintain it and it will be safe, and now we have a lot of crime, drugs, and erosion on
that, and I do not need to say, "I told you so." I am just saying, people wrap you in
this category that may not necessarily be true. The recycling issue that Ms. Tico and
Councilmember DeCosta brought up, until today, our Administration does not know
where to send it. We can collect all the recyclables we would like, but where are we
going to put it when we are renting warehouse spaces? The reason I bring this up is,
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 19 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
I think oftentimes when we are on opposite sides of an issue, people tend to categorize
us. Like I told Councilmember Bulosan today, people will love you today and hate
you next week in this job. Fifty percent (50%) of the people are not going to be happy
today, and fifty percent (50%) will—that is this job, and if we are not able to handle
that, then we are in the wrong job. It is not easy. Fern, I will tell you, it pains me to
sit here and watch, because you are such a good person. I see some emails that says,
"You folks are going to take the easy way out." It is not the easy way out, trust me.
I was here when Councilmember Kuali`i broke down right there, they were sitting on
that side, and Mason was this side. It was like a boxing match. When that vote came
down and I saw his parents, I am like, "Awww." It is not easy, but it has to be done.
For me, I could sit here all day and talk about his accounting background, for me, it
is a lot easier, and maybe subconsciously I take the easy way out. Honestly, when
you think about it, the State is looking at a new voting style where they will go first,
second, third; what do you call that?
Councilmember Kuali`i: Rank voting.
Council Chair Rapozo: Rank voting. The State is looking at this now.
So, we will go first, second, third, fourth. Okay, you ran out of votes, so we will go to
the second place—that is where we are headed. I do not think it is unreasonable to
think that. Again, three (3) months ago, this is not like a year ago, it was three (3)
months ago. We have not had an issue to get upset with each other yet, but it will
come. The people spoke three (3) months ago. Again, I am going to honor that. With
that, if there is no further discussion, the motion is to approve the nomination of Ross
Kagawa. Roll call.
The motion for approval of Ross Kagawa for a vacant unexpired term on the
Kaua`i County Council to serve until December 1, 2024, was then put, and
carried by the following vote:
FOR MOTION: Carvalho, Cowden, DeCosta, Kuali`i,
Rapozo TOTAL– 5,
AGAINST MOTION: Bulosan TOTAL– 1,
EXCUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL– 0,
RECUSED & NOT VOTING: None TOTAL– 0.
Ms. Fountain-Tanigawa: Motion carried, 5:1.
Council Chair Rapozo: Thank you. With that, the meeting is now
adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT.
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 20 FEBRUARY 22, 2023
There being no further business, the Special Council Meeting adjourned
at 1:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
JADE UNTAIN-TANIGAWA
County Clerk
:iY