Kauaʻi County Council candidates to speak at two public forums this week

Local community organizations on Kauaʻi are hosting two public forums this week to give residents an opportunity to hear from the candidates running for County Council before the General Election on Nov. 5.

The forums will be held Oct. 2 and 3, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Kaua’i Memorial Convention Hall in Lihuʻe.

Eleven of 14 candidates who survived the primary election and are competing for one of the seven council seats are scheduled to attend. These candidates will be divided between the two nights. 

The candidates include all seven current council members, who are running for re-election, as well as a former council member who had previously termed out, and six others who have yet to hold office.

Community sponsors for the event are Kauaʻi Community Radio (KKCR), the Kauaʻi Planning and Action Alliance, the YWCA of Kauaʻi, the Zonta Club of Kauaʻi and Hoʻike Kauaʻi Community Television, which will be streaming the event live both nights on its YouTube page. 

Below is a breakdown of the candidates for Kauaʻi County Council, listed in the order in which they are scheduled to attend.

Wednesday, Oct. 2: 

• Bernard Carvalho, Jr.: Current council member and former mayor of Kauaʻi (2008 to 2018). He finished first in the primary, with a total of 7,653 votes (7.4%), according to the latest election results. 

• Fern Ānuenue Holland: Currently works as the Food Systems Director for the nonprofit Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action. This is Hollandʻs second campaign for County Council. Holland finished in ninth place in the primary, with 4,817 votes (4.7%).

• Arryl Kaneshiro: Former Kauaʻi County Council member (2014 – 2022). Since council members can serve a maximum of four consecutive two-year terms in office, Kaneshiro is running again after terming out in 2022. Kaneshiro, also a sheep rancher, is employed as an agricultural consultant for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s 1,400-acre private compound on the North Shore of Kaua’i, Wired reported in December 2023. Kaneshiro finished third in the primary, with 6,836 votes (6.6%).

• Butch Keahiolalo: Keahiolalo is a retired County of Kaua’i fire captain and former math teacher. He finished in 12th place in the primary, with 1,962 votes (1.9%). 

• Mel Rapozo: Current Council Chair and longtime council member. He was first elected to the council in 2002 and is also a retired police officer, having worked for the Kaua’i Police Department from 1984 to 1997. Rapozo finished in second in the primary, with 7,435 votes (7.2%). 

• Bart Thomas: Previously served in roles, including Vice Chair of the Kaua’i Salvation Army and Director of the Kaua’i Veterans Museum, according to a Civil Beat candidate Q&A. Thomas finished in 14th place in the primary, making him the final candidate to move on to the general election. He received 1,240 votes (1.2%) in the primary.  

Thursday, Oct. 3 

• Abraham Apilado Jr.: A local fisherman on Kaua’i, who previously said he used to be someone who never thought his vote mattered at an election event in August. He finished in 10th place in the primary, with 2,133 votes (2.1%). 

• Addison Bulosan: Council member currently serving his first term in office after being elected in 2022. This is his third campaign for office. Bulosan finished in 7th place in the 2024 primary, with 5,607 votes (5.4%). 

• Felicia Cowden: A current council member, who was first elected in 2018. She finished in 6th place in the primary, with 5,898 votes (5.7%). Prior to that, she co-owned Hanalei Surf Company for nearly two decades. 

• Billy DeCosta: Current council member, first elected in the 2020 election. DeCosta also previously worked as a teacher at Kapa’a High School. He was placed on administrative leave earlier this year when he was found to have “inappropriately messaged” a student on social media, following an investigation by the state Department of Education. Also this year, local artist Glen Gruenhagen was sentenced to a year in jail for a handmade poster left by Cowden on DeCosta’s desk. DeCosta finished in 8th place in the primary, with 4,989 votes (4.8%).

• KipuKai Kualiʻi: Current Vice Chair of the Kaua’i County Council. Kualiʻi was first elected to the council in 2011. At the time, he was reported to be the first openly gay politician in the area, and the third openly LGBTQ elected official in the state.  He finished fifth in the primary with 6,476 votes (6.3%).

Candidates not scheduled to attend: 

• Ross Kagawa: The only current council member not scheduled to attend the event. Kagawa finished in fourth place in the primary, receiving 6,521 votes (6.3%). Kagawa was first elected to the council in 2012 and served in the role until 2020. He narrowly lost the last election in 2022, finishing in eighth place, but returned to the role in February 2023 to replace former council member and current state Rep. Luke Evslin. Kagawa did not respond by deadline to a question about his reason for not attending this week’s forum.

• Sherri Cummings: Cummings has been a regular speaker at weekly County Council meetings, providing testimony on a range of issues.  Her occupation is not known at this time, and she could not immediately be reached for comment. Cummings received 2,094 votes (2.0%) in the primary, finishing in 11th place.  

• Jacquelyn (Jakki) Nelson: Currently works as a personal assistant and property manager for a family in Kilauea. Nelson also worked as a manager of Olympic Cafe in Kapa’a for nearly 13 years and has worked in catering, beekeeping, and selling organic pet food. This is Nelson’s third campaign for council, after previously running in 2020 and 2022. She finished in 13th place in the primary with 1,262 votes (1.2%). In a recent phone call, Nelson suggested she would try to make plans to attend the upcoming forum.

The race for Kauaʻi County Council is the only contested local race in the 2024 election.

Hawaiʻi experienced the worst voter turnout in its primary history, with initial election results showing only 25.2% turnout on Kauaʻi during the Aug. 10 Primary Election.

That number later increased to 31.3% (14,721 out of 46,980 registered voters) having participated, according to updated results from the state Office of Elections on Aug. 19. Candidates are hoping for a better turnout during the general election on Nov. 5.

More information about registering to vote in Hawaiʻi in the November election is available here.