LIHU‘E — He’s only been in office for eight-plus months, but Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. says he is encouraged by the work he and his department heads have done. After six months on the job, in June Carvalho issued his
LIHU‘E — He’s only been in office for eight-plus months, but Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. says he is encouraged by the work he and his department heads have done.
After six months on the job, in June Carvalho issued his second quarterly “report card” on the county Web site with the goal of updating the community on the status of projects and initiatives.
“The bottom line is accountability,” Carvalho said in an interview at his office Wednesday. Asked for his assessment his administration’s progress thus far, the mayor said his initiatives are “on track.”
“I’m more than satisfied with where we’re at right now.”
Carvalho sat down with The Garden Island to discuss a variety of subjects covered by his report card.
•Carvalho said he was “in constant communication” with federal and state officials and is working to secure American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funding. “It means more jobs coming online and money coming into our economy,” he said of the so-called federal stimulus passed earlier this year.
• In his quest to support more locally grown and processed beef, Carvalho said $50,000 has been set aside to support two slaughterhouses and he has met with cattle ranchers looking for help marketing, processing and packaging their beef. Although he acknowledged a facility will not be built by his targeted completion date of June 2010, Carvalho said, “By 2010 I would hope that we’d have a plan in place … that can benefit” all the ranchers.
• The June 2009 target for implementing the Lihu‘e Town Core Plan has been missed because some planning and legal questions need to be clarified, the mayor said. An e-mail from an administration official clarified that “the ordinance needs additional work by the (County) Attorney’s office before it’s ready to submit to Planning (Department). That review is almost complete, and the draft ordinance is expected to be submitted to Planning by the end of August.”
• Similarly, three bills for agricultural preservation originally targeted for June introduction require “more homework,” Carvalho said. One, relating to density, has been forwarded to the Planning Commission, while bills related to Class IV permits for ag subdivisions and condominium property regimes are still in the works.
To view the PDF documents of Carvalho’s second quarterly report card, visit www.kauai.gov.
