LIHU‘E — State Rep. Lyla Berg says she wants to represent Kaua‘i, too. The third-term O‘ahu Democrat intends to run for lieutenant governor in 2010, and said in an interview at The Garden Island office this week that she wants
LIHU‘E — State Rep. Lyla Berg says she wants to represent Kaua‘i, too.
The third-term O‘ahu Democrat intends to run for lieutenant governor in 2010, and said in an interview at The Garden Island office this week that she wants to advocate more for Neighbor Islands in the upcoming legislative session.
“I want to support the voices of the Neighbor Islands and support the voices of Kaua‘i in particular,” Berg said Tuesday. “Kaua‘i offers a model that the rest of the state can evolve with. … It is a model of human sustainability because this community relies on each other.”
Berg said a number of her pet issues are particularly prominent on Kaua‘i, pointing to the “huge implications” of the Important Agricultural Lands legislation, which she said is causing “great stress” for small farmers. She said she had historically been opposed to the bill because, like many laws passed in the state capital, it did not recognize the impact on Neighbor Islands but instead focused on O‘ahu and Honolulu.
She said the “resiliency that’s so needed to weather the economic and socially challenging times” is a “hallmark of Kaua‘i.”
“While others are panicking, Kaua‘i is in motion to address it for themselves.”
While on Kaua‘i, she attended the birthday celebration for friend Barbara Bennett, currently on the Kaua‘i Charter Review Commission, who confirmed Friday she will serve as Berg’s Kaua‘i campaign chair during the 2010 campaign.
Berg also spoke Wednesday at the monthly meeting of the Kaua‘i Agricultural Initiative, an organization founded in January that has worked on projects including the Mayor’s Aloha Garden, farmer’s market in Kapa‘a, Garden Island Range and Food Festival and community harvesting, Bennett said.
Berg serves as vice chair of the state House Education Committee and also sits on committees for Agriculture; Economic Revitilization, Business and Military Affairs; Higher Education; and Tourism, Culture and International Affairs.
For more information on Berg, visit www.lylaberg.com.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com.
