LIHU‘E — It was all celebration Tuesday evening at Niumalu Pavilion as preliminary numbers showed Justin Kollar with a commanding lead in one of the hardest-fought races for county prosecutor in Kaua‘i’s history. Kollar edged out incumbent Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho
LIHU‘E — It was all celebration Tuesday evening at Niumalu Pavilion as preliminary numbers showed Justin Kollar with a commanding lead in one of the hardest-fought races for county prosecutor in Kaua‘i’s history.
Kollar edged out incumbent Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho to become the county’s next prosecuting attorney.
“I just want to say thank you, and I know we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us,” Kollar said Tuesday night, after finding out he was the people’s choice. “I’m so humbled and honored that this community has put its trust in me.”
Kollar added that his victory was a “team effort” and that his first priority will be focusing on “doing the people’s work” and getting the office back to one of respect, integrity and honor.
At approximately 9:45 p.m., with all 16 precincts accounted for, Kollar had received 14,289 votes, 55.8 percent, while Iseri-Carvalho received 9,514 votes, 37.1 percent. A total of 1,803 blank votes accounted for the remaining 7 percent.
Kollar is the deputy county attorney who has worked primarily with the Kaua‘i Police Department since 2009.
He was a county deputy prosecuting attorney on Kaua‘i in 2008, coming from O‘ahu where he had clerked for the State Court of Appeals since 2006. He will step into his new position on Dec. 1.
“The numbers are really humbling to me, that’s all I can say,” Kollar said. “I’m very excited to move forward. … We have a lot of work to do.”
Kollar’s supporters gathered at Nawiliwili and cheered his success at being elected the next county prosecutor, silencing out President Barack Obama’s victory speech, which was simultaneously played over a loudspeaker.
“I’m just incredibly proud,” Kollar’s fiancé Sierra Hampton said. “He just stayed very positive and very true to himself and the values he was running on.”
Dane Oda, Kollar’s campaign chair, said he was happy with the results and feels Kollar will do a good job for the community.
During the Aug. 11 Primary, Kollar received only 49 more votes than Iseri-Carvalho, but there were still more than 1,500 blank votes.
Iseri-Carvalho was elected county prosecutor in 2008, after running unopposed.
During her term, she has consistently boasted the Office of Prosecuting Attorney for achieving high conviction rates.
On Monday, she said OPA deals with 150 to 200 cases each week and has a 97 percent conviction rate. She also said that because of her advocacy, OPA has been awarded $4.15 million during her time as county prosecutor, including $698,340 in Fiscal Year 2009, $1.03 million in FY 2010, $733,219 in FY 2011, $792, 689 in FY 2012, and $891,067 in FY 2013.
But Iseri-Carvalho’s time as OPA’s department head was also marred by a string of controversies, including an investigation of OPA’s diversionary program, a high turnover rate of employees, the criminal persecution of a council member, several civil lawsuits against OPA and settlements with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
• Chris D’Angelo, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 241) or lifestyle@thegardenisland.com.
Correction: The correct spelling of Justin Kollar’s campaign manager is Dane Oda.
