LIHUE — Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr. recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., where he attended the 84th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. While there, the mayor also met with Hawaii’s congressional delegation and their staff
LIHUE — Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr. recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., where he attended the 84th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. While there, the mayor also met with Hawaii’s congressional delegation and their staff as well as with federal partners.
“It was very cold and the streets were icy, but we managed to accomplish what we set out to,” Carvalho said.
On his first full day on Capitol Hill, the mayor scheduled nine appointments including a meeting with representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We talked about the landfill challenges we’re facing on Kauai relative to the Endangered Species Act and the methane gas capturing system that we’re developing at the landfill,” Carvalho said. “After the EPA has had a chance to fully review our situation, we will follow up with a conference call, and hopefully they can assist us.”
The mayor also met with U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz as well as with the staff of U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and U.S. Rep. Mark Takai. He provided the senators and the representatives’ staff with an update on several key projects including: the adolescent treatment and healing center; landfill and resource recovery park; Lima Ola, a large scale affordable housing project in ‘Eleele; Kauai Creative Technology Center and the Hanalei Valley Overlook.
“Building and strengthening relationships with all levels of government is important as it enables us to connect and discuss our shared goals,” Carvalho said.
During the USCOM meeting, Mayor Carvalho and about 300 other mayors from across the country discussed issues facing U.S. cities and counties including aging infrastructure, traffic, affordable housing, job creation and homelessness.
“Although we come from different locations and our populations vary in size, we still share some of the same challenges,” said the mayor.
He noted that the session on homelessness drew a lot of interest, as the mayors were eager to find out how others are handling this complex issue and what new sources of funding are available to support this effort.
Carvalho also made a short presentation on the $13.8 million TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant that the County of Kauai received approval for last fall for the Lihue Town Core Mobility and Revitalization Plan.
“When I went to Washington D.C. for the conference last year, I showed our draft proposal for the TIGER grant to our congressional delegation and transportation officials and asked for their feedback,” noted the mayor. “Thanks to everyone’s input, we were successful with our application.”
Another highlight of the mayor’s DC trip was attending a reception at the White House with President Barack Obama and some of his cabinet members.
“President Obama shared his plans for his final year in office and how he intends to ‘leave it all out in the field,’” said the mayor. “He also said that he respects our roles as mayors as we are on the front lines and interact with our citizens on a daily basis.”
