A contingent from Kauai led by Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami is headed on a good-will mission to Japan.
A contingent from Kauai led by Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami is headed on a good-will mission to Japan.
“I am honored and excited to embark on my very first official international trip to visit our beloved sister cities of Japan,” Kawakami said. “Kauai mayors before me have established and developed strong partnerships with our Sister City officials, and my goal for this trip is to continue to strengthen those partnerships and affirm our commitment as a new administration. Together with our delegation, we look forward to furthering our long-lasting ties of goodwill, culture, and friendship between Kauai and Japan.”
The mayor will participate in commemoration of Sister City agreements. The Kauai delegation will also exchange information on tourism and economic practices, and establish/strengthen relationships between Kauai and Japan.
Those from the county joining the mayor include Executive Protocol Officer Kaleo Carvalho, tourism specialist Nalani Brun, Council Vice Chair Ross Kagawa, Councilmember KipuKai Kuali‘i. Mark Perriello, Kauai Chamber of Commerce president, is also going.
Their schedule of stops includes:
1) Sept. 26 to 29 – Iwaki
2) Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 – Yamaguchi
3) Oct. 1 to 2 – Fukuoka
4) Oct. 2 to 5 – Ishigaki
The delegation will meet top government officials from each city, attend the Iwaki City-County of Kauai International Sister City Exchange Cultural Festival 2019 (aka Iwaki-Kauai ‘Ohana Hula Festival), commemorate the 20th anniversary Reaffirmation Ceremony of Ishigaki-Kaua‘i Sister City signing, and attend and speak at the Islander Summit Ishigaki 2019.
TGI asked Monday for the budget of the trip. It was not available by TGI’s deadline late Tuesday.
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Move along folks. You don’t need to see what this junket is going to cost.
What does he do? It seems to me that his job as mayor has no pay. He lacks knowledge as a mayor to the job as mayor. Who’s doing the job?
Getting an update on Fukushima is key. Leakage is affecting fish that travel these waters.
This bugs me and it’s bugs plenty people. We watched this kind of stuff with the other administrations and their junkets but as much I like the Mayor I do not want to see this any more. Enough already.
We do not need to promote Kauai so going over to re-up our sisterhood status is ridiculous. We are a small population that cannot be paying for this kind of thing when we have people living outside homeless and others barely making their rent. It’s got to stop. And who picked Kagawa?
The mayor is already paid and gets set waves at Pakala everyday. Paid junkets and party time for the whole term seems par for the course. It’s called politricks for a reason. Stay home and strike, or be satisfied with the status-quo, those are the options. Money=ecocide. Humans are functionally extinct. Enjoy your ford raptors. We have lost the plot. Enjoy the day.