TGI candidate profile: KipuKai Kuali‘i

KipuKai L. P. Kuali‘i

• Age: 60

• Occupation: Councilmember, County of Kaua‘i, director of operations, YWCA of Kaua‘i

• Town of residence: Anahola

• Prior experience in government/leadership: Kaua‘i County Councilmember 2011-2012, 2014-2016, 2018-present; Kaua‘i County Council’s Housing & Intergovernmental Relations Committee chair; Kaua‘i County Council’s Finance & Economic Development Committee vice chair; National Association of Counties (NACo) Board, boardmember; Kaua‘i County’s Agency on Elderly Affairs Advisory Task Force member; Kaua‘i Economic Opportunity, Inc. Board, boardmember; Anahola Hawaiian Homes Association, president; Pi‘ilani Mai Ke Kai Community Association, treasurer; Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, policy chair; Hawaiian Lending & Investments, founding boardmember

Q: Kaua‘i continues to look for a new landfill site, years after its search began. The clock is ticking: The Kekaha landfill is currently projected to reach capacity in Jan. 2027. What is your preferred solution?

Although many, including myself, had hoped for a curbside recycling program by now, our mayor and administration has determined it isn’t economically feasible because of the extreme cost and because it would only increase our diversion rate by 5%.

My preferred solution is to support our mayor and administration however I can with:

1) The permitting of a new landfill across the highway at Kekaha mauka;

2) Seeking state approval for a vertical expansion of the existing landfill that would extend operations through Nov. 2030;

3) Doing extensive outreach and education to get our citizens to play a decisive role in helping us avoid a garbage crisis by changing more habits and diverting more waste; composting, recycling, reusing materials and source reduction;

4) Excavating waste from the oldest part of the landfill, separating out recyclables and reburying the waste on top of the landfill’s newest section;

5) Creating a construction and demolition reclamation center to dispose of construction and demolition garbage, which makes up the largest portion of the current landfill’s waste stream.

We must focus on diversion to address our landfill problem. However, making a real difference for our planet requires each of us to make meaningful behavioral changes, the kinds that may take away some of our conveniences and may even cost us a little more of our time and energy. If we’re serious about preserving our Kaua‘i quality of life, we have to be willing to do our part as responsible stewards of our island home.

Q: The County Council sets real-property-tax rates as part of the county budget process. What changes, if any, would you make to the way that property is taxed on-island?

I support real-property-tax rates being tiered at three different assessed value levels for residential investors and transient vacation rentals.

Properties with an assessed value under a certain level would pay the Tier 1 rate. Properties with an assessed value higher than the Tier 1 level but under a higher Tier 2 level would pay the first portion at the Tier 1 rate and the second portion at the Tier 2 rate. Finally, properties with an assessed value over an even-higher Tier 3 level would pay the first portion at the Tier 1 rate, the second portion at the Tier 2 rate and the last portion at the Tier 3 rate.

These tiers will allow for taxing everyone equally within each tier and also allow for taxing at higher rates the portions of total assessed value that are in the Tier 2 or Tier 3 level ranges.

Single properties paying different amounts in part per tier means avoiding the drastic increases that would occur if properties were bumped up and taxed entirely at the higher rate when their assessed value passed a certain amount.

As a possible example, a TVR assessed at $3.3 million would pay the first million at the Tier 1 rate, the next $2 million at the Tier 2 rate and the last $300,000 at the Tier 3 rate.

Setting real-property-tax rates annually provides council a tool for prioritizing policy values that advance our quality of life, such as funding more housing.

Q: The median price of a single-family home on Kaua‘i is over $1 million, and the county’s 2018 General Plan reported 44% of all households are cost-burdened. How will you address the affordable housing crisis on Kaua‘i?

Incentivizing private developers and infill development in town cores: Chair Arryl Kaneshiro and I introduced and got passed critically needed improvements to our housing policy, incentivizing private developers and establishing special management areas in town cores to support higher-density housing. We’re currently working on even more improvements to our housing rolicy.

Incentivizing homeowner ARUs: We passed several bills supporting Additional Rental Units (ARUs). Councilmember Evslin and I introduced and got passed a bill supporting tiny houses. I’m committed to helping more existing homeowners build ARUs.

More County housing Projects: I’m committed to building more county housing for local residents like our 30-unit Kealaula transitional housing, our 53-unit Pua Loke affordable rentals and our multi-phase, multi-unit Lima Ola project in Ele‘ele that includes senior, single family and affordable housing.

More county funding: Councilmembers Mason Chock, Luke Evslin and I voted to raise $4 million for our Housing Development Fund by bringing the vacation-rental tax rate to the same level as resort. We also spearheaded a council charter amendment where voters can now approve dedicating 2% (est. $3.5 million) of real-property-tax revenues to that fund.

Expanding and maximizing existing infrastructure: I’m committed to expanding and maximizing our existing infrastructure by supporting more close collaboration with our Department of Water, properly maintaining our four wastewater treatment plants, working in partnership with private entities on new wastewater treatment wherever possible and proposing new residential developments in Lihu‘e in order to take advantage of that treatment plant’s significant excess capacity.

Q: The coronavirus pandemic decimated the tourism industry Kaua‘i and the state are so reliant upon. Should Kaua‘i County make economic diversity a priority, and if so, how?

The coronavirus pandemic turned our economy upside down and inside out requiring us to all come together just to survive and eventually work on our recovery. We perhaps are now at a place where we can again focus, with even more conviction based on what we’ve been through together, on our economic resilience and diversification. We do this by turning to the recommendations in our community-generated plans: our Kauaʻi County General Plan, our Kauaʻi Comprehensive Economic Development Strategic Plan for 2022-2026, our Kaua’i Destination Management Action Plan 2021-2023, as well as the many recommendations from our Kauaʻi Economic Recovery Strategy Team.

One plan calls for us to transition to a new, regenerative tourism; one that gives back more than it takes. Regenerative tourism focuses on the supply-side, host communities and ecosystems, rather than just the visitors’ needs and wants of the market-demand approach. Regenerative-tourism management enables our island to be left better than it was found. Sounds a lot like our Native Hawaiian values of aloha ʻaina, kuleana, the kapu system and malama ʻaina. Outreach efforts are already giving visitors important information upon arrival on how to be a responsible visitor and how to be respectful of our ʻaina and our people.

Another has a goal to develop plans and continue to build capacity for economic development of the six target-industry clusters, including a strategy of supporting the development of new businesses and markets for a diversity of products derived from agricultural and technological activity.

Q: What is driving you to seek election or re-election, and why should voters give you their vote?

It’s always been my passion to be an advocate for our people and for our islands, using my dedication, knowledge and experience to protect and improve our quality of life.

Voters should give me their vote if they value…

• My over 30 years of experience working and volunteering in government, labor unions, nonprofits and community organizations;

• My having been a Kauaʻi County Councilmember for three of the last four terms and proving myself to be hardworking, thoughtful and trustworthy;,

• My having demonstrated my dedication to public service, my legislative-policy experience, my strength with budgeting and my understanding of the issues;

• My commitment to always doing my homework, listening carefully and working collaboratively;

• My commitment to making a difference! Also, if they value my focus on these top priorities:

• Rebuilding, diversifying and strengthening our economy — Creating jobs and supporting local business;

• Budgeting responsibly and limiting taxes — Managing expenditures, revenues and funding priorities;

• Building affordable homes and rentals — Incentivizing, funding and leveraging the faster building of more housing units;

• Delivering core services efficiently — Prioritizing the efficient delivery of public safety (police, fire and rescue) and public works (sewage treatment, solid waste and water) services;

• Protecting our ʻaina and sustenance lifestyles — Protecting our natural resources, agriculture (farming and ranching) and local sustenance lifestyles (gardening, gathering, hunting and fishing);

• Collaborating for community solutions — Working with public and private partners on forward-thinking solutions to longstanding challenges like climate change, drug abuse, food insecurity, homelessness, teen suicide, traffic congestion and more.