Three Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative members successfully petitioned to be on the ballot for the next Board of Directors election, according to a press release from the cooperative. Carol Bain, Jim Mayfield and Peter Thielen last week joined four candidates
Three Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative members successfully petitioned to be on the ballot for the next Board of Directors election, according to a press release from the cooperative.
Carol Bain, Jim Mayfield and Peter Thielen last week joined four candidates nominated by committee last month, according to the release.
Voters will receive ballots later this month containing the names of seven candidates, including the three petitioners, Dee Crowell, David Iha, Raymond W. Paler and Allan A. Smith.
The candidates are competing to fill three seats made available as three-year terms expire on the nine-man board. The incumbents, Crowell, Mayfield and Paler, each seek re-election.
Candidates who spoke to The Garden Island emphasized the importance of green initiatives in a community that has left its agrarian roots and become largely dependent on oil for energy.
“We need to make a leap away from fossil fuels,” said Allan A. Smith, a candidate who retired from his position as senior vice president at Grove Farm last year. “It’s our cooperative, and we all need to participate and work together.”
Members will receive ballots in the mail later this month, according to the cooperative. Votes must be in by March 17.
• Carol Bain ran for a seat on the board last year. The Puhi resident drives an electric car, owns a movie production company and writes grants and organizes events for nonprofits like the Malie Foundation. The advocate of open-records has taught communications and journalism classes at Kaua‘i Community College. “The members have a right to disclosure,” she said.
• Dee Crowell currently serves as first vice chairman of the Board. The director of planning for Kukui‘ula Development Co. sits on the Board’s executive and government relations committees and chairs the strategic planning committee. The former county planning director and member of the Kaua‘i Water Board won more votes in 2003 than any other candidate.
• David Iha recently retired from the University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents. The former provost of Kaua‘i Community College has experience ranging from directing budgets to working with nonprofits. The goal of the cooperative should be to help the community, he said. “The challenge is to have a reliable energy source so our economy can continue to grow,” he said.
• Jim Mayfield currently serves on the Board, sitting on the Strategic Planning and Finance committees. The former Bank of Hawaii executive is president of Island Business Services. A founding member of KIUC, he found the funds to create the cooperative. “I’m rather impatient,” he said. “We could move more aggressively toward spreading out our energy sources.”
• Ray Paler currently serves as secretary of the Board of Directors, where he chairs the policy committee. The managing partner of KAWV 98.1 FM ran for the Kaua‘i County Council in 2002. He is the former owner of Kaua‘i Paging and Communications and a graduate of Kaua‘i High School. He attended Indiana University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in education.
• Allan Smith saw Grove Farm turn from plantation to a land development company. During his tenure with the company, the student of both business and nonprofit management gained a familiarity with biomass and hydroelectric capabilities. There is no one solution for the current energy crisis, he said. “It’s going to be a combination of several things that get us there,” he said.
• Peter Thielen owns Peter Thielen Construction. As a general contractor since 1995, he works with electricians, plumbers and other tradesmen responsible for installing the electrical systems of the future. “There is nobody in the construction industry or electrical industry on the board,” he said. “Somebody who is in the trades would be a definite advantage.”
