Councilman Arthur Brun, 46, has filed papers to run for re-election to the Kauai County Council.
“It is an incredible privilege to serve the people of this island,” said Brun. “We’ve done good work over the past year and half, but there is so much left to accomplish. It is my hope that I can continue to do good work for our community.”
As chair of the Council’s Community Assistance &Veterans Services Committee, Brun has focused on tackling the critical issue of lack of affordable housing on Kauai.
“We desperately need more housing, but we also want to keep Kauai’s rural landscape intact,” Brun said.
One of his first initiatives as a councilmember was to co-sponsor an Island-Wide Additional Rental Unit bill. The measure, which was recently signed into law, allows the owner of every single-family residential dwelling unit that has adequate infrastructure to construct an ARU to provide for the housing needs of their own families.
“Now our families can take care of their kupuna or their adult children who either can’t live on their own or can’t afford their own home,” Brun said. “And we can do that without sprawling into our rural areas.”
Brun was also instrumental in the county’s successful petition to the State Land Use Commission for the reclassification of the Lima Ola affordable housing project in Eleele as the county’s first approved 201H project.
“This assures the project will be 100 percent affordable and streamlines the process so that we can get units built much more quickly,” Brun said.
While the county recently celebrated the groundbreaking for Koa’e, a 134-unit affordable housing project in Koloa, Brun points out that the recent flooding disaster will compound the already severe housing shorting on Kauai.
“We’re moving forward on so many fronts, but we’ve got to pick up the pace and really get creative when it comes to housing solutions,” he said.
Supporting and strengthening Kauai’s families is what keeps Brun motivated. Having served on the county’s Life’s Choices Treatment Committee prior to becoming a councilmember, Brun was an early and strong advocate for the Adolescent Treatment and Healing Center.
‘“It was such an emotional moment to be present for the groundbreaking on this facility this past January,” Brun said. “I know firsthand the struggles our kids face when it comes to substance abuse. We need to do everything we can to help them heal here at home.”
Brun said he wants to see a Kauai where we can all raise our children in a healthy home environment in safe neighborhoods, with the ability to offer them a great education and good jobs.
“I’ve overcome many challenges from my younger years and had to make major changes in my life in order to succeed. I know from experience that you can turn things around if you put your mind to it,” he said.
Born and raised on Kauai, Brun resides with his family in Waimea, and is a volunteer with youth and adult sports leagues. He is employed by Hartung Brothers in Kekaha, and is also as small-business owner.
As an umpire, Brun said he has learned a strong sense of fair play.
“My goal is to be the voice for those who feel they have no voice and I’ll insist we have respectful and constructive dialogue in all that we do,” he said.
