Mahalo to the mayor

POIPU — If there was one sentiment echoed by the crowd Tuesday during Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s last Chamber of Commerce luncheon, that word was “mahalo.”

“Mahalo, mahalo for all he’s done these past 10 years,” said Denise Roberts after the event at Koloa Landing Resort.

“It was a little sad seeing the mayor have his last presentation,” said Michelle Kimura, who lives in Wailua.

“We have a wonderful mayor. He will be very well missed,” said Jamie Shigeta from Kapaa.

Lihue resident Beth Haddock encouraged Carvalho to “keep thinking big.”

Fighting back tears, Carvalho thanked those present for being a part of this journey.

“Being your mayor for the past 10 years has been one of the greatest honors of my life, and I feel so thankful and blessed,” he said.

Carvalho is running for lieutenant governor and has been on the campaign trail for the past seven months.

“I’ve met a lot of people, visited many different places, but there’s one thing I’ve come to appreciate — there’s no place like home. That’s what it’s all about,” he said.

With Holo Holo 2020 setting forth the mission, Carvalho said his administration worked with community partners and made progress.

Some of those accomplishments have been beginning construction on the adolescent healing and treatment center, completing improvements at Lydgate Beach Park, and beginning construction on an affordable housing community in Eleele.

“Everything we’ve done over the past 10 years, we’ve done together, we’ve done in partnership, we’ve done in talking and in asking, not telling and looking for resources,” he said.

Throughout the years, he said the county has had its fair share of challenges, especially with the flood in April. But Kauai will recover.

After his speech, Carvalho sat for a brief question-and-answer session about issues such as housing, the Westside community and flood recovery.

With his remaining time in office Carvalho said he wants to continue to work hard to leave Kauai a better place.

One way he’ll accomplish that is to leave a good emergency response plan that continues to pick up where they left off.

“My experience has been we have the resources available, we have the opportunity to reach out to federal, state, county and community level,” he said.