LIHU‘E — The state’s four elected county executives discussed a broad range of issues from agriculture to collective bargaining to the 2010 legislative session at their monthly Hawai‘i Council of Mayors meeting Wednesday.

Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., City and County of Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi and Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares met at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort in Lihu‘e.

The four served as panelists at the statewide Farm Bureau conference, also at the Marriott, and later spoke to The Garden Island about the importance of agriculture statewide.

Kenoi saying his island is looking to support local farmers by providing tax breaks at the county level because the Big Island, like all islands, is “very dependent on agriculture … for the preservation of open space.”

Hannemann said his island, home to the state’s lone big city, has in the past been “lagging behind” in agriculture but has “come a long way now” due to a proactive approach to land and water issues.

All four mayors also spoke of the importance of working together to, as Kenoi put it, “amplify our voices.”

“This is the first time I’ve had this kind of relationship where all four mayors work together,” said Hannemann, mayor on O‘ahu since 2005.

While all four mayors were born and raised on the islands they currently represent, Hannemann said, they have all spent time on another island.

“There’s no selfishness here,” he said.

Tavares said the community has seen the benefit of counties “sharing secrets” in challenging times.

“It’s a great microcosm for how the whole world should relate,” she said.

Preparing for the 2010 legislative session, the mayors will once again try to team up to keep the transient accommodation tax in the counties’ hands instead of state coffers, a major accomplishment of HCOM and the Hawai‘i State Association of Counties, which includes various county councils and is now chaired by Kaua‘i County Councilman Derek Kawakami.

Tavares said the mayors will again try to encourage the state Legislature to pass legislation that would give the counties a seat at the table when the Employer Union Trust Fund and Employee Retirement System negotiate their terms, because those terms greatly impact county finances.

Asked about the possibility of weighing in on a potential special session to divert money from the Hurricane Fund to the Department of Education to avoid further Friday furloughs for public school students, Tavares, a former teacher, said the mayors have stayed out of the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association negotiations and hope the two sides can work things out quickly because it is “unfortunate to me that children have to suffer.”

Hannemann said the furloughs are a state decision but acknowledged that there is an impact on the local communities that require action from the counties.

“Children are not a state issue or a county issue but are a community issue,” Kenoi said, adding that the county mayors “recognize our responsibility” to “provide a safe haven” for kids to participate in productive activities when they are not in school.

Regarding the mayors’ own negotiations with the United Public Workers, Hannemann said talks are ongoing, and Carvalho said the four often discuss “strategy.”