LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. on Tuesday officially became a candidate for re-election when he filed nomination papers with the Office of the County Clerk, a news release states.
Joined by dozens of supporters on the grounds of the Historic County Building, Carvalho pledged to continue the work that began when he took office on Dec. 1, 2008.
“There are so many priorities that must move forward in a significant way in the next four years,” said Carvalho.
“We have a great team in place and we’re receiving tremendous support from our community. I know that together we’ll continue to make things better for all people on Kaua‘i.”
So far, no serious challenge to his re-election bid has been mounted.
His campaign said some of the major initiatives already completed in his two-year term are: implementing a one-stop customer service center for residential building permits; establishing park and ride sites and expanding bus routes; acquiring 75 acres of land in ‘Ele‘ele for the county’s first “green” affordable-housing development; and implementing the Connect CTY emergency notification system.
Carvalho said priorities such as solid-waste diversion and management programs, developing more affordable housing, restructuring the county’s capital improvements program to get projects out more quickly, and locating a site for an adolescent drug-treatment center are among those that will be at the forefront during his first full term in office if he is re-elected to a four-year term in September or November.
Planning will be another major area of focus, Carvalho said, including completing the various community-development plans, the Important Agricultural Lands study and a General Plan update.
Shortly after taking office, Carvalho unveiled a quarterly “report card” which he uses to provide updates to the public on priority projects.
“The key to the report card is accountability,” said Carvalho.
“We’ve been up front about what we’ve been able to accomplish and where we’ve fallen short and we’ll continue to do so as long as I’m in office.”
Carvalho was elected mayor in November 2008 in his first run for public office. He has worked for the County of Kaua‘i for 25 years in various roles including recreation leader, director of the Offices of Community Assistance, and director of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Beth Tokioka, Carvalho’s administrative aide, said in response to a question about county employees who support Carvalho’s re-election bid potentially using county time or resources on the re-election campaign, that typically county leadership cautions county employees from campaigning for any one on county time or with county resources like offices, telephones and computers.
Normally, those conflict discussions take place later in an election year, but might have to happen sooner now that Carvalho has filed his re-election papers, she said Thursday.
