LIHU‘E — At least nine Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative members will vie for three of nine seats on the board of directors in the upcoming election scheduled for March 24, the co-op announced Friday. Running for re-election to the board
LIHU‘E — At least nine Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative members will vie for three of nine seats on the board of directors in the upcoming election scheduled for March 24, the co-op announced Friday.
Running for re-election to the board are current directors Stewart “Stu” Burley and Steve M. Rapozo.
Returning candidates from last year’s election include Ken Stokes and Pat Gegen, who ran a close race but came up short with just over 2,000 votes each and finished fourth and fifth in the election to fill three seats.
New candidates include former KIUC senior legal counsel Karen S. Baldwin; Garden Isle Collision Repair owner Lesther Calipjo; Charter Review commissioner and president of the Hanalei to Ha‘ena Community Association Joel Guy; retired physician Dr. Gordon LaBedz, who is also a founder of the Surfrider Foundation; and retired judge Calvin Murashige.
But the candidate tally isn’t final yet. Co-op members in good standing have until 4 p.m. on Feb. 2 to submit a completed petition to appear on the March ballot.
A co-op member may become an election candidate in one of two ways: either by being selected by the KIUC Nominating Committee to run or by submitting to the committee a petition with 35 member signatures.
The Nominating Committee has selected Burley, Rapozo, Calipjo, Guy and Murashige for the ballot. The rest of the director candidates are running by member petition.
This year’s Nominating Committee is chaired by KIUC board director Peter Yukimura and includes Catherine Chandler, Charles Kawakami, Michael Murakoshi and Sherman Shiraishi, who are all select co-op members and volunteers from the community, KIUC spokeswoman Shelley Paik said.
Last year, KIUC voters chose to stay the course by electing three of three incumbents to the board in the seven-candidate election. A board director’s term is three years and there are no term limits.
The early departure of former board director Ben Sullivan guarantees this year won’t be a repeat of last.
Paik said KIUC will not be holding candidate debates or meetings but a voter guide with a candidate statement will be provided with the ballot.
For additional information, go to www.kiuc.coop or contact KIUC’s election hotline at 246-4378.
• Vanessa Van Voorhis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 251, or by emailing vvanvoorhis@thegardenisland.com.
