NAWILIWILI — Mayoral candidate Mel Rapozo had a great place to watch the Super Bowl Sunday.
NAWILIWILI — Mayoral candidate Mel Rapozo had a great place to watch the Super Bowl Sunday.
“I just saw the television set,” Rapozo said while untying the symbolic lei to his campaign headquarters Thursday afternoon at the Anchor Cove Shopping Center. “I didn’t do anything. The campaign people, including Campaign Chair Kaleo Perez, did all the work and made it look like home. I can watch the Super Bowl here on the big television set.”
Rapozo said he officially filed his papers for the mayor’s office earlier in the day, and the opening of his campaign headquarters made it official.
“I can be the vehicle for change this island needs,” Rapozo told the gathering of nearly 100 people who huddled under the eaves of the shopping center near the Papalina Gelato shop. “But I cannot do it alone. We need to do this as a team, and we’ve got to work hard.”
Rapozo said his campaign will be based on a grassroots effort, including coffee hours, one-to-one meetings, phone banks and word-of-mouth.
“And we’re going to win by shopping at Costco where I go for shopping and spend two hours before getting what I went for,” the mayoral candidate said. “We will not win the money battle because there is another candidate who has already raised more than double of what we have in just a short amount of time — and the race hasn’t even started. We will win because of experience, not popularity.”
Rapozo said the island is at a crossroads.
“Do we stay status quo? Or do we change?” he said. “I’ve had 14 years on the Kauai County Council, and have been through countless administrators, and worked through 14 county budgets. I have seen stuff that works, and ones that didn’t. We need to change the ways we do things, not raise taxes. People say 1/2 percent (tax increase) is small. But it’s not for those on fixed incomes. If we cut 10 percent of the fat, we can save $10 million. Experience beats popularity.”
Rapozo will be hosting a fundraising event March 18 at Smith’s Tropical Luau.
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Campaign head quarters? How many people showed up? Renting the area. This really looks like it’s going to be an interesting and a people’s choice campaign. Must be an exciting place for Lihue residents. How many others were setting up shop?
“Bruno said we’re experienced.”
One resident’s remark. Not sure what this meant though in the context of Mel’s running for mayor. How much is the campaign contribution funds so far up to today? Fundraising.
Kauai can do better than this guy.
Can’t wait to get this rocket scientist into office. Cream of the crop corrupt cop, good.ole boy. Kauai deserves better.
Next time you are sitting in Kapaa traffic you will have time to stop and think, voting for the same old people like Mel will bring change to Kauai. Not!
I’m lying.
Here’s what they came up with; Sewage problem in housing complex, roads being fixed and paying them, EPA, crime rate, waste disposal overload, in Kekaha and Lihue, property taxes collected, GET, HTA and revenues generated for Kaua’i only, Military defense training on Kaua’i, and other issues like parking fees and free rider program and bus fees for Kaua’i’s residence who utilize the Kaua’i bus system.
What happened to my nemises? You know, ” come on that guy played UH football”. I am not supposed to go against their political efforts. He was a good athlete, better than I was, as an athlete growing up. Other voices on Kaua’i. One view anyway.
I want to bring it up again. I hear, Bernard P. Carvalho jr. had a G.P.A. of (drop out) in high school. In college, he had a G.P.A. of “not applicable to apply for tuition waivers, if not enrolled at UH”. This was the mayor who wants to continue still at Lt. Governor. What do you think?
If you want to get political or six figures, a guy named Carl Furatani is backing up Ross Kagawa. Councilmember. Former UH assistant coach. To keep their views alive for Kaua’i. UH sports and Kaua’i. They’re going to count on being sociable to earn their way through government. What do you think about that theory? Government issues.
Other voices also.
1. Income status
2. Length of stay in Hawai’i. Or born here.
3. Ethnic race background
This is how people will vote on Kaua’i.
Well, I’ve voted in every election since 1972. After the fraud committed by both the State Democratic party and the DNC in the 2016 race, I was considering sitting this next one out.
But if someone other than Mel runs, I’ll have to vote again this time.
Mr. Rapozo…. I think the councils track record over the decades and the back log of $100’s of millions on the books and the continuance of kicking the can down the road… I personally would not campaign on you having 14 years experience being a part of it all. In fact because you didn’t vote for the excise tax increase and watching you with you side kick in many votes of the past actions, I feel that the only reason you didn’t vote for the excise tax is because you are running for the mayor seat and know what the majority of the voters think about raising any tax. This is a standard position that all politicians take sir. It’s the you scratch my back and I’ll scratch your back political network. We are not stupid people.
You get what you vote for and voting the same corrupt politicians will get you the same results year after election year. Time to put term limits on all political positions so that the same ones can never run for another office once it expires.