LIHUE — “Get out and vote” has been the mantra of the Community Coalition Kauai for the past six months as this group of passionate people worked to educate, empower and encourage the community to take part in Tuesday’s election.
“Candidate forums have exposed our communities to the most compelling challenges Kauai faces today, as well as the candidates who are willing to stand up and be counted on for bringing innovative solutions to addressing issues,” said Anne Walton in a statement.
Eight candidate forums were held to educate and encourage voters to go to the polls and to vote wisely, and each forum was a chance for voters to get to know candidates better.
Forums were held in Hanapepe, Koloa, Kauai Community College, Lihue, Anahola and Kilauea starting in June. Attendance started at about 80 people per event and blossomed to 200 or more people at later ones.
Format was a speed-dating format in which candidates spoke to small groups of attendees with audience members rotating after a few minutes with each candidate.
Community Coalition Kauai also hosted Mock County Council meetings and a panel-discussion about ballot initiatives.
“As each forum took on a singular thematic focus based on issues identified by the communities hosting the forums, the level of educated and insightful discussion also expanded,” Walton said.
Laurie Quarton, also part of Community Coalition Kauai, said she noticed the community “rallied really well” and the forums became more refined as time moved on and more and more community members attended with educated questions.
Uniting communities on the islandwide issues and fostering the understanding that those issues are interconnected were all goals of the coalition as Election Day approached.
Encouraging the younger generations to vote was another priority.
“We’re hoping a lot more voters tomorrow as a result,” Quarton said Monday. “From my viewpoint, the purpose was to get numbers up and people working and thinking together.”
It was the 2015-2017 General Plan Update process that birthed Community Coalition Kauai, a small group of individuals who felt the public wasn’t being heard regarding input to the update process.
“Right from the start we wanted to get established organizations together into a more holistic islandwide coalition and we’ve succeeded at that,” Quarton said. “The need was to see that everything’s interrelated.”
After the General Plan Update was approved, Community Coalition Kauai continued its work by focusing on elections, educating the public to “get good people in office.”
Not all of the candidates participated in the Community Coalition Kauai’s speed dating forums — the average number of participating candidates was nine with only a few incumbents not participating.
“Candidates repeatedly commented that through the forum process, their understanding of issues deepened and that listening to other candidates’ points of view clarified their own platforms,” Walton said.
Looking forward, Community Coalition Kauai still wants to be an educating and connecting force.
One potential is the concept of holding solution labs — places where county leaders can meet with communities, hear the challenges and work on solutions.
“We are here to help, we’re here to partner and want them to be able to succeed,” Quarton said. “Kauai is rich in expertise and resourceful people.”
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Jessica Else, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0452 or at jelse@thegardenisland.com
Aloha Kakou,
Oddly enough, NO Community Coalitions forums were held in Kapa’a, in spite of it having a large Neighborhood Center with plenty parking, and being the largest residential town on Kaua’i.
Mahalo,
Charles