LIHU‘E — It’s been nearly a year and a half since the Kaua‘i County Council held meetings open to the physical public, but following Wednesday’s special council meeting, around 60 residents met representatives outside.
Primarily, the conversation focused on enforcement of COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly testing for county and state employees and student-athletes and open communication with elected officials.
Residents expressed their frustrations to Council Chair Arryl Kaneshiro and councilmembers Bernard Carvalho, Felicia Cowden, Billy DeCosta and KipuKai Kuali‘i outside of council chambers.
Kaneshiro said that the council has received “numerous e-mails, voicemail messages and personal testimony about these same concerns from people on all sides of the issue.”
“The voices of our constituents are being heard by the council as we read many of these stories daily,” Kaneshiro said. “At this level of government, the legislative body, during this emergency pandemic period, cannot overturn decisions made by the Governor or the Mayor, or those that are being conveyed through federal or state laws.”
Following the discussion, Cowden said that constituents voiced a “clear fear” that vaccine passports would become “simply a first step in the erosion of human rights.”
“Sharply defined was potential health concerns for children and an economic isolation for people who choose other pathways to protect their health from COVID-19,” Cowden said in a statement.
Cowden said demonstrators pled for the council to “intercede for freedom of choice without perceived coercion to take vaccinations in our county.”
At times contentious, a matter of pent-up emotions, the discussion, which for the most part was shared over social media platforms, lasted about an hour and a half.
“The people were frustrated with their inability to be heard and asked the council for help,” Cowden said.
Last week, the council met in an executive session about the county’s vaccination program. About 77% of county employees, in this round of data-gathering, disclosed full-vaccination status. For Our Rights President Danny Hashimoto said that many from his group submitted testimony prior to the session, but have yet to hear much back.
“What we’re looking for from the executive session … (is) some sort of resolution, some sort of communication as a body representing us that you communicate up the line straight to the Mayor the concerns of us,” Hashimoto said.
For Our Rights CEO Levana Lomma said that regular COVID-19 testing is “not a reasonable substitute for those choosing not to take the vaccine.”
“It is a form of discrimination, particularly when we know that vaccinated individuals are just as capable of spreading COVID-19 as those who are not,” Lomma said.
Yesterday, Kuali‘i made it clear that the council does not have any specific role in county and state rules or mandates.
“When it comes to the Governor or the Mayor setting a government workplace; or any kind of, vaccination mandate, I believe it’s important to allow individuals the choice to object and opt-out of vaccination,” Kuali‘i said in a statement. “However, for me, I also believe it’s important to not get in the way of any mask, vaccination, quarantine and testing efforts by the Governor or the Mayor aimed at minimizing the spread of the virus, keeping our citizens safe and lowering the current strain on the limited resources of our hospitals.”
Kuali‘i said he was there to listen, and said he would follow up with state and county officials.
“There is little to no predictability for the future and that causes additional anxiety for all,” Kaneshiro said. “I would just like to remind everyone that we are a small, tight-knit community and we need to continue to support each other through respectful dialogue. We may not all see eye-to-eye on all decisions, but we must, for the sake of our island community, continue to treat each other with respect and aloha.”
