LIHU‘E — Three seats on the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative’s board of directors are up for grabs this March, and the run-up to the election is just beginning.
The slate, confirmed earlier this month, includes incumbents Peter Yukimura, Cal Murashige and Jan TenBruggencate, and newcomer Steve Parsons.
All four men have been invited to participate in an online forum hosted by local environmental groups next month.
“The fact we have a locally-owned, user-owned utility co-op is really to our advantage for bringing down our greenhouse emissions,” said Laurel Brier, an organizer of the event hosted by the Kaua‘i chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, Kaua‘i Climate Action Coalition and Zero Waste Kaua‘i.
“Our intention in having the forum is to see which of these people are most likely to get us to (100%) renewable sooner,” Brier continued. “Which most have climate action in mind.”
Other questions will concern electric transportation, adaptation to sea-level rise, conservation promotion and more.
Audience members will have an opportunity to pose questions to the candidates during the final 30 minutes of the forum, to be held on Zoom at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
Attendees may go to http://bit.ly/kiuccandidateforum to register in advance.
KIUC will have ballots in the mail in late February, co-op spokesperson Beth Tokioka told The Garden Island.
Candidate statements will be included with the mail-in ballots, which must be returned no later than noon on election day, March 19.
Members may also choose to vote by phone or online.
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Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
