LIHU‘E — Environmentalist and Kekaha resident Diana LaBedz on Monday pulled papers to challenge Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. in the September mayoral primary, intends to file papers, and thinks she can unseat the incumbent, she said. She also says
LIHU‘E — Environmentalist and Kekaha resident Diana LaBedz on Monday pulled papers to challenge Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. in the September mayoral primary, intends to file papers, and thinks she can unseat the incumbent, she said.
She also says she intends to do it without the aid of campaign signs, which she says are not recyclable and end up in the landfill at campaign’s end.
“I will be grateful if people want to make, post and take down the signs when the election is over, that they be made out of recycled material. Our Kaua‘i island will be thankful,” she said in an e-mail.
LaBedz, a former chemical dependency counselor who advocates decriminalization of marijuana, said she is serious about challenging Carvalho, will file papers as soon as she gets the requisite number of signatures, and thinks she has a chance in the upcoming election, she said in the e-mail.
Asked if she has issues she’d like to address, LaBedz outlined 12:
“A dozen issues of importance and (need) immediate attention,” she said.
— Chemical, mono crop, genetically-modified organism agriculture and its negative effects on soil, air, pollinators and human health. She will be promoting small, family farms and organic agriculture;
— The need to follow the General Plan. “Rebuild, renovate and restore;”
— Advocate for the growing of hemp and the decriminalization of the use of marijuana;
— Our immediate need to address and improve the Kaua‘i educational system;
— A voluntary ban on the use of bottled water and instituting a maximum reduce, re-use, recycle system;
— Establishing a county-manager system of local government;
— The need protect Hawaiian lands and the Hawaiian culture;
— Demand that the proposed Kekaha shrimp farm have a zero ocean discharge;
— Continued open access to Larsen’s Beach;
— A need establish an acceptable dump site before the EPA issues an unaffordable fine;
— Increase the bus system to Sunday and weeknights till 10 p.m.;
— Keep the county parks open at night.
She has been a leader in environmental issues both in Hawai‘i and on the Mainland, and is a founding member of various groups, including the Kaua‘i Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, The Eco-Roundtable, and the Vegetarian Society of Hawai‘i (Kaua‘i chapter).
She also produced and hosted a weekly environmental TV show in Southern California as well as an environmental radio show, “Kaua‘i’s Earth Connection,” on KKCR, she said.
“Democracy on Kaua‘i requires a minimum of two candidates for mayor. We now have a choice. I believe, together we can do better,” she said.
“It’s time we must turn the corner. Each one of us must go inside and search to find the path to a healthy future for the island and its people. We must never take more than we give,” she said.
“The mayor’s position is supposed to provide leadership. There must be serious stands on the issues of the day to protect Kaua‘i island and her people regardless whether it is under county jurisdiction.”
