First, please join me in acknowledging the staff and volunteers who helped to coordinate today’s event, and all those who participated to make it special. MAHALO.

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On behalf of our County Council and the County of Kauai, we welcome you to our 2022 Inauguration Ceremony.

To my wife Monica and our family, cabinet members and county associates, our campaign team, all of the volunteers and participants, and of course, to the families of the Council Members standing here today – thank you for making this day possible for us.

I’d also like to acknowledge my dad, Charles, and my mother, Arlene, who I hold dearly in my heart, especially on important days like this one. If they were in the audience, I think they’d still be surprised to see me on this stage.

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I stand before you today – as I did four years ago – humbled and evermore committed to serving our island and each of you.

We are in a time where changes to technology, environment, expectations – and even viruses – threaten to move at a faster pace than our ability to adapt. This rapid and ever- present sense of change pulls us out of our collective comfort zone, often leaving us anxious for the future that lies ahead.

In a community like ours, built on its deep-rooted history...immersed in a culture that binds us so closely together, change is not always welcome.

And yet we know it is inevitable.

That is why it is more important now than ever to elect leaders who can be trusted to navigate change in a way that is responsible and true to who we are. As with any navigator, we must know the direction from which we came, in order to see the right path forward.

I am confident that the group of us here today are those leaders for Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau.

With that, I ask you trust us to navigate our future not with a fear of change, but, with what Pastor Jon so eloquently refers to as “Joyful Anticipation.”

Today is a new day. A new beginning. While many of the faces around the room look and feel familiar, this day is not identical to the one four years ago.

We are wiser, stronger, and maybe slightly more weathered. We are more eager, more ready to finish what we started, and each of us has a passion to lay a path for the next generation – for our children and their children.

We have work to do. And we are ready to roll up our sleeves and get the job done, as our public expects of us.

We are proud of the work we have accomplished in our first term, from managing a global pandemic, building affordable housing, repaving and repairing more roads than ever before, and modernizing processes, from park permits to DMV registrations. While many chapters in our journey are now complete, we have much more that lies ahead.

We also recognize that we can’t solve all the issues. With four years left, our Administration intends to finish what we started and hand the next administration a playbook to success. This will require us to be efficient and keep a laser-like focus on our highest priorities.

But what truly makes Kauai special and unique from every other county is our ability to work together and lean on one another. Our County Council and administration have identified SHARED priorities for our island and understand that it will take partnership, collaboration, and communication to accomplish these goals together.

I’ve said and will continue to say that our priorities for our island will focus on infrastructure, infrastructure, and infrastructure.

First and foremost, we have a landfill that is living on borrowed time. We will be working together with our Solid Waste team, community members and stakeholders to site a new landfill. This is a large undertaking, and we are up to the task. We have no time to waste!

In tandem with pursuing a new landfill, we know that on our small island with limited resources and a growing population, it is imperative that we begin to utilize more sustainable alternatives to dumping our trash. We are committed to Waste to Energy technologies and other diversion strategies to preserve landfill space. We look forward to the completion of our Waste to Energy study to help us determine next steps.

We will also continue to partner with the Council to prioritize affordable housing for our residents. Under the direction of our Housing Agency, we are looking to commence an unprecedented number of affordable housing projects across our island in the coming year. This will result in an estimated 400 units, to include single-family, multi-family, senior and supportive housing. While we know that more housing will not solve homelessness, we will look at creative adaptation to meet people where they are in addressing their basic needs.

We thank the development partners who have prioritized people over profits by building housing that our residents can afford.

But let’s be clear. Affordable housing is not an issue of funding but one of courage. While our community may say that housing is a top priority, with every new affordable housing development we have proposed, we have been met with community opposition. So I thank this Council for having the courage to push through criticism for the greater good.

Lastly, if there was one silver lining of our state’s COVID crisis it was that it highlighted the critical need to revamp and renew how we manage our visitor industry. Gone are the days of parading around paradise to one and all. For those of us who are privileged enough to call this island home, we have a responsibility to care for it. And for those who wish to visit, there will be ground rules. Because here on Kauai, we take our shoes off at the door and we leave a light footprint.

We look forward to working with our County Council, Office of Economic Development, Kauai Visitors Bureau and industry partners on how to set that example and lead the state in destination management.

Finding housing solutions, revamping tourism, and siting a new landfill are not simple tasks. They will require us to work together as seemingly one elected body to tackle them. I have been blessed to work alongside a Council that prioritizes progressive policy, financial accountability, and perhaps most importantly, a shared sense of responsibility. I am grateful for that partnership, and we will continue to lead Kaua‘i forward with respect, honesty, and transparency.

There are of course other important partners here today that I’d like to acknowledge.....

Our state delegation led by Senate President Ron Kouchi, along with representatives Jimmy Tokioka, Dee Morikawa and Nadine Nakamura. Of course, former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka. And our newly elected Lt. Governor Sylvia Luke.

To Maui Mayor Mike Victorino and members of his cabinet. Mayor Victorino, it has been my honor and privilege to work alongside you through our state’s darkest hour and make it to the other side. You have a love for your island that is unmatched, and you will always be an inspiration to me as a leader. Your attendance today means the world to me. My aloha to you, Aunty Joycelyn and your team.

Last but certainly not least, I’d like to ask that my cabinet and all county associates here today. Please stand and be recognized.

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I say every day that I am the luckiest Mayor in the world and I have the absolute best job. This team right here is the reason. They are diverse, talented, loyal and above all passionate about the work they do to serve our county. We are not simply a group of county employees - we are volunteers, coaches, teachers, surfers, fishermen, ranchers, farmers, mothers and fathers, sons and daugthers. Our team is deeply committed to our beautiful island and its people, and we will work every day to leave our island in a better place than when we took office.

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Change is coming. And we are joined here together in Joyful Anticipation of the Kaua‘i that we will help to build, where our children and their children can make a living in a job they love, that affords them a house right here at home. Where respect for the land, the ocean and our culture remain our core values. Where people are our most precious commodity, and relationships are our highest priority. We are hopeful that the leaders of Kauai’s future will look back and be proud of this moment in our history.

I know that I am incredibly proud to be your Mayor. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for partnering with me as we continue to work for the good people of Kauai and Niihau.

Mahalo for being here. God Bless and Aloha.