Two staunch opponents of a controversial and yet-to-be-implemented county law that regulates some pesticide use and cultivation of genetically modified crops will lead the new Kauai County Council.
Mel Rapozo was selected to serve as chairman of the Council at its inaugural meeting Monday at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihue.
The Council tapped Ross Kagawa to serve as vice chairman.
The Council includes returning members JoAnn Yukimura, Mason Chock and Gary Hooser and new Councilmen Arryl Kaneshiro and KipuKai Kualii.
Jay Furfaro, who has served six consecutive terms and was elected Council chairman in 2010 and 2012, failed to garner enough votes in last month’s general election to return to the Council. Tim Bynum, who served four consecutive terms and co-introduced Bill 2491 (now Ordinance 960) with Hooser last year, also lost his re-election bid.
Rapozo and Kagawa opposed the measure because of legal concerns. Ordinance 960 aims to regulate the use of pesticides and GMO farming conducted by large commercial agricultural operations.
During Monday’s meeting the Council confirmed Mayor Bernard Carvalho’s appointment of Mauna Kea Trask as the new county attorney.
Last year Trask, then deputy county attorney, wrote a legal opinion on Bill 2491 that influenced Carvalho’s decision to veto the measure. The Council overrode the mayor’s veto.
Four seed companies — Syngenta, BASF, Agrigenetics Inc. (operating as Dow AgroSciences) and DuPont Pioneer — eventually filed a lawsuit against the county to block the implementation of the law, describing it as invalid.
A federal court ruled in favor of the companies, declaring that the county law was pre-empted by state and federal law.
In separate appeals the county and four nonprofit organizations are trying to overturn U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren’s decision in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Carvalho’s inauguration ceremony also was held Monday at the convention hall. He easily defeated candidate Dustin Barca in the Nov. 4 election.
During his speech, Carvalho addressed his priorities for the county, which include opening an treatment and healing center for adolescents and continuing work on plans for a new landfill and a recycling center.
"Remember, it’s not just action; it’s action with aloha," Carvalho said.
