Kauai County Councilman Derek Kawakami is vying to be Kauai’s next mayor.

Kawakami, 40, made the announcement Thursday on Rice Street in Lihue, according to the Garden Island newspaper.

“I’m here tonight because people have come up to say that they are looking for leadership, leadership that looks for collaboration to instill hope, hope that can motivate each and every one of us that we are the solution to the many challenges that is not incumbent about any one person, but all of us together,” Kawakami said during a speech to supporters captured in a video posted on Facebook. “If you believe in collaboration and hope, please … join us. We have room for you.”

Kawakami has served on the seven-member Kauai County Council since 2016, his second stint after previously serving with the Council from 2008 to 2011. He is chairman of the Council’s Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee and vice chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee.

Kawakami previously served as state representative for House District 14, which covers Hanalei, Princeville, Kilauea, Anahola, Kapaa and Wailua.

He is the second Council member vying for the mayor’s seat in the 2018 election. Council Chairman Mel Rapozo announced his bid for mayor in August.

Kauai’s current mayor, Bernard P. Carvalho Jr., has been in office since 2008 and cannot run for re-election because of term limits.