Name on ballot:

Victoria Franks

Running for:

Kauai county council

Political party:

Non-partisan

Campaign website:

www.victoriafranks.com

Current occupation:

Non-profit

Age:

55

Previous job history:

Accountant, schoolteacher

Previous elected office, if any:

None

Please describe your qualifications to represent the voters of your county.

The best way to outline my platform is to highlight what I’ve accomplished—without holding an elected office.  Because of my work with youth, I helped found the Ho’okele Coalition whose purpose is to discourage underage drinking and drug use.  My work with the homeless—including serving on the mayor’s Houseless Solutions Team—led me to work to bring a branch of Family Life Center to Kaua’I (an agency that helps place houseless families in permanent housing).  I’ve helped with programs to gather recyclables to raise money for schools/youth programs.  We also began a program called Transformation which helps people with life-controlling problems and addictions.  This led to the opening of Transformation House (I’m a board member) which helps reintegrate people into society upon release from prison.  This is just a small portion of what I’ve achieved outside of office.  I can accomplish much more if elected.

What will be your top priority if elected?

Obtaining more grants/aid to help families in crisis from COVID-19

As Hawaii faces the COVID-19 pandemic, what more should county government do to protect residents’ health?

All we can really do is encourage people to adhere to structures already in place.

What should county government do to help residents who have been economically affected by the pandemic?

Search for funds/grants to continue aid to people affected by the coronavirus. Also, we need to make sure the funds that have already been designated actually go to the people and not somewhere else.

Should public worker furloughs, pay cuts or downsizing be used to help the county deal with lower tax revenues and higher expenses during the pandemic? Why or why not?

I know that we need to make hard choices so I propose an audit to find out what can be adjusted, streamlined or eliminated with the least amount of impact on people and services.

What specific solutions do you propose to combat homelessness?

Identifying existing houses and structures that can be renovated and turned into housing. I know of groups that are willing to make the repairs so we need to make the permit process easier.

Do you support reforms to policing in Hawaii? If yes, please explain what reforms you support.

I believe we on Kaua’i have an awesome police force with a chief that leads his officers with integrity. Since we were the first with body cameras, I think our officers act appropriately in situations.

Is there anything more that you would like voters to know about you?

Besides the things I listed above, I’m also involved with food distributions (we increased to 2 locations giving food every other week), hot meals and supplies for the homeless, taking music, supplies and encouragement into the homeless camps every month, and helped start a school 8 years ago along with volunteering in public schools. People are my passion and my desire is to serve.