Name on ballot:

Felicia Cowden

Running for:

Political party:

No answer submitted

Campaign website:

www.feliciacowden.com

Current occupation:

Kauai Councilmember

Age:

61

Previous job history:

engineer, small business owner, education, media

Previous elected office, if any:

County Council

Please describe your qualifications to represent the people of your district?

My range of work-life experience, coupled with decades on community boards, service organizations and in talk radio have given me broad exposure to the needs of our Kauai Community. My enduring interest in helping people on an individual level strengthens my ability to be your full-time county council member. This will be my fourth term in office with a developed understanding of our budget, infrastructure needs and the economic and cultural challenges facing our people.

What is the most pressing issue facing the voters you seek to represent, and how would you address the problem?

The escalating cost of living is a pressing issue for much of our population, certainly for the workforce that we need to keep a functioning island. The national inflation, coupled with ability for remote work, has driven the pricing of housing out of range for purchase for most of the people who are employed in the operation of the island. Retaining our population with valuable cultural heritage and the skill sets needed for a resilient island is essential. Expanding our affordable housing efforts, aligning taxation to assist mid-range long-term rentals, adapting housing permits to include family compound style living, increased mixed use areas to concentrate village life, and encouraging neighborhood food production are some pathways to reducing the overwhelming costs for housing, food, social assistance and transportation.

What would you propose to improve traffic congestion on the island of Kauai?

Traffic congestion can be relieved by continuing to return commercial areas in our smaller towns so we can live, work, play, shop and educate ourselves near our homes. Evacuation routes are stridently needed, many of which could be regular feeder routes. Resurfacing former cane-haul roads to create emergency exits and parallel pathways to our highway system is the evident solution. It is expensive to add these improvements, but potentially disastrous and more expensive to leave this glaring safety need unaddressed.

What are the best ways for county government to alleviate homelessness and to increase the availability of affordable housing?

The County of Kauai Housing department has become the largest developer on the island. Allowing for a mid-range market rate, rental housing tax break is an easy additional step. Kauai has many incentives underway, such as additional dwelling units, or plantation camp expansion, to encourage individual solutions. The challenges are profound. Repairing and expanding infrastructure along the perimeter of our island is expensive. Kauai is a jewel of an island that draws global competition for our housing market. Allowing for the Ohana centered housing that can have some shared kitchen and great room use to a cluster of living quarters is consistent with island living throughout history. We need Safety Zone properties to absorb the people who are displaced to have stability in the process of returning to housing without cascading into despair and becoming a threat to the community surrounding them.

What can the county do to help Kauai residents cope with the overall high cost of living in Hawaii?

The County of Kauai can continue and strengthen the many vectors we have developed to assist those struggling with the high cost of living. We support meals and food delivery to homes, including locally grown food, along with partnership with food banks. We have secured and distributed supported funding such as the example of kauairenthelp.com through the covid window. We have expanded the ability to have additional dwelling and rental units in neighborhoods. Transit Oriented Design is encouraged to place new development along the public bus routes. We partner with non-profits and community organizations to support youth after school programs and sports. Our owner occupant residential property tax is among the lowest in the nation.

How prepared is the county to deal with a major natural disaster and what would you do to improve preparedness and responsiveness?

Kauai’s first responder teams have been remarkable in managing a range of disasters. Our people are also strong in helping one another and themselves in responsibly managing in disasters. We need to improve by creating effective additional evacuation routes in most regions of the island. Increasing the range of fire flow protection water, adding more warning sirens and rain gauges to remote areas of the island, is needed. Reinstating the Community Emergency Response Team program is a goal. There is a clear need for emergency shelters that could handle a strong hurricane. As Council Committee Chair for Public Safety, I hold a continuous focus on encouraging these improvements. Our multi-agency team, in partnership with large landowners are demonstrating a high commitment to fulfilling these needs and strategies.

What measures, if any, should county government take to regulate short-term vacation rentals?

Our government does regulate short-term rentals. Kauai has only four key visitor designated areas that allow vacation rentals. The grandfathered properties in other areas have non-conforming use permits with stringent requirements that drive attrition and restrict new usage. These properties are discourage through multiple layers of heavy taxes, which at the same time allows the resident homeowners to enjoy remarkably low taxation in order to assist our local population to stay in their homes. Residents in the VDA’s have asked for a limit to the percentages of housing units to be allowed to short-term vacation rentals. This idea has merit. If the property tax class was allowed to change at the time of sale, we would have greater success transitioning vacation rentals into full-time homes. This is another administratively difficult change I regularly push to achieve.

What more needs to be done to reduce crime on the Garden Island?

Most of the crime on Kauai are crimes of poverty. Illegal drug use, the related domestic violence and property trespass are the most common crimes on Kauai. Theft, sexual assault and violence are related, but not limited, to economic hardship. Creating the housing and cost-of-living solutions in the questions above helps to address the root cause of the criminal behavior. The County recently settled an opioid mass-action national lawsuit in which the pharmaceutical companies admitted to intentionally over-prescribing addictive painkillers for two generations. We are developing a Fentanyl Task Force and expanding mental health services. Strengthening prosecution for repeated or violent crimes and better funding for our correctional center is important also. Those individuals with chronic bad behavior need to be separated.

What will be your top priority if elected?

My top priority, if elected, is to continue to help the stability of our people through helping them stay in their homes, keeping their businesses strong, and their neighborhoods safe with more sirens, evacuation routes and individual safety plans in times of disasters.

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

I am honored to be representing the people of Kauai as your councilmember. I deeply enjoy directly working with people, the communities, and individual ideas. Always feel free to reach out to me to partner together to build and design solutions for our island.