Directions:

1. From Rice Street heading toward Nawiliwili, turn right onto Mokoi Street just before Rice Street turns down to Nawiliwili (the first right after you pass or turn at the Rice St-Kapule Highway intersection). Then take a left immediately onto Kapena Street. Look for Yukimura directional signs

2. Follow Kapena as it turns down and then up (stay to your right) to #2749 Kapena St.

3. Look for tent with party lights, on right

4. Parking: in front yard across street

For more information, call Micki @ 639-6853

For more information visit the newly upgraded JYMF’s website at: www.joannyukimura.com

To volunteer contact MARY at: jymf@joannyukimura.com

We are on the home stretch for the General Election on November 6. Thank you for your wonderful support thus far. I am truly blessed to have supporters like you.

 I am writing to ask your kokua in the following ways:

 1. Be sure to vote.  a. You can go to your polling place (1) on General Election Day, November 6, 2012.  Polls are open from 7 am to 6 pm. OR b. You can walk-in vote the Historic County Building Annex from now until November 3. Call 241-4800 for hours.  The Annex is to the right of the Historic County Building. OR c. You have ordered, and will vote by, absentee ballot

2. Get your family and friends to vote.  Talk with whomever you see in these next couple of weeks.  Please ask them to vote for me and share with them why you are supporting me.

3. Send out an endorsement email to your email list.  One specific way you could help is to take the time to send a personal email to your email lists urging them to vote for me and explaining why.  Personally sharing the reasons you are supporting me can be very powerful.

4. Consider contributing.  If you haven’t already contributed, please consider contributing something.  It takes money to run a campaign, any amount would be gratefully received.  Contributions up to $100 will be matched by the campaign elections committee.

Mahalo for voting with care and for participating in the democratic process.  Our future and our children’s future will be influenced by the choices we make in this election.

- Uncle Nathan Kalama, Beloved Kupuna and Kumu Hula

A true measure of a leader is one who continually seeks truth and uses it for the betterment of all. With her unwavering commitment to Kauai, JoAnn uses this skill to make a positive difference in the future of our island. As the world around us changes rapidly, her vision and clarity are matched equally with sound solutions that address the core issues of our island society.

JoAnn’s experience, wisdom and competence are balanced with aloha, making her a clear choice for the success of our County Council.

- Mason Chock
Leadership Development Consultant

Born leaders are like her. Your instincts just tell you to follow.

- Susan Hildebrand, Joann’s Webmaster

October 25, 2012

Aloha Friends,
Here are my recommendations re the proposed Charter Amendments on this year’s General Election ballot. I hope they are helpful to you.  (To see the actual text of the proposed changes, go to kauai.gov and look for the 2012 Proposed Charter Amendments on the left side of the home page.)

In summary, I am recommending you vote for all charter amendments.  Therefore, if you don’t want to bother with the details, you don’t have to read any further.
However, if you want to understand why I am recommending “Yes” in all cases, and you want to learn more about County government, please read on.
1. RELATING TO MAYOR’S SALARY: Should the Mayor’s salary be established by the Salary Commission?

Commentary: There is presently a conflict in the charter. Section 7.03 states that the mayor’s salary is to be set by the Council. Section 29.01 says it should be set by the Salary Commission. Setting executive salaries is a complex business that is better done by a commission rather than a political body such as the Council. A commission has the time and focus to research and consider the many factors that need to be taken into account. Additionally, the Council could easily have political motives that would blur rational and objective decision-making. Finally, the mayor’s salary should be set in some proportion to the executive managers below him – i.e. in some relationship to the salaries set for his department heads. It makes sense that the Salary Commission that sets department head salaries would also set the mayor’s salary.

Vote: YES

2. RELATING TO TERMS FOR BOARD OR COMMMISSION MEMBERS: Should a county board or commission member whose term is ending be allowed to serve on a different county board or commission without being required to wait one year?

Commentary: It is often difficult to find qualified and willing people to serve on boards and commissions. If someone getting off one board is willing and qualified to sit on another board, a one year waiting period seems unnecessary. However, the Mayor, as the appointing authority, will hopefully not allow this amendment to dampen his search for new qualified people as well.

Vote: YES

3. RELATING TO ELECTIONS: Should a candidate for County Council be required to run in the general election even though the candidate received at least thirty percent of the votes cast in the primary election?

Commentary: It is extremely difficult to achieve 30% of all votes cast in a “Vote-for-up-to-seven” at-large election. So a “Yes” to remove such a provision will make little difference. However, the amendment also takes out now “old” and unnecessary language and streamlines and clarifies the provision, which is worthwhile.

Vote: YES

4. RELATING TO INITIATIVE OR REFERENDUM PETITIONS: Should it be clarified that an initiative or referendum petition must be signed by registered voters comprising of the established percentage of the number of voters registered in the last election?

Commentary: The proposed amendment removes a redundancy (“last preceding election” is changed to “last election”) and an ambiguity (instead of “eligible voters registered in the last election” it simplifies the language to “voters registered in the last election” which is a much easier class to define and measure than “eligible voters.” So a “yes” vote is appropriate.

The problem is that the proposed amendment ignores completely the onerous percentage of “20% of the voters registered in the last general election,” which is currently required to get an initiative or referendum issue on the ballot. Sometimes barely 30% of the registered voters turn out to vote. To require petitioners to get 20% of the registered voters in order to get a measure on the ballot is extremely difficult to achieve and should be made more reasonable. Perhaps the Commission will address this problem next year.

Vote: YES

5. RELATING TO CHARTER AMENDMENT PETITIONS: Should it be clarified that a petition for a charter amendment must be signed by registered voters comprising of the established percentage of the number of voters registered in the last election?

Commentary: Like initiative and referendum petitions, which seek to change or repeal county laws (ordinances) by getting such proposals on the ballot, charter amendment petitions seek to get proposed changes to the County Charter on the ballot. The subject amendment clarifies that to get a charter amendment on the ballot by petition, it must be signed by registered voters that in numbers are at least a certain percentage of the number of registered voters in the last General Election. This is all fine, and the recommended vote is “Yes.”

The “elephant in the room” that is not addressed is the fact that a smaller number of signatures is required to propose a change to the CountyCharter than to ordinances or laws of the county. Like the U.S. Constitution, the County Charter, which establishes the basic structure of county government, should not change easily or often. However, under existing Charter provisions, it is easier to propose a change to the Charter than to propose a change to a law or ordinance. It takes signatures of registered voters equal to 5% of the registered voters in the last General Election to propose a Charter Amendment but signatures equal to 20% of the registered voters in the last General Election to propose a change to an ordinance or law. It makes no sense to require a higher standard for a law change than a charter change, but this problem is not addressed.

Vote: YES

6. RELATING TO SEC. 29.03 – SALARY COMMISSION: Should the Salary Commission establish maximum salaries for officers which shall include the Prosecuting Attorney and all deputies, and allow for elected officers to accept salaries lower than the maximum?

Commentary: I have no idea how the phrase, “Prosecuting Attorney and all deputies” got into the question above because when I go to Section 23.01D which is the section referred to in the subject amendment as defining the “officers” for whom the Salary Commission will set salaries, there is no mention of the Prosecuting Attorney or deputies in that office. This being the case, the vote on this amendment should be invalidated because the official description of the amendment is inaccurate.

What I read the amendment to do is to clarify that the salaries set by the Salary Commission define the maximum salary below which the appointing authority may set the salary. It also allows elected officials to voluntarily accept a salary lower than the maximum figure or forego a salary all together.

The misleading question above notwithstanding, vote “Yes” but know that the votes on this matter could be invalidated.

Vote: YES

7. RELATING TO SEC. 29.05 – SALARY COMMISSION: Should the waiting period be eliminated before the council’s salary changes become effective?

Commentary: The current charter provision requiring that a salary increase for councilmembers be delayed until after the next election was instituted when the Council was setting its own salary. Its purpose was to ensure that councilmembers could not increase their own salaries while in office. Since the Salary Commission, rather than the Council, now sets the salaries of councilmembers – which by salary setting standards should also have some relationship to the mayor’s and department head salaries—it makes sense that councilmembers salaries go into effect when the other salary increases go into effect. Thus, eliminating the delay, appears justified.

Vote: YES

8. RELATING TO COUNTY BUDGET: Shall provisions be deleted that allow the mayor, after submitting the proposed annual budget, to submit suggested budget modifications before the council enacts the annual budget?

Commentary: The above question, as framed, is a mis-statement of the proposed amendment, and thus, misleading. The proposed amendment does not remove the mayor’s power to submit suggested budget modifications. Until the Council approves a budget ordinance, the mayor is always able to send to the Council a communication with new information and suggestions regarding the budget, which, in the Council’s discretion it can either incorporate or reject. What the amendment would do is to eliminate the mayor’s ability to submit a new official budget less than 15 days from which the Council must act on the budget. Under current charter provision, this automatically places a new budget before the council, after it has worked for at least six weeks on the originally submitted budget. The Council then has less than two weeks to analyze and modify the second budget, creating a rushed condition which is conducive to mistakes and oversights. Plus, the public hearing scheduled for the second submittal is virtually meaningless because, due to time contraints, no significant changes can be made following that public hearing.

Removing the possibility of a second official budget provides for a much more deliberative and thoughtful budget process. It makes the Administration more careful in the preparation of its first budget submittal. It doesn’t allow the Administration to manipulate the process by holding back certain projects or taking political advantage of watching the council process for popular items then proposing it as theirs. And, it gives the Council sufficient time for its budget deliberations while still allowing input from the Administration regarding, in particular, unexpected changes in budgetary assumptions.

For the reasons stated above, I submitted this proposed charter change, which the Council supported to be put on the ballot.

Vote: YES

I haven’t researched the two state constitutional amendments which are also on the ballot, but I will be voting for them because they seem straightforward and meritorious.

Aloha,

I am running for re-election to the County Council.

It’s a privilege to serve, and I love this work, the demands and frustrations notwithstanding.  I want to contribute my experience and know-how from 20 years in government as mayor and as a council member.  It also gives me great joy to work with you, the community, and with a committed team of elected and appointed leaders in solving problems and creating opportunities.

I have been able to do my work only because of supporters like you–thank you so much for your past support!

.As you know, we are blessed to live on Kauaʻi.  The things we enjoy and love about Kauaʻi are due to the many acts of hard work, sacrifice, talent and foresight of those who went before us.  It’s our job now to improve the present and prepare for our grandchildren’s future.

In the past, starting the Sunshine Markets (1978) and the Kauai Bus (1990) and acquiring  lands to expand Poipu Beach Park (1991), the Ninini Coastline (2008) and Blackpot Beach Park (2010) were ways of preparing for the future.  In the next term, these would be my priorities.

1. Getting off of Oil by reducing energy waste and inefficiencies, developing cost-effective renewable energy, expanding the Kauai Bus and creating walkable and bikeable communities.
2. Achieving Zero Waste by diverting waste from our landfill and setting up systems that make it easy to reduce, re-use and recycle.
3. Providing Permanently Affordable Housing for our young families, singles and seniors.
4. Protecting and Wisely Using our Agricultural Lands and Water by providing training for new farmers and developing processing and value-added products.
5. Taking Care of Our Parks, and Building Needed Priority Facilities by including a large performance arena for sporting events and performing arts.
6. Planning with Foresight and Courage.
7. Educating Our Children Well, Keeping Them Off Drugs
8. Adhering to the Highest Standards of Service in County Government
9. Creating Jobs and Diversifying the Economy:  Doing all of the above in a pono way will create many jobs.

I will need your support to do this work—first, to get re-elected and then to do the work. Campaigns require money and kokua.  I would be most grateful for your help.  Please click here to contribute.  Contributions can also be mailed to JoAnn Yukimura’s Many Friends, P. O. Box 187, Lihuʻe, HI 96766.

Campaign time is a time for re-connecting with old friends and making new friends. . . a  time to discuss what we care about most. . . and a time for me to listen and learn. It’s also about having fun.

Thank you, again, for your support.

With warmest aloha,

Evidence of our affordable housing challenge is apparent even in a “down” market—in the number of homeless living in parks and cars; in the crowding of several families into a single-family home; in the median house price on Kaua`i, which tells us that at least half the houses on Kaua`i are far beyond the reach of most residents; and in the sense of hopelessness felt by many young people when they think about owning a home on Kaua`i.

The lack of affordable housing hurts everyone on Kaua‘i.  Many friends or family members have left the island by necessity rather than choice.  Employers, including government and nonprofits, can’t find enough qualified employees because those potential workers (including former Kaua`i residents) are not able to find a home on Kaua`i that they can afford.  Teachers have homeless students or students in crowded homes who don’t have a physically conducive home environment where they can concentrate and do their homework.

Some people have been lucky enough to buy homes, but many have essentially mortgaged their lives—with little left over to cover other basic needs after their monthly mortgage payment.  Likewise for people paying high rents.  Finally, Kaua`i is in danger of becoming a community of mainly rich people and losing its diversity, its longevity of residents, and the synergy and balance of an extraordinary island community.

In short, the lack of affordable housing is a de-stabilizing factor in our community.  It. serves as fertile grounds for a host of social problems, decreases the quality of life for our families and also negatively affects our economy.  The good news is that if we solve our housing problem, there will be improvement in many areas of life on Kaua`i.  We all have a stake in finding effective solutions to the problem.

Key definitions and Principles:  To be “affordable” means that a family will pay no more than 30% of its household income for mortgage payments, including utilities, or rent, including utilities.   “Median income” is the household income for a particular family size where 50% of the families of said size make more than that income and 50% make less.

There are two guidelines I would suggest that we keep in mind as we fashion solutions to the affordable housing problem.

1. We are not just building houses.  We are building communities.  We all want our communities on Kaua`i to be energy–efficient; mixed in incomes;  close to work schools, parks, bus stops and other needed services; sturdily built and aesthetically pleasing.  Any affordable housing must meet these standards of “smart growth.”

2.  We need to first address the housing need is the greatest and where our tax dollars can go the farthest.   Once we are successful in meeting the greatest need, we can address other needs.

To create adequate affordable housing for our community, I believe the following is essential:

a. Every developer should be required to provide a specified percentage of his development as affordable housing. That needs to be a clear rule that developers can count on and thus plan for.  That percentage should be large enough to make a substantial contribution to the affordable housing inventory on Kaua`i but not so large as to disable the development.   The required housing should be developed on the same site as the developer’s market housing to achieve our goal of mixed income neighborhoods.  It should address the income brackets where the need is greatest and which is the most logical for the private market to build—according to surveys, that is the 100% to 120% of median income bracket.

b. Housing for families below 100% of median income bracket is the hardest to provide because it requires the deepest subsidies.  Government and the private sector can share this burden:  large developers should be required to dedicate a percentage of vacant land from their development site (including offsite infrastructure) to the county to be developed by the county or a nonprofit housing corporation.  A density bonus could be granted to offset such a donation of land.

c. All housing units provided under the affordable housing policy should be permanently affordable.  “Permanently affordable housing” would include 1) rental units that are owned and managed by government or a nonprofit for the purpose of providing affordable housing in perpetuity, 2) cooperative housing which allows ownership through shares in a limited equity housing cooperative, and 3) housing where the land is owned by a land trust whose purpose is to provide affordable housing.  It also includes 4) houses for sale with a buy back clause in perpetuity.

Permanent affordability is one of the keys to solving our housing problem.  We have some of the most beautiful land in a world that is getting increasingly polluted and terrorized.  Unless we insulate the affordable housing from this world market, we and/or our children will become strangers in our own land.  We can use the powers of zoning and our tax money to provide housing where families need pay only 303% of their household income, but if we allow these families to make a windfall at the expense of the taxpayer who subsidized the house and at the expense of the next qualifying family who will have one less affordable house to try for, we will never solve our housing problem.  We have to take care of each other.  Maybe we have to give up the “nest egg” so we—and our friends—can have a “nest.”

d. We could do all of the above but it will be to no avail of our families are not mortgage ready or capable of making timely regular rent payments.  To assist families in becoming mortgage-ready, the  County Housing Agency and the Hawai`i Homeownership Center are working together to provide Homeowner Workshops to help families become mortgage ready. Anyone interested in securing affordable housing should enroll.

e. Kaua`i needs to adopt and apply “smart growth” policies that will designate the best sites for growth on the island.  By limiting growth to the most logical areas of the island, and creating the most desirable, liveable, walkable and bikeable communities in the state, County government will not have to provide infrastructure and services to every corner of the island.  This will allow the county to focus its precious capital improvement resources strategically in developing water sources and transmission mains, multi-modal transportation systems and wastewater treatment facilities for certain growth areas.  This will be an aid for developers and for affordable housing.

f. We must adhere to our affordable housing policy even when Kaua`i is in a down cycle.  Sharing the risk between the developer and county will help.

If we can marshal the foresight and discipline to put all these elements in place, I believe affordable housing will cease to be an issue over time.  It is possible for everyone to have a home that is energy-efficient, affordable, sturdy, aesthetically pleasing and located close to services in a community that is a desirable place to live.  That is my vision and my commitment.

If you wish to discuss or comment on this article, please send your comments to jyukimura@hotmail.com.