LIHUE >> Mayor Bryan Baptiste issued himself a report card yesterday on his first 100 days in office and gave himself straight A's. Kauai mayor grades
himself and does wellHis "report card" after 100 days in office
only covers his efforts in the "War on Drugs"By Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.comHowever, his self-evaluation -- contained in a press release yesterday -- includes progress on only one of the many major issues facing Kauai County: the "War on Drugs." He has named a committee to pick a coordinator for drug-related county efforts.
Other issues such as housing, traffic, property taxes and waste management were not mentioned in the release.
The mayor did not make himself available to the news media to answer questions about his first 100 days.
He generally has received high marks for bringing in talented people to serve as department heads. His top aide is Gary Heu, former manager of Verizon operations on Kauai.
On March 4, Baptiste instituted a series of community meetings with island residents. He also has revived a weekly talk show created by former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka on the island's public-access cable television station.
But a frequent critic of county government, Ray Chuan, said while Baptiste has intense interest in conducting public forums, he does not seem interested in running the government.
"This is a mayor who, when he appointed Gary Heu, made it clear Gary would run the government," Chuan said. "The mayor limits himself to what he calls 'listening to the people.'
"He has no specific plans, even though he himself was involved with dealing with all of these issues during his six years on the County Council," Chuan added.
Baptiste's news release followed a "100th Day" speech to the Republican Women's Caucus Tuesday evening and the taping of the same speech for his television show Wednesday, to which the news media were not invited.
"The mayor said the first 100 days have been a steppingstone toward the vision of a better Kauai," the news release reads.
County of Kauai
