Council slate full of familiar faces

LIHUE » If the primary election results were any indication, many of the incumbents will be back on the Kauai County Council in November.

Six of the seven current councilmembers received the most votes in the September race, with the only newcomer being not a new face at all: former Council Chairman Ron Kouchi.

JoAnn Yukimura, former Kauai mayor and a Kauai politician for more than 30 years, got top votes in the primary. She was followed by former county Deputy Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, seeking her second term on the Council.

Incumbents Princeville General Manager Jay Furfaro, retired electrical worker and Council Chairman Kaipo Asing, and former policeman and private investigator Mel Rapozo were also among the top seven. So was Kouchi, who ran the Kauai electricity cooperative during his Council absence.

Incumbent and cattle rancher Daryl Kaneshiro finished seventh in the primary, 290 votes above the eighth-place finisher, Tim Bynum.

Bynum, a community volunteer who was instrumental in the cleanup of Lydgate Park, led the newcomers. He was followed by Waimea High School teacher Billy De Costa, former Kauai Police Chief K.C. Lum and another retiring police officer, Joseph Kaauwai.

Princeville resident and government watchdog Monroe Richman, Kilauea farmer Ming Fang and North Shore volunteer and farmer George Anderson round out the list of Council hopefuls.