KAUAI COUNTY
Election adds newcomer, term limits to council
LIHUE » Former county community facilitator Tim Bynum will be the lone newcomer on the Kauai County Council, bumping out rancher and four-time incumbent Daryl Kaneshiro.
With all of the precincts reporting, Bynum jumped to third place in the seven-member race. He was in eighth place in early results.
By the end of the night, however, it was Kaneshiro on the outside, trailing seventh place finisher and former County Council Chairman Ron Kouchi. Kouchi was out of politics for two years after an unsuccessful run for mayor. Current Council Chairman Bill "Kaipo" Asing was in sixth.
Waimea High School teacher Bill De Costa finished in ninth, 450 votes behind Kaneshiro. Former Kauai police officers K.C. Lum and Joseph Kaauwai followed far behind.
Former Mayor JoAnn Yukimura was the top vote-getter, with former Deputy Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho second. They were followed by Bynum and incumbents Mel Rapozo and Jay Furfaro.
Also on the ballot were 15 Charter amendments, including one to limit Council members to four two-year terms, starting in 2008. The new limits, the establishment of a fire commission and a parks and recreation department, and adding more members to county boards and commissions, were approved by voters yesterday.
Kauai voters rejected other county proposals, such as making it easier to recall a politician or to get something on the ballot. Council redistricting and removing the requirement that the county engineer be a certified engineer were also rejected.