LIHUE » With the election just days away, hundreds of supporters for Kauai mayoral candidates JoAnn Yukimura and Bernard Carvalho stood side-by-side sign-waving before the Kauai High School football game at Vidinha Stadium last night.

With almost a hundred supporters waving their light blue signs around him, Bernard Carvalho, 46, said many of his and Yukimura's ideas for Kauai are similar.

Both acknowledge the need to improve infrastructure and site a landfill in the next two years. And both say that more affordable housing is needed for Kauai families.

Carvalho said it's his leadership style that separates him from Yukimura.

“;I'm not a politician,”; he said. “;I like short-term practical things ... (then) develop time lines, action plans, and then go.”;

But Yukimura, 58, on the other side of Vidinha Stadium with her supporters last night, said their positions are similar because Carvalho took her ideas after entering the mayoral race.

Carvalho cited his 23 years in the county government, his Parent-Teacher Association affiliations and his years coaching as preparation for the mayor's job.

Carvalho said he's always been a leader, and he has no problem making decisions, even difficult ones.

In an interview on Thursday, Yukimura said Carvalho's administration would be business as usual.

“;Business as usual ... has cost us a lot of money,”; she said.

For example, she said, Carvalho, as head of the Offices of Community Assistance, was willing to take a lump sum payment from the developers of Kauai Lagoons as part of their need to furnish affordable housing.

But Yukimura, as part of the Council, rejected that deal. And the 82 affordable housing units are being built by the developer in Kapaa, she said.

They also disagree with the Solid Waste Plan. Carvalho has called for a waste-to- energy plant to be built. Yukimura would rather focus on recycling.

The special election will cover the final two years of the term of Mayor Bryan Baptiste, who died in June.

Both have raised large sums of money for a Kauai race—$227,000 for Carvalho and $175,000 for Yukimura. However, according to the campaign spending reports, Yukimura has outspent Carvalho, $225,000 to $169,000, with Yukimura's campaign about $34,000 in debt.

In the closing days of the campaign, Carvalho will rent a trolley and tour the Garden Isle, complete with ukulele and singers, stopping in each community to share his love of music and aloha.

Yukimura says she will keep it traditional, “;being out in the community ... every nonsleeping moment.”;