Carvalho affirms his devotion to Kauai
POSTED: Tuesday, December 02, 2008
LIHUE » Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. opened a new book yesterday for Kauai County and hopes residents read it.
Bernard P. Carvalho Jr.» Age: 46
» Family: Wife Regina “;Gina”; (Godinez); sons Bronson, 23, and Brennen, 21; daughter Brittney, 19; father Bernard P. Carvalho Sr. of Kapaa; mother Priscilla Hanohano of Oahu; two brothers and a sister living on Oahu
» Education: Kapaa High School, 1979; University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1983 (communications and public relations)
» Experience: Drafted by the Miami Dolphins, 1983, injured, never played in a regular-season game; Kauai County employee since 1985, most recently as director of Department of Parks and Recreation
|
Carvalho hopes residents look for chapters to which they can contribute, he told a crowd of around 700 people attending his inauguration yesterday at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall.
Some of the words in the book will ring familiar, Carvalho said, as they have been heard and practiced by the late Mayor Bryan Baptiste, the first mayor in the county's history to have died while in office.
Contained in the chapters will be Baptiste's “;unfailing devotion to help the people of Kauai,”; and the goals, aspirations and accomplishments of the new administration designed to benefit not only the adults of Kauai, but the children and grandchildren as well, Carvalho said.
The prologue of the book begins during tumultuous times, what Carvalho calls an “;economic tsunami,”; so Chapter 1 will focus on the island economy, with emphasis on energy conservation, cutbacks in travel on official county business, support for visitor-industry marketing efforts, quick movement on capital improvement projects and a continued emphasis on growing more of the island's food and energy.
Chapter 2 is sustainability, Chapter 3 is good planning and Chapter 4 is about families.
That means more homes for residents and a continuation of Baptiste's war on drugs. “;I pledge to find a site for a residential treatment facility”; for drug-affected youth, who now must go off island for treatment at the time when family ties are the most crucial, the new mayor said.
“;I wish to acknowledge my Cabinet,”; he said of his numerous appointees he called his “;team members.”; “;I'm proud of them,”; and proud of new county Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho - whose husband, Destry Carvalho, is the new mayor's cousin - and the seven members of the County Council, Carvalho said.
For the first time, native Hawaiians are the mayor, prosecuting attorney, Council chairman (William U. “;Kaipo”; Asing) and police chief (Darryl Perry) of Kauai County, Iseri-Carvalho, who was also sworn in, said in her remarks.
Carvalho rode the wave of Baptiste's popularity through the elections, beating former Mayor and County Council member JoAnn Yukimura in the general election.
