2018 General Election Candidates
Name on ballot:
CHOCK, Mason K.
Running for:
Kauai County Council
District (if applicable):
N/A
Political party:
Nonpartisan
Campaign website:
mason4kauai@gmail.com
Current occupation:
Council Member
Age:
47
Previous job history:
12 years as a county firefighter, 5 years as a councilmember, 19 years in community/non-profit work focused on youth development, community planning, native Hawaiian cultural practices and leadership development.
Previous elected office, if any:
County Council
What qualifies you to represent the people of Hawaii?
5 years of experience as elected official and 20 years in community service. As a leadership development facilitator, I have been successful bridging perspectives in order to perpetuate healthy conflict towards effective problem solving and decision making. I believe I have and can continue to model the leadership behaviors that are needed in government to build capacity and continuity within its system and in turn serve the people’s needs and their requests more effectively.
What are the top three challenges facing the voters you seek to represent?
1. Balance of growth with public infrastructure for both visitors and residents that encompass housing, transportation/roads and preservation of our environment.
2. Development of more effective government processes, building leadership competency and eliminating bureaucracy and roadblocks that keep from effective governing and ultimately services to the community
3. Effective community engagement that is inclusive, allows for community voices to be heard, collaborated and solve problems with so renewed trust, transparency and accountability can be restored to the face of government.
If elected, what will be your highest legislative priority?
Amending the current CZO and affordable housing ordinance to generate more affordable housing on Kauai.
If elected, what can you do to improve the lives of your constituents?
I believe the most pressing issue facing Kauai is the high cost of living. We need to be more self-sustainable so we can take care of ourselves amidst the growing cost of living. This includes growing our own food, creating our own affordable housing, protecting our precious water, preserving access for fishing, gathering and farming. We need to not allow outside influences determine how our communities are managed by raising the cost of housing through the use of transient vacation rentals. We need to diversify our economy so that we are not solely reliant on tourism as our way to survive. We need to provide our people options that will establish their livelihood and well-being for future generations to come. I will make decisions that will continually enforce the needs I have identified here.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
If elected to server another term I will be focusing on the following:
1. Update CZO to better serve housing needs.
2. Establish better community access to trails, shoreline and watershed.
3. Preserve budget reserves.
4. Complete, repair and maintain county roads, including Koloa Road, Maluhia Road., Mailihuna Road roundabout, Olohena Road, Kamalu Road, and all other roads identified in the roads maintenance backlog.
5. Secure new landfill and Materials Recovery Facility.
6. Support the County Transportation Agency and Kaua‘i Bus capacity building within the scope of the Short-Range Transit Plan, whether it be staffing needs or increasing routes, including holiday and increased weekend service.
7. Continue to build capacity and continuity in our government by modeling leadership behaviors within the Council process and work with County agencies to build a strong foundation working together with a new Administration.
8. Continue to improve community engagement by establishing a platform for more efficient organization and communication through information technology collaboration.
9. Work with Office of Hawaiian Affairs to help kuleana land occupants validate property rights.
10. Establish a Tax Incremental Financing Program.
11. Amend the affordable housing ordinance
12. Capitalize on opportunities the 2018 floods have created to plan and rebuild safely and more sustainably. Within this interest I will place emphasis on the following:
1. Address the health of our watersheds, rivers, streams, and irrigation ditches through a multi-agency permitting approach to access and maintenance.
2. Limit rebuild and growth by vacation rentals in flood zones and shorelines, as well as large mansions on ridges.
3. Limit access to the Wainiha and Haena area with an established shuttle service.
4. Revisit and strengthen response plan for community/Emergency Operations Center (EOC) coordination.
5. Revisit and revise our Tourism Master Plan.
6. Revisit zoning and public access issues in the rebuilding in flood affected areas.